Calhoun County, Illinois

I discovered the Ozarks of Illinois!

Just across the Mississippi River from St. Charles County, Missouri, via the Golden Eagle Ferry, lies Calhoun County, Illinois. Unlike much of Illinois, this place is hilly and full of twisty roads.

I didn't crop the road surface out of the above photo so you can see what a rural Illinois road looks like. It's gravel and oil. The nicest ones are compressed with a roller. The cheap way is to just let the traffic compress it. The surface is as smooth as asphalt but tougher.

 Above is a museum piece that sits outside a tourist trap. It's a Cushman; the original motor scooter.

Here's a shot of the ferry ride back to Missouri. This was a much nicer ferry ride than the one at Grafton. And the roads were hilly and twisty and Harley free. The only other bike I saw was a sport bike that was getting off the ferry before I first got on. The roads from Golden Eagle to Brussels, IL are better suited to a Bonneville than to a sport bike. And don't even take your Gold Wing over there. You might fall down.

It was a beautiful day and a great ride. I'll be back when the leaves change.

Grafton Ferry

I rode a ferry for the first time yesterday. It was OK.

Grafton, Illinois is cute, tiny and overrun with noisy Harleys. Harley riders love the Great River Road (Hwy 100) because it's flat, wide and has mild curves. I was on 100 for less than two hours and saw around 200 Harleys. I also rode a winding hilly road through Pere Marquette Park, on which I saw zero Harleys.

I had lunch outside on the main strip in Grafton and it was like a Harley parade. Once in awhile a big bike would purr quietly by... Gold Wings, of course. There were a few sport bikes mixed in with the groups of Harleys.

The time I spent on 100 quickly became boring. The scenery is nice but repetitive. The first eagle you see is exciting, but a dozen eagles later the thrill wears off.

One fellow traveller endorsed the Golden Eagle Ferry over the Grafton Ferry. It leads to a hilly section of Illinois between the Illinois River and the Mississippi River. I'll be making that trip soon.

I took a lot of photos during the Grafton trip but none of them are very interesting. I include only one so-so ferry shot:

A Nun is Born

I have named my 2008 Triumph Bonneville T100.

1. The bike is black and white and chrome all over.
2. I refer to my Sunday morning rides as "going to church."
3. I have loved Grace Slick since I first heard her sing.

Therefore I have christened my beloved motorcycle...
The Chrome Nun.

For those of you who are not classic rock geezers like me, "The Chrome Nun" was one of Grace Slick's nicknames and once featured in an album title: Baron Von Tollbooth and the Chrome Nun. I grew up with the Jeffersons (Airplane, Starship, etc.) and have always considered Grace the first lady of rock.

The new monikker suits my T to a T. She's respectable in a disreputable way and she's entirely capable of being unladylike.

And to continue the theme, my next bike will be The Penguin, a euphemism for a nun popularized by The Blues Brothers movie.

The Penguin will be a black Ural Patrol 2-wheel-drive sidecar bike. I'll paint the belly of the sidecar white, like the belly of a penguin. And I'll paint two small white circles on either side of the fuel tank to resemble penguin eyes.

The Penguin will be my winter bike. 2WD Urals do great in the snow and their high-amperage alternators can power electrically-heated riding gear from head to toe.

I won't be able to afford The Penguin for a few years but I'm publishing the idea now to stake my claim on it. I won't have a major cow if someone copies the idea, so long as I'm not accused of copying them.

I'm 56 now. I intend to have my Penguin by the time I'm 60. In the meantime, I'll ride the wheels off The Nun.