Off to DC tomorrow...

[mark]

Tomorrow morning at about 7am I'm setting off on the V-Strom for my parents' place just outside of Washington, DC. The route I've mapped out is about 520 miles and includes a long stretch of Rt 209 through upstate NY and Pennsylvania to break up the monotony of the interstate (and thankfully, it completely avoids the New Jersey Turnpike!).

This will be the longest day ride I've ever done; I'm curious to see how well my body stands up to it.

Saturday I'll be going to the Joint Services Open House at Andrews AFB (I can't resist a good air show), and Sunday the British and European Classic Bike Day in Germantown, MD. Then Sunday afternoon I'm riding up to Philadelphia for my cousin's college graduation, and Monday I'm setting off from Philly back home to Vermont.

I'll try to check in here once or twice from my parents' place, but I won't be online much because I'm not bringing my laptop.

--mark

[bonniegirl]

have fun mark. my longest ride was 650 mi. i was DEAD at the end. from waynesboro va to bennington last fall. you coming thru bennington tomorrrow?

[Touko]

Mark, hope you have a great trip and the V-Strom performs as expected. Yeah, I wouldn't do the Jersey bad slab on a bike if I could help it either. Stay safe, Touko

[Whisperinsmith]

Mark,
Ride safe. That V-Strom will eat those miles right up! And you'll be in comfort. (Almost as comfortable as a Tiger. I just had to say that.)

[mark]

you coming thru bennington tomorrrow?

Sadly, no -- heading down I-87 to save some time, then taking Rt 209 through upstate NY and PA.

--mark

[Hedge]

wow - it sounds like you have a full weekend planned out! Enjoy and take some pix of the air show plz!

[JEnfield]

Damn Mark shame you dont have more time you will only be 1 1/2 hours from me in DC and a 1 10 min in Philly. Get bored drop me a line meet ya half way for lunch good old maryland seafood at the bridge.

Jimmy

[Hedge]

Jimmy - how far are you from Glen Burnie, MD? My wife has sisters there and I go down there around 4 weekends a year or more. I would love to meet you for some good seafood!

[JEnfield]

If I am in the mood and the traffic is in the mood to get the hell out of the way I can make Glenn Burnie 1 hour and 15 min roughly . I live 86 miles from DC and 1 Hour 20 minutes from Baltimore and about a hour 10 min from Philly.

Jimmy

[mark]

Jimmy, I'd love to meet for a good seafood lunch, but unfortunately my time's already all filled up. I'll definitely keep it in mind for future DC visits though!

So obviously, I made it to my parents' place in one piece. Ride took less time than I was expecting (and would have taken at least 30 minutes less if I hadn't encountered traffic jams in a few places), and was quite a bit easier than I expected.

Story starts Tuesday night. I'm usually a compulsive planner, but in this case I failed to actually try out my plans to make sure they'd work. I had a bunch of stuff I had to wrap up after I got back from Tuesday's Bike Night in Winooski, and I finally got around to packing sometime after 10pm... only to find that there was no way I could fit my stuff into my tail bag and tank bag. Clothes are just too bulky -- and I pack light. It was getting later and later as I tried to figure out how to cram everything in, and finally I gave up and decided to go to sleep and attack the problem fresh in the morning. As I was lying there restlessly trying to get to sleep, the thought suddenly struck me -- idiot! Triumph saddlebags for the Bonneville! They may not be made for the Strom, but I ought to be able to get them on there anyway.

So Wednesday morning, I got up at 6:15, got myself ready, grabbed the Bonnie's saddlebags, and went outside to try them on the Strom. Sure enough, they fit fine. So I repacked, with just enough space left over now for my fleece vest and the liner out of my jacket because I knew it would get hot out later in the day, and I ended up setting off around 8am. Stopped off at Mickey D's in South Burlington for a high-calorie breakfast, and finally made my way out of town sometime between 8:30 and 8:45.

I took Rt 7 down to Vergennes and Rt 22A from there to Rt 4 (apparently Tito spotted me on the way and honked at me, but I didn't hear him -- I was listening to an audio book on my iPod via those in-ear earphones that double as earplugs). Rt 4 took me through Whitehall, NY, and I picked up Rt 149 over to I-87. I took a brief break in Whitehall and had a few sips of Powerade. I took I-87 past Albany (had the radar detector on the bike, and I also built a mount for my GPS earlier in the week, so had that mounted as well and feeding me accurate speed info -- turns out the Strom's speedo really is about 10% fast -- actual 80mph shows an indicated 88-89).

I stopped to get gas at the first rest area past Albany, and while I was stopped I drank some more Powerade and ate a Clif bar, then continued down I-87 and took exit 19 (Rt 28) to get onto Rt 209. I took a brief rest stop, then stopped again 40 or 50 miles later to pee and grab a bite to eat (McDonald's again... not too many options on that road). By this point my back was getting a little sore, so I downed some Advil with lunch and continued on my way. Rt 209 took me through a variety of small southern-upstate-NY towns and eventually into Pennsylvania and through the Delaware Water Gap. This was a pretty nice ride, but I got stuck behind a road crew for a good ten or fifteen minutes, which was frustrating. Stop and go traffic on a bike sucks.

After about 100 miles on Rt 209, I turned off onto I-80, then PA Rt 191, which turned out to be by far the nicest road of the trip. Really nice twisties (although too much traffic to enjoy them fully -- wish I could ride it sometime when the road's empty), great scenery. Rt 191 took me to PA Rt 33, which soon put me on US Rt 22. This eventually merged with I-78, and I turned off onto PA Rt 737. Stopped again for gas and another Clif bar. From there I took Rt 737 to US Rt 222, which eventually merged with US Rt 30, and I took this to York, PA, where I got onto I-83. This took me to I-695, which took me to I-95, which took me to my parents' place just outside of DC. Pulled into their parking lot about 7:30.

I wish I could say it was a nice ride, but aside from Rt 191 and sections of Rt 209, it was actually pretty boring. Lots of highway and major secondary roads. But it was definitely a lot more fun than just taking the interstate.

It was really interesting how the further I went, the more I didn't want to stop. I think I stopped four times in the first half of the trip (including once for gas; the fourth stop was lunch), and I only recall stopping once after lunch, and that was for gas. I definitely seemed to get a second wind going. By the time I got to my parents' house, I felt like I could have gone at least another 100 miles if it weren't starting to get dark out. My back and butt were a little sore, but I wasn't in agony or anything.

The things that I think helped a lot: eating a high-calorie breakfast and lunch, drinking a lot of liquids (I downed a medium orange juice with breakfast and a large sweet tea with lunch, plus drank most of a large bottle of Powerade during gas stops, and I only had to stop to pee once, at lunch), and snacking on Clif bars. This kept the energy level up.

And it also helped a lot that I was listening to an audio book, which really helped alleviate the boredom on those stretches of highway.

Sunday I'm riding up to Philadelphia for my cousin's college graduation, then Monday I'm heading home from there. It'll be all interstate, unfortunately (there aren't really any other options without going far out of my way).

--mark

[LoVel]

I almost fell asleep reading the trip report. Didn't sound fun.

I find that sometimes if you just find a likely looking road and turn things get more interesting.

I have already decided(although Robin doesn't know it yet) when we go riding I am going to let her lead on the way out and then I will find the way back home.