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My photos are hosted by webshots.com
by clicking through you can view all my photos full size, the good, the bad and the ugly.
What a ride... Breakdowns and all...
Monday 1st August
258 miles
After some confusion about which gas station to meet at we headed off for Fallon NV where we are going to spend the night before heading out across NV along Hwy 50. America's Loneliest Highway. After several tea stops we finally made it to Fallon
Tuesday 2nd August
322 miles
We got off to a good early start and after having a McDonald's breakfast we filled up with gas and were on our way to Ely by 8:30. I love this road with the wide open space without much sign of human disturbance to the landscape. This year I'm determined to stop at the shoe tree and as we approach I notice something is not right. The tree has been cut down by someone, perhaps some sick bastard with a chain saw. We see the remains of the original tree with shoes scattered about. The remaining tree is destined to become the shoe tree as there are already shoes hanging from its branches. It is somewhat overcast today and towards the latter half of the day we catch a bit of rain. Simon and Jackie stop to put on the rain gear and perhaps I should have too. I got a good soaking for the 5 minute ride through the rain but it only takes about 10 minutes of riding before I'm almost dry and I stop to let Jackie and Simon catch me. Stopped for lunch and a long break in Ely and then we push on to the Border Inn for the night.
Wednesday 3rd August
205 miles
We woke up to threatening skies in the direction of our travel today and after checking the radar on my iPhone I suggest we postpone our departure for half and hour or so. The days ride turns out to be cool and comfortable with some wet roads and a spit or two or rain which really didn't warrant putting on the rain gear. The climb up to Cedar Breaks NM through Brian Head is a bit on the cool side and the ride down to Panguitch throws a few wild pitches at us. First there is a HUGE dog standing in the middle of the road out in the middle of nowhere, he is just standing there and my mind thinks he may try and take a bite out of my leg as I hit the brakes in case he makes a move in front of me. Thankfully he just stands there. Next, just a few hundred yards down the wet road I slip violently on a road snake that parallels the curve and scare the crap out of myself.
Thursday 4th August
0 miles
No riding today! We take the day off and take a long walk along the Rim of Bryce Canyon today after a wholesome breakfast.
Friday 5th August
178 miles for Simon, 316 for Jackie and 406 for me
Set off from Ruby's Inn at 9:20. Everyone rested and looking forward to a day's good riding. We passed through some stunning scenery, stratified rock formations as far as the eye could see.
Just outside of Hanksville Simon stopped for a kodak moment. Jackie and I rode on ahead with Jackie going all the way to our next planned stop at Green River CO. I, on the other hand, stopped on the Freeway on ramp waiting for Simon to show up. Unfortunatly it turned into a nightmare moment for Simon as a short in the starting circuit prevented him from restarting the bike. After a smoke and no sign of Simon I turn back to Hanksville hoping to find him taking a picture alone the road and after about 10 miles I figure my fuel level won't allow me to turn around again and make Green River so even if Simon should somehow appear I'm committed to Returning to Hanksville. I found him on the side of the road and tried to get the bike going again to no avail. Lucky for us we are in cell coverage and I call for a tow. After talking with Jackie in Green River we decide she should go on to Grand Junction and get a couple of rooms for the night turns out the Motel 6 is just blocks away from the HD shop. Simon and I settle down and wait for the tow truck. We finally roll into Grand Junction CO around 10pm.
Thanks Road America / HOG for the great service
Saturday 6th August
168 miles
Poor Simon, he awakens with a toothache thank God for chemicals as a few pills deaden the discomfort for him. I head off the the HD shop to get the bike in for service and then head back to the room for some more coffee. Around 10:30 I call and they say it is up and running again so Jackie and I ride off to get the bike and we tell Simon to get ready as we can leave soon.
We are headed for Kremmling today stagging ourselfs for a morning ride through Rocky Mountain National Park. The maps show a scienic road leading to Kremmling and we decide to take it, it turns out to be a gravel road and I'm very unset about it.. It turns out to be a scenic ride but very dusty and somewhat hazardous and I fear one of us might go down. We all make it the 30 or so miles and I'm relieved the only bad part is all the dust we had to eat. In Kremmling our hotel is "rustic" but nice. We commandeer the breakfast room for our dinner and are introduced to Tank the owners St. Bernard and their puppy St. Bernard too.
Sunday 7th August
255 miles
More chemicals for Simon and his tooth calms down and we set off on a cool, clear morning heading for Rocky Mountain National Park. As we climbed higher and higher, the temperature dropped and as we got above the tree line there was snow on the ground and a very cool wind blowing. We stopped and took photos of the magnificent backdrop, then descended back into the warmer lowlands, where we picked up the freeway to Cheyenne, Wyoming. After a nice chicken salad picnic beside the Shell garage, we reached Cheyenne. There we gassed up and then decided to press on to Torrington for the night.
Monday 8th August
208 miles
We left Torrington headed for Sturgis, stopped at the junction of Hwy 18 at the rest area and enjoyed some ice water and some tea for Jackie and Simon. Then we continued on to Newcastle where I think Simon began to sense the amount of bikes that he would be seeing soon.
We entered the Black Hills and waited at a junction just outside of Lead for scores of bikes which were being escorted by police, most likely the Mayor's ride. As we rode into Lead, girls in bikinis could be seen waving boards, and their butts, advertising various bike washes. By now I think Simon's eyes were about to pop. As he said in his diary we were surrouned by bikes. We bypassed Sturgis town centre and headed straight for No Name City. Seems we were the last to arrive as Mark, David, Chris and Alex were already there. They all helped us put up the tents and then we sat around chatting and having a beer. In the evening, the three of us took a shuttle bus into Sturgis. Again as Simon said "It's not really possible to describe the Sturgis experience, you just have to go there and sense the atmosphere of the place! The place, the bikes, the people are a complete eye opener."
Tuesday 9th August
0 miles
Simon and Jackie went into town shopping and I just took the day off... A day to do nothing...
Wednesday 10th August
150 miles
We headed South to Rapid City were we had some breakfast then headed off to Custer State park for an enjoyable afternoon ride around the wildlife loop. Saw some bison and burros then headed back up Iron Mountain Road towards Mt. Rushmore.
Thursday 11th August
220 miles
Egads we are leaving already, we just got here. We make our first stop at Wal-Mart in Spearfish. Jackie buys some new earphones, Simon gets some Aleve and I get myself a fresh can of tabacco. Restock the ice chest and add to our sandwhich supplies and we are off to Sheridan WY. Stopping for fuel and lunch in Gillette I'm sure my rear tire won't make it the rest of the way home especally if we decide to head home via interstate 80 across NV. I make a call or two and arrange for a new tire tomorrow in Cody. We push on after some lunch and make Sheridan with plenty of daylight left.
Friday 12th August
265 miles
As Simon says "Recharged after a very restful sleep in an upscale Motel 6 room (luxury after the tent), we were back on the road at 9:00." Gas and ice at the nearest petrol station then back on 90 west. After ten miles we turned off the freeway and onto Highway 14 westbound. Before long we were approaching the Granite Mountains and climbing over the pass. As we got higher we kept stopping to put on more and more layers. In Cody, we stop and get my new rear tire at Thad Fitzgerald's house (he is in the process of moving to a new shop) we eat some lunch, ham and cheese sandwiches and tea for Simon and Jackie while I enjoy a ice cold Dr. Pepper under the shade of trees. Soon it was time to set off for the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone Park. Again from Simon's notes "After passing through more stunning scenery, we entered the park and soon become stuck behind a motorist who braked before each bend and refused to exceed 30 mph. After a laborious one hour ride we reached the Inn. As if for our benefit, the Old Faithful geyser erupted within ten minutes of us arriving. Looked like people had been waiting hours! We settled into some very quaint little cabins with en-suite facilities, very luxurious! We were all very tired today so, after a pasta dinner in the self-service canteen, we hit the sack."
Saturday 13th August
0 miles
Took a walk on the boardwalk and we managed to arrive at Castle Geyser just minutes before it erupted and gave us quite a show. Spent a lazy day relaxing and sleeping.
Sunday 14th August
30 miles
Another lazy day... took a ride to Firehole Lake drive and the paint pots and returned to the rooms to relax.
Monday 15th August
130 miles
The weather this morning is not looking good... I sugguest we postpone our departure for half and hour or so and it works out that we miss the rain on the way to West Yellowstone. At West Yellowstone, we stopped at a supermarket for provisions and then went across the street to an excellent bakery where we each had our choice of pastries. While Simon and Jackie enjoyed their coffee I went out and checked the latest radar images along our planned route for the day. We rode off towards Missoula passing through some stunning Montana scenery. The rain was holding off and we were having a great ride when my trailer started to whip. We pulled off the highway and discovered that I had a flat rear tire. A guy training dogs lent us his electric pump but the tire just wouldn't inflate. To add to the bad news there was no cell phone reception. So Jackie and Simon rode the 28 miles or so up to the nearest town, Ellis, to call Road America for a tow for the second time this trip. Meanwhile I hunkered down in the blistering winds that were blowing. Two hours later a guy called PJ turned up in a pick-up towing a huge 26 foot trailer. He said he had passed through some really heavy rain with high winds, so Simon asked if he could squeeze in all three bikes. He said he thought he probably could, what a star!! Once we were all loaded up, the four of us plus Sofi (PJ's cute little dog) set off for Butte. At Butte, after we had off loaded my bike we checked into a Super 8 motel. They gave us "traveller distress" rates on two rooms which was very generous. Finished off the day consuming a huge pepperoni pizza washed down with a microbrew beer. Very good.....
Tuesday 16th August
290 miles
Wednesday 17th August
320 miles
Stealing from Simon again " In the elevator, after breakfast, I spoke to a young woman whose sister had just been in car accident. She showed me a picture which was on the front page of the local paper. We were off promptly today at 9:00 on a clear cool sunny morning. We covered the first hundred miles in about a couple of hours and stopped in a pleasant little dwelling called New River, where we had our first brew of the day. While the water was boiling I walked to the Post office for stamps. Then we passed through some splendid rolling scenery and onto Ontario, Oregon for lunch. After filling up, Jackie made sandwiches and then we had a Baskin Robins ice-cream. After lunch, we set off for our final stop of the day, Burns Oregon. Riding in the afternoon followed a wonderful highway 20 with sweeping bends following the course of the river through hilly desert terrain. It is striking how varied and breathtaking the American scenery is. Found the Silver Spurs Motel around 6.00pm and after a quick shower, we watched the sun go down with a cold beer and chatted with a couple of other bikers. Finished the day with a good cheeseburger at the Central Pastime Bar < Grille."
Thursday 18th August
350 miles
On our way out of town we stopped at a McDonalds for breakfast. The riding was along Hwy 395 S through the desert scrub with hills in the distance. In Alturas we grabbed a bite to eat at Subway. With 150 miles to go we set off after lunch. One last cup of tea at the rest area West of Burney in view of Mt Shasta then it off to Redding. Another quote from Simon "Jackie wanted to lead, so we followed her through some great sweeping bends of the 299 southbound. Around 7:00pm we pulled into the driveway, safe and sound after over 3,500 miles. Everyone was travel weary and pleased to be back. Jackie and Mark were soon enjoying the welcome from Rufus. Even Smokey Cat came to see what was going on. Calen came out of the house with his girlfriend Haley and took photographs of the three of us at journey's end. We then took photos of a rather self-conscious Calen and Haley! Later we all sat round chatting, eating pizza and drinking beer. It's been an amazing trip and has lived up to every expectation. Job done! There were only a few dramas and no injuries. The photographs and video say it all. I'd like to say a really big thank you to Mark for trusting me with his beautiful Harley Soft-tail, to Jackie for feeding me (including her wonderful Dundee cake) and to both of them for taking such good care of me on this trip. Also thank you to the pick-up drivers Gary and "PJ" for their great service, Danish bikers Esben and Camilla for stopping to help and to big Dave (with a big heart) for introducing me to Miller Genuine Draught beer! Finally, respect to 'nam vet' Chris, Alex and all the genuine, friendly people I've met on this trip."
Once again, thanks to Road America for covering my butt....