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It seems to be a constant, the closer a population center is to large bodies of water, the faster, more reckless are the drivers. Cases in point: Boston, San Francisco, New York City - really bad drivers. In this case the Great Lakes make themselves known to the astute motorcycle rider by causing vehicular insanity in those you are sharing the road with.
I got up reasonably early and was on the road by 9 am. The highways around Chicago are packed and traffic varies in speed from stopped to 90 mph in the space of just a few car lengths. I was very alert driving on 90 and especially 294 and 94 as traffic was simply flying along at 80 mph riding very close together on the patchwork of concrete and grooved pavement that passes for highway out there. Thankfully this was all pretty uneventful, though pretty instructive. Watch those blind spots, god knows you're the only one doing so. The adrenaline took over at some point and I was enjoying the feeling of blasting by Chicago once again. This was my 3rd time driving by and not stopping in Chicago. Someday...
I eventually made it past Chicago and started looking for a smaller highway. I eventually turned onto route 20; a route I'd taken years earlier. This was better. More rural and a bit slower. Besides taking a wrong turn and ending up in Michigan the only interesting thing that happened that day was the cute blonde on her Harley who pulled up along side me and gave me a good look over before speeding off, and I do mean speeding, she must've been doing 90 in a 55 zone when she dissapeared around a corner ahead of me.
I rode all day, from Illinois, through Indiana and most of the way through Ohio before I stopped for the night. I didn't write down where I spent the night and now, 2.5 months later, I don't remember. Overall a pretty unremarkable day. Of course a day like this is like the fishermans bumper sticker that reads "A bad days fishing beats a good day at work", or something like that. |
