[ride reports] [photo album this trip]
Indiana & Kentucky
IL-IN-KY Tour
May 29 - June 1,2004Highlights
Saturday Day 1
Total miles for the day 520
The plan of this trip was to head out to Virginia and West Virginia, stopping one day in Corbin, KY for the ST.N Southeast meet. We started out our morning with a bleek weather forecast for the Memorial Day Weekend. By 8AM we were packed up and heading in the opposite direction of this morning’s storm. It was very cloudy and cool, I had on my rain jacket just in case, but mostly because of the cool temperatures. I didn’t want to bring warmer gear since it was supposed to be in the 80’s down in Kentucky, so I used the rain jacket as an extra layer. By the time we stopped at an Arby’s for lunch around the Central IL/IN border, it was sunny and warm, in the low to mid 80's.
The plan was to get to Corbin, KY by nightfall since it was going to rain on Sunday with a possibly of severe thunder storm. Brian and I only had about 5 hours of sleep last night, so we weren’t going to push ourselves. We had a reservation at the Knight’s Inn for Sunday night, but tonight we would just wing it. Once in Indiana we took US231 South, which turned out to be a good sport touring road. There were plenty of sweepers on it to keep you from getting bored. We kept a pretty fast pace on it, most of it ran through rolling hills and farm land, there were plenty of little towns on the way too. Next we traveled east on SR46 through Bloomington, from there we took to SR446 South [see map], which runs through the Hoosier National Forest. This road is awesome, very nice switchbacks, not too tight. Unfortunately there was an endless caravan of vehicles towing boats in both directions and we were stuck in the middle with no way of passing. At some point the roads descended, the trees opened up and we found ourselves on a bridge crossing a huge lake (Monroe Lake). Then back up in to the forest. By the time the boats turned off, the road straightened out.
From there we took SR58 West, which had a bunch of turns on it, some pretty tight, most blind, but the road was very narrow and most of the turn s had gravel in them, there was too many houses and driveways. Next was SR37 South [see map], which at first was a small four lane highway and traveled through a town, but further south (North of I-64) the road became a twisty two-lane traveling through the Hoosier National Forest. It turned and twisted under the dense green canopy. By now it was late in the afternoon, there wasn’t much traffic on this road so we could really enjoy the turns. I slowed my pace when I saw some deer crossing the road. Once we saw the sign for I-64 we pulled over at a gas station to look at the map and figure out our next plan of action. I still had more roads to ride through the forest, but at this hour it was just too dangerous with all the deer and it was getting dark quick. We needed to get going fast if we were going to make it to Corbin by tonight. As we pulled out of the gas station heading towards the interstate, I noticed that Brian’s headlight wasn’t working. The Ride on I-64 to our next stop near Louisville, KY was awesome. This part of the highway is very twisty, hilly and scenic, there was no traffic on the road so we were just flying. After 8PM we pulled into another gas station to get some gas. Brian had an extra light bulb for his bike, which meant we could keep going. The night was very pleasant and warm, we still had some energy in us and Corbin didn’t look so far on the map. We ran in to some traffic in Louisville and again in Lexington, where we pulled over for food. It was 10PM and if we still didn't eat any dinner. We took an hour to enjoy a fine meal at the local Denny’s and by the time we were done, we were just too tired to ride the 75 miles to Corbin. We went down the street and checked in at the Super 8.
Sunday Day 2
Total miles for the day 2The alarm went off at 6AM. As I pulled open the blind I saw pouring rain. I decided to take a nap, I was still a bit tired. Finally woke up at about 8AM and started getting ready to go. The sun was peaking through the clouds when I first looked outside, but by the time we placed the luggage on the bikes it was pouring again. We waited about 30 minutes until it turned in to a drizzle and finally took off toward Corbin on the interstate. Just a few minutes later Brian passed me with the right blinker on, I followed him off the highway to the nearest gas station. His oil light came on. He checked the oil level and it was fine, a few phone calls later and confirming with the manual, he could no longer ride the bike due to possible engine damage because of low oil pressure. There was a local place that we were told would be open even on Sunday, but no one answered the phone. Even if there was a place, the probability of getting the bike fixed right away was slim and we couldn’t leave it here in KY. The bike needed to get home and get to the dealer. After many minutes of brain storming and not having many options at this point, we called our friend Dave to the rescue. After a few minutes and a couple of phone calls, we had a plan. Dave was going to go to our house and put the 954RR on the back of the pickup truck and drop it off in Lexington tonight, and take the TT back with him.
While the plan was in motion, we had about 6-7 hours to kill. The rain stopped for a couple of hours, just long enough for us to get a cab and eat some lunch outside at the Regatta Sea Food Grill near the two malls in Lexington. We decided to go to the movies, “The Day After Tomorrow” was playing at 6:55PM. To kill some time we went walking around at the mall, it started raining again, this time with big thunder and lightning and dark clouds. Then over the speakers they announced that the mall will be closing due to a tornado which was approaching. It was spotted in Frankfort and was heading straight for Lexington. We all headed to the safest part of the mall, which was the shoe department at Sears. After about 45 minutes, it was clear. We had some trouble getting to the actual movie theater which was across the mall's parking lot. It was raining hard, the roads were getting flooded. When the rain weakened a bit we made a mad dash for the theater, still getting soaked. There was no more riding for today, the rain was on and off and the severe weather warnings were in affect until the next morning.
Dave showed up about 9PM with 954RR, we were all going to grab some dinner but by that time everything was either closed or closing so we ordered pizza and ate it in the room.
Monday Day 3
Total miles for the day 320It was still raining this morning. We unloaded the 954RR from the pickup truck and unlowered the adjustable lowering link on the back, then loaded the TT on to the pickup truck. Shortly after 10:00AM Dave was on his way back to Illinois. By the time we packed and checked out and Brian had his saddle bags secured on the bike, the sun was peaking through the clouds although it was still raining. The roads were still very wet and it was still raining pretty hard to the south of Lexington. We got on I-75 and headed South until the US421 exit. After this point there was no more rain, the clouds were moving east and there was some blues skies beginning to show.
We took US421 [see map] South all the way to Manchester, KY where we stopped for lunch at the Burger King. This road has some very good parts with elevation changes and nice turns, especially when passing through Daniel Boone National Forest, but for the most part there was plenty of blind turns, it was sometimes very narrow and even Brian noticed that the corner speeds were way off at times. The roads were still very wet and there was parts which were covered in run off water. Plus a lot of debris left over on the road from the storm made riding speeds slower than usual. And what is it with the dogs out here? I was chased once by two dogs and then again by another dog. It just amazes me that every part of this road had houses on it.
Next we took SR80 West, which seemed more scenic and at times had nicer roads, the parts through the first was very twisty, but there was more traffic on this road. West of I-75 and London, KY we took SR192 [see map] which was an awesome road, especially the first part. Switchbacks though the woods, you could see the entire turn, not much traffic. Once the road entered the Daniel Boone National Forest, it became much narrower, with the typical blind turns and elevation changes. The scenery was still great. It was constant sunshine at this point, the roads were dry and the temperature in the low to mid 80's, a great day for riding. . In Somerset we took SR80 West again, most of this road was good for touring, nice sweepers and some tighter turns. most of it traveled thorough farm lands and some forests. There was a lot of towns on the way in the beginning but the further west we headed the more deserted it got. By the time we got to Colombia, we needed gas and ice cream. The road becomes US68 West, which becomes better, still same scenery, but the road seemed wider and the pavement was smoother.
In Glasgow we took US31E North, which is a scenic road, and scenic it is. Many sweepers here, some tighter turn, nothing very tight. Many straight sections too. The surrounding farmland is immaculate and there is no bad smells here like back in IL or WI. I see cows but I don't smell cows? From there we took 210 West to Elizabethtown where we found a cheap Motel 6. We were checked in by 9PM, but after we unpacked and changed and walked across the street, it was already 9:45PM and most of the restaurants closed at 10PM. We ate at Bunbakers.
Tuesday Day 4
Total miles for the day 460Woke up to beautiful sunshine and temps in the 60’s. It was looking like a great riding day until I clicked on the weather channel. Around noon storms were going to develop from southern Indiana all the way to Chicago. We headed out on US62 West to SR86Northwest, which was a semi straight, with just a few sweepers road that ran through the country. We were passing many farms and occasional forest, plus a few little towns on the way. The road was narrow and the most eventful moment was a deer getting startled as we passed it standing at the side of the road. From there we took US60 West which had some nice sweepers and views, but plenty of semis on it. It brought us to SR69 North, where we crossed a bridge that was under construction to SR 66 Northeast which runs through the Hoosier National Forest.
About 2 minutes later we get to a sign, which says the road is closed due to flooding. 66 Northeast runs along the Ohio River. We pulled out the map and decided to take SR237 to SR37 to SR45 North, none of them traveled near any bodies of water so we though we had it made. 45 had some bad pavement, it was narrow and all the turns were blind. I was going to deal with it knowing that soon it would run through the forest and I was hoping to see more turns like we saw on 446 and 37 last Saturday. A few miles later we came up to another sign, which said that this road was closed also. The barricades were positioned that cars could still get though. While stopped contemplating our next more, a couple of guys on sportbikers stopped and told Brian that we could get though, part of the road caved in, but there was room to go around the damaged part. It wsn't all bad, we continued thinking we were in the clear until we came up to a bunch of construction signs. Part of the road was being re-paved at the moment. We waited until the flagger let us pass. The rest of the road was stripped and grooved waiting for new pavement. Not a fun ride. And we were not too happy when we pulled over and found out that we had fresh asphalt caked all over our tires. We proceeded a few more miles on the crappy road while we noticed the sky was looking pretty dark in the north, we could see the rain falling in the distance already.
When we came up to the sign for I-64, we decided that if we headed West, we might stay a bit dryer. Of course we would be trading in all the possible curvy roads up ahead for a straight interstate, but at least it looked like it was going to be dry ride for a while. Wrong. Within a few minutes it started raining, it was raining on and off until we took an exit for US41 North where we decided to pull over at a real nice Subway for lunch. Conveniently the Subway had two TV’s with the weather channel on inside, on the radar it appeared that the only rain at the current time was a thin line that stretched from East to west along the Interstate 64… how lucky for us. The storms were still forecasted for Chicagoland in the afternoon and evening. I wasn’t looking forward to riding in the rain yet another day.
From there we decided just to take 41 North all the way across Indiana, we’ve never been this way and it looked like we would run into less traffic here than if we took the interstate. 41 was pretty busy all the way from I-64 To Terre Haute, also for a major four lane highway, the speed limit was either 55 in the open country and 50 through populated areas, so we were not making headway here. It was a very, very boring road. We hit Terre Haute during rush hour, once 41 and 63 split, we took 41 North. It would merge back with 63 North of I-74. I’m glad we took this way, it was very scenic and very twisty. An awesome break from the boring straight highway. Since we left I-64, we’ve been enjoying sunshine and mid to upper 70’s, but up ahead there was some very dark clouds now and lightening. I got sprinkled on a bit but then the road ended up changing direction and we were all the sudden heading away from the rain. The road we were on was wet which meant we just missed the rain by a few minutes. 41 North ended up winding and twisting all the way until we reached I-74, it was a nice surprise and one of the better roads on this trip.
41 merged back into a four lane straight and boring highway. This part was extremely boring. There was hardly any traffic on this road except a few semis, there also wasn’t a lot of towns or gas stations on this portion of the road. It was also very windy here, the road cut through a very open and unpopulated area so the wind was slapping us around all over the road for the next couple of hours. At around 8:30PM we arrived at RT 30, which we were going to take all the way home. It was a bit chilly by now so we pulled over to put on all our layers. 30 went through Chicago Heights and Joliet and finally before 11PM we pulled up to the house dry as a whistle.
1300 miles later, out of the four available days of riding, we only rode 2.5 days due to severe weather and the TT breaking down…. Not only did I have 1300 miles on my F4i from this trip, but I also had an additional 780 miles on the 954RR. We never made it to Corbin and never hooked up with ST.N, we never made it to Virginia and West Virginia where I had a bunch of great roads for us to ride. Not to mention we now had a broken bike to be fixed. The fresh asphalt look forever to scrub off our tires. Not one of our better rides but still better than being at work.