Day 4 - On the road
Today begins one of the longest driving segments of the trip. I will go from Denver, CO to Des Moines IA. This is about 680 Miles as the crow flies. The key to make a drive like this on a Harley is to break the trip into smaller pieces about 90-120 miles each - so using the 100 mile mark is a good idea.
I could have taken a slightly longer route and taken the old US highway system. That's what I did in 1985 when I returned to school riding my Suzuki GS400. That bike was a scooter shaped like a motorcycle. It could not hold 55mph or higher. Maybe downhill it could.
My 2020 Road Glide Special in contrast with its 114 cubic inch twin-V engine in contrast putters along at almost any speed I set it.
The pace of traffic in most parts of the country I have been seems to be around 5mph to 10mph over the posted speed limit, so if you see 75mph you had better be prepared to go 80 to 85 or you will have people crawling up on you.
Riding a motorcycle like this long distances is more about finding the "empty" spaces between bunches of traffic and trying to ride in the "bubble" for as long as possible. It's much safer to ride when there aren't cars and semi's crowding you on all sides.
I remember way back in the day they suggested that you leave a 2 second to 3 second space between you and the car in front of you. Well, that's gone out the window. At 90mph I see people tailgating each other, or what I call "being in your back pocket." There's zero time to react at that distance if the car in front of you does something unexpected.
In most places I've travelled however, drivers seem to realize that something really bad could happen if they smashed into a motorcycle so they always seem to give us plenty of space. But not always. Therefore, it's a better plan to just say away from the cars.
The other thing about shooting across the middle of the country, is that it is flat. There were way more trees than I expected, and sometimes I did see water. The sky's were surprisingly open. What other people might call "big sky" country. However, there was very little to no vertical change in the land. A big flat space.
Driving for hours at any speed, even a high speed like 75+ in a straight line is not nearly as exciting as it sounds. And while Harley's do vibrate - the wind will also buffet you, so eventually it becomes tiring just sitting on the bike tooling along.
The weather was perfect however, with sun but not too much heat (for an Arizona guy.) I'm a fan of cowboy sunscreen. I don't like sunscreen, it's sticky and seems to attract dirt in my opinion. So I wear long sleeves, jeans, boots, and I put a cover over my face even with my helmet on (otherwise I get this strange oval sun tan on my cheeks and nose.)
Ronnie
About halfway to Des Moines, I met Ronnie. He's a retired sheet metal worker from Illinois's who retired this year. He has spent the last two months riding around the country visiting friends. He has a 2007 Road King that looks like a Street Glide (travel trunk, hard shell bags, and a batwing fairing.). I wonder what modifications Ronnie made to his Harley because he had no trouble keeping up with his 96 cubic inch engine. In fact, I often struggled to keep up with him. Ronnie knows how to ride.
But it was fun to travel as a pair. I always felt bikes were safer riding in groups. I think they are easier for drivers to see and realize what they are looking at.
Plus there's company at gas stops and there's always things to talk about when you meet another Harley Rider. Ronnie was headed all the way back home to Rockford IL in one day - a 1,200 mile journey. Any trip over 1,000 miles in a 24 hour span is called an Iron Butt. I haven't done one yet... and after riding almost 700 in a day, I keep wondering about the wisdom of trying it.