Monday, September 1, 2014

Test Run 03 - MKE to Lone Rock WI

Yesterday (8.31.14) I took a day trip out west to see how far I could make it in a single day.

I started out just before 8:00 am and made it to Madison in just about 2 1/2 hours (~90 miles).  That's not bad considering a stop for fuel and a coffee brake.

I then took on the challenge of crossing Madision.  What should have been about 30-45 minutes by milage, turned into a good hour+.  Mostly I found myself wasting time stopping to look at my phone (GPS) and back tracking due to a wrong turn.

So the big leason I learned on this trip is to get a dedicated GPS unit attacked to the bike.  This should help eliminate excess stops along the way.

I also made a point to stop every few hours to let the bike rest a bit.  This really seamed to help quite a bit and I had no break downs.  I also fixed the back rest on my seat before I left and I'm pleased how well it worked.

All and all I went a total of 300 miles in about 12 hours.  Of course that includes three fuel stops, a coffee brake, a 30 minute break for lunch and a good two hour stop to meet up with an old friend and his family.  So subtracting all that, I would guess I road for about 8 hours.  That works out to 37.5 MPH.  Not to bad given all the small towns and stop lights I hit.

- Michael