Starting to get in shape....

[Phil Tarman]

For the trip to Ohio and back, I went for a fairly decent two-state ride today. I didn't get away until 1:30 and decided to ride 2-lane roads out east. I took US-34 till I was about 20 miles from Ft Morgan, then rode some back roads and hopped on I-76 from Ft Morgan till east of Brush. Then it was US-6 to Sterling, and US-138 (which parallels 76 on the other side of the South Platte River) almost to Julesburg. Then I went northwest to Chappell, NE, and got on I-80. I had known it was windy when I was on 138, but when I turned NW on US-385, I realized just how windy it was. I'm guessing 40-45mph. My gas mileage was down to 40mpg and it had been 65-68 (all indicated, of course when I was heading NE on 138. When I got onto 80, it was hitting me from the NNE and I was working hard to keep the bike straight. I ran with the traffic at 80mph and stopped for gas in Sidney (the used-to-be-home of Cabella's which is now owned by Bass Pro). From there, it was on west to Kimball, where I turned south on NE/CO-71. My indicated mileage went from about 40 up to 75-80mpg. By the time I turned west on CO-14, the wind was starting to slack off a bit. I got home at 7:30 after riding 357mi. for close to a 60mph average.

As hot as it's been all summer, I was surprised to see both NE Colorado and SE Nebraska greener than usual.

It was a nice ride -- the temperature only got up to 82F and was around 80 most of the day. It was down to 72 (and dead calm) when I got home.

 

[mikesim]

If you are ever in Sidney, NE and need a place for the night, the Sleep for Less Motel is a great choice. It's owned by an older Mom and Pop couple. It'd older, but clean as a whistle.

Mike

 

[robbie box]

For the trip to Ohio and back, I went for a fairly decent two-state ride today. I didn't get away until 1:30 and decided to ride 2-lane roads out east. I took US-34 till I was about 20 miles from Ft Morgan, then rode some back roads and hopped on I-76 from Ft Morgan till east of Brush. Then it was US-6 to Sterling, and US-138 (which parallels 76 on the other side of the South Platte River) almost to Julesburg. Then I went northwest to Chappell, NE, and got on I-80. I had known it was windy when I was on 138, but when I turned NW on US-385, I realized just how windy it was. I'm guessing 40-45mph. My gas mileage was down to 40mpg and it had been 65-68 (all indicated, of course when I was heading NE on 138. When I got onto 80, it was hitting me from the NNE and I was working hard to keep the bike straight. I ran with the traffic at 80mph and stopped for gas in Sidney (the used-to-be-home of Cabella's which is now owned by Bass Pro). From there, it was on west to Kimball, where I turned south on NE/CO-71. My indicated mileage went from about 40 up to 75-80mpg. By the time I turned west on CO-14, the wind was starting to slack off a bit. I got home at 7:30 after riding 357mi. for close to a 60mph average.

As hot as it's been all summer, I was surprised to see both NE Colorado and SE Nebraska greener than usual.

It was a nice ride -- the temperature only got up to 82F and was around 80 most of the day. It was down to 72 (and dead calm) when I got home.

The difference in distance between our countries is mind boggling, here in the UK we can never be more than 70 ish miles from the sea whereas in the USA the distance if over 1000 miles, you certainly have plenty of tarmac to travel on.

 

[WVRider]

Glad to see all went well for your jaunt. Hope all goes well and I get to see you again in a few weeks. I took off on the 6th through the 10th and rode up to meet a couple guys I hadn't ridden with for a few years. We all met in PA and I ended up with a total of 1428 miles in those days. The first day to camp was 389 miles up into the eastern part of PA, however after setting up camp, we went to find a store and found we were in the middle of no where. Goofy GPS had us on 28 miles of dirt roads and after finally finding the store and taking BLACKTOP bad to camp, we ended up adding another 78 miles LOL... Even with all that, the beauty on those back roads (even gravel / dirt) was fabulous. One of our day rides from camp took us up to Ithica NY, over to Watkins Glen and then back south into PA and camp. Rained the entire 418 miles home on the 10th and I actually enjoyed the ride. Any day on the motorcycle is better than a great day at work.

 

[Sunny]

Any day on the motorcycle is better than a great day at work.

 

[Phil Tarman]

Looks like beautiful country and a great ride. Thanks for sharing it!

 

[Coyote Chris]

Glad to see all went well for your jaunt. Hope all goes well and I get to see you again in a few weeks. I took off on the 6th through the 10th and rode up to meet a couple guys I hadn't ridden with for a few years. We all met in PA and I ended up with a total of 1428 miles in those days. The first day to camp was 389 miles up into the eastern part of PA, however after setting up camp, we went to find a store and found we were in the middle of no where. Goofy GPS had us on 28 miles of dirt roads and after finally finding the store and taking BLACKTOP bad to camp, we ended up adding another 78 miles LOL... Even with all that, the beauty on those back roads (even gravel / dirt) was fabulous. One of our day rides from camp took us up to Ithica NY, over to Watkins Glen and then back south into PA and camp. Rained the entire 418 miles home on the 10th and I actually enjoyed the ride. Any day on the motorcycle is better than a great day at work.

Work is a four letter word that ends in "K"