DART 2024 - July 18-21, 2024

[Bluenoser]

53 minutes ago, Joe Frickin' Friday said:

 

Don't know much about traffic in Toronto, but in my experience, traffic in Chicagoland is almost always heavy, and people all seem to drive like they're late for their flight.  It'll still be quicker than the Sault St. Marie route, but it won't be nice.  @John Ranalletta has pointed out the Lake Express ferry.  For the two of you plus your trailer rig, you'll be looking at $470 one way (less if you commit to a round-trip ticket).  It won't save you a lot in terms of time (especially if you pad your schedule so you arrive early at the ferry terminal), but frankly, it'll be a much more pleasant journey than Chicago.  Maybe you'll feel more comfortable in a car/truck with a trailer than you would on a bike, but I'll be happy if I never traverse Chicago on a bike again. I'll be taking the Lake Express myself.

 

Alternatively, you might consider the SS Badger ferry, which operates further north between Ludington, MI and Manitowoc, WI.  It'll be a bit cheaper than the Lake Express ($352 one way for your setup), but also slower (~4 hrs to cross instead of 2.5 hrs).  

 

 

Thanks Joe.  I'm okay with high volume busy traffic, it's bumper to bumper stop and go that I avoid if at all possible, on the bike or in the truck.

I think up thru Sault St Marie is going to be my choice. The ferries cost too much for me.

 

[syntorz]

14 hours ago, Bluenoser said:

Thanks Joe.  I'm okay with high volume busy traffic, it's bumper to bumper stop and go that I avoid if at all possible, on the bike or in the truck.

I think up thru Sault St Marie is going to be my choice. The ferries cost too much for me.

 

You are making the correct choice with respect to Chicago. I-80/94 is a bottleneck all times of the day and there is construction activity elsewhere on the system. It's a harrowing drive in a car right now. Or always, it seems...

 

If time is a consideration, dropping further south and using Indiana and Illinois backroads to get around might work too.

[Dave_in_TX]

1 hour ago, syntorz said:

You are making the correct choice with respect to Chicago. I-80/94 is a bottleneck all times of the day and there is construction activity elsewhere on the system. It's a harrowing drive in a car right now. Or always, it seems...

 

If time is a consideration, dropping further south and using Indiana and Illinois backroads to get around might work too.

Depending on time of day, getting through Madison WI will be almost "stop and go". If you go through Chicago, Madison will be on your route.

[Dave_in_TX]

2 hours ago, syntorz said:

You are making the correct choice with respect to Chicago. I-80/94 is a bottleneck all times of the day and there is construction activity elsewhere on the system. It's a harrowing drive in a car right now. Or always, it seems...

 

If time is a consideration, dropping further south and using Indiana and Illinois backroads to get around might work too.

It will take longer than going through Chicago but less time than going through Sault St Marie if you do this.

 

Last year, I was riding to DART after attending a small rally in Shelborne NH. There was no way I was going to ride my motorcycle through Chicago.

 

I went south to Ft Wayne IN and took US24 to Peoria and then picked up the interstate to Davenport IA.

 

When doing my route planning, google maps showed that taking the interstate through Indianapols and then Davenport had about the same driving time.

 

Either of these routes is about an hour or two quicker than going through Sault St. Marie.

[Bluenoser]

3 hours ago, Dave_in_TX said:

It will take longer than going through Chicago but less time than going through Sault St Marie if you do this.

 

Last year, I was riding to DART after attending a small rally in Shelborne NH. There was no way I was going to ride my motorcycle through Chicago.

 

I went south to Ft Wayne IN and took US24 to Peoria and then picked up the interstate to Davenport IA.

 

When doing my route planning, google maps showed that taking the interstate through Indianapols and then Davenport had about the same driving time.

 

Either of these routes is about an hour or two quicker than going through Sault St. Marie.

 

Thanks Dave.

This route that avoids Detroit and Chicago is 15h36m 1648km but it still has TO to contend with which is brutal, a lot of stop and go unless you go very early or very late or pay the $90 toll to bypass.

 

The northern route is longer driving time at 17h36m 1615km but much less metropolitan to contend with.   The distance is actually shorter by 33km, more secondary roads makes it take longer.  I'm glad you mentioned Madison, I didn't know it was bad as well.  Either route will be a 2 day drive so an additional 2 hrs is not that significant.

[Bluenoser]

I just realized my error in selecting the DART 2023 thread for this post. My apologies to admin, I don't know if it can be moved or deleted. 

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

1 hour ago, Bluenoser said:

I just realized my error in selecting the DART 2023 thread for this post. My apologies to admin, I don't know if it can be moved or deleted. 

 

I had to move the posts one by one, but I got them all migrated back to the future.  

[Crumpadump]

Well I was in…but now I’m out.😟 I have family I haven’t seen in many years coming to the States on the 19th to visit for the first time. I will definitely try to make it there next year. 

[Bluenoser]

2 hours ago, Joe Frickin' Friday said:

 

I had to move the posts one by one, but I got them all migrated back to the future.  

Thank you. Feels good to be back. Sorry to be a bother.

[duckhawk64]

On 6/30/2024 at 10:03 AM, Bluenoser said:

 

Thanks Dave.

This route that avoids Detroit and Chicago is 15h36m 1648km but it still has TO to contend with which is brutal, a lot of stop and go unless you go very early or very late or pay the $90 toll to bypass.

 

The northern route is longer driving time at 17h36m 1615km but much less metropolitan to contend with.   The distance is actually shorter by 33km, more secondary roads makes it take longer.  I'm glad you mentioned Madison, I didn't know it was bad as well.  Either route will be a 2 day drive so an additional 2 hrs is not that significant.

I was in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan a week ago. Pretty nice driving up there. Not much traffic, cool temperatures.  Oshkosh and Appleton are busy during rush hours. 

[Brodiepunker18]

@Bluenoser If you go through Green Bay through Oshkosh between 9-3, that is your best bet. They started construction on 41 in many spots. But avoid the rush hours and you’re good.

 

I’m in Green Bay, and will be heading down Thursday afternoon. Finally going to make it the WHOLE weekend for once 😂. 
 

im excited on several fronts! 

[IndyRob]

Agree, any chance to avoid Chicago traffic is a good thing!

[DBULL]

WI resident here.  In my opinion, the traffic has gotten somewhat better getting through Chicago with new sections of 294 being completed.  The snag will come on 80 before you get to 294.  When I leave for a trip I try to go on weekends early in the day which does help.  The later in the day the worse it seems to get.  The Lake express ferry is fantastic, except you need a home equity line to ride.  It does dump you in the middle of MKE which can be tough to get through.  We trailer our bike through Chicago if we are heading to NE for extended time and need all our gear.   It's a pain, but the best way may be to just hit 80 to 294 through Chicago-certainly cheaper of the options you mention.  Sault St Marie is such a great stop though to watch ships going through the locks-well worth a stop.  But it's a long way to the other side of the state.  

[Chug]

Thanks for the invitation Mike, et al.  I'll be a first timer meeting up with this select group of enthusiasts.  Most likely be tenting.

I am familiar with the region, lived a few years in Onalaska, but had no moto then.  Time to rectify that deficiency.

[Dave_in_TX]

I mentioned this before but just so it isn't forgotten, going west (or east) through Madison at rush hour is something you will want to avoid.

[Bluenoser]

14 hours ago, duckhawk64 said:

I was in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan a week ago. Pretty nice driving up there. Not much traffic, cool temperatures.  Oshkosh and Appleton are busy during rush hours. 

That's what I'm thinking, it'll be a little longer but should be a nice drive on the Peninsula. It's pretty routine on the Canadian portion. 

[Bluenoser]

12 hours ago, DBULL said:

WI resident here.  In my opinion, the traffic has gotten somewhat better getting through Chicago with new sections of 294 being completed.  The snag will come on 80 before you get to 294.  When I leave for a trip I try to go on weekends early in the day which does help.  The later in the day the worse it seems to get.  The Lake express ferry is fantastic, except you need a home equity line to ride.  It does dump you in the middle of MKE which can be tough to get through.  We trailer our bike through Chicago if we are heading to NE for extended time and need all our gear.   It's a pain, but the best way may be to just hit 80 to 294 through Chicago-certainly cheaper of the options you mention.  Sault St Marie is such a great stop though to watch ships going through the locks-well worth a stop.  But it's a long way to the other side of the state.  

Thanks. I have myself convinced that the route down past Green Bay will work best.

[steveknapp]

On 7/1/2024 at 8:08 PM, DBULL said:

 The snag will come on 80 before you get to 294.  

 

Yup. There is a good bit of construction on I294 from I55 through O'Hare. There are some alternative interstate routes, for example staying on I80 to I355. TBH, I'd just keep an eye on Waze or gMaps. They know the current traffic and can offer some good options. 

For the other smaller cities (Madison, Green Bay, Rockford) I'd get off the interstate and enjoy the secondary roads. Then we can start comparing "rush hour" in Rhinelander to Argyle. Wisconsin has done a reasonable job bypassing mid-sized cities; Whitewater, Monroe. For the ride from me to "HQ" it adds 15-20min to completely avoid Madison, and it's a much more interesting ride. At the moment Indy to PDC via I74 to the Quad Cities and up the river is another two miles and 5 minutes longer than I65 and Chicago.

 

[steveknapp]

On 6/29/2024 at 11:05 AM, Bluenoser said:

Good day Folks,

Looking for opinions or options on my route to DART,  the Chicago obstacle mostly. I'm plotting my route to and from DART from our home in Stirling ON.  I'll be trailoring the bike.  There's 2 possibilities, really, thru Toronto and Chicago is 12h43m,  Sault St Marie and Green Bay is 16h51.  I'm leaning toward the longer route, avoid both TO and Chicago. What's it like getting thru or around Chicago?  It would likely be midday.

 

Specific to this, depends if you want to do it in one day or two? 

I did a long weekend in Algonquin Provincial Park using Huntsville, ON as our base. Beautiful area!

Heading out we did the inverse of what you're proposing over two days. Stayed in Sault St Marie on the US side and did a good bit of exploring on our way to Huntsville. It was a nice ride over two days. 

On the way home we left Huntsville early and went straight through to northern Chicago in one day. It wasn't fun. Traffic at the border crossing, MI, IN, and through Chicago. But we did it in a day and was home in time for dinner. 

[Bluenoser]

22 minutes ago, steveknapp said:

 

Specific to this, depends if you want to do it in one day or two? 

I did a long weekend in Algonquin Provincial Park using Huntsville, ON as our base. Beautiful area!

Heading out we did the inverse of what you're proposing over two days. Stayed in Sault St Marie on the US side and did a good bit of exploring on our way to Huntsville. It was a nice ride over two days. 

On the way home we left Huntsville early and went straight through to northern Chicago in one day. It wasn't fun. Traffic at the border crossing, MI, IN, and through Chicago. But we did it in a day and was home in time for dinner. 

Thank you.  I'm trailering the RT to Prairie du Chein and back.  This will be our 3rd trip this year,  START in April, Gaspe Penninsula in June, and now DART in July. Also planning to attend FART. My wife rides pillion, so, so many trips wouldn't happen without trailering.

 

Based on the great advice in response to my post I've decided to stay far away from Chicago and Madison, it will be overnight at the Sault both there and back. 

 

Algonquin Park is indeed beautiful, wonderful smooth road, lots of scenery, trout and hiking.  The Park has its own species of wolves, they're not found anywhere else. They're on the small side, dark brown in colour. No coyotes in the park, the wolves make sure of that.

[steveknapp]

10 hours ago, Bluenoser said:

Based on the great advice in response to my post I've decided to stay far away from Chicago and Madison, it will be overnight at the Sault both there and back. 

 

Sounds awesome, more so if you have two days for the trip. Trailering is awesome as well. 

 

As a "native" I don't fear Chicago, and definitely not Madison. More so in a car/truck with functional A/C. But to each their own. 

 

@DBULL "The Lake express ferry is fantastic, except you need a home equity line to ride." - thanks for the solid laugh. 

[Mike]

It’s still a bit too far out to be confident in the reliability of the forecast, but here’s what’s currently predicted for our DART weather. It’s been an exceptionally wet summer, so the Mississippi River is near record levels, something also affecting other rivers around here. 

As a practical matter this means that those camping should have no difficulty in pounding their tent stakes into the ground, so we got that goin’ for us.  For the uninitiated, there is plenty of space for tent setup. The (so far) wet and windy weather has caused a few branches to fall from the trees along the north side of the barn, so I’d suggest not setting your tents up too close to the tree line. 🤕

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

On 7/9/2024 at 8:14 AM, Mike said:

It’s still a bit too far out to be confident in the reliability of the forecast, but here’s what’s currently predicted for our DART weather. It’s been an exceptionally wet summer, so the Mississippi River is near record levels, something also affecting other rivers around here. 

As a practical matter this means that those camping should have no difficulty in pounding their tent stakes into the ground, so we got that goin’ for us.  For the uninitiated, there is plenty of space for tent setup. The (so far) wet and windy weather has caused a few branches to fall from the trees along the north side of the barn, so I’d suggest not setting your tents up too close to the tree line. 🤕

 

Different sources give slightly different forecasts, especially that far out. Weather Underground has a rosier outlook, although they only go as far as next Friday:

 

 

 

I hope they're right about the hot stuff being gone before we arrive. 

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

We're now just a couple of days away, and the weather forecast across the Driftless is looking fantastic.  Here's PDC:

 

 

Further north:

 

 

Southeast of PDC:

 

 

 

SW of PDC: 

 

 

 

[duckhawk64]

It is all good... men and women. 

Where's the Friday night steak place?

[Dave_in_TX]

30 minutes ago, duckhawk64 said:

It is all good... men and women. 

Where's the Friday night steak place?

Jone's Black Angus in Prairie Du Chien.