saddlesore 1000 on a klr -- a trip report

[jsparker]

Well, we made it. I must say that off hand the bike did really well. Now the rider was a bit different story.. The beginning: We started off the day Friday 6 Oct 2000 at 6:38 am leaving from Boise, Id heading for Jordan Valley, OR. The temperature in Boise was somewhere in the low to mid 30's F. as we headed towards Nampa, ID it dropped to not only cold but DAMN Cold, about the time we hit the Snake River it went to REALLY DAMN Cold and then when we hit Oregon it was Really REALLY DAMN Cold and at around 80 MPH the wind-chill was freezing my chin. But it was a beautiful sunrise and with the sun rising things started warming up nicely. Once we hit Jordan Valley, OR things started to warm up and the ride was pleasant. We made stops in McDermitt, NV for the Sporty and to oil my chain. It's amazing the people who will just come up and start talking to you. Then we were off again the next stop was Winnemucca, NV for fuel and more water for the CamelBack (very nice thing to have along). I was really tempted by some sand dunes coming into Winnemucca but I kept telling myself I had a mission to accomplish. We then motored down I80 to Battle Mountain, NV then turned south and headed for Austin, NV (The Chevron has a good selection of jerky). Then we went further south on NV Highway 376 to Tonopah, NV this stretch the wind pick-up and I was driving sideways for about 30 miles. A note about Tonopah, keep heading west once you hit town because there was nothing going south. The Texaco there was a quick stop and a phone call home, change of riding gear (it was getting warm). Then we turned and headed east on Highway 6 to Ely, NV. This was our longest stretch and we found a little place that could really save someone was just as we came over the Black Rock Summit and found this little place called the Black Rock Store and Cafe, and this is the only gas between Tonopah and Ely. Coming into Ely we came through the Humboldt-Toiyabe forest and in the shade it started to get cold again. Then we crossed over the Murray Summit and it got really cold. At Ely we suited up for the cold and watched the sun go down and darkness fall. The stretch from Ely to Wells, NV was dark and we were moving well. We made pretty good time. I just wished I had a bit more power when I was passing semi-tractor trailers. We hit Wells for more fuel and more layers it was really getting cold and a bit of hot chicken bits from the Flying J. It was more of something to hold and warm the hands than anything. Here is where I started to fell the trip the most. The wind had really been beating on me but it was the mission and we must drive on and accomplish the mission. Besides I had a soccer game that I need to coach on Saturday. We keep moving north along Highway 93 through Jackpot, NV to Twin Falls, ID. At Jackpot traffic picked up and we were all thinking that its close to midnight and now we have all the drunks from the casinos to deal with so we were all on edge until we reached Twin Falls. Twin Falls, Id to Boise was the last leg of our journey. We reached Twin at midnight and the trip home was probably the most grueling for me. I was riding point and I took a couple of unscheduled stops to shake the Z monster off my back. I noticed that the others weren't complaining but they sure seemed a lot fresher than me. But we did finally reach Boise at 2:30 AM 7 Oct 2000. We ran for a total of 19 hours and 59 minutes. It was a long day. Looking back, if you asked me today would I do it again not on the KLR. But knowing what I know now I would still have ran it (once). It proved to me that my bike really can hang with the others, and that is what I wanted to prove to myself. I would definitely take the KLR on a long trip, but I would prefer to keep it somewhere in the neighborhood of 300-500 miles a day. I found that a heated suit would have been excellent. But the thing that was the most fatiguing was fighting the wind and guts from oncoming traffic. The weight of the bike just worked against me. But all in all I still had a great time....... Laters John jsparker@...

[bill e goat]

I found that a heated suit would have been excellent. But the thing

> that was the most fatiguing was fighting the wind and guts from

oncoming

> traffic.

Thanks for the great report. As a ride report contributor, sometime long distance rider, and having been over all the roads mentioned in your post, I must put in my two cents, which is (are) "don't ride into traffic when it's throwing guts at you (see above)...it's messy, and usually a bad omen". Wind is bad, but Guts? Ick!