First long trip on the DN-01

J

jdunker

New member
Day 1:
Left Birmingham on Saturday at 7:20 AM and the weather was beautiful. Headed out of town on highway 11 to Fort Payne. Used highways 35 and 72 to get to highway 127. Highway 127 is a nice ride through Tennessee and Kentucky. Ended up on highway 62 going into Ohio before I decided it was time to start looking for a place to stop for the night. Found out that there's not much in that area of southern Ohio. When traveling by myself my standards are pretty low, but I found places I wouldn't let my dog stay in. I had to go to the east side of the Cincinnati before I found a hotel that I would stay at.

Day 2:
Got up to see the weather was calling for storms around noon. After breakfast I decided to change my riding route to try to beat some of the storms. Rather than stay off the interstates, I hit I71 to get to Columbus as fast as I could. That short ride reminded me why I normally stay off the interstates, too much traffic, I get tired of dealing with the turbulence from the trucks and the scenery sucks. Got off the interstate north of Columbus and got back on highway 62 to Canfield. It would have been a nicer ride without the numerous detours due to road construction. I managed to get all the way to Hermitage PA, less than 2 miles from my Dad's house, before I finally hit rain. At that point I didn't want to stop to put my rain gear on to go 2 miles. Thankfully my Dad had his garage door open so I just drove in. A little wet, but after 919 miles I'm happy that only the last two were in the rain.
 

D

DeeWhyDN

New member
That is quite a long ride over two days! I get a sore butt after my 400K's (approx 240 miles)….. cannot walk! Oh I forgot, you guys have awesome roads in the US. In Australia we rate a goat track as a major freeway!
Cheers mate.
Paul T.
 

J

jdunker

New member
I did approx 600 miles the first day and I can say that my butt wasn't real happy about it. Many times I was happy to hit a red light or see a stop sign so I had an opportunity to stand. I'm trying to get my butt conditioned for another long trip in August. I'll be heading from Birmingham AL to Montana. I need to put approx 600 miles the first two days to stay on the schedule I have put together.
 

J

jdunker

New member
Days 3,4,5:
No traveling, just helping my Dad get some things done around his house.

Day 6:
After spending a few days at my Dad's and riding around some of the old places my brother and I spent our youth, it was time to hit the road again. I left a little later in the morning that I would have liked, but with record low tempatures for the month of July and me not packing to for it, I didn't feel like freezing my behind off. Hermitage PA to Altoona PA (my next destination) is approximately 152 miles. But with a few detours of my choosing, it ended up being closer to 200. I met my wife at her families place for a reunion.
 

zebra03

zebra03

Member
jdunker said:
Days 3,4,5:
No traveling, just helping my Dad get some things done around his house.

Day 6:
After spending a few days at my Dad's and riding around some of the old places my brother and I spent our youth, it was time to hit the road again. I left a little later in the morning that I would have liked, but with record low tempatures for the month of July and me not packing to for it, I didn't feel like freezing my behind off. Hermitage PA to Altoona PA (my next destination) is approximately 152 miles. But with a few detours of my choosing, it ended up being closer to 200. I met my wife at her families place for a reunion.
Click to expand...
Well jeez , you drove right by me . I'm on I-80 . When in Altoona , stop at Steve Seltzer Honda . Great people and lots of NEW bikes to look at.
 
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B

bhamrider

New member
Wow, that's a lot of miles in a short time. My 350 miles to New Orleans was enough for one day. I'm from Birmingham also. Roebuck Springs.
 

J

jdunker

New member
Day 8:
Left Altoona PA and headed south. It looked like rain the entire day, but I managed to stay dry. I worked my way through most of Virginia on highway 29 and stopped in Danville to see my youngest son who's been working there for his summer job. After leaving there, I headed toward Asheville NC which was my goal for the day. I made it to Statesville and saw rain clouds in the distance and didn't want to deal with that so late in the day, so I called it a day. The bike got wet as I ate dinner, but it passed through as I looked for a place to stay for the night.

Day 9:
Got up in the morning to find my bike dry so I was optimistic that I could make it through another day without getting wet. To try to make up some time since I didn't make it as far as I wanted on Sunday, I jumped on the interstate (I40) and headed toward Asheville. I made it one exit before I had to pull off and put the rain gear on. I hit highway 23 west of Asheville and made my way to Atlanta and then highway 78 to Birmingham AL. I spent the whole day riding in and out of rain. Every time I thought about taking it off because I hadn't hit any rain in a while, another cloud would appear and down it would come. When I arrived home, I had put 2128 miles on the bike. This was my warmup for my trip to Montana in August. I expect to put over 5000 miles on the bike for that trip.
 

J

jdunker

New member
I've seen your posts zebra03 and knew you were in PA, but I didn't get a chance to message you to see where you were located. I'll let you know the next time I'm up that way.
 


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