MZ33: Taking Aim at Colorado

[Lion_Lady]

So, where are you staying in Keystone? Wrider wants to hook up with as many of you as possible...

NOT TRUE AT ALL! I just want to meet you...
Yeesh Doc, trying to get me into trouble here!
Anyway can't wait to meet you on Saturday! Sorry for my crazy schedule this week. Got a new roomie/old buddy moving in tomorrow night, huge car/bike show I have to be at on Friday night, and I work Thursday, Friday, and Saturdays!

Hey, we're all gonna hit the Harley demos at 8 am tomorrow... whatcha doin for breakfast??

Pam

[slimcolo]

Gonna swing up that way tomorrow. In Denver now still haven't made it home from Sturgis. (stayed over for threshing bee) Will need to re route as Guenella is closed due to a rock slide. so where will everybody be in the afternoon?

[Wrider]

I'll be over there tonight as soon as I can after work! I'll be there for an hour or two, maybe three, then off to Colorado Springs for the night!

[MZ33]

Oh, slim, I'm so sorry we missed you! Neither LL nor I had computers, so we had to borrow them from our friends. I did get to meet Wrider--a perfect gentleman, BTW--but we hardly got to talk. He couldn't get there until the end party was in full swing, and then when we got back to the condo, I ran up to pack, and he was gone. He had to get to CO Springs that night. Didn't mean to dis anybody, but we were busy from start to finish. I just got home a few hours ago, and am still really tired. Lion Lady is still on the road.

Still gotta get the memory card out. More to follow . . .

[MZ33]

Pam's ready. I'm ready.


Oh, look! We're both ready! Let's go. The smiley faces taped to the fronts of our bikes were our version of Follow's "bug card game," in which the one that gets a bug splat closest to the center wins lunch. In our case, it would be whichever smiley ended up with a nose. It never happened--Lion Lady's smiley sported a pretty good beard, but all mine really got was a bloody eyelash. In the end, lunch was deferred, as Pam's bike picked up a nail in the parking garage, and Follow escorted her back into Denver to get the tire replaced. We both agreed that bit of good samaritanism was even better than lunch, especially since I didn't have to sacrifice my Ducati demo ride--although, yes, I would have!

[MZ33]

We were slow starting out, and on our first day, a thunderstorm kept us from more than 250 miles. I didn't know our peril--I was perfectly willing to ride into it. "No," said Pam, "every year one or two riders get struck by lightning on the way to Sturgis." "Really?" "Really! And out here surrounded by corn, we are the tallest things out here." "Okay, then we don't have to worry until we see lightning strikes." "Fine." 5 minutes later, air to earth lightning was striking all over the place in the dark and stormy distance. Some rough calculations and confirmation by a local indicated that the storm was between us and decent shelter. Our helpful local guy gave us directions 10 miles back to a bed & breakfast. "Haul azz, Pam" said I, and she did. It was kind of fun to have an excuse, really. Why there was a B&B out in the middle of the corn, I have no idea, but it wasn't likely to be full, was it? Wrong. I went in to check; sewing machines and piles of fabric were everywhere. "Oh, you give sewing lessons!" I exclaimed, thinking it probably supplemented a B&B out in a cornfield. "No, a quilting circle has rented me out for the week," she said. She called another nearby B&B: also full. I could see her mentally figuring out if she could fit us in somewhere, but I told her it was okay. Then she mentioned a Super 8 thirteen miles south, in Paris. We hauled azz down there, and there was plenty of room, and, by the smell of the lobby, plenty of disinfectant. Stinky, but we aired out our room, took showers and were happy.

The next day we ripped down US-36. My speedo read 92-95 mph most of the time. Figuring 6% inaccurate, it was probably about 85-89 mph. That will be important later, but for now, it just meant we made excellent time. Our second day was a little over 500 miles, and we ended up in Marysville, Kansas. US-36 is a beautiful ride, where the prairie rolls, tumbles, and sweeps through gullies and curves. Not a cop in sight the whole way to Keystone.
The sky threatened us again at Hannibal, MO, but I managed to snap this quick shot of Pam just before we crossed Ol' Miss and hunkered down in a really nice bookstore/cafe. We could have eaten the entire menu, but we refrained. (It was all homemade, even the vegetable soup.) The sky opened up while we ate, but we ended up riding through the downpour for a good hour, anyway. Couldn't let that raingear go unused.

View from our motel in Marysville, KS:


The morning sun on the third day, when we realized we would have to ride hard, early, and often to get to Colorado that night.


Getting ready to ride: breakfast!



A couple more prairie shots:
<--This + gas station = town.


After I saw Gryndel & Blossom together, I could see why Pam called Blossom "Little Red."


We rolled into Keystone about 5:30 CO time. Pam was damned tired, but I was exhausted. I'm sure that contributed to my altitude sickness. I felt a little bit better each day, though. I stayed off bikes all day on Wednesday, so I went to seminars. They were okay. Thursday, I started demo rides. NOW we're talking FUN!!

Met up with Follow, CCRyder, and Blues on Wednesday:


Here's the whole motley crew at the condo:

[MZ33]

I'm sure to those who are old hands at motorcycle shows & rallies, this is nothing; certainly nothing new. But I had a field day oogling all the paint jobs at the conference. Here's a few pretty bikes:












Pink plug caps exactly match the pink pinstriping . . .
and the rhinestones on her plate [/color]


Decidedly less girly:

[MZ33]

MORE BIKES!

This is an utterly beautiful Ural, handpainted in Russia by a woman who works at Ural. The owner is astride; she also owns the local Ural sidecare business. This one isn't for sale, though. Pity.



The artist's initials are in there, to the right. She just went to town, all over this bike.



This is the only sportbike that came close to being dolled up, and it's as much the matching helmet as anything that makes it:



Oh, wait! Sue Slate custom painted her Versys:

White. Not very exciting, but then, the excitement of a Versys is in the ride.

Speaking of which, here's my favorite:



If you think I go on incessantly about my bike, just think how much Pam had to hear about it . . .

[coffee_brake]

I seem to remember you mentioning how much you like your Versys a few times....


A few HUNDRED times.....



























Did I ever tell you I like my Connie?



More pics please!

[MZ33]

I would love to post more pics. Unfortunately, having begun installation of several updates recommended by Microsoft, my computer is having a major meltdown. This is the first time I've been able to get out on the net for days, and I'm not sure how long before the Mystery Something boots me off. Also, despite multiple attempts to correct it, I am only working with about 4 bits of color, and the lowest resolution known to computerdom. Meaning I get about 25% of the page actually showing on my screen.

Sigh. Next one is a Mac, dammit.