Thursday, July 8, 2010

Riding to Redmond, Oregon - Day 1

The next several blogs will chronicle my trip from Chicago to the BMW MOA International Rally in Redmond, Oregon.

Total miles = 551

Sandra and I left Chicago at 5:30 a.m. We met Jonny in Galena for breakfast and then took off for our adventure around 10 am. We traveled west on U.S. 20 the entire day. Our goal was to reach Valentine, Nebraska. We did make it to Nebraska, but only to Osmond. Our ride was uneventful until Sandra got a flat tire in Waterloo, Iowa.



She handled it well and pulled over slowly and calmly. A nice man from the Iowa Department of Transportation pulled his truck behind us to protect us, while Jonny plugged Sandra's tire.



We had enough CO2 cannisters to get her to Weber's Cycle in Waterloo, where she had a new tire put on.





We rode to Sac City, Iowa next where we saw the largest popcorn ball in the world! For some more information on Sac City and the Largest Popcorn Ball, here. There was also a little fake town that had some interesting historic artifacts inside.

We were on our way again and stopped in Belden, Nebraska to find a hotel. We weren't having any luck on our own. Luckily, a nice couple stopped and told us about a new motel 20 miles up the road. Yay! We stayed at the Hill Street Inn in Osmond, NE. Quite nice! We made it just as darkness was setting in...

4 comments:

Henry W said...

You should have an electric compressor with you. CO2 cartridges are not reliable enough to fill a tire hundreds of miles from nowhere. You lucked out this time. Buy one at the rally and make it part of your travel kit.

Merle Giles said...

Denise - just 2 weeks ago I rode to Valentine NE along SR 12, leaving the Bohemian Alps rally (posted in BMW-ON) and initially following the Lewis & Clark trail along the Missouri river. Fascinating country. I went south from Valentine on US 83 through sand dunes and marshland - seemingly odd for a mid-continent state. I ultimately returned to Champaign IL in time to qualify for a Saddlesore 100 Iron Butt ride.

Best of luck on your continued ride west!!

-Merle

Kelly Polark said...

Wow! The largest popcorn ball!

Denise said...

Henry, we had a compressor, but it only works on Jonny's bike. Any guidance on how to get them to work on all BMWs would be greatly appreciated!
Merle, very cool. Our paths almost crossed! Congrats on qualifying.