Episode 029 - Top 5 Motorcycle Roads of Missouri - Best Motorcycle Roads - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_b_VeCXanA

Transcript:

(00:00) if your town has an equal number of bars and churches you might be in [Music] Missouri hello and welcome to best motorcycle roads I'm Tom and I'm Todd we have over 65 years of combined motorcycling experience in 30 years of planning and riding motorcycle trips we're here to share with you everything we've learned over those years our goal at best motorcycle roads is simple make your next motorcycle trip the best it can be we dive into technology planning packing roots and everything in between from essential

(00:41) prep to Unforgettable Roots we've got you covered before we Kickstart today's Journey we ask you to sign up for our BMR Rider alerts it's our way of keeping you in the loop with the latest rides tips and stories we promise no spam only the essentials to enhance your motorcycle Adventures join the BMR crew today we'll put a link in the show notes this segment about motorcycle gear reviews and tips we call the toolkit because they have so much moonshine and jugs in Missouri I figured maybe we should talk about hydration water water

(01:14) options on motorcycles um making me there's kind of three options right I mean you've got your handlebar mounts you've got your camel back style and then kind of a hybrid I guess you would say that's people have been kind of doing now is kind of a water jug with the hydration hose um you've used um you know like coffee and drink holders on the front and back for a while M and are you just using like just regular kind of insulated cups at first I used regular insulated cups but what I was Finding is

(01:52) when I would go to take a drink you know raise the the chin bar up and then I'd have to tip my head way back well then you lose sight of the road so what I've done more recently the last few trips is I've got a you know water bottle that's got you know the flip up suction tube at the top with a straw away at the bottom so all right I keep my face you know looking down the road and then I can just you know suck water up from the bottom that works a lot but it's so much safer oh good yeah the second thing is

(02:18) the hydration camel back I think is the big name brand of those but sometimes people put in their tank bag some people literally put it on their back and then sometimes they'll have it somewhere else but that's kind of the same idea the pack of water hose running to you usually like a bite valve I think to to allow you to like not let it all run out M and I think those are okay I think the biggest problem with those is they just get hot yeah cuz water sitting in the tube and just you know there's no it's

(02:48) not like it's not a cooler or anything so I think you know yes and it gets really hot in the tube and then it gets you know it's not you don't really put ice in those it's really just water yeah so um um so I think they're not terrible they're better than nothing and then kind of the thing that I've seen more and more people doing and there's a few accessories out there but they just buy kind of a regular old good siiz jug and then they'll put a hole through the cap and then they'll feed a like a hydration

(03:18) pack tube through it so you can buy the tubes separately MH um and then kind of where you're saying that the the water gets hot in the tube now what I've seen a lot of people talking about doing is they don't they leave it free flowing and then they'll just push the water from the tube back into the jug oh yeah and then just start over every time they want a want a new one just give a puff of air and kind of pushes it back that makes sense yeah so I think that's what I'm going to try um I bought a one

(03:48) gallon insulated jugun the thing is Big um and it came with a kind of a sleeve a neoprene sleeve and so what I think I'm going to do is that neoprene sleeve has some attach M on it so I think what I'm going to do is attach that to my rear seat luggage run the tube somewhere you know to be determined um and and see how that works um just as a test uh because you hate to stop and get a water bottle water bottle gets hot this H you know so I need to do a couple things is kind of test out how long does it take

(04:24) that to melt you know like do you fill it up all the way with ice halfway with ice a little bit of ice yeah those it's a pretty well insulated um thing mhm yeah at first I was thinking fill it all the way up with ice and then water would you know take up all the rest of the space you'd probably have plenty as it melts but if it's super insulated and and keeps the ice then maybe not maybe too much so yeah you know and I think when you're on a hot day there's a difference between it jiggling around on

(04:53) a motorcycle on the Melt you know the how much the ice would melt rather than just sitting in the sun right there's probably a big difference there too so exactly so you almost have to like set it outside in the sun or something um give it a little test to see but you know we talk about hydration a lot and that's one of those things that you know and I guess for me too it's it's such a I think what I end up tend to do is I do a good job in the morning I'll drink water in the morning then I'll have and

(05:19) then pretty soon you're four hours in you haven't had anything to drink and now you're getting dehydrated and you can't catch back up from that you know so fast so so we'll see ridewise is the section we focus on plan and safety tips for today's ride wise we're going to talk about uh like water because you're already talking about hydration so how much how much water do we need and you said you're bringing a gallon is this like the The Owl and the tootsie pie how many how many liters does it take to get

(05:47) to the bottom of the uh yeah so A good rule of thumb is 1 liter which is 32 o approximately uh for every hour of riding okay so you're going 10 and well you got 128 not gallons ounces both and you know you're so that'll get you what four five hours is get the water that means you're going to drink 8 ounces of water every 15 minutes I can't I mean that is a lot of water just sip it okay one constant sip of water do not stop no but either way either way yeah that's on a really hot day that's just a

(06:25) rule of thumb how much to have with you um but I would also suggest that you probably get some electrolytes with that so there's additives you can put in water to get you know those Electro electrolytes especially when you're you're sweating you're going to start depleting electrolytes so that's what plants crave true and that that only leads to like fatigue and muscle cramps right so um you know you could do like a Gatorade or you could you know add to well and I do know when we're we're

(06:53) going in late July on a big trip and it's 90s hundreds you know we're riding out west it's going to be hot so yeah I mean I think more is better yeah nothing work worse than a leg cramp on a motorcycle or a hip cramp uh also you might want to think about uh having a a small cooler with some uh fruits and and vegetables that are high in water content watermelon you know celery cucumbers uh any of that kind of stuff that's got a lot of water in it yeah um not only help fill you up but then beef

(07:28) tricky no know to keep you to keep you hydrated um and then don't wait until you're on the road to start drinking water you said you're going in the end of July you know I would start drinking water a couple hours before even the day before just get extra water in you because um you know an extra 16 ounces of water you know an hour or two before you ride is is going to make a difference it matters it does and then you know don't don't chug water as you go just small IPS the more frequently

(08:01) the better well and I think that's where these kind of you know from the cup to the camel pack to the you know this kind of jug with a with a tube cuz I think of times when you think I could use a drink water but like I'm not stopping it's in the back it's this it's that and so like you know maybe this is a good way to go so yeah mhm and uh you know really just listen to your body um don't wait until you feel really parched to start drinking just again just kind drink as you go and you've already

(08:33) talked about like the different types of packs um you know just maybe use a lot of ice in those packs and I think you'll be fine well and I do also know like for me in the you know I think a lot of times in the afternoon I get tired MH and you know I used to think oh well you know we just ate lunch and that's it must be carp you know sometimes I think it's you're just dehydrated um because that is one of the the indications of uh of dehydration is feeling tired and I just wonder sometimes if that's what it

(09:03) is cuz you should it just feels odd that okay hey I'm riding on the motorcycle going 65 miles hour down the road and I'm going to fall asleep you know and it's like what in the world so yeah uh the other thing that can uh kind of dry you out make you dehydrated is like sugary drinks uh or caffeine which I love I love a giant jug of coffee in the morning but you know those things can help dry you out or you know make it make it worse and then you know wearing clothing that kind of covers up you know that's that's got you

(09:35) know some breathability but keep keeps you from like sweating too much yeah if you you know captures it yeah right yeah so breathable but um yeah don't you don't want a lot of fluid loss you know that way so um you know those are all just things to think about especially when you're to start riding in hot weather and you're going to be on hot pavement and hot hot hot hot all hot two Hots do not make a cold no the next segment is what we call the mile marker it's our story segment for the mile marker today we're uh in a six

(10:06) episode series kind of talking about the top five best motorcycle roads in the midwest so today is number two of six and we're going to talk about we're going to talk about Missouri today so top five motorcycle roads in Missouri again I'm sure we missed some please comment complain whne in the comments that would be great uh but really I mean Missouri has some some great roads it really does mini mountains in the Ozarks River rides on both sides oh wow and just probably some you know big cities to visit which is kind of fun for some

(10:43) um one that I had not really heard of but I think we've actually been on is uh is coming in at number five it's called the Glade Top Trail which I had not heard of but when it said where it is it's it's a Scenic area just inside the Mark Twain National Forest yeah just north of Lake of the oarks we've rode that and I do recall like one of the best parts of it is it has some places where you can go to the top and you park and you can see you know 360° panoramic views man is it good you know we've

(11:18) talked about this I'm not sure if there's a best season because it's hot or nice and spring and fall are nice and and summer and well winter's not hot but it's you know but I will say in this area careful with um the roads cuz there's a lot of gravel and logging roads in these areas so ones that look really squiggly on on paper don't look so good when you get there it's gravel mud and then don't always the because a lot of the now Harley has some great GPS that has gravel a lot of gravel roads

(11:50) detection yep but the rest of them don't I I don't know why I can't believe that Google can't fly a drone somewhere and figure this out but but don't trust the GPS there um you know be checking on those things then just GPS's in general cell signals in the Ozarks are a little light so you know a lot of times you can download those Maps ahead of time yeah um so check check on that soon yeah and I know that you've used Google Maps in satellite view and then zoomed in on the roads and you can usually tell and point

(12:19) yeah the best place to always look is at a corner at like an intersection because when you look at it sometimes you're not sure but usually it'll be a very stark contrast between a paved Road and a gravel road when you look at the combo of the two so yeah that's they probably don't have street view in those areas right some but not many some but not many I know yeah gravel roads maybe that's the tri maybe that's the maybe that's it if there's no street view view yeah no it's that could be it you may be

(12:44) on to something um number four again one that that I didn't know about but uh really uh again we've rode these roads but I've never heard the name yeah and it's called the Ozark hellbender um so that's Lebanon Missouri to Eminence 17 and 106 and they and there's a town owls Bend so basically this is just south and west of St Louis and we've rode there a lot yeah I'm sure we've ridden this we but we just know him by the road names we didn't know the the title somebody the official name so

(13:18) the coolness um it's just um south and east of Fort leonardwood um there was a time though I will tell you that we rode through there I don't think you were with us that time if you ride through a military base um we had to not everyone had um I think I was wearing shorts shocker and then there was a couple guys that weren't wearing gloves and every piece of skin must be covered and they were really protective about the ankles and and stuff so like luckily everyone had long ankled cover no boots like if

(13:50) oh that kind like I don't think you could have worn tennis shoes no kidding yeah so you just got to kind of be careful there're sticklers about the protective gear and I don't blame them yeah but uh any you know fall and spring on this one but uh just some of the greatest parts of these are just uh the scenic Farmland there's just in that area is Rolling Hills it's just before you get into the um the river valley of Mississippi and uh then the big The Big Piney River is there too and so there's

(14:18) some fun um some areas there oh that sounds good yeah yeah uh the third is Missouri Highway 90 so that's basically um and again I've never I was been in this area one time when when we did the the first Eclipse trip when you guys split we were down in this neighborhood but I don't think we rode this road because we were doing East we were going north south and this is more of an East West so it's called Missouri Highway 90 um if you go to Lost Oklahoma and then I hav an a clue to Arkansas not real town names but that's

(14:54) what it looks like um it's actually right where it starts is something called South West City Missouri and it is literally down in the most southern western corner of of of Missouri this is a cool Route 45 miles long and you know when the description says it's a two-lane Highway for its entire length it is rugged in areas very hilly very curvy I don't know we're going to have to find a time to get down here cuz I know we haven't rode the East and West that far south um best season is fall

(15:29) plenty of trees um but I would say you know it's only 45 miles but check the fuel before you start um I thought kind of the some of the names of the towns were pretty cool um that were on there Noel Jane Arnette Cove and it ends up at the Washburn at the Trojan PQ mart but uh and then there's at least one church every 2.

(15:54) 5 miles so sure but no uh this is a neat looking road again I haven't rode this thing we've been in the area but we've always been going the different direction but it's definitely moving up the list of a Musto one of the times we get down this area yeah number two um is a road that we have rode and loved um it's Missouri 19 and that go from New London all the way down to Arkansas and actually continues there 262 miles yeah of just plain Great Road um this was part of the lead mines and still there is active lead mines there

(16:28) um just quite a bit less than they were in the past but it's it's the best time to ride is fall but really we've rode this all year round um it's really close to Hannibal is when you kind of jump on and all the way down unbelievable roads um we love a place in the middle called the Bixby Country Store um homemade food and everything just nice people but this this road I mean for the length that it's that it is it's it's a great Road 200 62 miles on the same Highway take some breaks and

(17:03) that's that's a day ride right there a day well you know come on at least a quarter anyway no but I like to stop and have some fun along the way I like to see the sights I think what I like most about this road again not this super technical thing but it's just like endless winders you know just nice and gentle um corners and things it's a great road yeah my my I don't know it's my favorite Road in but number one has to be and that's because of history is Route 66 yeah for sure a

(17:35) really great portion of of Route 66 is in Missouri um it starts in St Louis goes to Galina Kansas it's just the road right I mean there's some tons of places to stop it's kind of um happy and sad at the same time I guess for me when I think about it because this road is deteriorating and not physically but mentally um you know and I don't know if that's because the people that were nostalgic about this like we're kind of like the third generation of of people that know what Route 66 is and it's kind of just going

(18:13) away you know I mean I think but on this particular one marac cave caverns and then there's a a State Park Missouri route State Park um boy I think this is like for me this one is the one that's just like slow down and enjoy the ride you know beat me up about wanting to go miles every day but really this one is um I don't know it's just interesting it's like America was built on the backs of vehicles and cars and this road connected you know the East to the West MH so uh the one thing I just would show

(18:47) one place that we just love is a place called The Wagon Wheel motel in Cuba Missouri uh it's just a vintage Route 66 the signs are they've restored all the signs yeah it's a hotel motel um with little cabins like little cute little cool little places cabins and then in the back we've talked about I think before but there's like covered parking and like picnic tables I don't know it's just like if I had to build a place that we could stay every single night on a trip this is what I would pick yeah me

(19:19) too yeah you and I have toyed around with the idea of building these like airbnbs for like people and this is it man like if we could take and replicate this it would be the one you know like uh so I don't know anything else that I missed there Todd no I don't think so the the the Wagon Wheel Motel is is just memorable yeah it's cute yeah it's great great people there the podcast can be found on best motorcycleroads.

(19:48) com podcast all the information you need will be there uh but you can subscribe on Spotify Amazon music apple pocketcast and YouTube this is the inter Ive segment we will be looking for input from you uh we want you to send us your questions and suggestions for roads topics and anything else you have on your mind today's roadside Q&A comes from Marcus and Marcus was you know because we chose Missouri yeah asking about um Route 66 great choice do we have any tips about WR writing Route 66 and you know enjoy the enjoy the ride uh

(20:25) take it slow and take in the sights um I know that if you you ever try to ride the entire Route 66 there's places where it's it's non-existent they've built different roads and from what I've heard um it's best if you can actually take along a tour guide that knows yeah I want to look into that a yeah that's interesting yeah for sure there I mean there's apps that you can use that you know kind of narrate for you and and help you have you used one of I haven't yet I haven't had a lot of

(20:56) luck with them it's hard to syn them up but I'll bet yeah it'd be cool if they were GPS um yeah enabled but I mean some help you navigate the roads themselves I think and maybe not doing the narration but yeah um yeah that's that's really about what I know we've been talking about doing this as a bucket list item is maybe riding it One Direction and then having the the bikes you know shipped back or shipped out or whatever but um or maybe we'll just do the whole thing or you know go One Direction on

(21:25) Route 66 and come back another way but um that that's about my the extent of my M and I will say that I've researched extensively from Chicago to Oklahoma and that should be the easy not the easy part but it should be easy to research when you're doing in maps and not driving it and it was hard yeah um I really struggled at times the crossover the place where it crosses over from Missouri to Kansas um I I I was on Street I'm looking oh man I mean maybe there's somebody that already has this published and I need to

(22:04) look that up because honestly like at a bare minimum I feel like someone needs to at least document this like and it probably has been I just haven't seen it yeah but like man it's going it's crumbling quickly um and that's kind of sad but at the same time things move on but yeah I don't know if I was going to pick I'd say we ship bikes out and ride back cuz with you know you and Chris kind of both being from Chicago I think it' be cool to end in Chicago but yeah yeah a friend of m not a friend of mine

(22:34) my brother-in-law I should say uh rides a lot out west you know New Mexico and that but he does adventure riding and he I remember him sending me some pictures of a road that was kind of blocked off and well it looked like it was just dirt you know after and he said that's Route 66 oh jeez so I you know again ially if you were trying to literally ride it you could on a street bike and I don't know if that's the way it always was was was it dirt or was it paved all the way I don't know I think it was paved all the

(23:02) way ped and so they've pulled the pavement or maybe it's there and just or dirt yeah dirt over the top but yeah he basically showed me like this road block and he said if you see down there that's Route 66 and it it was just dirt yeah I mean I get it you know like people don't get into it as much as they do but it's too bad yeah now we've come to the last mile it's our way to close the episode with our reflections of the day Todd what is your reflections of missoui well we you know we talked about our top five

(23:35) but honestly Missouri is one of those states where you can't go wrong uh just pick a road and go they're all great it's kind of like riding in Wisconson right every road is great there you're you're not going to go wrong just because we've picked those top five um you know argue with us but you know you can't go wrong in Missouri uh every road is going to be fun you're going to find you know great towns along the way great people sites to see and uh historic markers oh my gosh it's it's a lot of

(24:07) fun well and I know we've talked about the historical Battlegrounds I mean it's it's a Battleground State too I I would agree Todd I mean I think um you know m in Missouri there's not a lot of gravel roads either I mean there's some a few but you know it seems like you just kind of cruise along and everything turns out and there's some great barbecue oh gosh in that area too both sides Kansas City and St Louis um too so like I've never went hungry anywhere but for sure in Missouri if this episode reved up your

(24:43) day don't keep it to yourself like it subscribe and share it with your crew we're all about the thrill of the ride and the bond it creates keep the spirit of Adventure alive and remember bikes friends and endless roads the stories ride forever take care he [Music]