First Farkle

A question has plagued mankind since the dawn of time: How fast am I going in this po-dunk little town? Moto speedometers of the electronic variety are notoriously inaccurate. Usually in my favor, but I have found that going too slow is also another condition that gets extra attention from the po-dunk LEO community. Going below the posted speed limit is obviously the sign of a drug runner and warrants a little suspicion, occasional shake down and sometimes the random unlawful intimidation.

My GPS is very accurate, but until now I have had no way to hold it on the ST1300. I have just ordered the Universal brake/clutch lever mount from ram for my GPS. So, deputy dog will need to find a new way to pay for his Copenhagen & BBQ.
This will create the opportunity for farkle #2, a power supply to run said GPS.

Pre BB shakedown

Planning a BB-NP trip and 6 days of riding/camping and never having been out on the ST1300 I was a little worried. This week being Spring break I had a little comp time to burn so, needing a little rest, I was to ride up to Concours Mike’s dad's in the OK mountains, more specifically Winding Stair National Recreation area, North of Talihina, OK. The ride would be a good sample of what we are to encounter. 250 miles up, I would sleep on it, and 250 miles home. I would be gone just over 28 hours and would get to sample 2 days riding and 1/3 of our big bend ride. I would ride up alone and return with Mike.

I rode up Thursday leaving at 8:45, fueled up in Atoka, cut across a sweet valley ride from Stringtown, birthplace of Reba, (OK hwy 43) to Sardis, OK and then on to Talihina. In Talihina, I fueled up, ate a NASTY gas station cheeseburger and a snickers at the pump. I was at Mike’s dad’s place at exactly 1pm. I rode 230-ish miles in 3.25 hours. The temperature never got above 55 degrees.

That evening we took a late afternoon ride to Heavner, OK for a nice dinner at Vickie’s diner. Do not expect to find much on the town square unless you can speak Spanish. There’s also an abundance of chicken farms and of course chicken trucks.

A few notes: My purchase of the Camel-bak classic 70 oz (2-liter) hydration pack was the greatest thing ever! When I left my house I did not put a foot to the ground until I hit a stop light in front of the Choctaw Indian casino 100+ miles away. I was able to gulp some water at the light. On fuel consumption, both of my stops required less than 3 gallons of premium. I averaged a little over 41 miles per gallon. The range of this bike is staggering in motorcycle terms. My camera crapped out on me during my 4th picture. It turned to be batteries.

The return trip was cool, with us hitting the road at a leisurely start time of 9:30am. Starting temperature was 55 degrees. Our first leg was on OK Hwy 1, better known as the Talimena scenic parkway. The section we rode was about 25 miles of bombing up and down small mountains racing from hair pin to hair pin at speeds of 60-80mph with a stop at the final look out before descending into Talihina. Every day should begin this way.

The most notable events of the ride home: Mazzio’s pizza is the most popular place in Atoka. The wind ran 20-30mph in our face and across us beating us to a pulp the entire trip home. For the first time ever, in my witness, the Red River had A LOT of water in it. It looked like a river. We were home at 2:30pm.

A few (more) notes: Long distance riding is an endurance sport. I have plenty of will & determination, I however am a little short on the endurance side of this endurance sport. My goal for the next 55 or so days is to spend some time increasing this endurance with walking, riding my mountain bike and with liberal use of my dumbbells.

Minnesota Out Big Bend In

My talk of my epic MN trip has once again damned the trip to oblivion. A few factors popped up that were not easy to overcome. First being that traveling with a second rider really adds complexity to the venture. If I screw up in distance planning it is not just me sleeping in the bed-bug-inn or on the side of the road somewhere. Also, a challenge, and one that cannot be addressed until actually on the road, is finding the balance of distance between two riders. One person will inevitably be able to ride longer than the other. Even in a balanced situation, one person stops before they need to and the other has to push themselves to their limit. Done 6-8 days consecutively and it compounds with fatigue.

The other factor is that there is NOTHING to see between OK and MN. The lion’s share of the riding is just a commute. Unless I am going to do an IBA SS1k (1000 miles/24 hours) there is no reason I can see to make that ride. My first long haul on the ST1300 should not be a SS1K.

So, the alternative we selected was Big Bend. Neither of us have ever been there, we can still kill a week on the road. We get to finish in the Hill Country, and we will never be more than 700 miles from home in this loop of about 1700 miles.
It is a great thing Texas is when you think about it. We will be able to ride 1700 miles and never see the Gulf coast, go north of Abilene, East of San Antonio, or south of Del Rio.

We have booked our camp sites and the days look like this:
1. Sanger to Lake Colorado City SP = 260 miles
2. Colorado City SP to Fort Davis = 256 miles
3. We will stay here two nights. The first day (afternoon we arrive ) we may ride the 100 mile Ft Davis loop after we make camp) = 100-ish miles
4. Day Ride – Fort Davis (via marathon) to BBNP Park HQ, to Study Butte, return to Fort Davis = 249 miles
5. Fort Davis SP to So. Llano River SP in Telegraph, TX = 292 miles
6. Telegraph via Fredericksburg & back roads to Inks Lake SP near Marble Falls = 129 miles (will be more depending on what we do on the way)
7. Inks lake SP to Sanger, TX = 261 miles

Total (-ish) miles = 1547 in 7 days plus day rides.