Clayton,Ga--Gladwin, Michigan--Clayton,Ga. Trip; National Ice Racing Championships Motorcycle: studded tire/rubber Albright Shores Winter Carnival Park, Gladwin, Michigan. Sunday 26th February 2005 For months now my riding partner, Bob (Dork) Tish, of Owenton, Kty., and I have been planning the trip to the ice races. I was prepping my 2001 BMW F650GS Dakar by mounting a new set of Dunlop 606 knobby tires. I have been running these tires for a year now and like them a lot. They are 90% off road and 10% on road. They howl like a monkey while on the pavement but I don't fall down (much) off road anymore. I also installed some lower leg protection on the crash bars. Plastic corrugation board zip tied to the bars to break the wind and rain/snow. Other than that I filled the tank up with $1.68 a gallon Georgia gas, won't see that price again for days. Bob, on the other hand rides a 2003 Kawasaki KLR650. He has installed a Velerex sidecar frame on the bike. He left the car off and mounted a flatbed capable of hauling lots of stuff. On our trip north he will be on three wheels and I'll be on two. I usually lead on our trips together maybe on this trip we should have mounted a movie camera on his rig in the event I hit some icy parking lot and really put on a show. |
Dave & Dorks "Frosty Balls Ride" ICE RACING MICHIGAN STYLE |
AFTER |
BEFORE |
I ask around the local tire shops in North Georgia and Western North Carolina about putting some |
studs in my tires and after weighing the pros and cons I decided against it as I would travel a total of 1600 miles on the super slab and would stand a greater chance of going down on studs on dry pavement than on any ice I would encounter. My logic was to ride fast on dry pavement and slow down on wet or icy stuff. My riding apparel consisted of a full face Nolan N-100 and a balaclava on the thinking part and silk long underwear, a set of low activity Long Johns and a pair of BMW all season riding pants and wool socks and insulated boots on the feeling parts. To keep my feet from stinking, --- errr --- sweating, I sprayed them with anti-persperant before suiting up, and to top it all off I will wear a First Gear Kilimanjaro jacket and pants. I have worn all this before and find I don't get cold. The funny part is watching me trying to get on the Dakar, which is quite tall for my 5'6" height and 29" inseam. Minus the clothes, my mount up is similar to a Kung Fu kick, but with all the clothes it is pretty pitiful looking. I have even had bystanders watching this ask if I was going to be all right. I just grit my teeth and reply, "I am fine, thank you for asking." Wednesday January 26th 2005 |
As usual I got up at 4:00am in anticipation of the trip. The bike has been packed and ready for days. Being a Magistrate Judge, I had to take care of a little business at the courthouse before leaving. "On The Road Again" -- 10:30am Kissed my lovely wife Ruth good by ( I couldn't do these trips without her support). The temperature was quite nice, about 40 degrees and clear skies so I didn't put on all |
my warm clothes. Headed north up 441 out of Clayton, Ga. When I rolled into Waynesville, NC. 65 miles up the road, I stopped to at McDonald's to fill my thermos with coffee and grab a burger. The temperature had dropped quite a bit so I put on my First Gear pants and kicked the grip heaters up to high and took off through the Pigeon River Gorge on I-40 to Knoxville, Tenn. and north up I-75. |
The temperature climbed a little and the sky cleared up. The road was smooth and dry. Unfortunately this wouldn't last long as my arrival in London, Ky. was met with cloudy skies and 30-degree temps. Oh well, it is January. Trucked on to Lexington where I turned west on I-64 toward Frankfort, KY. I reached my turn off about 5:00pm. Hwy. 60 would take me to hwy.127 north to Owenton, KY. I stopped for beer before reaching Bob's house. You are all familiar I'm sure with the drink that will turn an intelligent conversation into "what the hell are you talking about"??? As I put on some heaver gloves it started to rain, oh my, did that |
pavement ever start to shine. --- no prob --- I reached Bob's without incident and as I rolled down the drive he opened the garage door. The smoking lamp was lit and it was time to open the beer lounge but the festivities were short lived. Peggy, Bob's wife had plans for supper, potluck dinner at the Baptist church. I was on my best behavior. We returned early and retired early for the night. I turned 59 years old earlier this month so early to bed was welcome. 369 miles today. |
Thursday -- 27 January 2005 Bob had to work today so I had coffee with Peggy and went to Scoo-Be-Doo Restaurant for breakfast. To my surprise the name had been changed to Granny & JJ's. The breakfast was good. I did have one problem though, the lady cooking came out from the |
back to have a smoke I love Kentucky being a tobacco producing state, you can still smoke in the restaurants here. To my surprise she looked much younger than me and when I walked up to pay I ask her if she might be the Granny on the sign out front. She said no, Granny was her mother. I said thank God, thinking, I had come to a time in my life where Granny at Granny's Restaurant could be younger than me. Back at Bob's -- caught up on this notebook -- 11:48am and time to suit up, as Bob will be home soon. Bob and I left around 2:00pm with 4" of snow on the ground here in Kentucky 30 degrees and falling. Roads are clear and dry. We made it to Findley, Ohio. The temp had dropped to 8 degrees and it was getting hard to stay in the wind at 70-75 mph. I pulled into a motel for the night. Was having trouble with two fingers on my |
right hand. I think I may have nearly frozen them earlier in my life causing some permanent damage. Room felt really good. Got some looks in the parking lot. If my lip reading is at all accurate they were saying something about stupid SOB"S on the motorcycles. I called my friend Morris to ask him to get on the internet and find out what the wind chill was for 8 degrees at 70 mph. The graph only went down to 45 mph so we doubled the 35mph reading to come up with the 89 degrees. We found out later that wind chill doesn't change below 45 degrees so we were running in about 39 below zero. Much better. |
Friday 28th January 2005 We got up early this morning temp is 2 degrees we walked over to a place for breakfast and while we were eating the temp rose to 8 degrees so we decided to head out northward. We stopped |
50 miles up the road at Cabela's Outdoor Store for some better gloves. Bob had been using a large Buddy Hand Warmer under his coat. He bought another one and I bought two of them. We lit them up outside the store while standing in 1-foot deep snow. The roads were still dry and we were still getting those looks from passersby. |
We ended our day in Birch Rum Michigan. The hand warmers had worked out well. Once we got to the motel we had to go back out to the beer store. Some problems we were experiencing with the cold weather our beer froze solid on the sidecar, we also had frozen water, toothpaste and pork & beans so we had to eat out. Saturday 29th January 2005 We started out the day with a Huge breakfast at Tony's Restaurant. (Editors note: Tony's serves a breakfast you wouldn't believe unless you had been there, it's a must if you are in the area.) After breakfast we traveled north to Gladwin, Michigan where the races were being held. The bikes stated up well in the mornings although Bob's KLR is Carbureted so it is a bit slower on the warm-up. |
We arrived at the race site at noon, now we were riding in snow. Paid our way in at the gate and received a big reception. The gate man told us to hold up at the gate and called the promoter on the radio. He came over and told us he wanted to interview us on the PA system, also wanted us to do an interview on ESPN for two wheel Tuesday, also wanted us to talk with a Japanese TV crew. A man from AMA magazine wanted an interview too. It was quite a welcome. A couple of ice racers came by to tell us we were nuts for riding 800 miles on our motorcycles to the races. We had a hard time getting away from the bikes just to watch some racing. |
We left around 4:00 to make the 65 more miles to spend the night at my cousin's house in Houton Lake, Michigan. Sunday 30th January 2005 Returned to the race to watch some good motorcycle and sidecar ice racing. I saw another cousin of mine at the races and he invited us to his house for the night |
Monday 31st January 2005 I now realize we are crazy. We stayed up till 4:00 am drinking and singing Karaoke. Got up and left at 7:00 am for a 500-mile ride back to Kentucky in weather that never got up to 30 degrees. Seems like further you ride in miserable weather the easier it gets. (Editorial comment; "Bullshit") Tuesday 1st February 2005 I left Kentucky at daylight for my ride home. All in all it was a great trip with 30-degree highs and 2-degree lows. Anyone want to join us next January?????????? Deputy Dog & Dork |
