As fate would have it, I ended up with the whole weekend to myself this weekend. I got a wild hair to spend all day Saturday on the bike (not the GS but my 08 V-Strom).
Late Friday night I cooked up a plan, then modified it six or seven times. Of course nothing ever works out as planned and I didn't get a way from the house until 11am Saturday morning. My modified plan is shown below.
http://maps.google.com/maps/mm?ie=UTF8&hl=en&ll=42.161368,-89.546814&spn=0.997601,2.801514&z=9
This is a 7 or 8 hour ride from my place in the NW suburbs of Chicago to Dubuque (on the slab), then IA-52 South (the adventure? I don't know...never been on it...part of the reason I wanted to do it) to Savanna IL, then home (on the slab). I had high expectations for IA-52 since I knew both the slab segments of ride would be nothing to write about.
I wanted to find some twisty fun roads for my adventure. IA-52 looked ok on Google maps, but if you zoom in on the area just south of Dubuque, there are some roads between 52 and the Mississippi River. They looked interesting so I mapped them out and decided I would use them. I got a little more than I bargained for.
The ride out to Dubuque was about what I expected...slab. I was hungry by the time I got there and started looking for someplace interesting. Perhaps overlooking the river. What I found was the Ice Harbor Galley. Not exactly "on" the river, but close. Right next to the casino. So, I had a pretty good burger at the only floating restaurant in Dubuque.
After lunch I hit 52 South in anticipation of my adventure. A few miles later I found my left turn onto Old Massey Rd. This carried me closer to the river and offered some nice views. And, I got some of what I was looking for. Several miles of rolling twisties like I've seen during the Brown County and Fennimore Rallies.
Late Friday night I cooked up a plan, then modified it six or seven times. Of course nothing ever works out as planned and I didn't get a way from the house until 11am Saturday morning. My modified plan is shown below.
http://maps.google.com/maps/mm?ie=UTF8&hl=en&ll=42.161368,-89.546814&spn=0.997601,2.801514&z=9
This is a 7 or 8 hour ride from my place in the NW suburbs of Chicago to Dubuque (on the slab), then IA-52 South (the adventure? I don't know...never been on it...part of the reason I wanted to do it) to Savanna IL, then home (on the slab). I had high expectations for IA-52 since I knew both the slab segments of ride would be nothing to write about.
I wanted to find some twisty fun roads for my adventure. IA-52 looked ok on Google maps, but if you zoom in on the area just south of Dubuque, there are some roads between 52 and the Mississippi River. They looked interesting so I mapped them out and decided I would use them. I got a little more than I bargained for.
The ride out to Dubuque was about what I expected...slab. I was hungry by the time I got there and started looking for someplace interesting. Perhaps overlooking the river. What I found was the Ice Harbor Galley. Not exactly "on" the river, but close. Right next to the casino. So, I had a pretty good burger at the only floating restaurant in Dubuque.
After lunch I hit 52 South in anticipation of my adventure. A few miles later I found my left turn onto Old Massey Rd. This carried me closer to the river and offered some nice views. And, I got some of what I was looking for. Several miles of rolling twisties like I've seen during the Brown County and Fennimore Rallies.
just having too much fun. Then, all of a sudden, this...
)
