Thought you all might enjoy this:
Colorado
Utah
Arizona
New Mexico
A great time
was had
by all.
Fri- Aug 13th
Dallas, TX to Fritch, TX (395 Miles)
I left around noon for the hot ride (106 degrees) to the Lake Meridith area.
I pulled over on the side of the road about 120 miles from Fritch, TX to put a cover over my tank bag, it was beginning to rain.
I hear on the CB "hey, should we stop to help this guy?" just as I hit my blinker and I recognized the voice as being Rick (Trailace). LOL
He and Khris (Tankereng) were right behind me. When they passed, I pulled in behind and we had a good laugh. We did not plan on meeting up until the campground and with me not knowing my exact departure time it was dumb luck we all met along the way.
We made it to the Fritch Campground and setup then headed into town to find some food - subway was the meal of the evening. While there, we got a call from Steve (Buzz) saying he was just about 30 miles away.
It was hot so we filled our camelbaks using the water dispenser at subway - well, with my camelbak I kept hitting the soda buttons trying to get ice or just water and making more of a mess than anything else.... this wouldn't be the 1st time I did this... LOL
We got back to the campground and Steve showed up just a few minutes later. The gang was all there. The beer for the night - Land Shark.
Sat - Aug 14th
Fritch, TX to Blue Mesa Res (568 Miles)
When we woke up the next morning, I found out Lake Meridith has it's own Loc Ness Monster.
This is a recreational lake so there were people up and talking, laughing, driving, etc up to 2am... We got up and hit the road by 7AM, I'm somewhat embarrassed as I accidentally hit my horn while leaving. I need to work on my anger issues more.
Back to the ride - Rick and I already had CBs on our bikes but Rick had an old one and had been thinking about getting it replaced. Khris decided to get one and so Rick did too... that left Steve as the loner... so, he emailed us that he was having one put on at a dealer. Well, the other 3 of us installed ours ourselves... so, we had discussed playing a joke on Steve. Every now an thing we'd say how bad the road was and then we would pretend to ignore Steve so he would think there was a loose wire or his CB wasn't working...
Flashback: On the 1st big trip Steve, Rick and myself were on, Steve hooked up a handheld CB that worked a couple days and then was useless and he was just cussing at it the whole trip.
Coming out of the campground, Steve mentioned how great of a morning it was for riding. I said "hey Rick, is that you?" and he replied "No, I didn't say anything". A couple minutes later Rick would say how great of a morning it was and Steve would reply "I just said that!!!" and I'd say, "Is someone saying something? I hear the mic key up but no words", Steve would say "It's me, can anyone hear me?".... silence...
Well, that lasted just 20 miles or so to the 1st gas stop... I walked over to Steve and told him his CB was working fine and we were messing with him... he was just about ready to rip the thing off the bike.. LOL
We rode to Trinidad, CO and then the Highway of Legends (hwy 12).
We visited the Bishop Castle along the way as well.
When we left, we went through La Veta, CO. I had told Rod (Old2Wheeler) we could have lunch if the timing was right but we stopped in Trinidad for breakfast/lunch... I was able to catch up with him in the middle of town long enough to say hi and shake his hand, nice guy and sorry we were in a rush to get to camp.
We made it to the Elk Creek campground near the Blue Mesa Reservoir which is about 15 miles from Gunnison, CO. We planned on staying here 4 nights so we didn't have to break down camp as much.
After the tents were setup, we headed into town for dinner and ended up at The Trough Restaurant - great food and an interesting menu.
Back to the campground, the beer for the night - Wooly Booger - picked out by the New Guy (Khris), great beer and a good selection.
Sun - Aug 15th
Loop 1 - Hwy 92/Hwy 133/Mt Evans/US 24 (558 Miles)
This was a pretty full day of riding. Hwy 92 is always a great ride along the Gunnison National Forest. It was a nice cool morning and Khris lead through this section up to around Hwy 133, another great road full of sweepers.
After this section we hit I-70 to head towards Mt Evans (Hightest Paved Road in the U.S.) only to run into construction for what seemed like 20 miles. The freeway was stop and go so we rode along the shoulder and I'm sure there are cagers that didn't appreciate it, we did ease some of the congestion by removing bikes from the equation.
We exited towards Mt Evans and it was close to 11AM so there was lots of cars/bikes going up and down the road. No big deal, you don't want to screw up on that road anyway, you'd just keep falling...
I could feel the altitude when we got to the top, slight shortness of breath but hey, it's 14,264 feet, what do you expect?
We stayed at the top for just a bit and then started heading back as it was a long day. When we got back on the freeway a couple vipers with race numbers on the side passed up.... well, what would YOU do? Anyway, we made good time for a section.
We got back to the Gunnison area and stopped at Mario's Pizza for dinner, excellent food!!! Then, back to the campground.
Mon - Aug 16th
Loop 2 - Hwy 149/US 160/ US 550 (425 Miles)
Losts of rain this morning, but it made for some great views.
The rain was on and off and most of the day. On the way south we had a little glitch with the GPS route and I needed to do a u-turn in an RV Park driveway, there was a bit of gravel there. When I got back on the road I looked back to see a strange site - the new guy (Khris) had decided he'd had enough riding and just threw his bike down... didn't quite understand it, but he must have gotten over it as he picked it up faster than you can grab a camera and was back on it and on the road. Geesh, we wouldn't have taken any pictures... really... I think.. That's 1 of 4.
Later, Rick had to pee something bad. Couldn't wait the 15 miles down the mountain road as we just pulled up behind a slow 18-wheeler. So, he and Steve pulled off, Khris and I kept going. Well, apparently after Rick got off his bike and found 'a place to go' his bike decided to fall over, that's 2 of 4.
Once we got about 3/4 of the way through US 550 (The Million Dollar Highway) the rain subsided and we could have some fun on drier roads.
We pulled over at a gas station to take off our rain gear, but then it looked like it was going to open up again, a look at the radar confirmed it.. so, after taking off our rain gear - duh - we put it back on.. While we were parked there a guy came up and said he had a GS and there was a road - Owl Creek - that would be nice and not difficult. He even said the STs could make it. Ha, you'll never catch me with one of those comments.
So, Rick and Steve decided to try that road, Khris and I headed back to the campground. We should have been using oars to get back as it was a deluge.
When Rick and Steve came back, they had tales of deep hail and a dropped GS, that's 3 of 4. Sure glad I didn't take the bait on that road.
We ate at a Mexican food place tonight and the beer for the night - Stump Jumper, yuk! Steve said the IPA beer was supposed to be good for your bones but that's got to be only if you can keep it down.. I'm no beer conoseur that's for sure but this stuff tasted like 1 week old coffee with dirt.
Now, the pressure was on, 3 of the 4 bikes on the trip had tipped over. I had to somehow survive the remaining days without a drop, this wasn't easy as I had many slow speed close calls but always stayed upright. Whew!
Tue - Aug 17th
Loop 3 - US 550/US 160/Hwy 145/Hwy 62 (408 Miles)
Holy smokes!... the roads were very dry. Lots of stopping for construction but also lots of space between and not much traffic so it was a real blast.
We ate at Marios Pizza again tonight and headed back to the campground.
I went to McDonald's to try and get some wifi service and download something that would allow us to see the MP4 videos I was taking on the netbook w/XP. I never could figure out the right codecs to download so I just pulled down a free viewer that sorta worked. The netboook isn't the best for viewing videos and 1/2 speed was the best I could do for the video to flow smoothly. Would just have to wait 'til I got home to see what they look like at normal speed.... or maybe I didn't want to know.
Rick and Steve went to get firewood and beer - the flavor for the night was Out of Bounds which just about described our riding for the day. I dont have any pics for today as I was just trying to hang on LOL...
Wed - Aug 18th
Blue Mesa Res to Bryce Canyon NP (534 Miles)
On the way to Utah, we hit the Colorado Nat'l Monument before heading out of Colorado... Wow, what a very cool area to ride in. I never had the change to ride this section of CO and I'm glad I did now.
After that, we headed towards Moab, UT and had to do Hwy 128 and then the Lasal Mountain Loop. Lasal is not the best road surface but a very nice view of the surrounding area.
In Moab, we stopped for lunch at Wendy's and just in time, it was starting to rain and it was those big drops... once we were inside, the sky opened up.. we took our time eating and waited for the rain to slow.
Hwy 12 in Utah is just an amazing road... we just about decided to just do that road back and forth for the next few days. Some sections have a lot of cattle but the road itself is in great shape and must have been designed by a motorcyclist.
We were running a bit behind schedule so the sun was going down on the way into Bryce, made for a very cool looking sky.
Colorado
Utah
Arizona
New Mexico
A great time
was had
by all.
Fri- Aug 13th
Dallas, TX to Fritch, TX (395 Miles)
I left around noon for the hot ride (106 degrees) to the Lake Meridith area.
I pulled over on the side of the road about 120 miles from Fritch, TX to put a cover over my tank bag, it was beginning to rain.
I hear on the CB "hey, should we stop to help this guy?" just as I hit my blinker and I recognized the voice as being Rick (Trailace). LOL
He and Khris (Tankereng) were right behind me. When they passed, I pulled in behind and we had a good laugh. We did not plan on meeting up until the campground and with me not knowing my exact departure time it was dumb luck we all met along the way.
We made it to the Fritch Campground and setup then headed into town to find some food - subway was the meal of the evening. While there, we got a call from Steve (Buzz) saying he was just about 30 miles away.
It was hot so we filled our camelbaks using the water dispenser at subway - well, with my camelbak I kept hitting the soda buttons trying to get ice or just water and making more of a mess than anything else.... this wouldn't be the 1st time I did this... LOL
We got back to the campground and Steve showed up just a few minutes later. The gang was all there. The beer for the night - Land Shark.
Sat - Aug 14th
Fritch, TX to Blue Mesa Res (568 Miles)
When we woke up the next morning, I found out Lake Meridith has it's own Loc Ness Monster.
This is a recreational lake so there were people up and talking, laughing, driving, etc up to 2am... We got up and hit the road by 7AM, I'm somewhat embarrassed as I accidentally hit my horn while leaving. I need to work on my anger issues more.
Back to the ride - Rick and I already had CBs on our bikes but Rick had an old one and had been thinking about getting it replaced. Khris decided to get one and so Rick did too... that left Steve as the loner... so, he emailed us that he was having one put on at a dealer. Well, the other 3 of us installed ours ourselves... so, we had discussed playing a joke on Steve. Every now an thing we'd say how bad the road was and then we would pretend to ignore Steve so he would think there was a loose wire or his CB wasn't working...
Flashback: On the 1st big trip Steve, Rick and myself were on, Steve hooked up a handheld CB that worked a couple days and then was useless and he was just cussing at it the whole trip.
Coming out of the campground, Steve mentioned how great of a morning it was for riding. I said "hey Rick, is that you?" and he replied "No, I didn't say anything". A couple minutes later Rick would say how great of a morning it was and Steve would reply "I just said that!!!" and I'd say, "Is someone saying something? I hear the mic key up but no words", Steve would say "It's me, can anyone hear me?".... silence...
Well, that lasted just 20 miles or so to the 1st gas stop... I walked over to Steve and told him his CB was working fine and we were messing with him... he was just about ready to rip the thing off the bike.. LOL
We rode to Trinidad, CO and then the Highway of Legends (hwy 12).
We visited the Bishop Castle along the way as well.
When we left, we went through La Veta, CO. I had told Rod (Old2Wheeler) we could have lunch if the timing was right but we stopped in Trinidad for breakfast/lunch... I was able to catch up with him in the middle of town long enough to say hi and shake his hand, nice guy and sorry we were in a rush to get to camp.
We made it to the Elk Creek campground near the Blue Mesa Reservoir which is about 15 miles from Gunnison, CO. We planned on staying here 4 nights so we didn't have to break down camp as much.
After the tents were setup, we headed into town for dinner and ended up at The Trough Restaurant - great food and an interesting menu.
Back to the campground, the beer for the night - Wooly Booger - picked out by the New Guy (Khris), great beer and a good selection.
Sun - Aug 15th
Loop 1 - Hwy 92/Hwy 133/Mt Evans/US 24 (558 Miles)
This was a pretty full day of riding. Hwy 92 is always a great ride along the Gunnison National Forest. It was a nice cool morning and Khris lead through this section up to around Hwy 133, another great road full of sweepers.
After this section we hit I-70 to head towards Mt Evans (Hightest Paved Road in the U.S.) only to run into construction for what seemed like 20 miles. The freeway was stop and go so we rode along the shoulder and I'm sure there are cagers that didn't appreciate it, we did ease some of the congestion by removing bikes from the equation.
We exited towards Mt Evans and it was close to 11AM so there was lots of cars/bikes going up and down the road. No big deal, you don't want to screw up on that road anyway, you'd just keep falling...
I could feel the altitude when we got to the top, slight shortness of breath but hey, it's 14,264 feet, what do you expect?
We stayed at the top for just a bit and then started heading back as it was a long day. When we got back on the freeway a couple vipers with race numbers on the side passed up.... well, what would YOU do? Anyway, we made good time for a section.
We got back to the Gunnison area and stopped at Mario's Pizza for dinner, excellent food!!! Then, back to the campground.
Mon - Aug 16th
Loop 2 - Hwy 149/US 160/ US 550 (425 Miles)
Losts of rain this morning, but it made for some great views.
The rain was on and off and most of the day. On the way south we had a little glitch with the GPS route and I needed to do a u-turn in an RV Park driveway, there was a bit of gravel there. When I got back on the road I looked back to see a strange site - the new guy (Khris) had decided he'd had enough riding and just threw his bike down... didn't quite understand it, but he must have gotten over it as he picked it up faster than you can grab a camera and was back on it and on the road. Geesh, we wouldn't have taken any pictures... really... I think.. That's 1 of 4.
Later, Rick had to pee something bad. Couldn't wait the 15 miles down the mountain road as we just pulled up behind a slow 18-wheeler. So, he and Steve pulled off, Khris and I kept going. Well, apparently after Rick got off his bike and found 'a place to go' his bike decided to fall over, that's 2 of 4.
Once we got about 3/4 of the way through US 550 (The Million Dollar Highway) the rain subsided and we could have some fun on drier roads.
We pulled over at a gas station to take off our rain gear, but then it looked like it was going to open up again, a look at the radar confirmed it.. so, after taking off our rain gear - duh - we put it back on.. While we were parked there a guy came up and said he had a GS and there was a road - Owl Creek - that would be nice and not difficult. He even said the STs could make it. Ha, you'll never catch me with one of those comments.
So, Rick and Steve decided to try that road, Khris and I headed back to the campground. We should have been using oars to get back as it was a deluge.
When Rick and Steve came back, they had tales of deep hail and a dropped GS, that's 3 of 4. Sure glad I didn't take the bait on that road.
We ate at a Mexican food place tonight and the beer for the night - Stump Jumper, yuk! Steve said the IPA beer was supposed to be good for your bones but that's got to be only if you can keep it down.. I'm no beer conoseur that's for sure but this stuff tasted like 1 week old coffee with dirt.
Now, the pressure was on, 3 of the 4 bikes on the trip had tipped over. I had to somehow survive the remaining days without a drop, this wasn't easy as I had many slow speed close calls but always stayed upright. Whew!
Tue - Aug 17th
Loop 3 - US 550/US 160/Hwy 145/Hwy 62 (408 Miles)
Holy smokes!... the roads were very dry. Lots of stopping for construction but also lots of space between and not much traffic so it was a real blast.
We ate at Marios Pizza again tonight and headed back to the campground.
I went to McDonald's to try and get some wifi service and download something that would allow us to see the MP4 videos I was taking on the netbook w/XP. I never could figure out the right codecs to download so I just pulled down a free viewer that sorta worked. The netboook isn't the best for viewing videos and 1/2 speed was the best I could do for the video to flow smoothly. Would just have to wait 'til I got home to see what they look like at normal speed.... or maybe I didn't want to know.
Rick and Steve went to get firewood and beer - the flavor for the night was Out of Bounds which just about described our riding for the day. I dont have any pics for today as I was just trying to hang on LOL...
Wed - Aug 18th
Blue Mesa Res to Bryce Canyon NP (534 Miles)
On the way to Utah, we hit the Colorado Nat'l Monument before heading out of Colorado... Wow, what a very cool area to ride in. I never had the change to ride this section of CO and I'm glad I did now.
After that, we headed towards Moab, UT and had to do Hwy 128 and then the Lasal Mountain Loop. Lasal is not the best road surface but a very nice view of the surrounding area.
In Moab, we stopped for lunch at Wendy's and just in time, it was starting to rain and it was those big drops... once we were inside, the sky opened up.. we took our time eating and waited for the rain to slow.
Hwy 12 in Utah is just an amazing road... we just about decided to just do that road back and forth for the next few days. Some sections have a lot of cattle but the road itself is in great shape and must have been designed by a motorcyclist.
We were running a bit behind schedule so the sun was going down on the way into Bryce, made for a very cool looking sky.
