I had worked all night and couldn't catch a nap, so the cold morning air was actually invigorating. I will confess, though, that I did crank on the heated vest a bit. It was 87 miles (mostly up I-25) to Longmont, and I averaged about 80mph. Max speed was about 95mph for a while north of Denver. The bike handled fine at that speed, if a bit buzzy (duh).
StrayDog joined us and we chatted a bit. Their bikes were all new, red and silver models, each with a temp tag that made me grin. Their fun on these bikes is just beginning.
We headed off to meet with a friend of thunk's. After a detour caused by construction, we met Michael on his F650GS at the Greenbriar Restaurant. He led the way up Left Hand Canyon, an easy paved road. We made a quick stop along the way and took some pics.
Here's kawioops with his latest ride.
thunk and Michael.
StrayDog hiding a pepperoni pizza behind his back.
The crew with my riderless A13.
We got onto the Peak to Peak Highway and looked for some dirt.
As we were contemplating our choices, we watched MANY big road bike groups go by on this very popular route between Nederland and Estes Park. One rider stopped to chat with us <later found to be Eagle Feather (Scott) from ADVRider>. He had recently acquired his Triumph Tiger, and was giving his gorgeous young daughter a quick ride before lunch. He headed home and we decided to head for Caribou. Didn't think to take a pic of his bike. Silly me.
We headed up.
Eventually, we got up the old Caribou area near Nederland. There was a bit of snow on the road, but it was mostly clear and only wet. At the top, it was gated off, and even the ATV riders that showed up seemed disappointed. The snow was deep beyond the gates.
We rode back to the pavement, and my camera batteries died along the descent. No more pics. We stopped for lunch and conversation, then went on to Boulder. We got off the slab and took Gross Reservoir road. Wish I could have taken some photos, some of the views of the rocks and the lake. The dirt road was hard-packed in places and was slick from the slight rain that teased at us on and off for some of the ride. It had been brief snowing up higher.
We stopped at a roadside pull-off and with the view of Boulder beneath us, we chatted a while longer. We split up for our respective rides home, and I headed for Golden. As soon as I was out of Boulder, it rained on me like the sky was angry at me. When the heavy rain turned into steady drizzle, the winds picked up.
Once I was on C-470 south-bound, with the wind at my back, I felt better, but once the highway turned eastward, the wind was pounding me from my left. It gave me a sudden unexpected lane change, and keeping a steady course was difficult. I slowed to about 40 mph, which was all I could manage and stay on the road. Even then, I got blown onto the shoulder twice. The rain was light, and not much of a bother, aside from traction concerns in the wind. I slowed more and made it to the exit at Sante Fe and later stopped in Sedalia for a break.
There was a guy and a gal parked at a gas station there waiting out the weather. Their cruisers were outside, and the riders were bummed to hear about the wind and rain--they were headed for Boulder. I was a wet, frazzled mess with a grin, and I don't think they understood it. Oh, well.
I motored on, and saw a bunch of lightning ahead. As I continued south on C-105, I saw that the storm cell was centered right over my house. Literally. Over my house. The lightning was serious. The rain moved on, but the lightning lingered. I stopped for a while and watched the storm move on. I checked my camera, and it's batteries had recovered enough to take a pic of some deer standing in my front yard. The sky was still dark, but the storm had moved on. Those deer camp out in my yard sometimes, so they were a common sight.
Then I had a mechanical problem. When I stopped to take the pic of the deer, I was still in gear when I killed the motor. When I later went to start up, I noticed the neutral light was on. Yup, I was still in gear. Not only that, I was unable to shift at all. I reached down to work the shift pedal with my hand, but it was going nowhere. Stuck in first gear. I pulled into my garage and tried to futz with it for a while, but I was really tired. I had been up for about 30 hours at that point.
I went inside and relaxed a while. When I went back outside, for whatever reason, the problem was gone. It shifted easily and effortlessly.