4/25/09 Snake Alley run

The plan of the day was to run out to Burlington IA and check out Snake Alley and eat at Big Muddys for lunch. The Route was all of Rt 34 out of yorkville Il and run it to the Mississippi and mileage for me is a total of 440.
Weather was not going to be perfect but the chance of rain for the morning was 30% and later to go up to 60%. As luck had it we were only 10 miles out of yorkville and we got wet. Turned around and had a little breakfast and more coffee.
After about a hour we headed out and found the weather was giving us a little break and we took off . All the way out to Burlington the weather was odd. You couldn't figure if it was going to rain or get sunny or both!!


I can't remember the last time I saw a Sinclairs gas station in Illinois. The pumps were so old they still have rolling numbers, how does the EPA let them still use these!!



We Found Big Muddys right under the RT34 bridge. Nice big place and food was average but it looks like it would be a rocking place to party. Super long bar and a really big room for live bands and dancing. Also a full view of the Mississippi, can't beat that..


This one of my bad pic's of snake alley. I should of done a top shot to of captured the full effect of how steep and twisty it is..
For me on my small bike I just put it in neutral and dragged the rear brake all the way down. I don't know if I would of went down on the Ninja but my buddy took his down with no problem.
It's the bricks that always make my a little nervous, especially if there wet!! On snake Alley the bricks are placed on edge and on about a 70 degree angle. The was to give horses grip while going up and down.
It was a pretty cool road and the houses were very nice all around the Alley. I'd like to go back just to shoot some homes and a little of the river front..



The ride home was pretty wild with the weather AGAIN!! We hit way more wet roads and light rain. At one point the sun came out for twenty or so miles and I thought that would be the perfect way to end the days ride after all the spotty weather.
About the Time I hit Newark IL on RT71 the evil clouds were back and lightning was bouncing off the ground. A huge front was in front of me and I was chasing it at a angle. I never got wet but I knew my buddy Jim was in the middle of it on his goldwing. He split off from me farther back since he lives farther north of me.
He called me later that night to tell me it was hell riding in that last storm. Super cold and ton's of rain. I felt pretty bad for him since I got off dry, but I did run smack into the cold front. The temps all day were in the 70 degree range and when I came to the cold front it went down to 47 Degrees. It changed so fast my gages on the bike fogged up for ten minutes. You gotta love heated grips!! :)

Overall a pretty long day and a lot of butt time. It was a experience!!