Go West Old Man 2012

[Shaggie]

[YOUNZ]

I don't know why the van and the empty trailer? I didn't see any Urals, I only saw Harleys!

[scarysharkface]

The road has been hit. I'm thinking maybe the road to Chaco Canyon is paved. Rain continues.





The road to Chaco Canyon is NOT paved, and the sign says it's impassable when wet. And it is wet.

I notice a trend. Whenever the road drops to cross a stream, horses dart across the road..

Bucking this trend, sometimes horses dart across the road on hills too..



I stop in Cuba for fuel and another Filet-O-Fish, and chat with a couple of guys headed up to Telluride from El Paso..



Progress toward who knows what is pretty good in spite of the rain. It's a nice day to ride. Then the rear wheel starts to feel a bit sloppy...



I'm kind of in the boonies, the rear tire is flat and I can't for the life of me find any punctures in the tire. I air it up and hope I can make it to somewhere..



Ojo Caliente has a liquor store with an air hose, and they point me up the road a mile or so to an inn that appears to be closed for the season. Across the street is a coffee place, and after explaining my predicament the owner phones the folks who run the inn. They set me up with a room and a courtyard for working on the bike. Excellent.





It's wet, I'm tired and the flat can wait until morning. I head over to the coffee place and compare notes until well after dark with a girl who is riding the CDR on a mountain bike. There is pizza as well, so I head to bed on a somewhat full stomach.

John

[scarysharkface]

Oh, the carnage...



I can see my shadow so the sun must be out. The pinch flat was an easy fix. Today is yet another good day.





I meander North, stopping occasionally to check the rear tire pressure (I'm paranoid like that) and snap a few pictures with the cell phone..







All is well, and just inside Colorado I get to take a picture with a narrow-gauge locomotive. Awesome..



John

[scarysharkface]

A bit further North I pull off to check the tire again. It's fine. What appears to be a Maserati passes. As I'm getting my helmet back on, it comes back and U-turns in behind me. I give 'em a thumbs up and they head on down the highway. Cool.



I keep forgetting that I'm on the East side of the Continental Divide here, which is probably why my shadow is leaning the way it's leaning instead of leaning the way it's not leaning.



I catch the main East/West road and turn right. Through the pass in no time at all and *sigh* I'm back in the flat lands again..







john

[Shaggie]

write faster!

[scarysharkface]

Originally Posted by Shaggie

write faster!

I'll try!

This ride report is nearing the end..

As maligned as they are, the Great Plains are still pretty great in many ways. The open sight-lines and big swatches of texture can be engaging. And it's just nice to be so far from everything (at least when the bike runs and nobody's hurt)..





A clash of ecosystems?



Kit Carson, Colorado..



Somewhere nearer the Colorado/Kansas state line..



Stopping for a quick pee in Winona..



A motel along I-70 for the night, then a couple hundred miles to my sister's place in Abilene and the Jeep. Margaret loads me up with hand-harvested elderberry concentrate to distribute to family in Indiana...



Long drive home, complete with an 8-hour nap at a rest stop in Missouri (I guess I was tired)...



I drove 1135 miles and I think I rode 4360. The front Dunlop looked like this after all that pavement..



It was the best of trips. It was the worst of trips. I certainly enjoyed the time with Neil and of course the astoundingly beautiful scenery we rode through. The time alone was good as well. Sometimes I pushed harder and sometimes I took things embarrassingly easy. The rain was a dissapointment, for sure, as were the mechanical issues, but it was a trip on the bike and those are all good.

John

[Sourjon]

Good stuff John. I really like the two of the trains in the lowering sun. I love the western US. So big and vast and beautiful. And for big parts, mostly empty. Thanks for shining a light into some places I've not been yet.

John

[scarysharkface]

Originally Posted by Sourjon

Good stuff John. I really like the two of the trains in the lowering sun. I love the western US. So big and vast and beautiful. And for big parts, mostly empty. Thanks for shining a light into some places I've not been yet.

John

Thanks, John! I'm glad you liked it. As for the trains, one of these years I'll devote a trip to taking railroad pictures. They must remind me of my youth or something.

John

[ThumperStorm]

Thank you for the ride report. I enjoyed your writing skills and appreciate all your photos.

[250Keith]

Thanks for taking the time to do this report, I read the hole thing!!

[Jailor8]

Great Ride report!!!

And I got to ask, Where you with DJ and the B Flames in August, at the Terre Haute Block party? If so Ive sat in the street and drank beer and listened to ya. Its a real good band!!! You shoud put a ADV sticker on your Guitar, I would have said, Hey!! And flipped ya the bird!!

Jailor8

[scarysharkface]

Originally Posted by ThumperStorm

Thank you for the ride report. I enjoyed your writing skills and appreciate all your photos.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by 250Keith

Thanks for taking the time to do this report, I read the hole thing!!

Thanks! And I commend you on your fortitude!

Originally Posted by Jailor8

Great Ride report!!!

And I got to ask, Where you with DJ and the B Flames in August, at the Terre Haute Block party? If so Ive sat in the street and drank beer and listened to ya. Its a real good band!!! You shoud put a ADV sticker on your Guitar, I would have said, Hey!! And flipped ya the bird!!

Jailor8

That was actually my brother Mark playing bass. Until September he and I took turns playing every other weekend with Dicky. I have since parted company and he's stuck playing all the gigs now. They just won the Indiana Blues Challenge last night at The Slippery Noodle in Indy. Great band and lots of fun to gig with, but they work just about every weekend and that doesn't leave much room for anything else.

Here's a set from a gig last April where I'm playing bass..



John

[bigdon]

Thanks for the RR John!

[scarysharkface]

Originally Posted by bigdon

Thanks for the RR John!

Thanks, Don!

John