WF CDT RMAR aUIB? more than 2 weeks of pure stooopid.

[knybanjo]

I did miss out on a bunch of fun by not waiting around for the rain with the rest of the group. CLICK HERE to see some pics that Chub shot of the fun....or CLICK HERE for lots of RMAR pics.

Sometimes I just like to putt around on my own, it's nice to be able to just stop and smell the flowers whenever you feel like it.







I still wasn't sure that I'd be able to escape the monsoon though.



Rolling down FR 600 towards Creede.







I never did see the "big" group out on the road/trail but I did find my friends in the "little" group again ....and somehow I even got in my own pic.



I think this was looking towards South Fork in the valley below.







Once I was back down to the hard top I was off to see if I could find a "sunny" mountain.



Wagonwheel Gap between Creede and South Fork.



So as I rolled through SF I thought that it looked like better weather over towards Wolf Creek Pass. At the base of the pass on 160 I found a turn off to a lake and decided to check it out.



The lake was crowded and the road continued up the mountain...so I did too.



I was much happier with the weather on this side of camp.



There was another lake up the hill a ways...



...but the road kept going...so I did too.



It was fast and smooth and eventually was a dead end....riding it twice was not a problem...it was tacky and fast!







...almost back to the bottom...where should I go now?

[sanjoh]

Originally Posted by knybanjo

Thanks....did y'all get out for your big summer trip this year?

No, work got in the way. Bunch of rides the SE. Headed up to the HUBB event at the Iron Horse in 2 weeks, wanna ride?

Funny thing reading your ride report, we did a very similar ride last year (42 days to smell the flowers). Looks like you had a great time.

[red bud]

Originally Posted by 257bob

I kept thinking to myself, "That guy looks awfully familiar..."

I think we saw that bike in another "uncompromising position" earlier this year.

Poor little KLR....

Glad you're all in one piece.

same guy different klr (he maybe a secret klr killer )hi todd, somebody probably already mentioned this i just got here. hi kevin came across this. awsome rr

[advtenn]

Guilty as charged!


Hi Mark!

[knybanjo]

Originally Posted by sanjoh

No, work got in the way. Bunch of rides the SE. Headed up to the HUBB event at the Iron Horse in 2 weeks, wanna ride?

Funny thing reading your ride report, we did a very similar ride last year (42 days to smell the flowers). Looks like you had a great time.

Bummer on the work deal this summer.

But cool pic! do you think that one of us should start a "Show us your Geographical Center of North America pics" thread in pics, pics, pics

Originally Posted by red bud

same guy different klr (he maybe a secret klr killer )hi todd, somebody probably already mentioned this i just got here. hi kevin came across this. awsome rr

Thanks man!

Are you going to be at either of the "cabin" rallies this fall, or what?!?

Originally Posted by advtenn

Guilty as charged!

[Reddog*]

Nice pics and RR.
Thanks for sharing.

[knybanjo]

Originally Posted by Reddog*

Nice pics and RR.
Thanks for sharing.

I aint quite done yet though......

[knybanjo]

It looked sunniest atop Wolf Creek Pass so I thought maybe lunch on Pagosa Springs would be nice.



I don't know why I like to take pics of these things?



The pass itself is a big 'ol wide slab of pavement....



I must not have been very hungry as I turned off on the first dirt road that I seen! No map, no gps...just go see where it ends up!



I doubled back up towards the pass so I thought, hey maybe this will make a nice loop.



Nice it was...and sunny too.



But the first option I took was a dead end.



So I went back to the turn off I just passed to try it....



...but it too was a dead end....



...as was every spur I tried, but it was still fun riding!





It's funny now to look at these and think that the big group was in a rain storm floundering in the mud at this very moment.
But they have better camp fire stories to tell and the friendships formed in that mud may last a lifetime .....I still think I made the right choice Saturday.



My ride wasn't completely without mud obstacles though!



On the way back down I happened to notice a waterfall right off of 160 that I couldn't see from the pavement!







After all that playing around I decided to just head back to South Fork for some lunch....



I had noble intentions of getting to bed early Saturday night for a big day on the road Sunday.



I even pretended to be a good boy scout and went and woke up a sleepy bike while it's owner was walking his dogs...



Then soon it was time for some of the best steak I've had in a long time!!



advtenn aka stinkyfoot, isn't even worried about his leaking radiator or non-working headlight the food looks so good!



I myself was too hungry to even get my own pics of the steaks themselves so these next two pics have been pilfered from others...

modette's pic of Big John cutting our steaks fresh!!



...and I don't even know who to give credit to for this shot...Big John posted it but a lot of donated pics to his hard drive for a slide show each night...





After dinner around the fire...



BgDadddy's much happier with how many times he fell down today!



This was my last pic Saturday night.....but I stayed up way later than I had wanted to...but those freaks wouldn't stop making me laugh!!

[knybanjo]

Sunday morning came early and it was time to begin the blast back home.

The stats (still display EDT)


I didn't quite beat the sunrise to the highway...



...and as I rolled into the shining sun on 160 I would be getting my last glimpse of the mountains for the day.....



...and my first glimpse of the long lonely road ahead.



bye bye hill country...





I have always crossed Kanarado and Kansas on I-70 in the past but US across MN, ND & MT worked out so well early in this trip I decided to take US 50.

To get to US 50 I took CO 10 ......it will eventually make it the "pics of the long lonely road" thread.....



It was 75 miles of this.....



Are you tired of looking at it yet?



I should have never looked back!!





It wasn't long before my groundhog day began to repeat itself. At least I was making good time!



WAS!



Thankfully it was just a friendly reminder that they wanted me to take my time and smell the feed lots on my way through Kansas.



These were on display at a truck stop!



And then I suddenly felt like a cowboy in an old western again.



I didn't bother to stop and play tourist though.



The heat was now starting to take it's toll on me....several sign I seen read higher temps but this is the only I caught in a fly by pic.



Looking back...."Let's get out of Dodge!"



I would ride for about a half an hour and start to get delirious, then I would have to fight to stay awake and alert for 10 or 15 more minutes tell I made it to the next little town to go inside relieve myself and cool off and refill my camel back.



I had big plans of making it to Missouri to snuggle Bender's cats but I realized now that it just wouldn't happen.



I only made it 579 miles on my odometer Sunday before grabbing a hotel and a shower in McPherson, KS. I posted up to PUAC and Bake was gracious enough to invite me to breakfast the next morning in Wichita, about an hour South of me. That didn't happen either but I was very appreciative of the thought.

[knybanjo]

I had a good nights sleep in the hotel and woke just before daybreak, went outside and felt the still very warm air and decided that I needed to get going and cover as much ground as possible before it got too hot!

Today would be an Unofficial Iron Butt day...the beginning stats.



Sunrise over a Kansas town...I think I'm heading towards what they call the flint hills now.





Eat your heart out Tallboy!! windmill at 70 mph!!



One last look back at Kansas before crossing Misery....



I didn't even pull the camera out till I was about to pass through the "Gateway to the East"



It was still warm and muggy but the clouds were a relief from the hot sun!



Bye bye Wild wild West!



Illinois dose not look much different than Kansas... it's not as hot but it is more humid.



I blasted right by Paducah, KY and on down into Tennessee.....



The sun was beginning to set as I approached Nashville and the air was beginning to feel refreshingly cool!!



It felt like it warmed up 20 degrees as I passed by downtown but in a couple of miles it was nice and cool once again and I decided that I didn't want to ride in the heat anymore and that I'd just blast down I-40 towards the Carolinas!



I-40 at night!



I hit the SS1000 mileage just a couple minutes past the 17 hour mark.



...and made it home safe and sound 20.5 hours and 1184 miles after I left McPherson Kansas.




I was fortunate enough to only ride Interstates on the very first and very last days of this trip.


That was my stooopid summer vacation of 2010...thanks for riding along on the world wide web!!

[sandmar]

Very nice Kevin! thanks for taking us along

[Gaston Gagne]

Nice report! My scrolling finger got a workout. Hopefully, next summer I will get to see some of this stuff for myself.

[Land]

Thanks for the RR, Kevin. It was great riding with you in Maaaaaaaaaaahn-tana.

Chris

[red bud]

Thanks man!

Are you going to be at either of the "cabin" rallies this fall, or what?!?
shoot'n for rick's, the hub and old's cool time will tell

[/quote]

[Lovin' it Strom]

Thanks for the RR, Kevin. It was great meeting you at RMAR and thanks again for helping me get dirt figured out. Been doing a lot more lately and even two up with the spouse.

If you make it back out this direction again let me know, if you want to hang back with the noob again that it.