by Jonathon Karnes
It was a cold October morning that I woke to the clanging noise of
my alarm clock. Six a.m. isn't really all that early I said encouragingly
as I dragged myself out of bed. After a headache hit me like a wrecking
ball I remembered that I had only fallen asleep around four hours earlier.
Some coffee and ibuprofen helped the headache a bit and allowed me to
start gathering up everything I would need for the day. Long underwear,
a long sleeve t-shirt, two pairs of jeans, ski pants, a sweater, riding
jacket, a waterproof ski jacket, two scarves and a pair of gloves would
do for clothing. I made sure my phone was charged up, grabbed my wallet,
keys, rain suit, helmet and tank bag and headed out to my bike.
As a college student who has only been riding for slightly over a year
I have not, unfortunately, had the time to save enough money for a comfortable,
long-distance machine. In fact really I haven't been able to buy a comfortable
machine for any distance. Setting this aside, however, I stuffed my
saddle bags with all the clothing I was not going to start out wearing
and strapped on my tank bag. My jacket went on over the extra clothing
with only a little coaxing and I tightened the strap on my helmet over
the scarf wrapped around my neck.
There are a few things about riding which stick in my mind even after
only a year of experience. The amazing scenery which never seems as
beautiful in a car, the thrill of taking a 30 mph curve at 60 and the
fun of weaving back and forth on a gently winding country road all reside
deep within my love for riding. I think one thing that is probably central
to riding, however, is firing up the engine. As the key is inserted
into the ignition and a leg thrown over the bike the thrill of starting
another ride begins to warm the soul. The key is turned and the headlight
throws out a beam of light into the darkness while the indicator lights
glow reassurance that everything is working right. With the choke on
full, the ignition is pressed followed immediately by a slight twist
of the throttle. With this action the bike springs to life with a roar.
As things settle down the engine purrs a quiet but powerful note, as
if it is a predatory cat waiting to pounce. The bike rolls forward with
a slight push from the legs and the kickstand is pushed up to its proper
resting spot. With a contraction of the left hand the clutch is disengaged
followed by a clunk as the left foot engages first gear. A fluid motion
of both hands brings the engine and wheels together with a burst of
power. The ride has begun.
I was headed to meet two friends at the Coopersville McDonalds for a
ride up to Mackinac City. We had planned to take this trip for about
a week, so although we were rather excited to go, we weren't necessarily
very well prepared. I got to Coopersville about the same time Dan and
Sumanth arrived. I was gassing up as they pulled into the station there
and we all said a quick hello. Sumanth voiced a concern that he was
freezing after having ridden from Grand Rapids and was a tad worried
about what this would mean for the rest of the trip. The weather forecast
said it was 37o out at the time with predicted high for the day of 47o.
Sumanth is from India and, although an avid rider there, wasn't quite
prepared for what riding in Michigan in October meant. After adding
a sweater from Dan and ski pants and a scarf from me to his jeans and
riding jacket, however, we were ready to go. Or so we thought…
As he was gassing up Sumanth noticed some gas leaking from his gas line
as it led into the carbs. Never an unprepared rider, Sumanth had an
extra length of gas line in his bag and set about fixing the leak. Meanwhile
Dan and I discussed the route we wanted to take. Showing our unpreparedness
we had planned to ride up the coast by way of Ludington and Traverse
City. After realizing that this would take us forever due to some limitations
(my bike only has a 3½ gallon tank and due to some oversized
jets is only getting 38 mpg), we decided the best course of action would
be to back track the way Dan and Sumanth had come and take the sensible
route of 131 N. A few cigarettes and some extra clothing later, we were
on our way.
We were just north of the Rockford area with me leading followed by
Sumanth and then Dan, when I noticed Sumanth suddenly drop back as if
his engine had cut out. After pulling to the side of the road I jogged
back to where he and Dan were to find that that is exactly what had
happened. Oddly, however, the bike started up just fine and revved with
a nice quick throttle response as if nothing were wrong. Foolishly hoping
this was just one of those odd occurrences that immediately goes away,
Dan and I encouraged Sumanth to jump back on and keep riding. Putting
Sumanth in the lead we continued on for about 2 miles or so before the
bike did the same thing again. Pulling off to the side of the road we
all gathered around the bike to speculate as to what the problem was.
Sumanth was fairly convinced that the problem lay in the plugs so he
set about removing his seat and tank to access the top of the engine.
Again, never unprepared, Sumanth had an extra set of brand new plugs
along. As Sumanth and Dan were replacing the plugs I stood by and mused
at the funny scene we presented. Three riders, on the side of a major
highway, in 30-something degree weather, with what looked like a scene
from a mechanics garage scattered around us. At least no one could say
we weren't dedicated to the pastime. After replacing the plugs the bike
fired up great and we decided to continue with Sumanth still in the
lead. Luckily the problem must have been in the plugs because Sumanth
didn't have any further problems with his bike that day.
We continued up to Big Rapids where we stopped for breakfast at a McDonalds.
There an avid HD rider (in his SUV) stopped to express his admiration
and envy for our bravery of the weather. However, after hearing we were
bound for Mackinac and that we had started from GR, he just shook his
head. He did however wish us luck and safe riding. Following steaming
cups of coffee and a fill-up at the gas station we continued on our
way.
Our first real discomfort came when we realized that insulated leather
gloves do not necessarily imply warmth when riding a bike in 30 degree
weather. The now occasional peeking of the sun from behind clouds was
very welcome but wasn't really enough. Allowing our hands to grow numb
and doing our best to ignore them, we continued towards Cadilac.
Seeing as how I had the slowest bike and that our cruising speed of
75 mph was about 5 mph slower than my bike's top speed, I was leading
our ride. We didn't think this would be a problem considering that I
had driven numerous times up to the UP for backpacking trips etcetera
in high school and knew the way well. Unfortunately I had not traveled
through Cadilac in the past two years, a fact I had forgotten, and was
therefore unaware of the fact that 131 no longer went right through
the middle of Cadilac. I was cruising along, ignoring my frozen hands,
and waiting to come to the city so I could begin watching for the right
turn onto 55. I was still cruising along when I happened to notice that
the exit I was passing said 55 East. Uh oh… I heard this high pitched
scream of a very powerful engine zip up next to me and glance over to
see Dan shaking his head and giving me a disgusted look. He continued
on ahead at some speed which was way faster than I could keep up with
and took the next exit. Luckily this exit just happens to have a Meijers
(gotta love that store!) and we decided to stop for some supplies.
Walking into a wonderful bathing warmth of consumerism we headed for
the sporting goods section to find some hand warmers. This was my first
experience with hand warmers which I found out are wonderful little
packets of chemicals which emit heat for upwards of seven hours. In
addition we decided we needed some duct tape to tape down pant cuffs
and attach the warmers to our hand grips. Grabbing a candy bar for some
energy we checked out and headed back for the bikes. After affixing
the hand warmers in the way each of us best thought fit and slipping
a few inside our gloves we continued on.
Now, I have a number of different bikes on my wish-list for when I "finally
have some money" (as if that day will someday come), but after
this trip a BMW with heated hand grips has definitely pushed its way
somewhere near the top. With the difference that those little hand warmers
made to my comfort I can't imagine what bliss it would be to ride a
bike with heated elements. With our comfort greatly increased we made
good time to the junction of 55 E and 127 N. We stopped for gas and
coffee at a gas station near the on ramp and had the good fortune to
run into to more riders. It was a husband and his wife from Cheboygan,
WI on a weekend trip around the lake. We chatted for a while and they
assured us that the weather we were headed toward (they were on their
way south) was only intermittent sprinkles. After an incredulous look
toward our bikes (meaning mine and Sumanth's, neither of which have
any sort of windshield) they wished us luck and we were on our way again.
After the junction of 127 N and 75 N we started to hit some high winds
and this brought our speed down a bit. After switching to a single file,
spaced out riding pattern, however, we were able to make OK time. We
stopped once more for gas a little ways past Gaylord where we actually
had a minute or so of real flurries. Dan managed to snap a picture before
we continued on. Finally, after braving some more lane-changing winds,
we made it to Mackinac. Dan lead us on a double loop around the divided
street leading to the ferries while looking for the Keystone Bar and
Grille. After finding it, we stripped off some layers and headed in
for some food. I have to say that there is nothing like a big bacon
cheeseburger with fries after a long ride. Sumanth had a sore back from
the long reach he had over his tank to his handle bars so he and Dan
agreed to change bikes for part of the way home. We sat and ate for
about forty five minutes before deciding it was high time we headed
for home. Dan made a quick stop for some fudge to appease his girlfriend
when he got back and we headed for Fort Michilimackinac for some pictures
of the Bridge.
We had decided earlier that day that we would forego crossing the Bridge.
The high winds aside we just didn't really have time. The trip had taken
us much longer than we had though it would and it was already 3:30 by
this point. We took some pictures of us and our bikes with the Bridge
in the background and then headed for a gas station to gas up. As we
were gassing up a rather ominous looking cloud we had noticed blowing
in from the West earlier started snowing on us. Slightly less than pleased
we put on every last stitch of clothing we had and headed out.
The road was much less than pleasant with the winds continuing to blow
us all over the road and now with the snow adding an extra distraction.
Luckily there was no slush forming and traffic was fairly thin. We rode
between 50 and 60 mph for quite a while until we hit a clear patch of
weather and there was dry pavement under-tire. Picking up the pace we
made it to Gaylord just as it began to snow again. As I got off my bike
at the gas station I noticed Dan and Sumanth laughing at me. I happened
to glanced down at my rain pants and saw what was so funny. They were
a tattered ruin hanging off my legs. I guess they hadn't been designed
with motorcycling in mind. While enjoying some coffee and a cigarette
the weather cleared up and we actually saw blue sky in the distance.
Heartened we decided to suit back up and head out. After a short scare
of Sumanth misplacing Dan's keys and the relief of finding them in the
gas station we headed back for the highway.
Just as we got on the entrance ramp the snow kicked up harder than before
and for about 10 minutes I was wiping snow off of my helmet visor every
few seconds. The road got somewhat scary here and we slowed all the
way down to 45 mph for a few miles. Then much to our relief the snow
lifted, followed shortly thereafter the clouds as well. We were able
to see the glow of the sunset on some clouds at the horizon and the
last bit of a fading blue sky above us. After making great time to the
junction of 127 S and 55 W we stopped for more gas and coffee and then
headed west. We made it back onto 131 S without mishap and headed for
Big Rapids for a final gas stop before heading home (having a small
tank and bad gas mileage really sucks).
We stopped at Alpine to split ways before I headed back for Hudsonville
and Dan and Sumanth for Grand Rapids. We agreed the trip had been fun
and that next time we would be much better prepared. Vowing to do the
trip again (hopefully in warmer weather or at least with better gear)
we parted ways.
