MITM 2015 – Day 1

The first day of the first long road trip on the Road Glide, up to Illinois for MITM 2015, started off well. I got rolling at around 9:30 AM, and headed north on 121, on my way to Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Missouri. I left late enough to miss most of the morning rush hour traffic, but early enough to got out of the city before the heat built.

With The British History Podcast playing, I cruised up the tollway and on to US-75 north in to Oklahoma. I stopped for lunch and fuel in McAlester, OK, taking my time to cool down and rehydrate before getting back on the road. I had a nice chat with a guy who rides a Yamaha trike. I guess Road Glides aren’t seen all that much, because he didn’t know what it was. We talked bikes for a few, then I headed inside to get lunch.

I rode a little further up US-75, then on to US-69 north, making my way over to I-40 east in to Arkansas. After a stop to rehydrate and cool down, I was rolling again and made it in to Arkansas. At Fort Smith, I got on I-49 north and headed for Fayetteville, with a gas and hydration stop just outside of town. From there, I bushwhacked over to US-412, heading for Alpena. US-412 is a great ride, with nice sweepers and a few higher speed twisties, though nothing challenging like The Dragon. I merged on to US-62, then took US-65 north to Ozarka, MO, which is my stopping point for this leg of the ride.

I put a total of 466 miles on the bike today, and it’s definitely living up to my expectations. That’s not to say that there aren’t things I’m going to change, because there are. First off, I need a taller windshield. It does a great job of creating a pocket of calm air, but I’m just tall enough that it hits the top two inches of my helmet. And the stock seat, while adequate, will have to be replaced with something that offers a little more long distance comfort. I’m also going to add a rider backrest, also for more long distance comfort.