On this day, the rest of the gang would be heading home. I would be riding solo up to Ogden to visit the Daughter for a couple of days, then head home in time to take the Wife to the airport, where she would go to Milan to meet the Daughter. So this was a very busy couple of weeks.
Here's a couple of pics Tom took..
After the joys of mudville ride:
The next morning, we packed up all our stuff & had another hearty breakfast at Blondies. I asked them if i could use their hose out back to wash my bike a bit, & they said yes! Tom took this one of me washing down the wrx.
I got it pretty clean, then loaded up my bags & bolted on the windscreen. ..ready to go. My riding buddies headed south back to Az, & i headed north up to Ogden. After i crossed I-70, my gps routed me onto a nice dirt road.. i took it fairly tentavely.. had my fill of adventures already. But there were only a few muddy spots, & nothing too long or deep.
Still clean, outfitted for the road..
This was some fun, scenic solo riding..
Then i came to this:
I stopped & walked it, first.. didn't want to get stuck in the mud by myself. I was ready & willing to turn back, but the ground was firm & had a sandy/rocky base, so i hopped back on the bike & rode across.
After a few miles, this road came to the paved road going to Price, which connected over the mountains to Spanish Fork. It was fairly cool, & got cloudy as i got to Price. My bigger tank was giving me a nice range, so i kept going, after a short warm up stop. The road through price canyon was rainy. There was snow on the surrounding mountains! The windscreen did a fantastic job of keeping me warmer.. i would also throttle with my left hand, & warm my right hand by the now open radiator. The left hand i could tuck between me & the tank bag as i huddled behind the screen. The extra farings on the acerbis hand guards helped keep some of the wind off my hands, but they still were cold. I had all my jackets on, plus my silk balaclava.. that & the full face helmet kept my face & head warm (er!)
This is a very nice ride.. very scenic. Because of the rain & cold, i didn't stop to take any pics, though, but wanted to get to the warmer & sunnier valley at spanish fork. When i did, i gassed up & took a long break to warm up.
I got on the interstate at spanish fork. No problem. The 250 wrx can cruise at 70 all day. I probably averaged about 75.. i kept up with the traffic, & passed some cars. I could hit 80-85 if i needed to. But by the time i got to Provo, all the stress of the week, the cold of this days ride, the drone of the freeway.. all of this made me very tired. I was having trouble keeping my eyes open. It was about 3pm, & i was wanting to beat as much of the salt lake rush hour that i could. But i finally conceded defeat & pulled over to a big mall parking lot. On the outskirts of the lot were some trees in the little islands. The ground covered with wood chips. With my helmet still on, earplugs in, & even gloves, i stretched out & closed my eyes for a bit. An hour later i opened them. I would now have rush hour to deal with, but felt much more rested.
A couple of hours later, i pulled up to the enthusiastice greeting of Soshi, their new pup. Taylor & Mary took me out for a nice olive garden meal, & i got to bed fairly early, still tired from the week's rides.
Sat, Sun, 10/9-10/10
No riding for me, these days.. Taylor had a cyclecross race, so i went along to watch.
Taylor is in here, somewhere!
I thought you were supposed to ride the bikes... Taylor in great form clearing an obstacle..
Mary helped out with tires, wrenches, & also took some pictures. She didn't ride in this race.
I helped baby sit the dog & took a few pictures. We stayed & socialized afterward.. i entertained the dog, mostly. They have a nice circle of friends.. most of them cycling atheletes.. but hanging out with 20 somethings is not for old people.
Taylor had gotten a new pistol, & wanted to take it to the range & show it to me. I hadn't fired a pistol since i was 20, but went along. They were both impressed with my marksmanship. I guess it's like riding a bicycle. It was a Glock.. and after firing it i decided i needed one, too! It is a very nice pistol, only 9mm. I'll look around & maybe get one when i get some extra money. In 10 or 20 more years i should be able to do it!
Sunday we went to Taylor's grand mother's 80th birthday! She is a wonderful woman.. quite the character. I met her at their wedding. Afterwards, Taylor wanted to take the dog out for some grouse.. so we all went hunting.
The dog, Mary & I were supposed to flush out the birds for Taylor, but we didn't do a very good job. I got real tired (again!) clambering around on the steep hillside, & wanted to wait at the return point while they continued. They did flush out 3 deer, which i saw coming down the hill. I took some pics, but they didn't come out.. too dark, too many trees. But i asked, how many birds did you get? I shot 3 deer.. with the camera, of course.
Monday, 10/11/10 Ogden to Sedona.
Mary did not want me to ride all the way home in one day, so i said i would stop & check on a hotel in Kanab or Page. I left about 9, letting it warm up, some, & hoping the rush hour traffic would die down. I took the interstate again all the way to spanish fork, then cut over to hwy 89. It was cool at first, but warmed up some as the day wore on.
By late afternoon, i saw these guys all out sunning themselves..
I'm sure they were part of a private herd.. they were fenced in.
I made good time coming down 89.. made a couple of stops, but kept riding. I passed a lot of cars & rv's. It was nearly 4 when i neared Kanab. I decided to keep going to page, & took a dirt road shortcut over. It has some washed out spots, especially in the low water crossings, but it was dry enough & i rode it without incident. It was a little past 6 when i got into page. I took some pics while riding of lake powell, but the light was dim & they were all blurry. Too bad. The late sun was very nice. I decided i was only about 3 hrs more to home, so why stop now? I continued along 89 into Flagstaff. I kept my speed up very well, probably averaging 75-80. I passed quite a few cars & trucks, but had few pass me. This is another great thing about this bike.. it will rumble through the rocks, slog through the mud, then cruise down the hiway. The windscreen was the best.. it really keeps the wind down.
By the time i got up to flag, it was very dark.. & cold. I cleared an 8k' pass & stopped in Flag to warm up a bit. I called my wife who was at work. ..Only about an hour to go. I made the final ride down the canyon, warming up as the elevation decreased. It was about 9pm.. about 12 hrs total, around 580 miles.. mostly pavement. ..nice to be home.
scotty
No comments:
Post a Comment