The CB1100 Community Forum

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I met my friend Matt S. through a couple of meetup.com riding groups to which we both belong. Matt is a great guy and rides a beautiful BMW R 1200R (which he has yet to offer me an opportunity to ride, by the way). A relatively new rider, he has an infectious enthusiasm for his sport that makes riding with him an absolute pleasure.

Sometime in the summer of 2013, if I recall correctly, he made casual mention of "scouting out" a route that would be a great ride for seeing fall colors. That fall, he sent out word about this ride and he managed to get a total of three riders, including me, to set out early on a fairly gloomy morning for a day-long trip deep into central Illinois. The sky eventually cleared and the three of us had a wonderful day.

A few weeks ago, I got an email from Matt inviting me and most of my core group of riding friends on "Matt's 2nd Annual Illinois River Road Fall Color Ride". He also extended an invitation to one of the meetup.com groups, Motorcycle Enthusiasts of the Western Suburbs (aka MEWS) whose membership consists mainly of cruiser, bagger, and tourer riders. The extended forecast looked promising and he managed to get nine riders and two passengers to sign up.

The meetup spot was to be at a city park in Ottawa, IL. Kickstands were to be up at 9:00am. The route would take us past Starved Rock State Park and then south along the western bank of the Illinois River on IL29 into Peoria. From there, it's south again to Havana, IL before returning on the east side of the river on IL26. These two roads make up most of The Illinois River Road National Scenic Byway.

Ottawa is about 80 miles from my town. That meant that the four of us that were heading out that way needed to be on the road at 7:15. On October 19th. At dawn. In 36 degree (Fahrenheit) temperature. I found out afterward that some of the other riders came from nearly as far, but it was cold, and far, and cold.

I found an old pair of "hippo hands" I got for an old scooter we had and they seemed to fit on the CB's bars nicely. That's the only accessory besides riding gear that I added to protect myself from the cold. I don't have heated grips or heated gear. Just me and whatever windchill develops during a 70mph sprint out I-88 with the outside temp at 34.

It was dark when getting ready.

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By the time my fellow riders assembled, the sun had began to peek out. Yes, that is frost covering the field in the background.

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The first half of our trek to Ottawa was all interstate. This was in an effort to cover as much ground as possible. It was far too cold for me to try to get photographs, but the usually boring interstate, or at least the areas along it, were truly beautiful with the sun just rising behind us. As we passed Morton Arboretum, I saw what I thought may be smoke from a brush fire off to my left. Ahead of me and to my right were crystal clear in the bright morning sun. It was not smoke, though. It was just-forming fog in the low-lying areas of the arboretum rolling north. By the time we reached it, the fog had crossed our path and was filling the valley on the other side. If only my hands were warm enough to operate a camera, but they were not.

We made a quick stop at a Starbucks just off of 88 on Orchard Rd. This turned into a longer stop than I had planned. I was the only person who was truly cold (Goldwings and F6Bs have certain features that are particularly desirable on mornings like this). Even Judy, Mike A's wife and passenger for the day, was comfortable, I needed to hold a hot cup of coffee for longer than I thought before getting back on the bike for the remaining part of the ride to Ottawa. I should have sent a text message to Matt S. letting him know where were, but even though we were about 20 minutes off pace with 40 miles left to go, I figured we could make up the time.

Clearly, I was wrong. We were late. Irritatingly so. I finally texted Matt from our fuel top-off point about 10 minutes from the meet up spot, but it was already about 9:10. I got a little grief from some of the people who had been waiting, and deservedly so, but Matt was very cool about it. After a short riders' meeting, we were off!

In my opinion, the prettiest part of the ride came within 10 minutes of departing from Ottawa. IL71 takes you out of Ottawa, across the Illinois, and then past the entrance of Starved Rock State Park. We did not stop at the park, but it is definitely worth a stop. You are highly likely to see bald eagles flying along the river and the rock formations there are something to behold. The road leading to the park is twisted, with decreasing radius turns, elevation changes, and trees lining both sides of it.

The trees made a golden canopy over our bikes as we twisted and turned for the next few miles. Matt had asked me (or I volunteered) to sweep for the day. Not bad work since we had well-experienced and well-disciplined riders in between us. I was lucky that I had two head layers on and was wearing earplugs, though. Man, those Harleys are loud!

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Matt plans his rides very well; right down to the gas stops. That's why we topped off before Ottawa--it was "suggested" in his pre-ride instructions. I knew Matt wanted to ride all the way past Peoria before stopping for fuel. This would allow us to get most of the way back without another fuel stop. He was riding two up with his lovely wife, Megan so he had mentioned that if his pace was slow, people could run ahead. His pace was perfect for me and no one ran ahead.

It was getting warmer, but the hippo hands and 14 layers of fleece were still appropriate attire for me. Veaux (rhymes with "Joe") is made of tougher stock than I am. Yes, his Ultra Classic had a windscreen, but he didn't even have a hat on and had a cigarette in his hand for most of the ride. Really a nice guy, though, and just seemed to be out for a nice day in the country, which is what the day was all about.

The Illinois River has a fairly shallow watershed. I mean that it is fairly flat along its banks. This gave us great views of farms and their fields harvested or waiting patiently to be. We cruised on down IL29 fairly quickly. It's a nice stretch of road, pretty straight, but with very few cross streets or even towns to slow one's progress. We had some nice glimpses of the river to our left and of farms to our right. Occasionally, there was some sort of processing plant (not sure what they were processing) along the road. Most of these were closed. Some because it was Sunday; some because it is 2014.

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All of Peoria seemed to be closed and, in my opinion, rightfully so. The section we rode through, at least, was particularly run down. My camera had all but stopped working at this point or I would have snapped a few pics of the boarded up houses.

After Peoria (or in it), we picked up US24 to Havana. Matt stopped at his designated gas station which was directly across the road from a plant that WAS processing something...something dead. Fish maybe? I suggested that it was a Soylent Green plant, but Matt and Megan were too young to appreciate the reference.

Mike P. with his Harley "Cop Glide", an actual former police bike. The offensive smelling Soylent Green plant is just out of frame to the left.

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Soon after the post-industrial Peoria stretch, the view improves considerably. To our left was Banner Marsh State Fish and Wildlife Area and immediately after that, the Rice Lake State Conservation Area. Mike A., a hunter, noticed the thousands of birds on the water. I, the non-hunter, thought "wow, there sure are a lot of lily pads on that lake". Very beautiful spot. If I have some time in the future, I will stop at one or both of these places to enjoy the nature of it all.

One funny thing about the Rice Lake Conservation Area: There's a lake in there named "Miserable Lake". What kind of mean SOB names an innocent little body of water "Miserable"? I bet the other lakes make fun of his name.

Next stop Havana.

[My camera crapped out just about the time that we turned onto the cobblestone streets of downtown Havana, IL. The rest of the pictures in this report are ones that other riders provided or that I took with my cell phone]

Havana is a nice little town. Cobble streets with a center crown encouraged us to park the bikes on a side street even though there was plenty of parking in front of Trixie's. In fact, there was plenty of parking everywhere. Like many rural towns, Havana is closed on Sundays. Except, for Trixie's.

We ate at Trixie's last year and the food, local charm, and pricing was just as good this year. We knew we weren't in Chicago anymore since the menu included not one, but two varieties of breaded pork tenderloin sandwhich--one prepared on-site the other purchased frozen. Glen ordered the homemade version.

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My cheeseburger was half the size of the tenderloin, but was still a substantial sandwich. To say we were all well-fed would be an understatement.

I probably could have peeled off a layer or two after lunch. The sun was out and it was probably in the lower 60s, but it was still pretty windy and I figured I'd rather be too warm than too cold. I did stow the hippo hands and switched from my insulated Lee Parks Design gloves into my uninsulated ones. The rest of my riding outfit remained in tact: Merino wool balaclava with a Buff around my neck (and earplugs for the Harleys); performance T-shirt, fleece 1/4-zip, and Olympia Switchback jacket (with liner); gym shorts, fleece pants, and Olympia Air-guide pants (with liner); wool socks and mid-calf boots. In my dark jacket and pants, I looked something like a ninja Michelin Man, but I was warm.

We headed out of Havana probably about an hour behind what I think Matt had wanted, but no one seemed too worried. I stopped feeling guilty about my tardiness at this point because we had stopped at Trixie's for a bit longer and we were going to make a stop at a "secret" place that Matt had discovered in his scouting. We wouldn't have made it home before dark even if I had been punctual.

Matt lead us out of Havana, turning left on a road which had wetlands to the left and farm fields to the right. We were just sort of falling into formation when we saw it. And it was magnificent. An American Bald Eagle was flying along side us, maybe 25 or 30 feet up and just a few dozen yards to the side. Pacing us. I assume everyone slowed, but as bad as it sounds, I slowed and was "target-focused" on the large raptor. With a flap of his wings, he turned and crossed over our heads and disappeared over the trees to our left. Matt has said he will scour his Go-Pro to see if he captured it, but the "video" is already stored in my head forever.

A short while later, just as we entered Peoria again, Matt made a right turn up a very steep grade. I knew where he was going, but I think everyone else, especially Laura riding in the #2 spot, wondered if he had a problem or just made a wrong turn. He hadn't. He was just taking us up...and up to a little road that runs atop a bluff overlooking the Illinois and Peoria. There's a little place to pull off and enjoy the view and we did just that. This was Matt's "secret" spot. It has a paved parking lot and a trash can, so I'm not sure exactly how secret it is, but the view was amazing and it was a perfect place to stop.

The Group
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Me and my CB (Peoria looks 100% better from this distance. Trust me.)
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Linda is one of the organizers of the MEWS group. She's a sweetheart and a great rider. This is her bike.


The east side of the Illinois River north of Peoria is arguably the prettier ride of the two. A few more curves, I think, and a lot more trees. It seems to contour closer to the river, too. Very pretty.

There's a town called Lacon along IL26. We went through it, but I don't remember it at all. Outside of Lacon, though, there is a little restaurant/bar called Midway Duck Inn. It's in the middle of nowhere, a log-cabin looking place, with nice windows looking out on to the road and beyond it toward the river. I've never stopped. It could be a rat-hole, but it's probably not. It looks charming and if you're in the area, you must stop here and get me a review of the place. These places tend to come and go. I sure hope it's still there next season.

Cloud cover started to cool things down as we worked our way north. The sun was lowering in the sky, too. We turned on IL71 and stopped for gas. There we sort of outlined everyone's departure plans. Matt and Megan, if I recall, were to turn off first. The rest of us were goign to take US39 to US88 with individuals peeling off as we motored past their exits. Everyone was gassed up and off we went east on IL71. Except me. It seems that no one noticed that I didn't even have my helmet on yet. Boom. Gone. US39? Was that the road? Where do I pick THAT up? Should I just map it out and head home or should I try to catch up? They weren't THAT far ahead of me.

I decided to try to catch them. I had to wait for several cars so I could make the left from the gas station which put me behind time even more. That plus the group probably had two towns ("reduce speed ahead") behind them and in front of me. I slowed to a reasonable speed at these towns, but after them...well let me just say that the CB1100 performs excellent at speed, even in the wind and without a windscreen. Yes...excellent at speed. I caught them a few miles before they turned on to US39. Whew!

I-39 and I-88 behaved like the long, straight, and fast roads they were designed to be. The traffic grew as we got closer to the city, but Mike P. did a nice job of blocking lanes to prevent cars from cutting in. That's usually the Sweep's job, but he seemed to want to take care of and that was OK with me. He's a good rider and pretty funny when he's not criticizing anyone who rides a Japanese bike. His "cop" Harley IS very cool, though.

Somewhere along 39 or 88 the sun finally dropped below the horizon and the highway lights turned on. We stopped one last time, mainly just to stretch and then rode the last 40 miles or so home. We had waved goodbye to Larry, Linda, Matt/Megan, and then Mike P. And Veaux. I look forward to riding with them and getting to know them better in the future. Our core group of Glen, Laura, Mike/Judy, and myself arrived home almost exactly twelve hours after we headed out.

We had one of our longest riding days together. Four hundred fifty-one miles, through cold, fog, and the beautiful autumn colors. All the riders were just wonderful companions on this adventure. I, for one, cannot wait for Matt S. to organize another one.

IF YOU GO

1. Stop and visit Starved Rock State Park.

2. As pretty as it is south of Peoria and while you'd miss Trixie's, you can make a great and a little shorter ride by turning north at Peoria. This could give you some off-bike opportunities.

3. Stop at Midway Duck Inn because I did not.

4. Stop at the Secret Lookout. It could be on Fondulac Road, but you didn't hear that from me.

5. Ottawa is a neat town. Try The Bee Hive for breakfast before your ride.

Love that colour. Great pictures and a you obviously enjoyed the ride You could say that it "played well in Peoria".

Cheers

That was a big ride ES, particularly on a cold day. Well done. Great report and great pics. Is the camera completely ruined or was it reacting to the cold?

Great ride report and pics ES.

I truly hate the cold, wish it never got below 70. You were tough to soldier on with less than ideal gear for that weather. The fact that you were riding without a windshield is a testimony to your toughness..or stubbornness lol..

Those big tenderloins are called a Texas Tenderloin down this way. In Europe it's called Weinersnitzel, and the fries are Pom fritas. I survived on them for about 12 days when we went over there lol. Discovered it on 2 nd night there and ate it for lunch every day for duration of trip except when the Edelweiss provided 2 pic-nics.

ES,

Great ride and summary, those morning rides start out cold, Gerbing heated gear really helps keep your chest and neck warm

Cormanus, the battery on the camera is old and I think, like me, it didn't take well to the cold. It worked fine the following weekend, which you will see in an upcoming report.

CIP57, If I had just had heated grips, I'd have been fine. I have no desire to go on a long ride in truly cold weather and my layering technique worked well for the day. Heated gear is something I may look into, though. The hippo hands would have worked much better with heated grips. They did a great job at deflecting the wind, but they have little in the way of insulation. A big shout out to my merino wool balaclava...keeps my head and neck warm on the bike and when I go for a run in cold weather.

Mickey, if you ever come up this-a-way, Cheryl and I will take you to a Bohemian restaurant near her childhood home. Not a great ride, but they have great breaded pork tenderloin and it's CHEAP. You just don't find it on menus at most diners around here, though.

Great report, even with a big windshield and heated grips it would be to cold for me. Matt ya gotta try a wind shield! My heated grips work great even with Grab-on covers over them.

CA200...I've tried 2 windshields and I will probably ride Todd's bike with the Dart on it next season. My experience is that they deflect the wind, but increase the noise in my helmet. I'm getting a new helmet for next season, so maybe that will make things better, but I'm having trouble hearing the voices in my head with all that wind noise bouncing around in there. Heated grips are probably going on over the winter.

Es..yea the noise is the worst part but blocking the wind from your body is pretty good. May need to work on my street shield ex a bit to see if I can find a happy medium.