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HispanicSlammer

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  1. HispanicSlammer
    Continuing on in this blog entry with more of the story of last summers California PNW adventure! Its not often you meet people you just click with - and certainly this is rare with individuals but even more rare with a group. This close knit group of Canadians are just the best (well most vfrd people are the best) but something special cannot be denied! I just love riding motorcycles with these folks, I trust them and its always a blast - even when everything goes wrong! This time is no exception!

    I finally made it to the sharp pointy place the french called Coeur d'Arlene. There is a sleepy little motel there called the Flamingo we seem to patronize as a group every time we pass through. My second time there they actually had a room for me this time. Complete with a fat cat that likes to jump up on your bed before it is touched by human hands to claim it as his! I am a cat person anyway so it does not bother me. Some cats act like dogs this is one of them!

    So I was the first to get there, then Radar showed up with Fay on the back - then Didit rolled in with Craig in tow and we almost had a complete set of Canadians at that point - just missing Axle, Tammy and Jeff our Vancouver contingent, we would meet up with them in Oregon in two days!

    My original plan was to ride with these guys for 3 days then head up to Canada for the meet going on up in Nelson that weekend, it was really ambitious for sure with 500 plus mile days in the middle to make it there and home! I dont know what I am thinking some times I bite off more then I can chew but things sometimes dont work out as planned and you just roll with the punches. I had a night planned at the McMinnimins hotel in Portland along the way too I was looking forward to another sample of that raspberry ale I liked so much when the PNW meet was in Troutdale the year before! OH well - when you plan too far ahead, something always gets fouled up! I sort of like the aspect about motorcycling of not knowing what to expect, sometimes I pull up lemons and sometimes I pull out sweet surprises from the hat.

    We soon got on with this vacation get together by walking over to a restaurant a few blocks away and had a wonderful dinner as Didit smoozed his way into the heart and minds of the servers and wrangled up a nice patio table out front, we came a bit late it seemed and just about everybody in Idaho was in Couer d'Arlene to get dinner the same time we where. He charmed his way into getting us a great spot. We had a great dinner and we needed it since we were in for a long day of twisties from Idaho to Enterprise OR, to go ride the Old Spiral Highway and Then do Rattle Snake Grade, it was not too far but it turned out to be a strange adventure none the less.


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    Our first leg of the day was the ride around Couer d'Arlene Lake - a 20 mile twisty road that runs along the lake side. All I can say is its a great way to start a motorcycle ride. I set up my video camera under my headlight, I tied the tether cord to the attachment on the camera (good thing I took this precaution). Then rode about 100 feet as it fell off the mount and then dangled there for the entire length of the lake route. Damn luck! It was a fun ride though and we took it at a good clip! Didit and Radar switched up the lead and I followed for the most part because video is better with a subject in front to focus on, of course the subject turned out to be a shot of the front wheel as the camera dangled by a cord for 20 minutes! Jeez it would happen that way. Then we rolled down a pass behind a chemical hauler semi truck hell bent on not letting any of us pass. We waited patiently for what seemed like hours for a safe and legal spot to pass which turned out to be the end of the good stuff! Jeez 30mph in lonely twisties with a semi blocking us for 15 minutes was hell!

    So it was still early and time for a bit of breakfast in Saint Maries Idaho, it wasnt bad at all - the company was better, lots of laughs.. Me just realizing my camera was dangling by a thread! So all the passing they did to get around me to get in the shot was all for nothin!


    We had a bit of very nice country side to go through to get to the next major highway, still out in the sticks we had one pass coming out of Saint Maries that is really good with lots of sweepers. Usually it has too much traffic, I say usually since I have done it once before so I don't really know what I am talking about, so I expected much traffic on it and it WAS there just as I thought it would be! However its two lanes going uphill so I passed a ton of cages and trucks to get to open road and everybody followed suit.

    Being that we were about 100 miles into the ride I should have filled up in Saint Maries! My bike only has a 4.8 gallon tank and I hate worrying about gas, but I did not do that - so I slowed it down a bit except one really good part on hwy 6 about 5 miles north of a blink town called Harvard Idaho, its a railer of about 2 miles, just hard right then hard left then hard right, very predictable but the turns are very very deep so you can sustain leaned over position for a long time the hard over to do it on the other side for a while, back and forth they just keep coming! Great little stretch of road going up the hillside, and lots of trees around you, a they have concrete rails up on both sides so it feels like your in tree tunnel just leaned over as fast as you can turn the bike back and forth. Jeez that is a fun road, and just a bit scary going down hill cause you can get into to it way too fast and then you have to brake so you have to brake carefully and not upset the suspension.

    So we stopped for gas and then the fun started, Didit's bike would not start! Aww Jeez, I think we push started it and to the gas station down the road cause Didit needed a phone, or he needed a place where his phone worked in case he needed a tow. He filled up down the road and tried to start it again and nothin! The station had jumper cables so we jumped the bike started and then we unplugged his headlights and let it idle for about 20 minutes to charge the battery, they also had a multi meter they let us use - or maybe one of us had one? In any case the bike was charging without the headlights plugged in so Didit just left them unplugged, we would head to a dealership down the road!

    First we found a motorsports shop in Moscow, but they pointed us to a Honda dealer over in Washington just across the state line 11 miles away in Pullman WA. It was there we found his RR connector was all burned up.
     
     
     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     
     

     

    The dealer loaned us some wire, soldier, and a heat gun to try to fix it, which we did, but it did not solve the problem. So we said lets keep on going, the bike was running fine with no headlights so we pushed on after a short lunch at a bar next to the dealership. Next up we hit the Old Spiral Highway and had some fun going down it!
     
     
     
     
    http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/videos/491/osh11.mp4
     

    Didits bike was just barely limping along and it was clear we had not fixed it with the connector so he decided to call around for parts and ended up getting our very own Tightwad from vfrd to send him a new stator and RR overnight to the hotel we had booked in Eureka CA. I had planned to ride with them all to Eureka then head north - but it seems plans and rides never seem to work out exactly as expected. We had one more section to do that day and then spend the night in Enterprise Oregon one more good spot of riding on Rattle snake grade then we would roll into Enterprise for the night.

    I spent most of the time looking in the mirror for a blue bike since we had no idea if the thing was going to make it, but it did! 2 days with a burned up stator phase, and no headlights. I think we tried to plug the lights back in and thats what killed the battery? So we left them unplugged till we could get the parts from Texas. Tightwad was a lifesaver!
     
     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     

     

    We decided next time if there is a next time we stay in Enterprise we will check out the motel in town instead of the Best Western, the quality is there but not for the price?

    So off we went after spending a frustrating 20 minutes waiting for a clerk to let us pump gas, Oregon has a stupid law about pumping your own gas, YOU CANT. Most the time they just let you anyway but they need to see if your doing it right first? 50 states in this country and each one is different! It is the law in Oregon that gas must be pumped by an attendant and there is no self serve! It freaked me out the first time I was there to see some dude stop me as I tried to pump my own gas, he noticed my Colorado plate so he did not go off on me - I am not used to being approached from behind and tapped on the shoulder pumping gas, I almost sprayed gas all over the guy cause he started the hell out of me. Thankfully I was expecting it this time around.

    We headed out of town behind a circus it seemed, an entire trainload of rv's and cars lined up for a mile it seemed and we passed them one at a time along the long straits out of town. Didit and I swapped mp3 cards so we could listen to something new, his wife prepared a whole playlist of songs I had never heard before. It was interesting, mostly club dance or workout songs, lots of fast music that made me want to ride at 100mph all day long! I had to slow myself down on several occasions. Today we were headed for Redmond Oregon.


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    We just had to stop first in Elgin, I had to pee so bad I could not stand it, and every RV we passed flew by us as we hung out at the gas station there, oh well! We decided to make it a long stop and just relax and let them all get way way ahead! Which was a good thing since we did not see most of them again after that. So we sat down and talked and took pics in this tiny little place
     
     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     
     

     

    I just plugged in Didits route into my gps without shaping the points any or looking at the route, he had originally had us headed down the interstate in La Grange but I did not see that and my map sent me right into town for a 15 minute stop and turn around and go back waste of time. He was not happy about that, but oh well - when we all use different gps units they don't always translate the same. So we got back on and then turned off to some podunk place called Ukiah Oregon, a dumpy little stop in the middle of nowhere - and we had to pump gas from an old style pump and pay cash to the kid in the wheel chair with no legs and only one working hand? That was a bit akward cause I did not know if he wanted help or if he was sort of one of those militant handicapped types that get all offended if you try to help? I just said f'it and let him do his thing an walked into the dumpy little store. From there on out the roads are really good, we took back road after backroad, and I was really feeling good with the bike and letting it get deeper and deeper into the turns as we went along. It was a good 2 hours more of riding before we stopped for lunch in Service Creek. It seems if you are a motorcylist riding along the John Day rider it is imperative to stop in Service Creek for lunch, the food is good and its a very relaxing place to be, if not a bit hot. I had no idea but the middle of Oregon is mostly high desert, and it gets very hot in the summer!
     
     
     
     
     

     

    We still had about 100 or so miles to go and I needed gas - I was on fumes actually not far from Service Creek I was worried about running out but we pushed on all the way to Prineville and I still had half a gallon left in there and was not in any trouble, but I did stop and fill up the tank along the way with my spare gas can I had stored in the side bag, turns out I did not need it at all! Oh well better safe then sorry.

    It was just another 30 minutes to Redmond - and there we fought over who (Didit, Craig, and I) about whos turn it was to sleep on the couch, (ME). I had the room all to myself in Couer d'Arlene so I got the couch this time.
     
     
     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     

     

    We walked over to a great little restaurant down the road and had a great time - my steak was good Madalinas Grill is the name of the place it was just up the road from the Hotel. Another Best Western but this time much better value! Then Didit and I took in a movie from across the street, shoot I cant even remember what movie it was? There was a very nice Moto Guzzi sitting across from the theater.
     
     
     
     
     

     

    So far the trip was turning out to be pretty good, as long as we left Didits bike headlights unplugged!
     
     
     
  2. HispanicSlammer

     

    I really look forward to my summer trips, saving up and planning for the winter to get on the bike and roll across roads I have never been on or rarely get the chance to see. This past summer I took a trip to Northern California by way of Utah, Idaho, Oregon, and Nevada some 4000 miles on my vfr1200. This is the continuation of the trip left over from my last blog entry.

    I had met with Radar, Didit, Fay, and Craig and we were starting out the day in Redmond Oregon, with our destination for the day to be a sleepy little place called Shady Cove where the rest of our party (Axle7, Tammy, and Jeff) was going to meet up with us. We headed west with a little bit of slab to Sisters Or, it was a very scenic bit of slab and out in the country a bit but very pretty. Didit lead us to this funky road called the McKenzi highway into a volcanic lava field that cut right into it ending with a very tight down hill section that was fun if a bit cautious since it had gravel strewn into all the right hand tight turns. Seems Oregon has its share of Yahoos to that cant keep their tires on the pavement and toss a bunch of dirt and gravel up into the road!


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    Didit was still having issues with his stator so he was riding without his headlight plugged in so we decided to stay off the main roads and go down some serious back roads to avoid getting stopped by the police. The Mckenzi highway was a bit narrow and the trees came right up to where the pavement stopped so I took it a bit cautiously till I could get a feel for the road, I turned on my camera a bit for some video.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     
     

     
     

    So we had a great time rolling down the McKenzi Highway and we originally was going to head over to Eugene and then roll back to Crater Lake but instead we turned off at Rainbow and headed down this incredible road called Aufderheide Dr that skirted the edge of Cougar Reservoir - a fun road with deep long extended turns in and out of the hills that had me scraping pegs - Radar led the way and kept up a challenging pace - then it headed up the mountain side and into some shady tree lined back roads that just kept going on and on and on. I was having a blast, we saw some kind of wildcat cross the road on a rare strait section and then we stopped at the end to check out a neat little covered bridge in the village of Westfir Oregon. Then we rode another 5 miles to Oakridge and stopped for breakfast at some tiny little cafe called Mannings Cafe and had a very good breakfast. 2 hour already into our ride it was shaping up for a great day of riding - I got the tip to ride that Cougar lake road from http://www.oregonmotorcyclist.com/ - a great resource for the motorcyclist planning a trip into one of the best motorcycling states in the country.

    So after that we had a hundred more miles or so of strait slab till we could enter Crater Lake National Park
     
     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     

     
     

    Crater Lake was a hoot, goofing off quite a bit we played around the park for a good hour or so then headed down the road to Shady Cove to meet the rest of us! Not much of a narrative this time but the photos speak for themselves
     
     
     
     
     
     
  3. HispanicSlammer
    SRAC Pikes Peak Supercross Penrose Stadium
    This is the third time I have attended this event and each time I have had a lot of fun watching the races with my buddies. Dan, Craig, Mark and a few others from work. We make our way to the Penrose Equestrian Center where they hold the Pikes Peak Or 'Bust' rodeo and watch some close in racing. Literally feet from the stands, you can get roosted if your not careful. Its much closer in than an AMA event - not as talented as say James Stewart or our very own Andrew Short from Colorado - but fun none the less. Craig has been racing a local motocross series of amatures called We-Beracin and he met a young kid out on the trail named Kyle Summers, along with his dad. They talked for a while and promptly left Craig in the dust, it was funny to see this kid racing out there at Penrose, currently 7th in points in the SRAC standings

    Kyle Summers one of the pro racers Craig met him out on the trail

    pitbike racing

    amature getting air

    unknown pro getting air
    We kept running into folks from work, seems it was a good event to get away and enjoy yourself away from work this weekend. Good Stuff. In the final Kyle tried to block pass the number one plate Travis Bannister and lost the front end in the hairpin, he lost 2 postions and had to fight his way back to third. Banister ran away with the race after 3 laps - running the whoops like they where speedbumps, he won easily.

  4. HispanicSlammer
    Skyline Drive
    I once took a dirt road from hwy 9 last summer just to see where it went, along the way I passed a road that headed west and there was a sign that said "Salida 40 miles" I did not have time to explore it, instead I was looking for back way into Cotopaxi, which I never found. I was on some forgotten dirt road some developer had cut for houses that never got built. It ended and I had to turn back. I never forgot that sign though and though well "some day"! Last tuesday was the day, and after looking at the map I found it was named "ute trail" so I packed my tail bag, aired up the tires on the Big Piggy, topped up the motor oil and headed up Old Stage road to Salida.

    Cripple Creek

    Sangre De Christo Mountains in the Distance

    Aspens Changing above Cripple Creek
    I was getting my fillings knocked out of my mouth from the bone jarring waves of bumps that happen on the downhill sections where the grader had once smoothed out the road but the rain had made a nice row of shallow bumps. It makes my teeth nash together so I jumpped off and softened up the rebound a bit on my shock. It worked but then my bike was a bit bouncy on the pavement. I would say all in all I did 40 % dirt 60 % pavement on this ride.
    riding from Cripple Creek to Guffy was all pavement and surprisingly I was going faster than most the cars even with my back end bouncing around when I turned hard, I passed a mess of cagers going down hill to the High Park road turnoff, and then I was soon on the roller coaster we call High Park Road. Its fun but dangerous cause its open range and cows like to stand in the middle of the road. You have to slow down on the crest of the hills or you could plow into one on the blind downside! A woman riding with our local sport bike group lost her life there 3 years ago doing just that!
    Anyway I tunrned toward Guffy and headed west all alone at this point, seems nobody goes to Guffy anymore, all the resturants were closed and up for sale, seems the place is abandoned all except for the antique stores. We used to stop there for a drink on the way home from Hwy 9, then short cut over to Woodland park. Not anymore the resturant is closed now.
    I headed north west on hwy 9 till I found the turn off a couple of miles down the road to get to Ute Trail, a dried up mudd road called co-88 it was full of mud ruts and somewhat tricky to handle, I turned west on what I thought was the trail but ended on some private road. I turned around and headed south again to Stirrup Ranch where Ute Trail picks up. I thought I was alone so I was riding somwhat slow. I saw the horses at Stirrup ranch and took a picture turned around to see a huge ford Bronco right behind me, oops didnt hear them or seem them way out here. They stopped and asked me what I was doing, I guess they saw me turn off on that private road and were watching me - I did not think I was tresspassing but those cowboys were a bit cautious about me. I just said I missed the turn and then saw the sign and turned back onto the road. "I just got lost for a mile or so thats all". They offered me a cup of coffie which I declined and they pointed me to the correct road to Salida. Thanks apparantly some folks have been trespassing on thier land and dumping trash. I guess I can understand where they where comming from, I saw the sign and went no further, turned back and got back on CO-88 - so they followed me to make sure I got out. Co-88 goes into private land but the road is a public road.

    Horses at Stirrup Ranch

    Aspens Changing at Mud Creek

    Whitehorn CO

    All the Essentials Satalite T,V Shower, Hole in the ground - an outdoor paradise!
    Once on the Ute Trail they followed me some more but I was aware of them now and just twisted the trottle and left those cowboys in the dust, I was all the way at the bottom of the next valley before I saw them top the hill I had just come, by the time I was past the next valley I was long gone. I found a strange shack out in the boonies near Whitehorn, it was just particle board painted red and slapped up like an old box car, there was a tower with a 50 gallon water tank on top for showering I guess and a hole in the ground for when nature calls. It was definitly crude, but they had a satalite dish!! HEH
    I was soon into the mountains around Salida and heading down the Pass on Ute Trail where I was witness to a breathtakeing view of the Collegiate Peaks across the valley.

    Ute Trail - Salida Colorado

    Ute Trail - Salida Colorado Mt Antero and Mt Princton

    Ute Trail - Salida Colorado Collegiate Peaks
    It was 112 miles on the trip meter at this point and my 4 gallon tank was getting low, I am sure I can go alot further but the plastic tank is sort of divided by the frame, and so I would have to syphen the gas from one side to the other once it gets too low. I stopped at a gas station and filled up. Some construction workers where sitting on the bench and waved hello, I went inside and got a cold drink, came out and they where having a full blown shouting match about which was more powerful, a 450 4 stroke or a 250 2 stroke? Heh it was funny I just kicked the bike started and headed into town to the 1st Street Cafe. A Black Labrador Retriever greeted me at the door and I sat down at a table where I could observe my bike, I had forgotten to bring a lock! The house specialty was jerk chicken with sweet potato fries and cole slaw on the side. The chicken was tender and the jerk sauce dip was spicy enough to make me cough! The sweet pototao fries where a bit too much for me though - the flavors in combination was a bit overpowering and it left me a little unsatisfied with the meal, and I hate cole slaw, expecially since they seemed to have added horse radish to the slaw! I ate it all up though cause I was really hungery! I had not ate all day!
    I headed east on hwy 50 to Cotopaxi behind a guy on an old yamaha crusier, inline twin - no gear at all and he was going around 70mph in the sweepers, my boucy shock was leaving me feeling a bit too unstable and he got away from me - if I was on the VFR however he wouldnt have seen my taillights for more than a few seconds before then cause I routinely ride that section at 90+ one handed and ready for sleep! Oh well Cotopaxi came up soon enough and I stopped at the general store and got some beef Jerky cause I was still hungary. I though ok now I am going to find that elusive back way to Ute Trail from here! rode strait north and the pavement went on for at least 15 miles, which surprised me! I thought as soon as I got past the town it would turn to dirt! then I found a fork in the road, one said Salida 25 miles and the other said Mt Wudiga so I took the Mountain road! past about 12 deer feeding on the weeds and headed up the hill. then the road got worse for wear and it was definitly dirt, and I saw a No Tresspassing sign! Shoot I guess I could head back to that fork in the road and head for Saliada, cause I saw where it came out by that strange shack a few hours back but that puts me too far west on Ute Trail I would have to back track some 60 miles? It was getting late and I did not want to be one some strane road so I went all they way back to Cotopaxi and took hwy 50 to Cannon City!
    Canon City well I might as well go up Skyline Drive and watch the sun go down!

    Skyline Drive

    Skyline Drive Canon City Colorado

    Skyline Drive
    THE MAP
    [map=AARTsJoQUUI5Xu3Ku4P49UUR_K0MmYCHSA]http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&saddr=CO-115&daddr=Gold+Camp+Rd+to:Park+County+Rd+102+to:Unknown+road+to:Highway+2+to:W+1st+St%2FCO-291+to:38.368041,-105.696716+to:Waugh+Mountain+Rd+to:Skyline+Dr+to:Highway+123+to:CO-67%2FPhantom+Canyon+Rd+to:CO-115&hl=en&geocode=FWKITwIdpLDA-Q%3BFcgiTwIdZH---Q%3BFShKTwId1t61-Q%3BFWbvTQIdSl6z-Q%3BFfq-TQId1yCz-Q%3BFXULTAIdtKiu-Q%3B%3BFV90TAIdEniz-Q%3BFaS0SgIdpAW6-Q%3BFWXfSgIdi8G7-Q%3BFdTeSgIdVBm8-Q%3BFQ-DTwId6rDA-Q&mra=dpe&mrcr=4&mrsp=6&sz=11&via=4,6,9&sll=38.46488,-105.682983&sspn=0.310754,0.725098&ie=UTF8&ll=38.636182,-105.380859&spn=1.240048,2.900391&t=p&z=9[/map]
    Attached is the gps tracks and a google earth file of the path
  5. HispanicSlammer

    Hello Vfrd

    By HispanicSlammer,

    Hello Ladies and Gents,
    Opps thats a bit optistic, since I have ridden with some of you, perhaps women and dudes is better? In anycase I am proud to announce the blog service arm of vfrd availible for vfrd members.
    I am hosting a ride to Creede here in Colorado on July 23rd sunday if your interested and are in the area to ride. It is a big ride so bring your best gear.
    Above are pictures of last years ride.
  6. HispanicSlammer
    Just fitted the bike with EBC HH pads all around, and put on a few stickers for the crappy plastic hugger. Going to head up to Cripple Creek, Victor with Dan and Craig for a bit of fun. We wanted to do hwy 67 to Pine but the CDOT says its closed due to flash flood damage. Dan has to be back early so its just a local ride.
    It is sunny out and a bit cool should be fun!
    When I was fitting the new brakes I noticed a bit of play in my front wheel - wheel bearings are shot, thanks Baileyrock for bring that to my attention when we were at your place putting on my wheels after the texas mac ride, I have been monitoring them. I think I will replace everything, the wheel bearings, the seals, the axle and the mounting bolt too.
  7. HispanicSlammer
    I dont think I have ridden that fast for so long! We did the Cripple Creek thing like planned then we headed over High Park Road and hwy 50 for a Burger at Texas Creek. I think we rode the entire streatch of hwy 50 at over a hundred plus, all three of us, and had so much fun we turned around and did it again, passing the same cars over again.
    "Excuse me can I get by ya - AGAIN" Dan said as we talked about it at lunch.
    One green SUV we passed pulled into the restrant and slowed down and stopped where our bikes were, I guess to give us the what for, but thought perhaps the possibility of getting beat up by three motorcyclist was too much and screetched out of the parking lot when he saw me pointing at him through the resturant window....the A-Side street bike gangstas we be (Atmel employee riders)!
    :squid: Craig was doing his normal passing on the right thing, which I just wont do, and well cause it scares the piss out of me when he does it, so I wait and get around them when I can. I am no double yellow puss either! I mean its a sport bike right! Dan was haulin on his gixxer, I could get up close in the first part of the turn but he would pull away with that big liter coming out of the turns, no way when he rolls on out of the apex.
    Then High Park Road which is a bit scarry really, Dan piled into a gaurd rail two years ago on it, and another local rider died on it 4 years ago when her bike piled into a cow on the road, its open range out there. Its got long straits inviting you to roll on then it hits you with an off camber corner into a blind left then another left, and then rolling roller coaster type hills where the road dives off in one direction or another. It also comes complete with large chunky chipseal and gravel in some turns from the recent hard rains. You gotta respect High Park cause it doesnt bark it bites! You cant help it though to ride it fast! We also did the peg scraping turns from Victor to Cripple Creek and that was where the kinks where worked out for all of us, it was go fast time from then on! Jebus we were going fast today! Hey I know the guys, I know where each of us is fast and slow, and we ride together pretty good now! Nothing like squiding it up with your friends once in a while, tommorow they both punish me on the dirtbikes again.
    They had the trail maps out for the dirt bike tommorow and just kept piling on trail after trail. Craig says "From the Tanner Trail you can ride all the way to Lake Isabel" Assuming of course you got the stamina and the skill to do it! LOL I am in for it tomorrow!
    :squid:
    PS the EBS pads were a bit grabby at first but the rear is doing this choppy thing at low speed, like a stutter when I get on the rear brake a bit, maybe I need to take them off and refit them with the shims that came on them, I read somewhere to take off the shims for the rear brake? It feels like rolling over a warning strip. I dont like it, perhaps I need to bleed the rear proportion valve again? It does not do it every time?
  8. HispanicSlammer
    I am sure Craig and Dan had a wonderful time tearing up the Stulz Tanner Trail on the dirt bikes today, me I woke up late and slept in for a change skipped my punishment this week. I am finally fully recovered from a week of soreness from the last time I went dirtbike riding with those guys. I am thinking I really dont enjoy the dirtbike experience as much as they do. Perhaps it is because I ride a 650 instead of a 400 like they do or that I just suck at it? In any case I have to ride to the trails since my truck is now my former truck, the water pump literally fell off. Well it lasted like a trooper. Which is why I bought a street legal XR650 as opposed to a trail only bike.
    A 400 just cant be ridden at highway speeds on the highway and well drivers around here are predatory ya know. But then I suffer on the trails cause they just wind away so easily in the tight technical sections, and of course I suck. I am also trying to overcome a serious mental block when it comes to riding the dirtbike, as some of you may remember I broke my pelvis riding Dans dirtbike (Jan 2005) and I just dont have the cojones I used to when it comes to riding off road. I could use the exorcise though and do find it to be physically challenging in a good way, always gets my heart rate up, and I seem to be gaining fitness as I continue to pursue off road riding.
    I have to fix the xr yet again cause I ripped off the rear turn signal in a failed attempt to ride up a difficult hill last week, and had to bail off when the bike pitched over, breaking the signal off - it actually melted on the exhaust can. I am thinking of ditching the outrigger signals in favor of smaller ones that mount on the plastic and dont stick out so much, this is the second time I have lost that right rear signal.
    Instead of riding I worked on the forum again, and was quite entertained at BR and his picture posting woes. Das Bone who cant find his shoe laces lately stole a laugh too. These two guys can ride the snot out of a bike but when it comes to being computer savvy naw!
    Concerning the VFR I have some new issues - replaced my brake pads yesterday with new EBC HH pads all around and now am thinking perhaps I should have gone with a G pad in the back or an H? Its a bit grabby, and for some reason I get a stutter when I press on the rear brake petal at low speed, like I am riding over ripples in the road? I took the shims off perhaps the pads are shaking or jostling in the caliper? Or perhaps I need to bleed the rear brakes again, the Proportion Control Valve might be causing this. I know its not a warped rotor cause I just replaced that off season, and it doesn't happen at higher speeds and it is not happening every time at low speeds either? I am at a loss to explain it, its very frustrating to have spent all of a hundred bucks to replace all the pads and to have this stuttering as a result. I read somewhere to take off the shims on the pads when installing the rear brake pads, perhaps thats incorrect?
    In any case I also ordered new wheel bearing for the front, new oil seals, axle and axle bolt for the front wheel. Baileyrock noticed they were worn when I was staying at his place in preparation for the TexasMac ride last spring, and now I am finally getting around to taking care of that too. Fun Fun Fun btw I am loving the Pilot Powers never gone faster than with these babies or have I had so much confidence in the bike even with stuttering brakes and worn front wheel bearings, when I get this all sorted it will be a dream ride!
    Now I just need to get motivated to do my valves - I can hear some ticking in there after 77k miles I am sure I need to replace a shim finally (incredible 4 valve checks and still have the original shims)> and last time I was painting my headers I broke a header stud need to remove it and replace it, and drill out another one and replace it too. The header bolts just corrode on them and they break off too easy, I hope I dont have to remove the engine to do that job? That would be a PITA just to replace two header studs?
  9. HispanicSlammer
    VFRD once again gets hacked, as some of you know, after all the work and the money I spent securing the site with the upgraded forum software I must have missed somthing and they got in and changed the board wrapper with a downloader trojan. I deleted it as soon as I saw it, they seem to always attack the board wrapper and plant a frame in there. I am thinking of writing a script myself that refreshes the board wrapper every hour with a clean wrapper so even if they do get in and change it the script will wipe it clean when it trips.
    The problem is we are not exactly sure if they are changing the wrapper by gaining access to the admin area, using ftp, or directly infusing database code in somehow and avioding passwords and such. I checked my ftp logs and I am the only one on them, I changed the user names and passwords to the database, and put in new passwords for myself in the forum admin area and the cpanel server access area too. Then I ran virus scans, file checker scripts from invision board, deleted all files I no longer needed and checked for any backdoor files they may have left.
    I am sort of resigned to it a bit that I am unable to stop the hacking on the wrapper so I plan on doing some automated clean up scripts that negate the damage for as short of an amount of time as possible. Its like graffite really, you cant stop it you can just paint over it clean it up. I am taking that tac now.
    yesterday some kid from Fort Carson - a young soldier and his buddy were out pulling wheelies on Acadamey blvd, one pulled a wheelie in front of a cop and then they both ran as the cop turned on his lights, they speed at triple digit speeds till one of them colided with a car and died at the scene. I posted it in the forum. My freinds and I gathered at Dans place to watch the MotoGP races I recorded on dvd, and we talked about it for about ten minutes. Craig said he saw the bike still on fire as he turned off the highway to come to Dans place. then we forgot about it as soon as the races started - Darwin wins again!!
    Be safe out there.
    I have a ride organized for this comming sunday check the calender if your in the area and want to sport tour colorado!
  10. HispanicSlammer
    MY VFR that is!
    Just competed the 5th annual Ride to Creede this year was the biggest gathering yet, 7 riders this time, compared to 4 last year. We also made very good time, stopping to regroup where we lost one or two. This time we had 3 BMW's with us from ST.N where I also posted this ride.
    I realize I haven't posted in the blog in over a week, well since I am out riding its hard to keep up. Last week I rode with Craig and Dan in the Rampart Range area on the dirt-bikes, I am thinking I am not so into Dirt-biking as the guys. I just don't have the leg strength in my left leg to take 40 miles of whoops, my knee gives out and then I am sore on the left side for 2 or 3 days later - thats where I broke my pelvis last year. For once I would like to ride a dirt-bike trail without getting injured or overly sore afterward. It really seems I take a beating when I ride a dirt-bike, I don't see how people think its safer? I always feel totally out of control when I go fast on the dirt-bike. I get used to the bike squirming around but when it corrects really hard or falls in a rut I just know I am done for, then I manage to keep the bike up. Last time I was totally on the gas on a very wide jeep road and went wide, tried to correct and fell in a rut. The bike fell out from under me and I bailed off, no injuries just frustrated I lost control. It was later that I got injured a bit I did not see a rock jutting out of the dirt till I was right on it climbing a hill I lifted my left leg over it then when I put it down I got it caught a bit making the next left hander and I sprained my hip. That hurt for days afterward, much worse than actually bailing off. I like climbing and down-hilling but not whoops they suck, jumping is alright but my bike is big and not so soft in the suspension so I come down hard.
    Oh well I have been considering selling the XR after this season I have not enjoyed it so much... and I could use a new cage!
    Working on the website a bit this morning - fixed the nav bar so show the portal and the forums together. Making some automatic backup scripts for the database and working on odds and ends here and there.
  11. HispanicSlammer
    Well I was surprised to get a PM from Florida Member Jeremy555 that basically invited me to ride with the guys again at Deals Gap in September - airfare to get me there, room, and a bike to borrow for the weekend! WOW what can I say about that - other than yes of course. It would be impolite and ungrateful to turn down a gesture like that, and luckily my boss also agreed and let me have the time off to do it!
    I really don't know what to say really, thank you guys, really its a great thing to do for the "Ole Dumbass" - reference to what a beemer dude once called me while riding in New Mexico, God forbid a VFR be allowed to pass a BMW? So after all the frustrations associated with Hackers, losing cameras, dropping stuff on dirt-bike trails, the day to day grind of our mundane work weeks. There is light at the end of the tunnel, and the Southern VFRD boys are making that possible. Everything I have heard about Southern Hospitality is true! I am so looking forward to coming back to ride those awesome Appalachian mountain roads again!
    It will be great to hang out with Baileyrock again too for a while.
    I mean how can I pass up an opportunity like that??
    read about the Deals Gap ride in the Rider Groups>South forum
  12. HispanicSlammer
    I let my Buddys Dan and Craig take the vfrd viosport cam with them up to Rampart Range last week and they filmed some good trail riding in the Front Range Foothills. They drove up to Rainbowfalls Trail Head and proceded to ride several of the Rampart area trails, almost 120 minutes of video. I cut it down to 10 minutes of part of Long Hollow Trail #650 for your viewing pleasure, this makes me want to go ride my 650!!


    Long Hollow Trail Video
    Here are some map files of the area
    Google Earth
    Long Hollow Earth File
    Mapsource
    Long Hollow Garmin File
    Here is a popular Rampart Range Website with details of the area trails
    http://www.rampartrange.org/pages/rampart_trails.asp
  13. HispanicSlammer
    Part 2 - Craig takes the camera this time as they ascend and descend the Devils Slide at Rampart Range, trail number 676. ATV tracks mostly up steep climbs, whoops, rocks, tree roots, tight switchbacks. Craig on a Honda XR400, Dan on his Yamaha yz400. A few stalls, some rain and lots of good trail!
    THE TRAILS

    THE VIDEO

    Video Preview

    Devils Slide Video
    Runs about 12 min 768kb/sec wmv
    ...................
    Info on Rampart Range
  14. HispanicSlammer
    video preview
    :media:
    Canyonlands at Twilight video
    This is a short 5 min video of the our trip through the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Canyonlands National Park Utah. It was incredibly hot for 9pm somthing like 100 degrees in the twilight, I cant imagine how hot it is in full daylight in July?? The road is surreal surrounding you with red rock lava like stone walls on each side and then falling deeper into Glen Canyon along the Colorado River near Lake Powell. Its one of the nations most beautiful recreation spots, a must ride!!!

    Canyonlands Map UTAH highway 95
    Attached map files
    Canyonlands mapsource file.gdb
    Canyonlands MS Streets & Trips File.est
  15. HispanicSlammer
    :media:
    Rampart Range Video - The Hard Part
    Dan and Craig ride the roughest steepest part of the Rampart Range Trail system, getting stuck along the way. Dan rides a yz400 race bike not geared for climbing, with a racing flywheel it doesn't have the torque for this kind of riding, he must rev and feather the clutch to achieve momentum a tiering task that is fraught with fatigue if you don't ride well.
    Rock slant Dan and Craig must keep the bikes from sliding off a slanting granite rock face to get to the other side of the trail.
    Google Map of the area
  16. HispanicSlammer
    My XR that is, this time around!
    Figured out that I had missed an oil jet oring and had it in the wrong spot! no wonder it was chewing up cam shafts! Well anyway I fixed it, then pumped it to make sure oil was getting to the cams! Had it all back together and of course could not get the cam chain tentioner to release! This thing is complicated more than the vfr?
  17. HispanicSlammer

    Work Has Begun

    By HispanicSlammer,

    Where to start starting with the chain
    All my parts arrived one by one, the chain and sprocket set first, then the brake pads, fork oil, fork seals, and various other things. I decided to replace the cradle on my Zumo and with it install a bmw style plug in the head tube from Powerlet. They make a vfr kit so I bought it, using the existing molex setup I had before I just solidered the molex wires to the kit and then taped it all up good. I figure I need a disconnect if I want to use the new head stand I bought, I will need to move the wires out to use it.
    I took a look at my brakes and boy they look good up front, I decided to keep them on since the new ones are not much thicker. I was under the impression that my brakes were in bad shape when I bought the parts, not the case. So I set about removing the front wheel and taking out the forks. Fork service has become easy for me, lots of practice with the dirt bike and my vfr, buddies bikes too I have done it a number of times. My fork oil was dark and dirty as it can get. I removed all the parts and cleaned it up best as I could and then replaced the bushing and slider with new parts, new seals and topped it up with new fork oil. I thought perhaps my forks were a little harsh so I checked the spec with racetech and sure enough I had too much oil in there, I must have used stock oil hieght - I used 120 mm for the gold valve/racetech setup I have. Should be a bit less harsh on the bumps with a larger air pocket. It took me an hour to finish both forks off and anther half an hour reinstalling the front end and torquing it to spec.
    Country music blasting in the garage cause I cant stand Prarie Home Companion - sombody please tell that guy Garrison Keeler that he cant sing for squat, please stop! Sometimes its funny the skits but I dont agree with the guys point of view - So I changed the station. I never listen to Country music let alone a nationally syndicated program from Nashville but for most the night it was kind of fun easy listening, the longer the night the twangier it got.
    I got the forks done and decided to make a how-to-video (not yet edited) on chain and sproket replacement. I did not think I had time for the fork service, to stop and go over every step and deal with the camera so I skipped that. Changing sprokets is a messy job. On into the 3am region (I work nights so its old hat for me) I was done by 5am. The garage was a disaster area and grease and grime everywhere.
    Sounds like an opportunity to change the radiator fluid, I sort of lost my fan switch this summer and so I was boiling off on a trip to New Mexico, I used alot of water to replace the boiled off stuff, I fixed the fan switch but by then I had spit out a good portion of my coolant onto the road. A stop at the grocery store in some small town and a bottle of distilled water topped me back up. Its been super cold lately and so I started it up to see - what if I got too much water in there and not enough antifreeze? I wasnt about to chance it for the rest of the winter, the worst is yet to come! So I changed the antifreeze. I did a great job on it tightended the plug so much that it got easier as I went, so easy in fact that it came right off! Snapped - damn it! I did not have the correct size and my easy out was not getting the broken part out. Good thing I had a bucket handy I just drained off all the coolant, a sort of half ass flush job all over the garage floor. I did manage to get most of it into the bucket. I took the cover off and drilled out the hole and then tapped it with a larger plug, works doesnt leak and it did not snap off this time! '
    Much more work to go, need to remove the shock and get it serviced, my old Ohlins has 70k on it now! wow time flies. My plastics are in bad bad shape and my tank is too. In think I need to replace them, I cant paint for shit so I wont even try that! Unless anybody is a painter wizz on the forum? I happen to like red! I could put some VFRD graphics on it! That would be cool eh?

    Removing the speed sensor

    Removing the clutch slave cylinder
  18. HispanicSlammer
    Two guys from work Motorcycle enthusiast
    My old boss Nate had just been recently reassigned to my shift again after working days for a year, and we got together to go for a little dual sport ride. Half forest service roads and half pavement. Nate invited another one of the guys a supervisor from day shift and the three of us headed out up Rampart Range Road for some teeth chattering washboard dirt road riding. Mostly easy to moderate riding, some sections definitly unimproved but nothing we couldnt handle. I have been on some much more challenging trail than this but it was a bit hairy in spots.
    Heading up Rampart Range is like jumping stait into cold water - right away its a climb and washboard rained out tight curves (by sportbike standards anyway) - not so much for a dirt bike, its an easy road lots of cars. We decided to keep Monolo between us since he said his bike had cut out on him on the way to the Starbucks where we met. Whatever it was must have shook out on Rampart range cause he never had an issue again. Nate said that he was very impressed riding behind the big beemer cause it seems like its just riding along a paved road, while his DR350 was sliding and bucking in the washboard turns.
    Me too the piggy was bouncing around since I had the suspension set up for street riding mostly but not so bad. I am not a fast dirt bike rider by any means, not at all. You can say I am really slow, but I usually dont get stuck, just plug along at my own pace. I was not riding so fast keeping Monolo in my mirror but I could barely make out Nates headlight so I focused on Monolos bike.
    I was gassing it hard on the wash board parts to smooth out the 4 inch ruts and ride over the top of them when a deer popped out right in front of me and thought better of it and backed back into the bushes, I just about pissed myself on that one! I put a larger front brake disc on this thing a year ago cause the brake was weak and now its pretty good but not THAT good! Then a few more turns and some kids on a red neon were power sliding into a turn on the way down right into me so I headed for the very edge of the road and they missed me by a few feet. Nate said they were completely sideways when they went by him like rally racers or somthing. Woodland park kids out on the road. I was using alot of the road up till then but decided I was getting close too close to town to be doing that anymore.
    Then up in Woodland Park we topped up the DR cause his tank is small and headed for Painted rocks, another easy but steeper road. This one has some challenges mostly long sand bars in the bowls of the road, deep ones that you just have to keep it steady on, the Piggy is built for that stuff but I am not! I hate how the front end goes loose in the deep sand! I climbed a steep hill and looked in my mirror and no Monolo? Oh shoot I hope sombody did not go down in that sand back there, nope Monolos licence plate came off! Nate broke out a zip tie and all was good! Then a bit more pavement at Westcreek to Deckers and we went right by a couple of cops who where sitting there with radar pointing at us. I was going 50 indicated on a 45 mph road, we all went by and no cops followed us. Man lots of police presence on CO 67 from Westcreek and past Deckers at the foot of Horse Power Hill. I counted 3! Lots of cops for a backroad to not very much - I must admit the road has gotten busier with more traffic this year then I have seen before. In any case I know where they are patrolling now.
     
     
    Google Map
     
     
     
     
    We stopped at Deckers and had a break the DR seat was staring to wear on Nate, I then told them that the easy parts were over and now it was gonna get into more moderate roads, unimproved passes and a few water crossings, you know the brochure GS picture type water crossings. Off we went and I got lost once and missed the turn for Stony Creek Pass, so we ended up by Cheeseman lake which is completely closed off now, no access at all? OK so we turned of and this was the longest section of the day all the way to Wellington lake it was unimproved and narrow, deep ruts but still a road. I was suprised Monolo handled it in stride and the big bike was doing very well. I am impressed too! good bike! Still easy by trail bike standards but now its a jeep road, a car could do it but very slow! I mean we passed a camper with a 4x4 camping on the side, if he can make it - all dirt no rocks. Then I knew I was on the right road when the first water crossing came up, a puddle really about a foot deep. We all went through it well - then about 10 minutes later the second one and this time Monolo hit a rock in the creek and he must have shifted his bike into neutral cause it stalled on the way out of the creek. He started it back up and off we went, I think the guys were liking this part the best! Challenging but not too crazy! Fun mostly, and then the road got easy again and went on into some very nice scenery the Aspens are already yellowing up in the mountains, a few weeks and they will be bare! Luch at the cut throat was good but they have a problem with flies that I found disgusting. I dont like flies in resturants especially that many! Food was great though as usual. Then we decided to just take pavement all the way back cause the ride was going on longer than expected, and I got to supermoto some tight curves on the way from Pine Junction to Pine! fun stuff at 70 mph! All and all a good ride!

    Nate and Monolo Monolo has never done a dual sport ride before

    Thats me in front of Pikes Peak I look like a dork

    Our rides GS1250 XR650 DR350
  19. HispanicSlammer

    Oregon Days

    By HispanicSlammer,

    Shaniko Oregon Maddog and his y2k 800
    Maddog and I spent a day riding across eastern Oregon on the way to the pacific north west meet, he rides a nice yellow 2000 vfr800 in a well used stich. He told me tales of how he spent an entire summer on that bike touring the usa, living in a tent and enjoying the vagabond motorcyclist life. He can definitly ride it well and seems to be able to accelerate at a pace I cant. Here is some video footage I took out of the Town of Fossil on the way to Antelope, up and over Prindle Pass on the Shaniko-Fossil highway .
     
     

     
     
     
     
    fossil_hd.mp4
  20. HispanicSlammer
    NEW VIDEO BELOW - updated chapter 4
    I had a forced vacation from work for two weeks so why not take a trip, the roads west are full of sand and snow so I decided to head east where Spring has already taken hold. The original plan was to leave early Thursday March 29th and make it as far east as possible but Rapidsnipe convinced me to stop over in OKC to spend the night and ride to the Ozarks together. So as usual I woke up at 4am all messed up turned on the weather channel to see that a tornado hit Holly Colorado and ripped the place apart, looked on my map and sure enough I was scheduled to ride through there about 10am, then a local report from Denver showed the TV weather man standing in about 4 inches of snow along I-25 so I panicked and rushed to the window to find somewhat clear skies and no sign of snow. Denver is only 65 miles north of here so its close enough but there is a natural weather break at about monument where the weather seems to change for some reason. I could be blasting snow here and Denver will be sunny and warm or vise versa, I imagine those folks in Monument Colorado and east of there get the worst from both sides of the divide. It just seems to funnel between Mount Evans and Pikes Peak right into that place!
    In any case when I finally left at 7am the sun was shining but it was cold as a witches tit! I had my farkles on full blare and not so comfy as 30 degrees seeps in every nook and cranny of my Aerostich it can! My hands where warm on the bottom from the grip heaters but my finger tips were frosty. It wasn't till I made it to Lamar that it started to warm up to about 55 degrees, then I could relax a little and take my hands off the grips to stretch. I cant stand the cold too much, I would rather be roasting that freezing any day! Riding in that kind of cold just makes you stiff and miserable, but I knew that the Ozarks were waiting. I was approaching the Kansas boarder and finally came within about 5 minutes of Holly Colorado and did not see any sign of massive devastation?
    The weather channel said that there were reports that the tornado that hit Holly was a mile wide! I did see a water tank toppled over but no debris lying around? what gives - then I could see that they had a traffic jam up ahead in town, the closer I got to the center of the little town the worse it got, a house would be missing roof tiles and there was a lot of mud in the street, then closer you would see broken windows and more debris till ground zero, right at the RV park. Why do tornado's zero in on trailer parks?? It was totally destroyed, trees ripped from the ground, aluminum siding wrapped around bushes, no trailers to speak of that I could even recognize and wood and what looked like a home but only the foundation left. There was a tree ripped in half with one half of it upside down hanging upside down across the street and 500 yards away on the power lines above. HALF THE TREE! wow then as soon as I was in Kansas it was all back to normal again!

    I was getting hungry so I stopped in Garden City (not so aptly named) who's main industry seems to be feel lots and a huge Tyson plant on the west side. I saw what looked like an authentic Mexican food joint, so I stopped. Everybody was speaking Spanish in the place so I figured hey must be good right! NOPE! It was awful! At least my server was nice to look at, a sort of J-Lo look alike complete with big back-end like hers! I was pleased to find that it was now 75 degrees outside! So I shed my jacket, vest and glove liners for something less bulky!
    I could see a big storm off to the north but my route just had me skirting the edge of it the whole time. Lots of slab lots of wet roads but no rain.

    Typical Kansas Your average small town this is Minneola KS

    Big Wind you know how they call Montana Big Sky well KS is...
    BIG WIND

    The closer I got to Oklahoma the less boring the roads got, they were becoming rolling hilly tree lined roads with all these great pink trees that just seemed to dot the land scape, along hwy 160 in southern KS there is some interesting red clay landscapes that were rather pretty. I was surprised at how nice it was, but then over the hill the smell of yet another feed lot would just ruin it! Finally in OK I just cruised into OKC fresh and ready for bed, I would get off the main roads and take a little detour off into some sleepy little place such as Calumet OK just west of OKC nice place that is!

    Thursday
    I soon had Rapidsnipe and his wife knocking on my door at the motel to take me to what would be one of the best steaks I have ever eaten in my life, hes a young guy and they are a very young couple very cute together, and shes got him on a very short leash! UMM maybe you shouldn't show her the video Chase! There I met Gary Swanson and his family he would be joining me and Chase the next day into Arkansas.
    THE VIDEO!
    I took great pleasure in building this video its rather long at 21 minutes and it has highlights of the best the Ozarks have to offer, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri all are part of the mountain range that extends across the region and makes for some great riding. I could not beleive that these guys were not out there every weekend riding these great roads!!

    The Ozarks a video oddessy - 6 guys 500 miles of some of the best twisty roads Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Missouri have to offer. Highlights of hwy 62 out of Eureka Springs, Push Mountain, Talimera Skyway, and the heart of the Ozarks Hwy 16. Music from the Breath Sunshine cd, Tori Amos, John mayer, New Order, and Paul Desmond.

    Day two Oklahoma
    Chase and Gary met me at my motel and then we went across the street for breakfast all suited up for the worst. It seemed that my very presence created a high pressure zone in Oklahoma that was pushing the wet weather off and to the northeast. It was overcast be we did not see much rain at all, stopping in some half closed town for gas I once again shed myself of my over gloves and jacket - unzipped the vents on the stitch cause well it was getting downright hot. Following Rapidsnipe (Chase) I could see that he was using the route I had programmed in my Garmin but for some reason I had no clue what direction I was going, east, south, west for all I knew I was so disoriented that I couldn't get my bearings. I again was awake at 4am, a byproduct of working nights and sometimes I just lose all track of time. I pride myself on having a great sense of direction, and can read maps rather well. However when you lose track of time you cant tell direction, since morning seems like evening and vise versa. The first time I was in Tennessee riding to the Texasmac with Kevin in his Jeep I could have swore we were heading west cause it seemed like the sun was going down, I mean I was awake and for all intents and purposes I head into work after I wake up - WEST. I get all confused now. So there I was just happy to follow along, and check my gps once in a while to see if we were going to go pioneer for a bit and go local? Nope right on course.
    Rapidsnipe suggested we make a detour to go ride OK hwy 2, said it was a good road, so we headed northeast on hwy 270 to Limestone, that seemed to me like a rather boring road till we made it to the hwy 2 turn off and headed south. I could see the squiggly lines on my gps and was happy to see the first twisties in 700 miles! The road did not disappoint as Rapidsnipe was soon rolling on the throttle and leaning it over into a very sweet and long sustained sweeper, I could tell he wasn't just some squid like he described himself to be, no he can ride! I was twisting the throttle for all she got just to keep up he wasn't gonna lose me! The after that a series of tighter turns and some blind right handers had us bunched up behind some slow moving campers out for the weekend. We passed them all one by one and I soon realized it is just like Colorado slow movers don't let faster vehicles by here either! I guess that only happens in TN, CA, Montana, and northern Texas? great turn after great turn would pass by slowly till we could see enough daylight to get by them one by one. Chase stopped at the turnoff to hwy1 to let Gary catch up to us and soon the horde was again in front of us, since it took a while to get my gloves back on. He was right it was a good road but too much traffic. We decided to wait some more and just let the Mongol horde get far enough ahead that we could have the road to ourselves. It wasn't long before we were at the entrance to Talemera State Park, they have a nice visitors center there where you can de-water yourself in peace. I set up the camera and let Chase take the lead. I think it made him a bit nervous to be on camera, I usually don't tell people I have then on camera so that they just ride their normal ride, but it was obvious I was going to film the Skyway, it was beautiful. He rode rather well if I can say so.
    The Talimena Skyway ( hwy 1 east/west) is split into two sides 3/4 of it is in Oklahoma and the last bit is in Arkansas, with it being intersected in half by hwy 259 (north south). It is an exciting road with nice fast sweepers throughout and stunning scenery approximately 2000 feet in elevation and a 1000 feet above the valley below. I has some breathtaking scenes that rival the Cherehola Skyway - not as long but certainly just as beautiful and fun if not more scenery. You can see more below from the road than the Cherehola, but then again the trees were not leafed out as of yet. I was enjoying it, particularly one section that had us heading down a steep hill where you could see the road on the other side ramping up the next hill.

    Talimera State Park Oklahoma/Arkansas boarder hwy 1

    The Talimera Skyway Talimera Talimina who knows what it is?

    Somewhere on the Talemira
    Chase took us off the road and over to the Three Sticks Memorial on hwy 259 on the opposite valley you could see the Talimera from there rather well it has some great turns up the mountain.

    Gary stopped at the three sticks memorial
    I could see that Chase was a bit ruffled from me riding behind him with the camera on, so I asked him if he wanted me to lead, which I happily did, making them both go back to that spot on the Talimera so I could get that picture above. There were some nice tight ones just before the turn off at 259 that I wanted to do again, I must say that is one of the highlights of my trip the Talemera is a wonderful ride. I am a bit more experienced rider so I was soon a bit of a ways ahead of the two of them when an interesting rhythm section came up 4 successive tight esses that I could see though to the end, I did not slow down - my mistake cause I had to trail brake through the first one and that had me off my pace and I was crossed up a bit into the next three trail breaking it the whole way till on the last turn I was barely going 10mph - it seemed to me like I was going to fall over! I did not cross the line at all or otherwise blow any of the turns but my aggressive braking has scrubbed off so much speed it caught me off guard when I had no power in 5th gear to round the last corner, lugging it hard till I could fumbling with the shifter to get some power to the ground and not fall over. It must have looked pretty stupid from behind. The guys were about a half minute behind me so they did not see any of it! Heh me lugging the last turn must have looked awful.
    Like I said they looked easy but were much tighter than I had anticipated oops!! Who knows why they put them there - obviously did not need them as you could see all of them, it is just enough to make you slow down to half speed. There were some nice down hill turns on the back side to Mena where we had some lunch at Wendy's.
    I said "we must be in Hill Billy country",
    Gary said "whys that"
    "cause the women are wearing overalls" pointing at the woman behind him
    The further we got into the Ozarks the more Redneck things got, teeth didn't look so strait, shirts were optional, as was women with shoes, hair no longer seemed to be combed and strange sightings occurred regularly. Wild turkeys running out into the road, and turtles run over, of course the ubiquitous skunks are everywhere. It was the airport phone booth converted into a mailbox that had me laughing out loud though - most definitely redneckish! What was it it about this place that says wear overalls with no shoes, and have a straw hanging from your teeth? I don't know but I was relaxed by it, seems to me do as the locals do! We rode some back roads and took a merry long way around to Hotsprings where Dutch was waiting for us. His gixxer buddy pussed out - his loss too bad he didn't meet us in Oklahoma to ride the Talemina with us!
    Now here is the strange part neither Chase nor Hondalover drinks beer - so I started in with the teasing. Telling then that they must be Zima drinking pinky flipping guys who don't drink beer! HeH! Then Dutch, and Gary, Chev started in on them too!

    Dinner In Hotsprings Left to Right - Rapidsnipe, Hondalover, Chev, Dutchintercepter, HS, GSwanson.

    Thursday

    day three Arkansas
    we woke up to a steady drizzle of rain and so it took us a bit longer to get situated, everybody was donning rainsuits and I was digging out my overgloves that are supposed to keep my elkskin ropers dry. They worked out ok but for some reason as usual my farkles started to fail. My gps kept saying aquiring satalites and not zoning in on the route, which is strange it didnt work untill we made it all the way to Ola where we stopped to fill up and respite from the rain. I asked Rapidsnipe to take the lead since his was working, but I think any of us could have it was rather simple to stay on hwy 7! There was a really nice section of highway 7 right before that near Hollis, lots of nice banked curves and a few decreasing radius off camber turns thrown in for good measure. It was a bit tricky because of the rain - we wanted to go faster but the painted lanes seems much narrower than normal and some of us blew a few turns, slipping on the yellow paint. It eased up in Ola and so RapidSnipe and Gswanson peeled off to head back to OKC when we made it to Russleville. Two riders down 4 left, we headed up hwy7 ever climbing into the Ozarks on those fast sweepers passing the slow traffic as we could, it was pretty much double yellow the whole way? I really think those yellow lines are painted for RV's with no concept that Motorcycles can pass safely and quickly in shorter stretches? I wish the law could see it that way too? I mean it was solid double yellow for the entire stretch from Dover to the hwy 16 turnoff! Crazy!

    Somewhere on hwy 7 my camera could not focus on the hills in the background
    In any case we did what we did.
    The rain stopped enough for me to film part of hwy 16 to Witts Springs where it started to come down hard. I fell in behind Chev for most of it but he was struggling with the bike in the tight turns so I passed him and caught up with the other two, Chev and Hondalover had communicator on so I knew that if Chev fell too far back he could radio us to stop. It was at lunch later that I felt his front tire and the massive cupping he had on that old bias ply on his vfr1000, 16 inch wheels with heavy cupped bias plies and 3 guys on sport radials makes for a tough day for Chev, I could feel the tire fall off on the sides about 15 degrees sharper than the middle too, it must have felt like riding in a dingy boat in a hurricane trying to keep us with the rest of us?? I know a bad tire will ruin any ride, he was riding much faster than I would on those things!! I think they were the OEM TIRES?? Dunlop bias plys would have had me worried right off the bat! Then he was into the tread indicators too! JEBUS! OH man hes got more balls than..............
    We stopped in Tilly for a picture stop.

    Hwy 16 wet wet wet

    The sky was getting ready to open up on us
    We continued on with me in the lead while it rained we team-worked lead duty. I lead pretty much the rest of the day from then on, my gps was working again. Hwy 341 Push Mountain was the next great road, not that those in between were bad, but that road is a monster, lots of tight turns and long straits that suck you in faster than you want too. I sort of took off a bit alone as my tires were just sweet in the rain, I was getting some great feedback and took it almost as fast as if it were dry. Never slipped once I felt confident the whole time. The clouds finally parted in Mountain home where we stopped at the first restaurant we saw, dripping wet and very hungry it was almost 3pm when we made it there. We waited an awful long time for our meal so plans to continue to Missouri were shelved in favor of a more direct route to Eureka Springs, we found some interesting back roads, and managed to salvage the rest of the day on some decent roads. We pretty much headed west from Mountain home till Harmon then did some back roads to a strange road 281 near the Missouri boarder, it as mighty twisty in places and long 270 turns that seemed to never end, and a up and down a steep hill I was glad to have found it, very interesting riding there. Turns out it was a typical Missouri road as they all seem to be like that in the Ozarks up and down roller coaster hills that dive off one way or another into a thick forest area it engages you completely! This is where the skill level seems to shake out on those iffy roads, your either comfy or your not! I liked it but rode it cautiously. Then the gas gage was showing near empty with only 156 miles on the clock? So we stopped in Ridgedale and Dutch and Chev came out of the bathroom looking absolutely disgusted. I decided to just hold it right then and there. then it was over hwy 86 and west again to Eureka Springs over the bridge at Table Rock Lake we soon encountered a car that had driven off the road and down the embankment about 20 feet below the road. I guess whoever it was was hurt cause there was an ambulance. There was a bar/nightclub on the hill above us - my guess is a drunk came down the driveway and went across the road and down the other side!
    We took MO hwy 86 all the way to 23 and headed east to Eureka Springs it was starting to get dark already and when we made it to the Traveler's Inn there were a hundred or so dual sport bikes there. It must be the motel of choice for motorcyclist, the owners were sure friendly to us. The place was a model of convenience - a Pizza Hut on the right, a Liquor Store to the left, and across the street a breakfast buffet! What more could you ask for?

    Saturday

    day 4 Missouri
    We had a nice breakfast in Eureka Springs then rolled down the hill to the train depot.

    Train Depot in Eureka Springs This place reminds me of Manitou Springs where I live

    Spanning the generations

    Ideal setting indeed Eureka Springs is a pretty town

    Underway
    ATTACH
    I have attached the entire route I took from Colorado to the Ozarks in back, and put place markers on all the best roads. MS Streets and Trips

    VFRS parade the town

    lots of bikes in Eureka Springs hundreds of them
    We started out Sunday with a quick jaunt up hwy 62, as seen in the video, lots of traffic though and small towns in between makes it a ride you should be cautious on. It was soon after crossing the boarder that the road got interesting, Hwy 112. Southern Missouri in general is full of great roads that all share one thing in common, they seem to be like a wild roller coaster ride. You can't help but get sucked into taking the turns just a bit faster then you should. Cresting a hill and then diving off in one direction or another, I always roll off near the top of hills cause well who knows whats there or which way it goes. In Colorado there is often gravel from a driveway at the top of hills so I am conditioned to slow down before cresting a hill. Its the quick acceleration of rolling down then back up thats so much fun, however Missouri seems to mix in a few sweepers in between and then a few tight ones - just enough to make the road that much more unpredictable. Its the unpredictable nature of this kind of road that can put you in a ditch though so be prepared for whatever.
    I had my GPS set to take the "Shortest route" I have found that it often takes me to great roads I would not have known about, but sometimes it leads me to a dead end or a dirt road. Such was the case with the Roaring River State Park , the GPS showed a clear route back to hwy 76 from there but it was not the case - we ended up stopped at the fish hatchery which well was pretty interesting, not planned but interesting. There were hundreds of people at the park all fishing, it seemed like it wasn't even sport but there they were none the less.

    Roaring River State Park MO one wrong turn on hwy 112 had us stopped at a fish hatchery
    Once on Hwy 72 we headed east, its sort of a road that skirts the tops of hills sides and dives up and down past cow pastures its very pastoral and in itself a very pretty road, we were starting to see a number of other bikes as it was the weekend and at one section two Ducatis were railing a corner and came right into my lane a bit. I cant comment on the speed but if you cant stay in your lane your out of control! I saw them coming and took the turn a bit wide cause you could tell they were hauling ass. Then we rolled in behind a couple out for the day on a nice Black Goldwing, looked like they were having a lot of fun, they even stayed with us a bit after we passed them, we all got caught behind a fairly fast moving Toyota truck and when I saw an opening I took it, then the road opened up into 4 lanes as we went under an overpass and the rest of the guys got by. I guess me passing the Toyota took the wind out of his sails cause he slowed down right after I did. I wonder if he was pushing it at 9/10ths or something? Heh I sure wasn't!
    76 to 160 is very interesting in these parts but its a main road so there is some traffic - not much cause its rather rural out there but more than side roads. their is a curious 180 degree loop that slings back around and up a mountain side at Walnut shade that you can really rail on if that was what you like to do, but I could see that as one hell of a speed trap for motorcyclist, there are houses on both ends so you have to slow down before and after.
    Then I turned off on Road H, its all chip sealed with the familiar white chip rock that they tend to use around there, it can glare in direct sunlight but it is very grippy so I upped the pace a bit. lots of fast sweeper all the way up to the Mark Twain National Forest, looks like some good off road around there too as we passed a number of trailers hauling dirt bikes and ATVs must be off road heaven back in there! I loved it, canopy trees covered the area in places then you would see glimpses of rock ledges overlooking valleys below. Its very pretty there, and the roads are challenging. Looping back south on 125 all the way to Garrison Chev and Hondalover peeled off to go home. We stopped for a good bit and counted the sport bikes that went by.
    I was dumbfounded that neither Chev or Hondalover had been there before? Its only a half days ride for them to get there? I suspect they will both be returning very soon! It was actually my second trip into the Mark Twain and it was different the second time, I recognized some things but most things no didn't, I think I was off the main path for a while the first time. Hwy 76 intersects the road and you dog leg off a bit for what I consider the best part, its gets tighter on the southern side of 76 and its banked so you can go really fast and just have a total blast, Me and Dutch were just flying in that section waving at the bikes coming the other way. It wasn't too long before we were on the Ferry to head back to Arkansas.
    Since we could not do the entire route we planned the day before we decided to do the Missouri part back wards and track back to Russelville in the opposite direction. The ferry ride was very cool, more bikes on the ferry then cars, and it is FREE!

    Peel Ferry bikes outnumbered cars trying to cross Bull Shoals Lake
    Hwy 125 intersects hwy 14 where we turned east and that is when Dutch decided to wick it up a bit on those great sweepers, for a good half an hour we were just blasting it with out a single car! It was great, I was just really enjoying the faster road - from the tighter turns on 125. The Ozarks has it all.
    Lunch in Mountain Home was a banquet, we stopped at the Exxon station and the clerk recommended "the Steak house" in the middle of town - still on hwy 62 When we got there the place was empty, seemed abandoned but after we went in it filled up. Glad we did! It looks like it might be a chain - I have never heard of it but it was a good stop.
    "The Steak House"
    859 Highway 62 E
    Mountain Home, AR 72653
    Tel: (870) 425-8515
    Lunch menu is more like dinner - I asked for bread and they brought me a freshly baked loaf of bread! Salad, fix 'ns its was a huge meal for a great price.
    I ate so much that I was tired afterward, I was loafing a bit so Dutch took off to go find some chain lube by himself I told him I would catch up to him back at the Exxon. Then we were off to go ride Push Mountain Again. I took the lead and the GPS routed us through some strange back road that ran for 5 or 6 miles then turned to hard packed dirt, I just shrugged and kept going looked like we landed into some private redneck compound off to the right but it ended right at the foot of Push Mountain! I stopped to take a picture of the 'White River"

    White River at the base of Push Mountain hwy 341
    I started filming and was soon finding myself falling behind cause Dutch was in his element on Push Mountain, I found the pace to be pretty fast, but I could manage. Lots of long straits then afterward a hard left or right and a series of tight turns. I had to brake more than I like too, but I wanted to keep up, he was starting to walk away from me. The road is relentless and at the end I could tell I was not up to much more of it, I would have rolled off cause at that point I was pretty much beat from the 300miles of twisties we already did. I took the lead again and slowed the pace down a bit - seemed like I couldn't concentrate well I retraced the route we did before and stopped in Tilly to stretch a bit, Dutch got on his cell and checked in with his wife to tell her he was staying another night. I asked Dutch if he wanted to do the rest cause well I wasn't up to the task so he took over lead duties and we short cut back down hwy 27 to Dover and for an overnight in Russelville. It was one particular up hill road that caught me a bit off guard a bit, it was a very tight Esse Turn into a decreasing radius that had me almost blowing the turn. I took it way too fast and it scared me a bit, Dutch said some guy he was riding with had ran off the road on that very same turn its a sucker turn that is much tighter than the others so you are not ready for it. I managed to get through it fine but I really had to push the bike over hard to make it. That is when I decided it was time to find a place to sleep for the night.

    Lake Dardanelle Russleville AR right out side our rooms at the Days Inn on I-40
    hwy 27 was rather challenging by itself as well some tight hairpins on the way down, and cruisers in the way had us making quick passes, it was still challenging. The sun was setting and it was cooling off, a perfect ending to a great days ride.

    Sunday
    I have attached the entire trip from Colorado to the Ozarks and back in an MS streets and trips file, its marked with all the best roads
    Missouri into Kansas

    Dutch and I took off early retracing our path up hwy 27 from Dover to Tilly to ride that sweet section of hwy 16 together, I was feeling better this time and was ready to roll. 27 didn't seem as challenging going up but it was fun, then we had some fun on the sweeper at Ben Hur. Before we left Russleville we stopped at the Wafflehouse on I-40 for breakfast and I just couldn't help but notice that manager was a ringer for former President Clinton, same nose, same face, same accent, even the same mannerisms it was uncanny, but not so fat! Then we had a talk with a guy riding a Kawi zx14 - hes like me tours the whole country on the thing, with his wife on the back too!
    Dutch started having knee pain, and kept stretching his legs out. Not used to relentless twisties 2 or 3 days of riding can stress your knees pretty good. I was feeling pretty good and so we parted ways at the hwy 7 intersection, he said he took some back roads home so he managed to have some more fun. Me I continued up 123 to Mount Judea, this is my personal Favorite as its chock full of some nice turns - without anybody else riding with me I just took it easy or so I thought the pace was easy on the straits then for some reason I was leaned over all the frickin way in the turns?? odd heh
    I passed a couple out for a joy ride in one of those Mercedes roadsters, and just had a blast the rest of the way before the road gets super tight. Its right at Mt Judea that it becomes a very tight switchback decent into the town. Not much there a school, a few shops and one awesome café road stand, thats not much to look at either but the Bacon Cheeseburger is fantastic! A God fearing town the entire area is named after places and characters in the Bible. I stopped for a few pictures on top of Mount Judea

    Mount Judea I forgot how fun and challenging hwy 123 is in AR

    Hasty off in the Distance from the top of hwy 123
    I started heading west with the intent of just finding as many side roads as possible on the way, just playing it by ear and yes I found some great roads, I kept taking a stair step pattern in a north west route. The ride from Mt Judea took me to Hasty where its seems to be very rural very poor in terms of the condition of the houses around the place, it sort of was depressing to look at with such beauty around in the natural scenery. A dilapidated trailer with an ad hock roof built over and around it? Hasty seems to be the correct term. I managed to make my way to Jasper to fill up and again head west. I was riding in the hilly section - not so many mountains but more hills now. From Jasper I went west on hwy 74 and then North a bit on 27 again then I got on a main road 412 which I found to be boring so I headed north again on hwy 23 up to the next turn off on 127. I was pretty much all alone on both those roads.

    The only strait road in Low Gap

    A sign near Low Gap very true
    On Highway 127 (Rock Road) is a great convenience store/gas station with soft serve Ice Cream, the ladies were cleaning the machine so they were selling Ice Cream for half price, I couldn't resist, it was a nice store for such a lonely place! I gassed up and headed out again. The Hwy sort of snakes around up to Beaver Lake where the turns are very fun then you cross a bridge over the lake and completely avoid the bigger towns on the western edge of the Ozarks. There are large towns all along the north western edge of the Ozarks that make the ride a real bore. I managed to avoid most of it. Skirting the edge of Rogers up to Pea Ridge, its a strait road on the map and it has a lot of traffic but its very scenic none the less (hwy 94) then I crossed over into Missouri

    I Stayed away from the main roads here and headed west again on a fun road hwy from Jane to Noel, its a fun road, there is a spider web of great roads up near Pea Ridge you can have a blast on right on the boarder! Then the Ozarks were done! I had some Lunch in Noel where there is another cool convenience store with a nice overlook that views the river.

    Stopped in Noel Missouri great road hwy 90

    Elk River The gas station there has a restaurant in back that has bay windows that overlook the river.
    It wasn't long before I was in Kansas again and the wind was beating me relentlessly all they way to Wichita, nothing much to report about that!

    Monday
    the ride home

    Kansas sucks windy all the way from Whitchita, so much so I was leaned over going in a strait line, then the small town mentanlity there of - we dont need to provide bathrooms from passers by - I did fill up my bike. I came out of the bathroom to listen to the clerks and owners complaining about that. I guess it was me they where talking about, I guess they have never seen a motorcyclist before? I decided not to buy anything else and move on.

    Colorado hwy 94 87 miles away from Pikes Peak I could make out a faint outline of the mountain, I felt like Zebulon Pike himself when he first saw it

    Zoomed in you can see the outline of Pikes Peak vaguely I did catch up to that pickup later too! This was the first glimpse that I was almost home, yet it took me another hour to get to the city limits of Colorado Springs

    One whipped Pirrelli Diablo rear tire cords showing after 2600 miles, it was a great tire in the rain and never once slipped.

    Tuesday
  21. HispanicSlammer
    The Big Piggy at the river crossing
    I missed my chance to go riding when it was warm, Saturday it was 70 degrees out, but I was tired from working the night shift and so thought I could take a nap for a few hours (or so) then get up and go out and enjoy the sunshine around noon. When I woke up it was already dark out and I missed the whole day! Then Sunday it snowed and was cold out, Monday was sunny but still cold. Tuesday it wasn't so cold but it wasn't as good as Saturday. I get 4 days off every other week cause I work a compressed 12 hour day shift/workweek. Or should I say 4 nights off cause I always end up sleeping most days off. Tuesday (today) I was gonna ride hell or high water. I just installed a new 200 watt stator from Ricks on the piggy so that I could use my gps with it - and not drain the little nicad battery pack that came with the Baja Lighting/street legal kit. I installed the last year and I tried using the 100w stock unit but the lights would cut out as soon as I plugged in the gps about 15 minutes into the ride.
    I got this thing all street legal, its still a race bike but its got dot dirt tires, turn signals, a speedo, crappy little mirror, and now I have a stator that can power up this light kit, and my gps at the same time.
    I took off for Pueblo, via Meridian road from my home in Colorado Springs, it felt like 60 outside and the wind was blowin fierce. Dust from the dry winter was getting in my eyes and I haven't ridden this XR650r for months I had to get used to it again. Seems I have to get used to it every time I ride it, I am not a dirt devil by any means. My route would take me along dirt roads mostly except through the city of Pueblo, then off down Lariat Loop road onto another Dirt road called Little Burnt Mill road. I stopped at "Burnt Mill" but did not see a mill anywhere? I supposed thats because it was burned up?? Duh eh! I found this road last year on my trip to Santa Fe, looking for a way to stay off the interstate mostly and enjoy some back road adventuring. It seems to be well traveled though - I passed lots of cars on the dirt part. There is a creek that runs along the length of it and ends up at a Reservoir called Saint Charles Reservoir, thats the name of the river too the Saint Charles River - though its barely a creek really.
    I really like the hilly bluffs around the southern side of this road, it got me out of the wind and the sunshine seemed to warm it up a bit. However when I reached Burnt Mill I found that it was much colder the higher up I got in elevation. Pueblo is about 4000 feet and Burnt Mill was about a thousand feet higher up. I live at 5200 feet so I was basically riding the bowl formed by the Arkansas River basin. Everything seems to flow into it from this area. It is always windy in Pueblo too because of this, the wind follows the same path as the water does.

    Little Burnt Mill Road Greenhorn Mountain in the background

    Little Burnt Mill Road I love the bluffs along this road and the old cottonwood trees.
    When I got to Burnt Mill I decided to keep on going and go get a burger in Colorado City, there is a burger joint along I-25 Called Max's its a very homey small town home grown restaurant, where most everybody seems to know each other. However since its off the interstate its always packed with the lunch crowd. I managed to find a small table by the window. The burger was just as good as I remembered, I do enjoy this place, and the owner, the staff, and the customers always seem to be the same as when I left them the last time.

    Max's Diner Colorado City
    After eating my burger I got back onto the bike and the temp dropped another 5 degrees so I unpacked my heated vest, thinking I would shut off the headlight and plug it into the battery charger wire. NOPE the gps died, the speedo died and no heat! I guess 200 watts is pushing it? I unplugged the vest and everything came back on again - the vest did warm me up though since it was 45 degrees out with the wind blowing 25 mph it seemed like 30F! I was feeling much more confident and took Burnt Mill road at a clip of 75-80 that is until I passed a cop on the paved section, a left turn and back onto the dirt part again and no sign of cops - I was back up to speed.

    Saint Charles River More like a stream than a river - this is at Burnt Mill
    THE MAP
    [map=AARTsJqsy-Wml_D8KxNwkqaChK_ZMM-3IA]http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=11755780299001803584,38.777368,-104.777133%3B16171332272027393792,38.732540,-104.726979%3B7362721521074245626,38.564255,-104.608400%3B15580941568504734239,38.442820,-104.589546%3B2336215332259686766,38.346156,-104.697861%3B9429582127590062000,38.249760,-104.662010%3B9000269612217704604,38.182150,-104.679665%3B3944433312485290856,38.143896,-104.701113%3B10777289495694964411,38.051492,-104.794646%3B3030382981191587853,37.961130,-104.799980&saddr=S+US-85-87+%4038.777368,+-104.777133&daddr=S+US-85-87+%4038.732540,+-104.726979+to:S+Meridian+Rd+%4038.564255,+-104.608400+to:CR-501%2FOverton+Rd+%4038.442820,+-104.589546+to:38.42347,-104.610443+to:N+Purcell+Blvd+%4038.346156,+-104.697861+to:CO-45%2FS+Pueblo+Blvd+%4038.249760,+-104.662010+to:CR-230+%4038.182150,+-104.679665+to:CR-230+%4038.143896,+-104.701113+to:Waterbarrel+Rd+%4038.051492,+-104.794646+to:CO-165+%4037.961130,+-104.799980&mra=dpe&mrcr=0&mrsp=4&sz=10&via=1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8&dirflg=h&sll=38.449287,-104.69696&sspn=0.622712,1.496887&ie=UTF8&ll=38.414862,-104.916687&spn=1.246001,2.993774&t=p&z=9[/map]
    Looking at the terrain map you can get a sense of this bowl effect the Arkansas River vally forms, wind just pours down the valley into Pueblo
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