Solstice Ride 2019

[emptysea]

There are few rules: On (or near) the day of the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, be on the bike at sunrise, spend the day riding and exploring, and be on your bike at sunset.

Tony is my brother-in-law, a BMW GS rider, and the originator of our Solstice ride. We've done the ride every year but one since 2010. We've had as many as five other riders with us, but most years it's been just the two of us.

This year, we're heading out on Friday, June 21st at 5:15am and riding west across Illinois and into Iowa. From there, I think the plan is to head north along the Mississippi River for a piece and then return east through Wisconsin along the Wisconsin River. I don't know all the details, but this is Tony's gig to plan. We'll be someplace close to Chicago by sunset at 8:28.

If I did this correctly and if you are interested, you should be able to track our ride in close to real time here: https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=...howAll=yes


I'll post a ride report here over the weekend, but I wanted to post this now for two reasons:

1. To invite any CB1100 rider who might be in the vicinity of our route to join us for any portion of the ride. Send me a PM with your cell number and we'll try to coordinate.
2. To encourage all of you to spend the longest day of the year doing one thing that you love. If you love to fish, fish all day. If you love to golf, golf all day. If you love to ride,.......

Look back here for my summary of the day.

[Ole]

So this afternoon I am in the garage doing final prep on two bikes and guess who pulls in the drive! MTC and his buddy. Nice to see you guys and hope you had a great ride home.

Son and I leave on a 6000 miler at 5am. Rocky Mtns here we come.

[the Ferret]

Well that had to be cool!

You and the boy have fun and ride safe Ole.

[Cormanus]

^^ +1

Checked your SpotWalla MTC. You made it home safe. Bravo. Looks like a decent sort of ride.

[emptysea]

A very decent sort of ride.

Full report later.

Was glad that Ole’s garage door was open to encourage me to set aside my apprehension of dropping in unexpectedly.


Ole and EmptySea


Hey Ole, you should do an SS1000 on this.


The man loves his Hondas.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[emptysea]

0500

Heading out.

My original plan was to get up and going well ahead of the sunrise so I could ride to the top of Willow Hill; a good location, I thought for a sunrise photo of the CB1100 with the sun rising behind it. Unfortunately, work and other responsibilities on Thursday prevented me from prepping my bike for the day's ride. Rather than riding to Willow Hill for the photo, I was packing my gear, checking tires, and using The Ferret's "quick chain lube" technique (taught me at the Arkansas CB1100 Rally). Still, I managed to get on the road at almost exactly 5:00.


Note that, for purposes of improving the likelihood of returning home from motorcycle rides at the predetermined time, my CB1100's clock is set ahead by about 5 minutes. Since it is usually Cheryl that predetermines my return from ride time, setting the clock ahead tends to result in more pleasant post-ride evenings at home.

0515

Official sunrise.

I was on I-90 West heading to Belvidere, IL to rendezvous with Tony at 6:15. Since he lives about 1/2 hour south of me, we agreed to meet at the Belvidere Oasis. "Oasis" may make this sound like a beautiful park with palm trees and a pond, but in reality is what the Illinois Tollroad Authority names its gas and food travel plazas. Not very picturesque, but very convenient for motorcycle meet-ups. The sun popped into view while I was cruising along at a GPS-tracked speed of 70.45mph +/-.

I-90 from O'Hare Airport west to at least Rockford has been completely rebuilt. More lanes, better road surface, improved signage all make the "new and improved" Interstate 90 a relative pleasure on which to ride. I say "relative" because it is still a straight, flat, interstate highway, but it moves quickly and is now my favorite "get out of Dodge" route.


"Sunrise: A Rider's Perspective #1"


"Sunrise: A Rider's Perspective #2"

0620

Tony arrives at the Oasis.


He arrived on time. I was early. Neither is usual.


Warming up in the first glows of sunshine. "Oasis" is an overstatement.

Because I skipped the photo op at Willow Hill, I arrived about 15 minutes ahead of schedule -- Cheryl would have been pleased. I used the time to let the sun warm me a bit. The reported temp at my house at 5:15 was 51 degrees which is cold enough for the first day of summer, but some of the towns I was passing had temps only in the upper 40s. I had not backed my warmer gloves because, well, first day of summer.

I had already topped my tank so I waited for Tony to top his and off we went.


0628

Milestone

Somewhere near Cherry Valley and just after I-90 turns right and US20 continues west, my odometer clicked over to 20,000miles.


This 2013 CB1100a was purchased in July, 2017 with zero miles. It replaced my 2013 non-abs which had 30,000 miles on it. 30k in 4 years on the old bike. 20k in 2 years on the new bike. I'm liking the trend line.

[emptysea]

0727

Breakfast Stop: Stockton, IL

From Chicago, the most direct way to Iowa takes you through Galena, IL and across the Mississippi into Dubuque, IA. The most direct route, I suppose, is over US20. I prefer the somewhat meandering and significantly more scenic Stagecoach Trail which you pick up off of 20 at Lena, IL and takes a more northerly line than 20 into Galena where the two roads essentially reunite. Tony had picked out a breakfast spot that is located near 20, west of the turn off at Lena, and which received good Trip Advisor reviews. US20 was the route this time.

As we blew past Lena, I noticed the new (since 2015) Lena Brewing Company where Cheryl and I stopped on our own trip to Iowa in July, 2018. These small breweries and tap rooms have been popping up all over the US for the past several years and while I am not a big beer drinker, I love the trend. Tony and I did not stop at Lena Brewing this time, mainly because we passed it at a little after 7:00am.

Stella's was a great choice. Stockton at 7:30 on a Friday morning was not exactly hopping, but there were a few customers besides us in the restaurant. Everyone was friendly and inquisitive about our trip especially after learning that of the sunrise to sunset nature of it. So engaging was the conversation that I failed to take a food photo of my fantastic house-made corned beef hash with two eggs over medium. I recommend Stella's if you ever happen to be in Stockton, IL.

Tony and I discussed concerns about a line of storms working their way east across Iowa that could negatively impact our riding plans. We decided to soldier on knowing that, if the rain moved in, we could simply hightail east and stay ahead of it most of the way home.

A quick bike-related note. Tony's GS comes with a small windscreen. My CB does not. This was clearly evidenced by comparing the number of bug splats on each of our helmets. I rode through a swarm so dense with insects that it sounded like rain hitting my helmet. Tony noticed that there were a lot of bugs, but did not experience the "bug rain" that I did. Bug rain is arguably better than rain rain, so that's at least one positive. I'm still going to keep my bike naked, but I've added swarming bug encounters to heavy rain and heavy winds on my list of times I wish a windscreen would magically rise from my handlebars.

One thing that is great about our solstice rides is that we need not be in a hurry since there is no mileage requirement. A relaxed day on two wheels with very little in the way of itinerary is just what I needed.

Our server and the two older women dining at the table next to us wished us a safe ride and off we went.


I missed the opportunity for a great foodie pic for this??




Inside Stella's Cafe' & Catering

[flynrider]

0727

Breakfast Stop: Stockton, IL

From Chicago, the most direct way to Iowa takes you through Galena, IL and across the Mississippi into Dubuque, IA. The most direct route, I suppose, is over US20. I prefer the somewhat meandering and significantly more scenic Stagecoach Trail which you pick up off of 20 at Lena, IL and takes a more northerly line than 20 into Galena where the two roads essentially reunite. Tony had picked out a breakfast spot that is located near 20, west of the turn off at Lena, and which received good Trip Advisor reviews. US20 was the route this time.

As we blew past Lena, I noticed the new (since 2015) Lena Brewing Company where Cheryl and I stopped on our own trip to Iowa in July, 2018. These small breweries and tap rooms have been popping up all over the US for the past several years and while I am not a big beer drinker, I love the trend. Tony and I did not stop at Lena Brewing this time, mainly because we passed it at a little after 7:00am.

Stella's was a great choice. Stockton at 7:30 on a Friday morning was not exactly hopping, but there were a few customers besides us in the restaurant. Everyone was friendly and inquisitive about our trip especially after learning that of the sunrise to sunset nature of it. So engaging was the conversation that I failed to take a food photo of my fantastic house-made corned beef hash with two eggs over medium. I recommend Stella's if you ever happen to be in Stockton, IL.

Tony and I discussed concerns about a line of storms working their way east across Iowa that could negatively impact our riding plans. We decided to soldier on knowing that, if the rain moved in, we could simply hightail east and stay ahead of it most of the way home.

A quick bike-related note. Tony's GS comes with a small windscreen. My CB does not. This was clearly evidenced by comparing the number of bug splats on each of our helmets. I rode through a swarm so dense with insects that it sounded like rain hitting my helmet. Tony noticed that there were a lot of bugs, but did not experience the "bug rain" that I did. Bug rain is arguably better than rain rain, so that's at least one positive. I'm still going to keep my bike naked, but I've added swarming bug encounters to heavy rain and heavy winds on my list of times I wish a windscreen would magically rise from my handlebars.

One thing that is great about our solstice rides is that we need not be in a hurry since there is no mileage requirement. A relaxed day on two wheels with very little in the way of itinerary is just what I needed.

Our server and the two older women dining at the table next to us wished us a safe ride and off we went.


I missed the opportunity for a great foodie pic for this??




Inside Stella's Cafe' & Catering

I've got one more for you....hail. When you run into it, you will be grateful that no one else will be able to hear the loud, "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" coming from your helmet.

[Cormanus]

I wonder what happens to helmetless riders in hail? I suppose it’s possible that my late mother’s adage, “Where there’s no sense there’s no feeling” come into play.

[GoldOxide_imp]

I wonder what happens to helmetless riders in hail? I suppose it’s possible that my late mother’s adage, “Where there’s no sense there’s no feeling” come into play.

Maybe for them it is some "badge" to bear?

I rode through a freeway-speed hail storm (1 pm and the sky was as black as night) in a t-shirt and shriveled into a sorry raisin that could barely hold onto the throttle. However, law required me to wear a helmet and I survived - pinching off on the nearest off ramp.