Rides worth mentioning: 2010

It is getting closer. Skid and Sandy left today, June 6, 2010, after spending the night on their way to Rocky Mountain National Park. From there they go to Mals, then on to Cortez.

Here are a few pictures as they were getting ready to leave after an all too short time visiting.

Here Skid is going through his morning ritual on the street in front of our house.

Nothing happened if it wasn't documented.

Sandy showing off a prize from the day before.

Estes Park, here they come!

June 8, 2010
We left town about 10:30 mountain time. Melanie had to work, and it took me that long fine tuning the packing of the bikes. We had great weather, but it was a little cool in some spots. The route we took was one I have done before. South on 85, then we took Lance Creek road, south of Mule Creek junction in WY. This is a great riding road, and very little traffic. We had to deal with quite a bit of road construction, and it cost us a lot of time. Every US route we took, we got delayed. The state two lane roads were smooth sailing, and we were able to make time, and had great views.

I wasn't into the ride until 200 miles into the ride. Before that I was just driving a bike, I wasn't riding it. For some reason, at the Wheatland, WY gas stop, things started to click, and I started having fun. Finally.
Melanie liked the view coming down into Steamboat Springs, CO. That was our "hoped for" destination, but we don't make firm plans very often. That way, anyone can call it a day, no questions asked. I like that option. One of us might want to stop because of a view, weather, or because we weren't into the ride.
Tomorrow our destination is Ouray, CO. That one is a firm destination.

Today we rode 410 miles, and did it in 8 hours, which was good for the amount of time we spent sitting waiting for pilot cars.

Pictures get bigger by clicking on them.

Here Melanie is standing in front of the place we had supper.

This fellow met you inside the door.

This is the food picture for Sherm. The food was very good, and we didn't eat much on the road today, so that made it even better. Smoked ribs, and you got your choice of sauce.

And a quick picture of the bikes before they get covered for the night. We stayed at the Western Lodge is Steamboat. It definitely isn't fancy, but it fit our price range which is very low!

Here is a video I took in Sybille Canyon, WY.

June 9, 2010
We went from Steamboat Springs, CO to Ouray, CO.
Today was hot and windy, not great for traveling. I had a route planned out that could have gotten me in trouble with Trouble. Things went well at first, with the only issue being a bee up my pantleg. I had one hand on my jeans keeping the be from advancing any higher, and the other stopping the bike and parking it in front of a small convenience store in Meeker, CO. After that we hit I 70 in Rifle, CO. and things started going bad there. We got lunch at Subway, and the lid to Melanies iced tea didn't fit well. When we were going down the interstate, it was hot, windy, a lot of traffic, and the lid came off here iced tea. Now, she was hot, fighting the Drifter in traffic and trying to pass, and the iced tea was splashing her every time she hit a bump! I didn't know it until later, but she was cussing me out because she didn't think the road I was taking her to was going to be very good. Thankfully the canyon and ride up over Grand Mesa cooled her down, literally and figuratively. I posted a short video of the snow at the top of the Mesa.
Ouray is one of our favorite towns and places to visit. We have been trying to get back there for several years. It is one of those places I could live and be happy if I couldn't live in the Black Hills.

Here is a view from Grand Mesa. Melanie wanted me in a picture for a change, so here it is.

Here is the motel we stayed at once we got to Ouray. Box Canyon Lodge and hot springs. Yes the springs are on site, and they are very relaxing.

The view from our room.

A closeup view of Cascade Falls. We have walked to this before, but not this trip.

Melanie has a penchant for buying cheap cowboy hats when she gets here. Here she is holding her latest prize on Main street.

This was on a building, and I had to include it.

Melanie liked the looks of this bed and breakfast.

A closeup of the front porch.

A view looking down main street.

We like the short but kind of steep hike up to Box Canon falls. No I didn't spell it wrong. Here are some pictures from the falls.

Getting the bikes ready to go to Cortez.

View Larger Map

Exactly 300 miles.

June 10, 2010

On our way to Cortez. Finally. We have been having a lot of fun, and we are going to have fun on our ride today. Today we finally get to ride the Million Dollar Highway. We have wanted to do this for a long time. Melanie wanted to take our time so we could enjoy it, and that is what we did. I took some video of the ride, but it is too big to upload, so it will have to wait, but there are a couple pictures.
The view from one of the hairpin turns quite a ways up the road from Ouray.

This is from the Molan Pass lookout.

When we were done taking our pictures, we were walking back to the bikes, when three Voyagers pulled in around us. It was the nice people from ROK, and VROCs own Badger.

Shortly after we arrived at the Super 8, another surprise visitor pulled in. Sherm was the only person here that knew Susan was coming, and was just about dying wanting to tell someone, but he didn't.

Kioti trying to get his camera to take a picture. I might have broken it.

This truly was an international rally. A Canuck and a Kiwi.

Quite a few people thought Susan looked good in PINK!!!!!!!

Margot is holding court.

Today we rode a gruelling 116 miles. It was on one of the most beautiful roads in America. Don't believe the hype about it being dangerous. It is truly stunning, and well worth the effort to get there to ride it.

June 11, 2010
The day started out with a ride to Shiprock, I was riding with Badger, and the ROK crew. We ended up not finding the road we went looking for, but it was a fun ride and I got some neat pictures of the ride. I got 185 miles out of my tank again, which I don't try to push very often.

Remember, the pictures can be clicked on and viewed larger.

Here are some pictures from the ride.

Bryan Gibson on a 1700 Voyager.

Teri Conrad just realized I wasn't passing, I was taking pictures.

Badger

John Pappalardo on his 2010 Voyager.

Here are a couple pictures I took of the new 1700 Nomad.

Finally, here are some pictures of Friday nights fun.

The moment that was talked about quite a bit. Is Malachi really the ladies man he talks himself up to be? as it turned out, no, he isn't. He got embarrased by all the attention, just as 'Vette thought he would!

June 12, 2010
Didn't go on a ride today. But I did ride several bikes. First off, Badger offered me a ride on his new Voyager. I think he did it so I would quit drooling on it. My impressions of this bike are all positive. It actually has more leg room than my 2002 FI Nomad, contrary to what has been written about it. It has very good wind protection, and the radio works very well at speeds up to 70 mph. This is a very light feeling bike, much lighter than I expected. I thought it would be closer to the feeling of the Nomad, but it wasn't even close. This bike had very good power for the weight, much better than the 1500 engine. It would out pull the 1500 in high gear, 5th versus 6th. It took almost no time to get used to the gauge layout, including the digital portion. After I got back, I immediately jumped on my Nomad so I could make a direct comparison.

Next I took Mals 1400 Concours on the same stretch of road. WOW! The ergonomics of this bike were unexpected. It was much more upright than I thought it would be. I had convinced myself it would be uncomfortable, and it wasn't. The windshield was too short for my likings, but taller ones were available. The power is awesome, and the bike is much heavier than I would have guessed by acceleration or flickability. The fact that it has large bags is a huge plus for me.

Thanks to both of you for the test rides.

Someone had a little fun at Sherms expense.

June 13, 2010
Heading out of Cortez, we were going to have a "parade" to HSVROC. One thing I really wanted to do was get some quality pictures of the formations near Monument Valley. I took a different route so I could do that, Maxxx and Mar were going to follow us so we could see them also, and that is where my plans really started to change. Just about 100 miles into the ride Melanie told me her bike was acting funny. I asked her what she meant, and she said it was getting really squirelly and hard to handle. I told her to pull over immediately. She did a great job getting the bike into an approach, on a downhill corner. After Maxxx and I looked things over and tried to get some air into it, we found a break in the rim. There weren't any rough bumps or anything to cause this, it just came apart. She was stuck. We were 6 miles north of Mexican Hat, UT. After spending about a half an hour trying to get a cell phone signal, I got one in town. Corvette had her Jeep and a trailer, but she was nearly to Moab. She offered to gas up, turn around 125 miles, and help us out. She really saved the day. Mal, Jazz and Clive were coming from a different direction to ride the Moki Dugway, the turnoff was only a couple miles away from us. They showed up about 10 minutes before Corvette did. They offered to take the bike to Silt to help us out, and it was a huge relief. Things were looking better now.

With the Drifter on the trailer, we decided to do the Moki Dugway. We were to close not to. The Drifter did it, but it was on a trailer.

This is the last picture of the Drifter when it was healthy on this trip.