Three weeks ago I set out on a trip from Chicagoland to the Wisconsin State Border by Mississippi river where the TWAT starts. This was my first camping multi day trip on off-roads.
I had about 1900 miles on the odometer and finished at 3424 when I got back to Chicago, ~600 were on the trail while the rest of it was on pure roads. This was 10-12hrs daily in the saddle for 6 days straight, all on stock tires, saddle but I'm a cyclist so used to the riding. My average speed for the whole ride was not impressive due to all the luggage and bike speed but it was still fun as heck. I am planning on repeating this ride when the fall colors hit. This was a pure blast and joy all week.
This was my route. I did not track the first section from Chicago to the start of the trail. The trail is marked with all the waypoints and the blue section is the way back home on roads. I used Gaia GPS app to record. I had issues with power connection on my Garmin, something to work on for next trip.
I had no issues whatsoever with the CT125 other than chain getting a bit dirty/rusty from the trail and riding 50+Mph on roads for the next 3 days which is not the same as a clean chain.
Day 1:
Started around 4pm going towards Galena IL. I went mostly the scenic farm route so it took me a while to get to Galena. I arrived at around 9pm and with luck got a quick campsite to get me over to the next morning. This was my first night camping with the bike and a new tent so it took me a while to setup at night.
After first night, this is where the bike was still clean
Day 2:
Did not get started until maybe 10am. I reached the WI border shortly after and rode the first section of WI farm roads towards the Wisconsin River. This is where the first off road and forest sections begin. There is not a lot of them but it got my feet wet on something other than pavement. I started off very slowly but after a while I think I kept a good pace with this bike.
The first uphill tricky section was actually in a forested area on the Iowa side, this is also where I met the only other rider that was doing the TWAT along the whole route. He was on a Africa Twin so slightly larger than what I had. Since this was his 2nd or 3rd route ride he told me about this next lookout over the Mississippi river.
Had quite few deer jump in front or just run along until jumping over fences or into the forest.
Lansing IA overlook.
Bridge below that crosses back into WI side.
After finally getting to a campsite past 9pm again, setup a the tent in no time and fell asleep.
Day 3:
Set off @8AM this time much earlier than usual. After riding for a couple of hours through the scenic farm roads and towns in the Wisconsin driftless area, I finally reached the Wildcat Mountain Park.
Very nice area with some winding road sections that were fantastic to ride.
After a few more hours of Amish country ( I saw barn building on one of the gravel roads) I reached the Black river forest area, this is where the forest riding really starts. Just miles and miles of woods.
This is where there are a couple of deep sand sections, I accidently turned the wrong way and had to go through a couple of miles of sand then reroute back to the trail. Very different from all other riding on this bike, got me tired more than anything and worried more that I lost speed/time which extended my riding time for the day.
Nice little stop in the middle of the woods a bit north of Hatfield WI
Rode a couple more hours until the forest off-roads ended and straight farm roads started until Thorpe WI. The plan was to reach the forest section and camp but I was nowhere close so I had to ride couple more miles and get a last minute motel. This worked out well since I got to recharge my electronics and transfer video footage etc but did not get much sleep.
Day 4:
Started off at 7AM in the small town and headed north toward the Perkins town section when the fun forest roads and trails start. This is the day where its basically all forest, the best day of them all.
Miles and miles of these and not a thing in sight. Only thing on my mind was no flats, no falls and no mechanicals. CT125 performed without a flaw.
Later on during the northern section of the route there was a brief rain that sorta made for interesting ride for a couple hours as I got a bit cold with the wind but it cleared up and started being nice again around 3pm.
Stopping in the middle of a forest on a paved bridge to dry off.
I did not stop by the famous Diner before the end of the trail as it closes at 2pm and I was nowhere close to it. It took me a couple of hours to go through the last section of the trail which was the best part.
I hit a part of a double wide trail that I was just flying by, well 30-40mph for a good section. Pure bliss. I did finally come up to some sand sections which slowed me down and I did not reach Cornucopia on Lake Superior up until about 7pm.
The Africa Twin rider was already up here setup with a camp site and we ate dinner at a nice restaurant outside before going back to the campsite on the lake. Had time to stop at a gas station and get some local beers to help fall asleep.
What was cool is that the rider I met on the trail could not believe I completed the whole trail on this bike. He was really surprised and I'm sure will be a nice story to repeat.
Finally before the end of the nigh, I got to watch a clear sky with all the stars next to the lake, something you don't get to see in a big city so it makes you appreciate it more.
Day 5:
Got up around 8am, my riding Africa twin buddy kept on riding towards Copper Harbor and as much as I wanted to go into the UP more, I knew I was not able to keep up on the roads and would run out of available time so I decided to go towards Green Bay instead.
Before heading out that way, I stopped by the official end point of the trail on the lake. I ate and got ice cream at a touristy bay town after leaving the lake which took me a while to get on the actual road.
Afterwards, I continued towards Green Bay but did not arrive to the city. I found another hotel in a town about 30 miles away from Green Bay, it was after 9pm. I recharged again and got ready for the last leg of the trip.
Day 6:
This was all road. I rode from Green Bay area to the northernmost point on the Door Peninsula and almost got on a Ferry to the Washington Island. I have never been on this peninsula before so this was more of an exploratory detour which will probably be on my future trips.
I headed down south along the same route as there is not a lot of slow speed friendly roads. Once I was south of Sturgeon Bay, I rode along lake Michigan and found a nice state campsite by the lake a bit North of Two Rivers WI. Highly recommended.
So lucky that I rolled into the campsite without any reservation and the it was basically full. I rode couple of miles south, got online and reserved the last open site, got into the park right as it was closing, bought 3 stacks of campfire wood.
This is the bike loaded up with the last 2 stacks of firewood that I bought at closing.
Day 7:
This was last day of riding. I basically took the scenic route Garmin recommended along the lake all the way Home. I did avoid some of it as it kept on wanting to go through the congested area in the cities that I wanted to avoid.
Did not get home until 8pm which made it for a 6th day of 10+ hrs of riding a day. Loved every day.
Cheers!
I had about 1900 miles on the odometer and finished at 3424 when I got back to Chicago, ~600 were on the trail while the rest of it was on pure roads. This was 10-12hrs daily in the saddle for 6 days straight, all on stock tires, saddle but I'm a cyclist so used to the riding. My average speed for the whole ride was not impressive due to all the luggage and bike speed but it was still fun as heck. I am planning on repeating this ride when the fall colors hit. This was a pure blast and joy all week.
This was my route. I did not track the first section from Chicago to the start of the trail. The trail is marked with all the waypoints and the blue section is the way back home on roads. I used Gaia GPS app to record. I had issues with power connection on my Garmin, something to work on for next trip.
I had no issues whatsoever with the CT125 other than chain getting a bit dirty/rusty from the trail and riding 50+Mph on roads for the next 3 days which is not the same as a clean chain.
Day 1:
Started around 4pm going towards Galena IL. I went mostly the scenic farm route so it took me a while to get to Galena. I arrived at around 9pm and with luck got a quick campsite to get me over to the next morning. This was my first night camping with the bike and a new tent so it took me a while to setup at night.
After first night, this is where the bike was still clean
Day 2:
Did not get started until maybe 10am. I reached the WI border shortly after and rode the first section of WI farm roads towards the Wisconsin River. This is where the first off road and forest sections begin. There is not a lot of them but it got my feet wet on something other than pavement. I started off very slowly but after a while I think I kept a good pace with this bike.
The first uphill tricky section was actually in a forested area on the Iowa side, this is also where I met the only other rider that was doing the TWAT along the whole route. He was on a Africa Twin so slightly larger than what I had
. Since this was his 2nd or 3rd route ride he told me about this next lookout over the Mississippi river.Had quite few deer jump in front or just run along until jumping over fences or into the forest.
Lansing IA overlook.
Bridge below that crosses back into WI side.
After finally getting to a campsite past 9pm again, setup a the tent in no time and fell asleep.
Day 3:
Set off @8AM this time much earlier than usual. After riding for a couple of hours through the scenic farm roads and towns in the Wisconsin driftless area, I finally reached the Wildcat Mountain Park.
Very nice area with some winding road sections that were fantastic to ride.
After a few more hours of Amish country ( I saw barn building on one of the gravel roads) I reached the Black river forest area, this is where the forest riding really starts. Just miles and miles of woods.
This is where there are a couple of deep sand sections, I accidently turned the wrong way and had to go through a couple of miles of sand then reroute back to the trail. Very different from all other riding on this bike, got me tired more than anything and worried more that I lost speed/time which extended my riding time for the day.
Nice little stop in the middle of the woods a bit north of Hatfield WI
Rode a couple more hours until the forest off-roads ended and straight farm roads started until Thorpe WI. The plan was to reach the forest section and camp but I was nowhere close so I had to ride couple more miles and get a last minute motel. This worked out well since I got to recharge my electronics and transfer video footage etc but did not get much sleep.
Day 4:
Started off at 7AM in the small town and headed north toward the Perkins town section when the fun forest roads and trails start. This is the day where its basically all forest, the best day of them all.
Miles and miles of these and not a thing in sight. Only thing on my mind was no flats, no falls and no mechanicals. CT125 performed without a flaw.
Later on during the northern section of the route there was a brief rain that sorta made for interesting ride for a couple hours as I got a bit cold with the wind but it cleared up and started being nice again around 3pm.
Stopping in the middle of a forest on a paved bridge to dry off.
I did not stop by the famous Diner before the end of the trail as it closes at 2pm and I was nowhere close to it. It took me a couple of hours to go through the last section of the trail which was the best part.
I hit a part of a double wide trail that I was just flying by, well 30-40mph for a good section. Pure bliss. I did finally come up to some sand sections which slowed me down and I did not reach Cornucopia on Lake Superior up until about 7pm.
The Africa Twin rider was already up here setup with a camp site and we ate dinner at a nice restaurant outside before going back to the campsite on the lake. Had time to stop at a gas station and get some local beers to help fall asleep.
What was cool is that the rider I met on the trail could not believe I completed the whole trail on this bike. He was really surprised and I'm sure will be a nice story to repeat.
Finally before the end of the nigh, I got to watch a clear sky with all the stars next to the lake, something you don't get to see in a big city so it makes you appreciate it more.
Day 5:
Got up around 8am, my riding Africa twin buddy kept on riding towards Copper Harbor and as much as I wanted to go into the UP more, I knew I was not able to keep up on the roads and would run out of available time so I decided to go towards Green Bay instead.
Before heading out that way, I stopped by the official end point of the trail on the lake. I ate and got ice cream at a touristy bay town after leaving the lake which took me a while to get on the actual road.
Afterwards, I continued towards Green Bay but did not arrive to the city. I found another hotel in a town about 30 miles away from Green Bay, it was after 9pm. I recharged again and got ready for the last leg of the trip.
Day 6:
This was all road. I rode from Green Bay area to the northernmost point on the Door Peninsula and almost got on a Ferry to the Washington Island. I have never been on this peninsula before so this was more of an exploratory detour which will probably be on my future trips.
I headed down south along the same route as there is not a lot of slow speed friendly roads. Once I was south of Sturgeon Bay, I rode along lake Michigan and found a nice state campsite by the lake a bit North of Two Rivers WI. Highly recommended.
So lucky that I rolled into the campsite without any reservation and the it was basically full. I rode couple of miles south, got online and reserved the last open site, got into the park right as it was closing, bought 3 stacks of campfire wood.
This is the bike loaded up with the last 2 stacks of firewood that I bought at closing
.Day 7:
This was last day of riding. I basically took the scenic route Garmin recommended along the lake all the way Home. I did avoid some of it as it kept on wanting to go through the congested area in the cities that I wanted to avoid.
Did not get home until 8pm which made it for a 6th day of 10+ hrs of riding a day. Loved every day.
Cheers!
