It seems every year's motorcycle trip starts with the same general premise: I had no idea where to go, and I haven't ridden many miles beforehand to get myself in shape. Blah, blah, blah, you've heard this one before.
Well, it's time to break that streak. This year I quickly came up with an idea for a trip, and once I decided on the general area I never really wavered from that idea. In looking at a map I realized I had never seen much of southeastern Missouri. The map of the roads there looked pretty squiggly, and that generally means good motorcycle riding. So I decided that is where I would go without a whole lot of mental debate.
With my general destination decided, I spent some time picking a specific route. One of the things I wanted to do was not have any super-high mileage days. I set my threshold at no more than 400 miles a day, and preferably less. As I'm getting older, I'm finding that I am no longer fascinated by seeing how far I can travel by motorcycle in a single day. I would prefer to ride for a while, and end the day while I'm still somewhat enjoying myself. Plus, my body isn't recovering as quick as it used to.
In order to keep my daily mileage in check, yet still have enough time to ride the areas where the roads are interesting, I decided a fifth day was necessary. In consulting my calendar, I calculated that if I left on Sunday after lunch, that would give me the extra time needed but also allow me to be around some on that day and not shirk my domestic responsibilities.
After drawing up a route and dividing it accordingly into equal parts, I saw that I would be going through the Mark Twain National Forest in Missouri. I then realized that if I adjusted my route slightly, I could also hit Hannibal, MO, which is where Mark Twain lived during his early and later years. I like Mark Twain's books. I wouldn't say he's one of my favorite writers, but I enjoy his writing. That was a good enough excuse for me to call this the "Mark Twain Trip."
Now that I'm writing these pages in retrospect, I can say that my route planning was probably the best I've ever done. Each day had enough riding that it felt substantial, but not so much that I was wishing the days to be over while still having hundreds of miles remaining. Most of the roads I picked were good ones (some areas don't have any good road choices to get between two given points.) The total number of miles were about right; I returned home tired and sore (which is normal) but not completely devastated physically.
This year prior to departing, I didn't ride my motorcycle a ton but I actually did ride enough to empty a tank of gas. That probably put me somewhere around the 150 mile mark. Not a huge amount, but probably twice what I had ridden in each of the previous five years or so. Once again full time bicycle commuting has put a dent in my motorcycle riding. At least it's still only utilizing two wheels. At the time I left for the trip, I had ridden my bicycle to work every day for five and a half years. That was roughly 1250 commutes by bicycle without driving a motorized vehicle.
So, the next thing to mention was the COVID-19 situation. At this point in time we were almost 18 months into the pandemic. The original wave was settling down, but the Delta and Mu variants were starting to surge. My city in Sioux Falls had seen an uptick in cases, but wasn't (yet, at least) being overrun with people coming down with it. Not so in other areas of the country. One of the areas being reported as having a high case rate happened to be Missouri.
I had received my vaccine back in May. Evidence was suggesting that people with the vaccine were contracting the new variants at a much lower rate, and if they did, were having much milder symptoms. I wear my mask where it's appropriate. My general life is naturally socially distant, so that was never a big deal for me (I tend to be a homebody most of the time.) I decided that as long as I continued to use common sense that taking this trip into Missouri would not be too great of a risk.
I'm not here to discuss whether or not you feel that COVID is real, whether you think that Bill Gates is microchipping us via the vaccine, or if you think that requiring masks is the first step towards sharia law. I've done my research and made the appropriate decisions for myself. If you feel different, fine. If you think I'm a sheep, fine. If you think I'm foolhardy for leaving the safety of my disinfected house, fine. You do you, and I'll do me.
On a completely different topic, one of the things I've struggled with since way back during my second big motorcycle trip in 2007, was severe left shoulder pain. I've mentioned this repeatedly in my trip reports. It generally comes on slow during the first couple days of a journey, but then grows and becomes bad enough that at times I have considered renting a truck and a trailer to haul my bike home.
Back in July I went to our local Harley Davidson dealer for their "Demo Days." (Side note: never give them your phone number and email address unless you like getting a barrage of messages and phone calls asking if you're ready to buy.) I rode a brand new Ultra Limited touring bike. Someday my beloved Road Star is going to wear out, and I'll have to find a replacement. I decided to try out a touring bike to see if I want to go that route when the inevitable day comes.
While riding the Ultra Limited, one of the things that I noticed immediately was how far of a stretch it was to reach the handlebars compared to that which I was used. Shortly after I bought my Road Star, I installed aftermarket risers that raised the handlebars four inches and brought them two inches towards me. The Harley's bars were so far forward and down that I felt like I was bending forward to reach them. It was a very different seating position.
However, that got me noticing my posture while I rode my Road Star. The handlebar position often had me hunching my shoulders because the bars were so close. I had originally installed them thinking it would be more comfortable, but perhaps they were actually making things worse? I decided to remove my aftermarket riser bars and go back to stock (thankfully I still had the stock risers sitting on the garage shelf.) I decided that if after my trip things weren't better (or maybe worse) I could always put the risers back on and the only thing I would be out was a few hours of labor.
With the stock risers back in place, I also did my usual maintenance. Engine oil and filter change, transmission oil change, new spark plugs and serviced the air filter. I noticed I had a gap where my air cleaner connected to the carb, so I fixed that. I aired up and inspected my tires and determined they had enough life to make another trip (I'm not going to repeat the 2016 situation again.) I tested all my lights to make sure they were still working. Mechanically I felt I was in good shape to make the trip, although I could definitely tell my Road Star is showing signs of its 22 year age.
I hadn't washed the motorcycle since prior to 2020's trip. I had planned on giving the bike a good wash, but on the evening I was going to do it the Tundra Boy asked for my help with something. It's rare these days that he wants to spend time with me, so I gladly postponed the motorcycle wash. As it turned out, I didn't have any other free time to do it prior to leaving for the trip. Oh well, a dirty motorcycle will still get me where I want to go. And it would likely return all dirty again anyway.
The night before I was to leave I did my usual Saturday night routine where I led worship at a rock and roll service at our church. I didn't get home from that until almost 9 PM. Thankfully I've gone on enough motorcycle trips that I was able to pack fairly quickly. Well, everything that I could pack that night. Certain things were needed in the morning and I couldn't pack them until then.
I had a bit of a hard time falling asleep. I think I was keyed up with anticipation for the trip, plus with all the stuff going on lately in my personal life sometimes it's hard to turn my brain off. But eventually I did drift off.
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This page last updated on 11/04/2021