Labor Day Ride

[h2olawyer]

Well, kwells & I got together today and put some serious mileage on our Vs.  He rode up from the Denver area this morning and met me at my house.  I had just finished testing a different R/R (turned out to be bad  >:( ).  I got the R/Rs swapped back & my charging fluctuations are still there, but only at idle.  Anything over 2K & I get 14.5 - 14.68 volts.  I can live with that.

Anyway, we didn't get the 10AM start I hoped for.  It was closer to noon when we finally got going up Poudre Canyon.  Traffic was understandably heavy & slow most of the way up the canyon.  Took about 2 hours to get to Walden - which is normal time for me in my pickup.  On the V, I'm normally about 20 minutes faster.  Anyway, fuel in Walden & headed North through Cowdrey & on to Three Way Junction.  Turned Northwest and after a few miles, we crossed into Wonderful Wyoming.  A quick stop in Riverside to top off the tanks since it is a long way (about 65 miles) across the Snowy Range and down into Centennial, then another 25 miles into Laramie.

Snowy Range Road did not disappoint.  Some of the most beautiful scenery & great turns.  Almost all are 50 - 60 MPH sweepers.  There are a few hairpins thrown in just to keep you alert.   ;D

Had some minor rain showers & wet roads, but mostly, the sun shone bright & the traffic in Wyoming was light - considering the holiday.  Stopped in Laramie for fuel & food.  Made it back to Ft. Collins around 7:30.  I covered around 320 miles for the day.  Kwells added another 120 to that for the trip from & to his house.

Bikes ran great.   8)  My riding is improving - am closer to hanging with kwells in the tighter corners.  Much of the trip is long straights & very high speed sweepers.  Needless to say, speed limits were merely a "suggested guideline" on much of the ride.  We stopped on top of the Snowy Range Road for pix & some sightseeing at the observation tower there.  Will post a couple photos as soon as I get them off my camera.

May be doing this same ride again in the next few days.  Rear SuperVenom is starting to show it's wear.  The wear bars are almost to the top of the tire surface.  Should be good for about another 1,000 miles.  That will make about 5K on it.  The front is still in great shape.  Figures - can't get the SuperVenom anymore so it looks like a set of either RoadRiders or Pirelli Sport Demons.  They'll likely have to go on before I make that California trip.  I'll be putting at least another 700 - 1000 miles this month before heading West.

Always great to ride with kwells!  Sure makes me become a better rider every time.   ;D

H₂O

[Aelwulf]

I took mine out today for some errands, then decided to get a short ride in.  Rode up the 101 to San Luis Obispo to catch a movie.  Got out of that a bit after 7, still plenty of sun but cooler.  Rode back, turned off in Pismo Beach for gas and puttered through town.  Took Hwy 1 on the other side as there's a short twisty bit up a hill I like (if there's no cars in the way).

Going up it today I noticed a sport bike behind me, it caught up some up the hill.  It caught up the rest of the way at a light and it was an older guy on a Ducati.  I let him go first at the light since he'd likely be held up by me taking my time.  I still stayed fairly close behind him until he passed a truck and minivan on a double yellow which I don't do, but caught up again in a 25 zone through Guadalupe.  It got a bit on the cold side after then heading towards Orcutt as I passed through a fog bank but other'n that a pretty nice ride overall.  Only about 60-70 miles but was nice to get out once for the weekend.  It only did the clunk once when starting and it was a minor one.

[kwells]

oh man what a day!  Im pretty tired but took the dogs to wear them out regardless.  They waited around for me all day so it's the least I could do eh?  Think I logged about 435 miles for the day.  The V did me good all day long...looks like my rear tire is on it's way out as well.  Will get that replaced soon though and all will be back in balance.  Today was the first time I left CO since I moved here last Oct so that was pretty cool.  Wyoming definitely has some scenery to check out but some of those roads make me wish I could cruise them at 120.
I took a few pics with my phone...not too great but I didnt have the good camera with me. 

[h2olawyer]

Glad you made it home safe!  Just watched the video - looks pretty good!  Now someone's gonna give us hell for parking our helmets on our mirrors.   ::)  My photos aren't too much crisper - the DV camera just doesn't do stills like my Olympus.  At least they transfer from the SD card easily into my laptop!

I'm BEAT!  Guess I ought to get to bed so I can gather all the tire tools, pack them up & make it down to Denver tomorrow so Shaggy can get tires swapped around.

H₂O

[zore]

I did about 300 miles on monday on the Daytona going up the NJ side of the deleware.  What a great day.

[inanecathode]

ZOIKS! Definitely have to hit that ride with you some time. Sounds great!

[Tanno]

So, uh.....where's the video?

[h2olawyer]

Video is still on the DV tape.  Should get to it soon.   ;D  Have a Mt Evans DVD to finish as well.

H₂O