[Bigfoot]

I'm confused as to what rally you are referring to?
The Spirit Lake Rally is called the AVR, American Victory Rally.
What is the VRA and where is it held?

 

[Bigfoot]

I think there were 6 or 7 of us that stayed at the Inn at Okoboji
http://www.bojifun.com/
I know I was happy with my room and the location was about halfway between the factory and the the park. It is a resort type atmosphere that is over 100 years old. (Dated but well maintained)
It has it's own bar andrestaurant. There is also a nice pool and it's located on a lake deep inside a residencial area.
They had a special rate for Victory rally attendees that you may have to ask about. I booked my room this year about one month before the rally.
They have night time security riding around, and I thought my bike was safe there.

 

[Bigfoot]

Rodeway Inn & Suites near Okoboji Lake
1511 Okoboji Ave, Milford, IA, US, 51351
Phone: (712) 338-4701

I will caution you against staying in this Inn.
If you go to Kayak or Expedia, Hotels.com you will find that a majority of its past guests think it's the pits.
Just read the reviews.

 

[Bigfoot]

I'm looking at heading North on 74 on Thursday out of Indianapolis and laying up in Davenport IA (a 550 mile day for me) then getting an early start for the six hour 350 mile ride on into Okoboji on Friday.

The other option would be to come out of Indi on 65 and ride up to 80 then shoot across. Might even time it to hook up with some of the Cleveland clan. Although I'm anxious to meet everyone, I don't think I can do those "Bigfoot Rides" of 900 miles in a day. I'm afraid I'd wind-up sleeping the rest of the weekend. Never the less, the thought of several Visions riding together is intriguing, maybe the adrenaline would get me through.

Avoid going through Chicago.
It's flat out dangerous and bumper to bumper, stop and go, 20 out of 24 hours of the day.
Spiderman and I lost at least an hour driving though Chicago, and coming home we took some 2 lane roads heading dead south from the event completely avoiding the Chicago area and cut more than an hour off of our total time.
It's real easy to average 60+ miles per hour, so starting at 6:00 AM you can drive 360 miles by Noon.
Ride from dawn till dusk and you can easily ride 1,000 miles.

I recently rode to 960 miles to Daytona Florida, stopped and slept in a hotel for 7 hours, and my total time was 23 hours.
Starting from home with a full tank of gas means you only have to stop 4 more times for fuel.

 

[Bigfoot]

Bigfoot... you're an animal. The most I have done in a day was 590 and I was toast by the end of the day.

I have to admit that I have a bit of a problem riding after dark. Even with glasses my eyesight isn't what it used to be and night driving for any length makes my brain hurt. My latest prescription is only eight months old so I'm not sure what the problem is, maybe I'm just getting soft.

My hat/helmet is off to any and all you iron butts out there.

Wearing a full-faced or modular helmet will help greatly with eye fatigue.

During the summer months you'll have 14-15 hours of daylight which makes 800-900 miles in a day a piece of cake.
The most fun I had on my latest trip to Florida was riding through the high speed sweepers of the West Virginia Turnpike at night.
Some of it is posted at 60 MPH and I was cruising around 70-75 MPH.

I've pretty much resigned myself to dying from hitting a deer while riding, so I don't let it bother me anymore.
My favorite time to ride through boring sections of this country is between dusk and dawn.

Biggest trick to fighting offfatigueis to stay hydrated.
I never try to keep riding if I'm even close to dozing off.

I don't eat any meals until I stop for the night (beef jerky, sunflower seeds or something similar is OK) and I try and keep most fueling stops under 10 minutes.
I reward myself at each fuel stop with a cigar just as I pull out of the station. (Good for at least 40 minutes of pleasure)
I try and average slightly more than 200 miles per tank (3 hours).

Anyone riding to the AVR from Ohio will find nothing to look at except corn, corn, and maybe some soybeans once in a while.
The only twisties you'll encounter will be on the freeway on and off ramps.

I will not be attending next years AVR as I think Spiderman, Jesse James and I will be traveling out west for some mountain riding while attending The Rattlesnake Rampagein Lewiston, Idaho August 1 through 4, 2013.

 

[Bigfoot]

My max miles on the old C50 was 250-300. Now with the XC I have found that 600-700 is very easy on my XC, and have a couple of 800-900 mile days. My miles depend upon whether I am running the slab or going the backroads. Of course, in places like WY, backroads are pretty deserted and not very many cars/trucks.
For my return from AVR I went north to MN, then across to and through SD + Mt. Rushmore, then into WY and down the center of BFE-WY, and was in Muddy Gap, past Casper. It was just under 900 miles and I still had 1 hour of daylight. Unlike Bigfoot, I do not ride at night. There are too many big critters out here.
I expect a Vision would be easier than a XC, but what I have is what I have and like.
YMMV

No need to worry about "Big Critters" as I'm sure you had your "puke yellow tent" promenently displayed on the back of your bike.

They could spot you a mile away.

 

[Bigfoot]

its possible, we went there last year while at the rally to visit a rider that was staying there and his room was very clean? so i guess it just depends like any other place if u get lucky or not??

There is a new section and an older section.
The older section is the one that gets all the bad reviews.