Author: Matt Quinn

We left Hays and were on our way to Lafeyette, Colorado to stay stay at my friend’s place for the night before hitting up Rocky Mountain National Park. Before leaving, we had breakfast at the Golden Griddle. We rode about 120 miles and stopped for gas. After getting gas, I saw Dierks Bentley’s stage crew truck. I thought that was cool to see knowing he’s performing a tour.

We rode through vast amounts of farmland consisting mainly of corn, milo, and sunflowers. These fields were endless. It was like looking at the ocean where you can’t see any farther. The fields just seem to disappear in the distance. The farms back home are nowhere near as vast.

After riding endlessly through farm fields, we would come to these very small towns. There would be some houses and buildings, but very few. Some of these towns had 5 or 6 buildings. Then nothing but fields for anither 20 to 30 miles. We did this several times and then my gas light came on. I can roughly do 45 miles once it comes on, but Gabe said that I-70 was another 54 miles after I already did 30 miles with my light on. Gabe’s gas light also came on.  I got very nervous as I thought we were going to run out of gas.  We both brought gas with us. I have a half gallon and he has one gallon. So, we started to calculate how to split the gas so we can get to I-70.  His bike had estimated 37 miles until he was done and my bike would ideally need almost two gallons of gas. At last, we came through a town with found a gas station. Best part, it was closed. Now I really started worrying. It was 95 in the sun with no shade around. Just as we were about to use our own gasoline, I noticed this special box with “credit cards accepted” on it.  Realized there was an atm machine to dispenser gas. Didnt know how it worked at first. I selected $10 to use. Tried to fill up, and lost $10. Nothing came out. At this point I was thinking I ran out of luck. Well, I figured I would try one more time. This time, it worked and I gave Gabe a high- five with excitement know I had a full tank of gas and we would make it to I-70 without any issues.

We hopped onto I-70 and made our way to Lafayette, Colorado to stay at my friend’s house. He wasn’t home, but it was good to see his dog. I haven’t seen her in a while and she listens so well. We waited for my friend’s father to get back and then we took Bailey for a walk and saw a bunch of prarie dogs too. It’s amazing how many will occupy a field. Then we all went to dinner at a local brewery called The Post for dinner and drinks and called it a day since Rocky Mountain National Park was next up!

We left Clinton and headed north west up route 13 then to route 7. We hopped onto I-49 north making our way towards Kansas City. As we got closer to the city limits, I darted through some cars to get a picture of the Kansas sign. I even saw a pretty cool looking truck. It was older and a little rustic looking, just pretty cool. 

From the city limits, we headed west out on I-435 west. We did about 100 miles since leaving Clinton before stopping for a snack break and gas. A lot of places only have a high of 91 octane out west it seems. Our motorcycles suggest 93 octane, so we have to settle for 91. Acter filling up, Gabe was hungry so we tried to go to a place called The Roost in Lawrence, KS. It was a nice looking town and all of the cafe’s were packed. The Roost had a 45 minute wait. So, we found an espresso shop, had espressos and bagels then continued onward. It was actually a really nice town. Gabe and I were even talking about going back there in the future.

We left Lawrence and headed to a small town where Stanley, a really good friend of both of ours, grew up. It’s a little town called Rossville. We stopped there to check it out and even find his house.  It was a really neat experience. We did a live video chat to show him his old hose, the sugar maple he planted 40 plus years ago, and main street today. His sugar maple is now a large tree. He was telling us what he used to do as a child there.

From Rossville, we rode west on 24 and came through Manhattan. This is where Kansas State University is located. We didn’t stop but it looked quite busy. We wanted to make more ground so or trip to Boulder would be shorter on Day 6.

By this time of day, it was in the high 80’s, so we decided to stop for water in Clay. It was really awesome actually. We pulled off to the shoulder of the road and hung out drinking or water from our Nalgene bottles. Luckily, Gabe was able to pack a cooler on his bike so we can keep cold drinks. We were parked for a short while hydrating and taking pictures of the bikes. It really felt as if we were in the middle of nowhere. It was peaceful.

From there, we went a few miles up the road and stopped for gas and cool down. We stopped at the Casey’s General Store in Beloit and talked with an elderly couple for half hour. It was really neat. We found that almost everyone that lives in the area farms or works for a farmer. There really is nothing else around. They also told us that every mile is a road off the main road, creating a legit square mile. In this square mile, there is roughly 640 acres that farmers manage. I asked a question about gathering cattle. If they have cattle, the cattle to round up can be up to 15 miles away from the main farm. That is crazy!

We finished our conversation and they wished us luck on our journey. We continued further and entered what appeared to be an old empty village. At the end of this village we saw “World’s Largest Ball of Yarn” so we decided to go back while talking through the SCALA headset. We turned around to check it out.  Gabe turned around before me and stopped next to this attraction. As I approached he wanted to park on the adjacent side, and then things got serious. Gabe’s motorcycle wouldn’t start. There was nothing. I thought he was joking around or the kick stand was down. Well, he wasn’t joking and the kick stand was up. It was not a good feeling. This little village seemed empty. So there wouldnt have been any help. I resorted to Google for help. We tried see several things, but all failed. We decided to take a look at some fuses. We pulled the starter fuse and it appeared fine. We put it back in, and voila! We heard The fuel pump kick on and knew it was going to work. The bike started. We don’t know what the issue was but it worked. What a relief! Luckily we had our camping stuff just in case. We’re still wondering what it was. It’s possible it was just a loose connection somehwere.

Our goal was to make it to Hays. Hays a busy little city and it was another. So, once his bike started, off we went. We arrived in Hays, found ourselves a hotel and grabbed dinner at Gella’s Diner & Lb. Brewing Co. It was a nice place and the food was delicious. We needed a good dinner after riding 425 miles and a stressful few minutes when Gabe’s bike wouldn’t start. 

Butt Pain Meter: 2/10

Left Charleston, MO. The weather was crappy. Looked like it could rain, but luckily it held off. We stopped to fill up right outside the Super 8. Then we circled through Cairo, IL to see how run down it is. We were told it was something to check out. It is crazy to think what used to be there and what is left abandoned today. I take things like that for granted being from New York, where everything seems to be prospering.

From Cairo, we went back towards where we started and headed north. We hit route 60 which was long, flat, straight, and consisted of very strong cross winds. The winds were so strong that Gabe had to fight to keep his bike going straight. We followed this route until we reached Poplar Bluff. Then we took route 160 into Doniphan, MO and entered Mark Twain National Forest. This road was very twisty with some hills. It was awesome. There was nobody else on the road. It was complete freedom and lasted quite a while. This was a fantastic change of pace after taking mainly highways from home in New York all the way to Nashville. I think it’s one of the best roadways I’ve ever been on. Back home there are similar roads, but there was no traffic and they lasted what seemed like forever.

Just when we thought we were done and there weren’t going to be many more nice roads ahead, we came to Ava on route 14. These roads were awesome as well. Route 14 is really windy and curvy with more beautiful country side. We saw all kinds of cattle and roaming horses in these beautiful endless field’s. I tried to get a picture of a donkey right along the road but the GoPro I have didn’t capture it. I prefer taking pictures every two seconds. I like to think it takes many pictures without overdoing it. Somewhere along route 14 we went over a bridge with gorgeous blue/green water. It’s a river called 11 Point River. I will have to check that out online.

Anyways, we continued further on route 14 until we reached route 125. At route 125, we headed north to Springfield. The landscape, again, was so beautiful to look at while riding. From Springfield, we headed north up route 13 until we reached Clinton, which us just north of Truman Lake. This was a mainly straight highway. The idea was to gain an extra 100 miles before finishing for the day.

We actually saw a bunch of roadkill too while traveling through Missouri.  However, it was not the typical roadkill like in the northeast. Most of these were armadillos. I had pointed it out to Gabe knowing he’s never seen one.

We finished the evening at Mallard’s Steakhouse. The ambiance and interior were similar to that of a nice log cabin. It was a great way to finish Day 4. We did 420 miles on the day.

Butt Pain Meter: 3/10 (only when getting off the motorcycle, but my knees were sore from being bent in the crotch rocket position)

We decided to go through West Virginia for nicer views and better roads rather than go through Ohio. 

Our plans were to make it to Nashville by the end of the day. We left at 6:45am and arrived in Nashville shortly after 8:00 (EST), after riding 640 miles for the day.

We first started off on route 711 to route 119 and on to route 43. Went through some local towns and down a steep windy hill to start off. While on 43, we were heading over a bridge near Cheat Lake when we became almost blinded. The fog was so dense it was almost a whiteout. Shortly after we stopped at IHOP and had breakfast and discussed some plans.

Then we took I-79 through most of West Virginia. There are some beautiful hills and valleys with small farms. I kept looking back and forth while taking it all in. At one point,  we stopped for gas so I purchased a Powerball. My plan is to buy one in every state since New Yorker’s never seem to win. We continued on and crossed into Kentucky. I’ve never been to Kentucky before so I was excited. Upon entering the state border, we passed Marathon Gas Stations Petroleum Plant. That was really cool. It it was like its own town right off the highway. Shortly afterwards, we stopped to fill up on gas because I was running low. After filling up, we thoght we would get lunch. Gabe asked the gas station attendant for recommendations for food so we don’t have to get fast food. We went to a Mexican place called Taco Loko. It was delicious. We got back on the road and came through a small portion of Daniel Boone National Forest, still on I-79, but didn’t get to see anything. 

Then we came into Lexington, Kentucky. There were many beautiful horse farms with some serious acreage! From there, we headed onto the Bluegrass Parkway where we saw historic signs for Abe Lincoln’s hometown and Wild Turkey distillery.

After riding longer, we stopped in Bowling Green Kentucky, just off I-65, to suit up after seeing the skies.  It was really dark and could actually see the rain failing. Good thing we stopped and changed into our rain gear. It rained hard for a few minutes. Then it stopped. As we entered Nashville, it rained again until we arrived at our good friend’s mother’s house.

Overall, it was definitely long day, but another good day for sure. It was sunny most of the way until we were close to Nashville and saw some of Hurricane Harvey. I also invested in a “cruise control” device which made an incredible difference. It is called Go-Cruise. I found it online as a substitute to electronic cruise control. I can sit up and take my hands off for several minutes at a time sometimes. It makes a world of difference considering I’m riding across country on a sport bike (crotch rocket).