Down to Memory Lane- Minneapolis to Badlands 30th of May-5th of June 2021

I was about to finish my Lake Huron tour with a nice town called Mackinaw city where you cross a bridge up north so that you can pass the strait between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, I was a bit dumbstruck by the local tourists. The city was fully packed and my plans to have a nice breakfast were thrown to the lake so to speak. I wasn`t going to have a cup of coffee at a fast-food so I have crossed the bridge only ending up with another fast food shop, unfortunately so local tourists spillover effect. Due to covid, no seating inside was available so I had to sat on the roadside tarmac and finally done with my energy (ridiculous amount) intake and hit the road again. My scenery of ‘Lake’ just changed from right to left side. The geography is absolutely breathtaking. As much as I have enjoyed Michigan even when I was riding on the highway to gain some mileage, I have got bored riding in the Land of Cheese, Wisconsin. I have to admit I did like the fried cheese.

Slowly but surely, I was approaching my memory lane. I’ve worked at Cargill Inc., Minneapolis back in 1999-2000. During my time, we traveled up and down the state to do some sightseeing. One of the places we visited was Taylor’s Fall and I was there just in time for coffee. At the state park’s gate, I saw myself, housewives, and kids strolling on the banks of the river and taking pictures. Time really passes quickly. I have scooped up extra energy (dessert) with my coffee as if I needed it and start riding again. It was unusually hot weather and riding with all the riding gear did not help either. By the late evening, I was at my hotel checking in. I have chosen a hotel near Eden Prairie where we lived for almost 2 years. I just couldn’t wait the next day to visit our small townhouse.

Our house at Eden Prairie

As I was riding to Round Lake, after 20 years Eden Prairie became greener than ever. Flash of memories was coming and going as I was glancing at the GPS so that I don’t lose the route. The bombing of the Twin Towers while we were building houses for homeless and poor people downtown, wildlife around our house, the first night when we jumped out of our beds when the train passed for the first time. Freaking cold and winter that last till the beginning of June and red cheeks of my kids when they play outside in that cold weather, go Vikings!, Timberwolves, etc. We did enjoy and adopted our state in a short time. I was in disbelief when I saw the protests and racism and all that was happening in my old town in 2020. This cannot be our state as I was murmuring when I was watching the TV in my home in Boston. So I had this mixed feeling as I was approaching Round Lake.

Round Lake

Humans generally tend to be conservative and look for similar and unchanged surroundings and situations or lifestyles in short. When I was strolling around the lake, I was happy and flooded with memories. I remembered the tours that I’ve made with my son when he was 5 years old, eating pizza at the bank and all that Canadian goose shit that you cannot avoid stepping on.

Our house was the same color, almost identical to 20 years back facade. I quickly took pictures so that there will be no false alarms from neighbors and went back to my hotel to pack. It was time to continue my journey. I was happy to see my old town again. In the morning I hit the road again for Sioux Falls. My next destination was the Badland National Park. I have been to South Dakota 2-3 times but missed the park, so I was eager to see it. Riding to Sioux Falls was ok not exciting. As always I didn’t plan for my stay earlier so I used Air b&b app for a room. At the last minute, the owner of the room canceled on me as I was standing at the door. After cursing and looking for a reasonable hotel, I have managed to book one. I liked the city as I rode downtown. In town, there was almost an art sculpture on every street. Yes, definitely I liked this place, promised myself to spend more time but next time. The second day was incredibly boring, I was riding like a straight arrow to the west, no winding roads, nothing. I wish I had Dixie Chicks’ song ‘Wide open spaces in my telephone, perfect song for the road. The joy of the day was the camping site near Missouri River: Snake Creek Recreation Area. It was almost decades that I didn’t swim in a river. It was so refreshing especially due to unusually hot weather. After a refreshing swim, I started to prepare some food and drink for dinner. Next to me in a motorcaravan, a gentleman in his late 50’s started to playing his guitar. Hallelujah was the song. What can I ask for more? A nice scenery, dinner, music and accompany. Without his permission, I refrain from giving his name but he introduced himself and quickly we became friends and talked for hours literally. We did have breakfast together and went our opposite ways. He was concerned with my broken leg so, throughout my journey, he always checked on me if I was all right. When I see people like him, I am filled with joy and optimism about humanity. All during the night, there were incredible gusty winds and couldn’t manage to sleep. I put up the tent right under a tree because that is the place reserved for me and I was afraid that either Leeloo was going to fall and/or the branch that was hanging right on top of me was going to break. Somehow with 2-3 hours of sleep, I have managed to make it to the morning.

Time to ride again…

Minneapolis to Sioux Falls Ride

Sioux Falls to Missouri River Snake Creek Recreation Area

Lake Huron 25th-29th of May 2021

After a lazy morning at the camp of Rustic Knolls, I had a nice coffee at the Mt. Vernon and hit the road again. My plan is to arrive Bay City Michigan near the Lake Huron. When you look at the map, to cross USA from East to West starting from Baltimore is to go through St.Louis and head up North for South Dakota or just go up and than ride across in a line. For a long time I wanted to see the Lake Huron from the comic books of Capitan Miki (Tom Miks in Turkish) and his friends. Capitan Miki could be a stranger to an American reader. Capitan Miki (Tom Miks) was created by Italians in 1951 and Turkish version started in 1956 in Turkey as Captain Tom Miks. This young dude has two dear friends Doctor and a drunken guy and also a blondie lover of Tom Miks. The events are happening at the beg of 19th century USA, close to wild frontier of newly established US states. I believe Louisina purchase didn’t happen yet. In one of the book and episode, Ranger Captain Tom Miks is fighting with the help of Indians against French near the French Fort next to Lake Huron. It must the northern part. The name Lake Huron strike me while I was reading because I was fascinated by the Indians and their culture and the drawings near the Lake Huron was so spectacular that HURON name stuck on my mind. So when the opportunity showed itself, I wanted to see the lakes and Huron with my own eyes while riding. So early in my project I’ve turned north.

My ride to Bay City went w/o hassle and problem. The weather was beautiful except strong and gusty side winds that I had to fight. I was going to face the worst gusty winds yet but I didn’t know that yet. After comforting myself at the hotel, late in the night there was a storm leaving lots of rain and thunderstorms. I was lucky that I didn’t have to ride in it. Next day was cool but sunny. I had chores to do: wash my Leeloo, wash my cloths and upload videos and photos for my son to edit them. After staying two days, I started to ride again. I examined the map closely and chosen the roads that went close and parallel to Lake Huron. There were couple of state parks near the Lake and I had every intention to look at them.

As I was closing to Alpena town, there was a state park called Negwegon so naturally I went in. The road to state park was gravel road which I have managed easily no problem there. When I came to the Lake Huron, stopped, walked to the beach and started riding back to get out the state park. I couldn’t get out the way I came in, there was another road about 5,5 miles an exit road called sandy hill road. The road started as gravel than turned to sandy one. I have managed to ride 2.5 miles with no problem but I wanted to change the lane as sand dunes were getting bigger and changed I did. 100 feet later, I’ve lost the front wheel control and dropped the bike on my right with my foot stuck underneath it. I was rookie at the off road especially on the sand and mud. I had dropped the bike many times but most of them was on my left so I had to experience of saving myself when I dropped the bike on the left. The right was tricky.

Right there. I was kissing the sand and dirt on the road, my foot stuck with pain. I have to admit I have panicked at first. I was frantically trying set my foot free with no success. Than I started to try to lift 550 pound with no success, of course. I started to dig and take out the sand underneath my foot, again with no success. There was nobody around and I literally blew the horn for couple of minutes. Than I remembered to call 911. I have described my position and my condition. After I shut the phone, a young man with his truck appeared. He immediately tried to help me. Somehow he managed to lift the bike a little bit and that was enough to free my foot. As I was trying to stand on my feet, policeman arrived. After 3-5 minutes, ambulance arrived. I had first aid trainings so I by moving my right foot and trying to stand on it to understand the condition I am in, I knew that I broke my ankle.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank 911, policeman, ambulance paramedic personnel, Alpena hospital ER doctors, nurses and the young friend with truck who helped me.

After I waited for an hour at the ER, They took x ray of my foot and after waiting for another hour, Doctor said I have broken my Fibula bone but not dislocated fracture, a smooth one. She said she can talk to Orthopedician to have a surgery to put some screws to the fracture, I rejected the idea immediately. I wanted to ride on. She said “ You are very brave”, I know that meant you are stupid but hey!. She talked to ortopedician and they let me ride but cautioned that after 2 weeks I have to check with doctor again and gave me shoe like inflated cast.

To rest for a while I have checked into a hotel and decided to stay in Alpena for 2-3 days. Meanwhile my Leeloo was taken to a garage by towing company, 10 miles far away.

I wanted to keep on riding for two reasons. After the accident, I had uneasiness, a feel that needed to be overcome and I wanted and plan this ride project for so long, I can’t turn back at the 4th or 5th day, I had just started it. Next day, I went to pick up my bike. I checked everything, nothing happened to the bike thanks to crash bars and soft sand. I was nervous to ride with right foot in the cast. I couldn’t use the rear brake so I had to rely on the front brake and the engine brake. Thank to God everything went smoothly and get back to hotel with no problem.

2 days later, I was on the bike to complete my Huron route. After comics, now I had a new memory of my first accident with Leeloo. Well, it was bound to happen I guess so it happened. I took it in and go on.

Tall Oaks ( Penn) To Rustic Knolls (Ohio) Campsite 24th May 2021

By the time I woke up and tried to dry the tent, have breakfast, already it was 10 o’clock am in the morning. Thanks to weather, it was a wonderful day with full sunshine. I left the camp w/o seeing anyone. After passing through Appalachian Mountains, the great plains from East (I guess) started, one farmland after another connected with small towns. It was nice to ride through the farmlands and occasionally stop to have a coffee. Honda Africa Twin with Rally style stock cushion is real pain in the butt. Meanwhile I’ve lost the cushion I bought during my stand ups while I am riding for circulation. It just blew away and had to go back to find out with no luck.

I had a long drive ahead of me, 212 miles to be exact. I am always fascinated by Amish people defying technology and living a simple life. I saw a lot of them minding their own business and attending them with their carriages. I also noticed that people are mowing a lot, I mean a lot. Now I understand the sales of engined mowing machine sales in the USA.

I have also noticed people still hang presidential election posters etc. Trump seems to be winner out in the rural areas by far unless democrats were shy to keep the posters hanging.

Without any incident, I passed the imaginary state line to Ohio and clouds were gathering. Especially there was a big one and I was heading into it. ‘God please don’t let it rain until I pass this one’ was the thinking that crossed my mind. But hey! everybody has a different plan. Somewhere around Steubenville, it started rain so hard, I can’t see through the helmet. I didn’t have time to wear my rain gear and especially my pant was soaked already. Than came the hail, like bullets to my helmet, ta-ta-ta-ta…If this continues I will be miserable I thought to myself. I couldn’t gain speed due to potential water panning on the asphalt road so I had to hold on, keep riding and pass this big cloud and it did. The rest of the ride was under the sun and I dried quickly.

Rustic Knolls campsite near Mt. Vernon Ohio was a great treat with decent price. Showers, electricity, toilets, a small pond to swim in short everything that you can spend enjoyable time was available. It was a blessing.

From Tenere 700 to Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports

While I was practicing riding with my Salem, BMW 310 gs, in the USA, I have noticed that especially when it is loaded with one person like me, 94 kg and 40-45 kg additional luggage does slow down the bike. At one time, we were going for a camp and caving single rope practice, Salem was fully loaded and couldn’t climb on asphalt road with 42 horsepower, I had to lower gear to gain speed. This gave me the impression that horsepower is not enough for a big guy like me.

So I start looking for a medium-sized adventure motorcycle. Yamaha was introducing Tenere 700 into the USA market. I kind of like the bike: Good horsepower, not too heavy, good looking, and simple, no electronics. I was especially skeptical about the last one, electronics. I was also against too much electronics because out in the Mongolian desert, if it breaks down due to electronics there is no way I can or the local mechanic can fix that problem. On the other hand, apart from ABS, no electronics are also seemed to be giving away from comfort, to be honest. Even for adventure (traveling the world) riding most of the roads we take are asphalt and very little gravel or dirt. But, before going to Turkey, I have made up my mind after my Salem, BMW 310 gs, I was going to buy Yamaha Tenere.

Honda Africa Twin 2019 Adventure Sports

While I was on the expedition to Taseli Plateau, there was no telephone connection. We had to climb to the top of the mountain just to get a signal from one of the communication towers. One day, I climbed to talk with my family and organize the logistics for coming cavers. Canan, my wife, told me that our neighbor accidentally pushes on the gas pedal instead of the brake pedal and rammed into the garage and also to my Salem. Thank god nothing happened to my neighbor but my bike was totally scrapped. After deliberations with the insurance company, I have got paid back. In the end, I wasn’t worried too much and started to look for a new bike as soon as I returned to Boston.

Yamaha Tenere 700s price was 10 K USD and no discounts due to new introduction to US market. I noticed in one of the motorcycle shopping apps, 2019 brand new Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports. They were trying to get rid of the old models and clear the stock. The price was 10.8 K USD. Granted it was a heavy bike but the same weight as Benelli so I have already got used to riding one. The gasoline tank was bigger, bigger pegs, more or less I was going to spend almost the same amount of money for crash bars and other accessories, 1000 cc vs 700 cc, 20-25 more horse-power and not too much electronics like BMW 1250 gs but enough for me to be more comfortable on the long rides. I switched to Honda also I believe Honda has more worldwide services.

MY WIFE NAMED THE BIKE AS LEELOO!, AS I REALLY LIKE MILLA JOVOVICH, THE FILM “5TH ELEMENT”

Crash bars, and low gravity luggage system is a must..

Riding with Benelli TRK 502 in Turkey III

This photo was taken back in 1990’s when there was no DAM on Göksu river.

One of my favorite roads to take is the route from Anamur to Ermenek city and from there to Taşkent, to Konya. For motorcycle riding, it is a very scenic and winding route. And I entered this route from the middle of the Anamur-Ermenek route. I brushed the dust with my hand, drank water from the fountain. I was relaxed after almost 40 km of gravel road. I hit the road. As I passed between mountains, the scenery was breathtaking. In the old days, this road would go all the way down to the Göksu river. It used to derive its name from its turquoise color. Now, you descend to a man-made dam which also has very good scenery but I always prefer the natural one. I stopped at Zeyve a small town on the southern part of the dam for food and rest. Under the very old sycamore trees and the man-made flowing cascade, I treated myself with kebab and salad and rest in the shadow for an hour. I had to ride another hour to reach Ermenek where I was going to stay for the night. I hit the road again on a summer hot day and followed the contour of the dam and finally reached Ermenek. In Ermenek I stayed for one more day, I was tired and wanted to enjoy the day. Of course, I took care of the bike, washed and chain lubed, it was ready. Early in the second morning, I started to ride the winding road to Taşkent. Taşkent has its name suggests, Stonecity is situated between the mountains with high cliffs surrounding the city. A coffee break and hit the rid road again. I had no intention to stay a night in Konya city but instead, my intention is to overnight close to Ankara. After having dinner in Konya, the road from Konya to Ankara was flat and boring, I only enjoyed the sunset over the fields that was it. It was night and busy road mainly connecting traffic from Konya and Adana from south to Ankara and beyond. Finally, around 10 o’clock at night, I was able to throw myself into a very nice hotel near Gölbaşı, Ankara. I had no intention to enter the heart of the Capital due to the Covid pandemic. I was exhausted and decided to leave the hotel a bit late around 12:00 pm so that I can enjoy a long breakfast and some rest. I hit the road as I planned and start riding. Normally, with a car, you can reach Istanbul in 3,5 to 4 hours but it took me around 7 hours because of heavy traffic and a lot of concentration, I stopped almost every 1 or 1,5 hours for 15 to 20 minutes to rest and drink coffee.

I was at home around 7 o’clock and my longest and most experiences gained trip was over.

I thank my friend Alparslan Küçük, man with the sunglasses on the right, for lending me his motorcycle in Turkey.

Riding Off-road / Taşeli Plateau / Benelli TRK 502 in Turkey Part II

Taşeli, Land/Home Of The Stones in Turkish. It is a limestone plateau at around 2,000 (6,000 feet plus) meters altitude. After 700 meters altitude, the road is not asphalt anymore but a dusty gravel one.

After everything is organized together with two trucks, thanks to Anamur Municipality and Department Of National Parks, we start our journey at around 4 pm from Anamur to Taşeli. I was riding w/o the luggage but this time, Elena Terekha, a Ukrainian caver to be who lives and works in Antalya joined me as my passenger. A total extra 45 kg. She wasn’t that heavy. Somewhere between high in the mountains, guys realized that we have forgotten caving technical equipment at the depot of the inter-city bus garage. It was already dark but we had no choice to one truck to go back and take it. So we have waited at the side of the road in the dark, watching stars and listening to music. About two three hours later, they arrived and we start climbing again.

At the back of my mind, I wasn’t easy and kind on the edge. Because of A. I have never ridden off-road and in Taşeli, there is smooth but 2 inches of dust gravel to full of baby head gravel to torrential water-washed with deep cuts roads. B. I was going to ride on street tires like 80/20 maybe even 90/10. No traction! C. I was supposed to ride off-road at night! D. I was supposed to ride off-road which Zig-Zagged with sharp turns and climb almost gaining 800-900 meters elevation. That is a lot to intake but what can I do but ride it through.

Before coming to the famous zig-zagged road climb, there were a couple of sharp turns on the soft gravel road and of course, twice I dropped the bike at the turns. I was surprised that when you steer the front wheel, the headlamp doesn’t turn with the wheel! So I could not see where I was going or what was on the road. Somehow, my passenger Elena was ok twice. When we reach the famous zig-zagged road, the municipality dumped soft sand, the reasons were beyond me, and of course, I dropped the bike a third time. Shit! This time, we transferred Elena to one of the trucks. I was kind of relieved not to have the responsibility for the passenger. Somehow after a small relief and being by myself, I was able to climb the rest of the zig-zagged road and reached the highest point of the plateau. I couldn’t switch to third gear at all.

After reaching the plateau, we still had 14-16 kilometers to reach the campsite. For a long time, ca 12 km, the gravel road now had sharp rocks popping up and pebble-like stones. Somehow, I have managed to ride about 12 km with no problems but I was hardly managing to control the tires, no grip no traction! The last 2-3 km were left to the campsite and this part was the gnarliest of all the routes. Baby heads, washouts, big rocks protruding on the road which I couldn’t dare to ride, and I was exhausted because it was about 2 o’clock in the morning and I was done. I parked the bike near the road and hopped on one of the trucks and finished the route by 4*4.

I have stayed almost a month to explore Morca cave system but that is another story to tell. During my stay, I went down to Anamur twice. At the first one, we climbed to the plateau from the eastern part of it. It is paved asphalt to the last small village up on the mountain and gravel road of every kind. This time up to the village, Büşra Karatay was my passenger. I was gaining a lot of experience and confidence to carry passengers but not on the gravel road yet. I was alone and this time, I have never dropped the bike until where I parked it. I gained my courage to carry on the washouts and baby head gravel and continued for about 3 km and dropped the bike again while mildly climbing due to losing control of the front wheel to a lot of baby heads and sunset was right in my eyes, I couldn’t see the road clearly. God damn! the bike was so heavy, I didn’t bother to lift it and wait for help from the cavers coming 20 minutes behind me. I did however clean up the road from baby heads as much as possible while I waited. With the help, I rode about another 400 meters or so but I had to stop at the top of the cliff because I did lose my courage and energy to focus to take the bike down the deep washout part of the road, it seemed the hardest part. I left the bike at the top and walked to the campsite which was very close by. Third time when I rode down to Anamur and up back to Taşeli, this time I was with the passenger all the way, Alper Utku. He was a 90 kg passenger. Seldomly I switched to third gear but other than that it was all first or second gear. Especially going down on the famous zig-zagged gravel road was a hair pinning experience. While he was videoing, I was fully concentrated not to drop the bike, and did I not! The ride was smooth, with no problem whatsoever.

After the expedition finished, I decided to leave the plateau from the northeastern side. I had almost 40 km of gravel road and it has been almost more than 20 years that I didn’t use this road. With luggage, full concentration, and alas I stopped for directions and just started to roll again due to baby head popped out from the road and higher center gravity of the heavy load, I dropped the bike. And lastly, damn dogs! I fell again and dropped the bike. Finally, I was out of the neck of the woods so to say. I stopped at a fountain near the confluence of asphalt main road to Ermenek city and the gravel road that I came, I was covered with dust.

This was my first off-road experience and it was full of hair rising incidences, full of anxiety but also confidence gain.

Büşra Karatay and Alper Utku

How Did I Choose My Bike?

As I had my driving license in November 2019, winter was ahead and I had a long time to discover what kind of motorcycle I would enjoy. To find out that the first question I asked myself was

• What will I start riding? What will be my purpose?

The answer was clear for me: Long rides to see different places, countries for long durations, and willing to go off-road when I needed to. So I started to watch a lot of YouTubers and most of them inspired me to take likely motorcycle adventure of mine further. The answer to my first question became clear. Adventure bike that can go on and off-road. Then I had to answer the second question in my mind.

• Should I begin with a small/medium or a bigger bike?

When I ask my friends who are riding a motorcycle for long years said to start with a big engine, a big bike like BMW 1200 GS. However, most of the YouTubers who crossed many countries and have done long mileage were emphasizing a small to medium size bike is all you need. During my training, I never fall from the bike (Suzuki, classic looking one) but the idea of a big bike with close to 600 pounds (with luggage, etc) kind of intimidated me. So I decided to go for a smaller bike.

• Budget? Price?

The third question was the price of the bike. I was a Rookie Rider and anticipated that I will fall from the bike many times so I didn`t want to buy an expensive bike, heck! maybe a second-hand one until I became more comfortable with riding.

By 2019, the new BMW 310 GS was launched in the USA. It was manufactured in India so it was relatively cheap by BMW standards but with the high production quality of BMW so I found a BMW dealer in Boston and hopped on one of them. It was an adventure-type motorcycle, 400-425 pounds, lightweight with 46 horsepower, a brand new motorcycle a BMW, and relatively cheap compared to second-hand ones.

All criteria were fulfilled. I waited patiently thru the wintertime and watched more youtube videos on extra accessories, garments, helmets, etc. Those videos helped me a lot. I have installed the accessories (crash bars, skid plate, radiator protector, etc.) during February and march and finally, spring showed itself in Boston. So I have got the opportunity to practice my riding more and more. Until summertime when I had to fly back to Turkey for Caving Expedition that I was organizing, I have ridden close to 1200 miles. My ride was mainly in the vicinity of Boston and in the city which was great for muscle memory. You have to stop at the light, switch gears back and forth, use the clutch and throttle, brake, stall, start riding again at the green light. I have also carried luggage one time for camping and had to ride in a severe thunderstorm too. Overall it was good practice.

When I flew to Turkey for caving, I didn`t know that it was the LAST time I was going to see my BMW 310 GS, SALEM. My daughter had named it SALEM.