.50/50 RULE or Just APPRECIATE IT!
By Robert Rehkopf
The Motorcycle Tourer’s Forum (MTF) http://www.mctourer.com is a web based sponsor of many
Flower Sniffin’ Rides (casual riding for 3 or 4 days), Long Distance Rides, and
Rough Road Riding (RRR) which some call Dual Sport Riding. I registered (which is free by the way) for
the MTF Destination Hyder Alaska Flower Sniffin’ 2015 ride knowing it would
give me an opportunity to see several of the Canadian National Parks, the
Canadian Rockies, and re-visit some of my favorite places in Canada like Banff,
Lake Louise and Jasper again. Start location for the Flower Sniffin’ Ride was
Great Falls, Montana http://www.mctourer.com/rides/2015/Hyder/index.html. There was
also the Team Strange Whispering Giants Tour which I had already started
earlier in the riding season http://teamstrange.com/2015/whispering_giants/index.htm, and the ride to Hyder, Alaska would
offer additional opportunities to see more of these magnificent sculptures
which are dedicated to the American Indian by artist Peter Toth. See map below,
X symbol are the Whispering Giants I have already gathered.
Whispering
Giant example.
AND the
opportunity to also visit and re-visit some of my favorite places in America
like Deception Pass, see the Grand Coulee Dams’ laser light show, Yellowstone, eat
at Café Diablo http://cafediablo.net in Torrey, UT, Zion NP, North Rim of
the Grand Canyon NP, and to finally to see the bats leave Carlsbad Caverns NP. Putting
these three goals into one trip, plus a little extra looked like this (actual
tracks):
I started
the trip on May 14 and arrived home June 8, beginning odometer 9183, and ending
odometer 19179, a 10,000 mile trip or close to half-way around the world. I had
3 non-riding sightseeing/visiting days
included The trip
didn’t go as expected; I was concerned about heading ‘north’ so early in the
riding season because of weather! As it turned out, the ‘north’ ie Canada was
perfect riding for me temps in 40s & 50s and beautiful sunshine for most of
the trip, BUT the getting to Canada was a whole different story! Remember the
huge and fierce storms that flooded Texas and Oklahoma, well they went through
South and North Dakota also (see my track map for I-94 going through North
Dakota). I was in Stevens Point, WI, which is near the geographical center of
the State, and watched the severe weather leave Texas and move into the Dakota’s.
Knowing that behind the severe rain, hail, and wind it was supposed to snow at
my planned stop in Dickinson, ND the next morning. Making a decision to forgo
several Whispering Giants bonuses in the Upper Peninsula area, I decided to
ride directly to Great Falls, MT our MTF gathering hotel and Destination Hyder
start location. My ride would take me thru Bismarck, ND, and there I would make
a decision about the weather, either to continue riding or hold up, and face
the potential of snow the next morning. When I arrived at Bismarck, checked the
NEXRAD RADAR on my GPSMAP 478 I saw that the main weather cell nearly extended
the width (north to south) of the entire State, but it had a narrower ‘tail’. I
decided to head for the ‘tail’, and although this worked, by the time I got to
the ‘tail’ it was about 160-180 miles wide! After riding through the ‘tail’,
and riding deep into Montana (a 900 mile day) I thought the worst was behind
me, I was through ND. Indeed, my fellow riders behind me said they stopped in
Bismarck because of sleet on their windscreen. I awoke the
next day; it was still drizzly rain, still wet roads, and still 200 miles to
Great Falls. Although I had missed the snowy weather in the Dakota’s I wasn’t
in the clear yet. The winds keep up the whole 200 miles to Great Falls, and my
dashboard ‘snowflake’ symbol started flashing. Temperatures according to my
onboard gauge started dropping the higher I got in elevation. The temps dropped
to 33 degrees going over the Judith Mountains, but the roadways or bridges
never froze! After arriving in Great Falls a day early I had the opportunity to
welcome the other riders as they arrived. I believe there were about 40 of us
all together that were participating in the Flower Sniffin’ ride, and about a
dozen or so were doing Iron Butt Association (IBA) certified rides of 1000 to
4000 miles, but they would end their rides in Hyder, AK. I know what you’re
thinking and the answer is: YES, we all talked about the weather! Leaving Great
Falls heading to the border crossing there was one more surprise waiting for
us, 5 miles of bad road! Construction had removed the entire roadway and there
wasn’t an all-weather surface to ride on. Another group of our riders had the
‘follow me’ truck get stuck and had to be pulled out using a bulldozer. Their
MOT (Maintenance Of Traffic) plan certainly wasn’t in place. Regardless, once
in Canada there was no more serious roadway construction or bad weather. I
remembered many years ago riding to a Harley event in Milwaukee, I was told
there are two seasons in the northern tier of States, winter and construction, this
is true! The entire
ride in Canada was viewing spectacular scenery of every kind, mountains,
wildlife, etc. All I can say is go there. See Photos
Below:
Returning to
America was nice; although I very much enjoyed the Canadians it was good to be
home, and I still had some great things to do and places to see yet to come, ie
so many roads, so little time. First off
Deception Pass, Washington and Oregon gather some Whispering Giants bonuses,
along with an oil change. Having checked those off the list I headed north to
see the laser light show on the Grand Coulee Dam. Arriving at the Dam I
discovered that due to the drought the show was shown on the Dam surface NOT
the white water of their spillways, as normal. Disappointed, I headed south
towards Yellowstone and the Grand Lodge. I would recommend staying there, it is
beautiful, and it has many comfortable chairs and couches, in addition to the
porch viewing of Old Faithful. Due to
construction I had to take the long way out of the Yellowstone, but it was as
always beautiful. From Yellowstone to Café Diablo and Capital Reef Inn, in
Torrey, UT, to Zion NP, what can be said about UT12 except a must ride road,
and Café Diablo a must eat place. Trust me on this. See photos below: Utah 12. Try
it you’ll love it! Please read the sign and note the guardrail or the lack of
it!
Entrée at
Café Diablo. Tasty Fresh Salmon!
Desert at
Café Diablo. Note cookie on top of the homemade ice cream in the eatable cup!
Toaking the
back road from Hurricane, UT to miss the Zion NP traffic is a wise decision and
has its own special beauty. I had never been to the Grand Canyon North Rim, but
I liked it much better than the South Rim Park. Eat at Jacobs Lake if you get a
chance, but don’t ask for poached eggs for breakfast, too high takes 20 minutes
to boil water! I arrived at
Whites City, NM, the closest motel to the Park and was in time for the evening
bat flight, I thought it was fun and would do it again. The next morning I
spent about 8 hours underground at Carlsbad Caverns Cave doing several tours
and taking in this amazing place. They
have some great tours especially the Lower Chamber but I wasn’t able to take it
because I needed ‘better’ shoes because of the knotted rope repel. See Photo
below: Carlsbad
Caverns Cave
Leaving
Carlsbad and heading home I stopped in Plano, TX for a visit, and then the home
stretch picking up my last Whispering Giant in Little Rock, AR. My Thoughts
on this trip and basically any ‘long’ trip, became very clear during this ride. 50/50 Rule: Most
everybody who rides has probably heard some variation of the 50/50 Rule.
Basically, if the weather is below 50 degree or there is greater than a 50%
chance of rain the ride is cancelled. In looking back at my ride and thinking
about riding in the ‘world’ I think those who apply the 50/50 rule are missing
out on what is obviously some great riding, but a little of life too! There is
an old sailor saying, great ships are protected in harbors, but great ships
aren’t built to stay in harbors, or something like that. I’m certainly not a
great ship, but I certainly don’t agree with the 50/50 rule either. Appreciate
it: As I was communicating during my trip with some riders telling them about
my daily activities one of them caught me in what he considered complaining
about the weather, and he was right. He said you have to have a little rain to
appreciate the beautiful sunshine. He was so spot on I redirected my thoughts
to how lucky I am, and quit bitching and have a good time. So I will pass that
thought on: appreciate it, all of it, whatever ‘it’ is. Ride Safe, Robert Ps. Don’t
let the Grizzly’s eat you either.
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