Made it to Cedar Falls

 I left this morning at 05:00 and after 940 miles arrived at Mom and Dads at 8:00 pm. Pleasant weather except for a couple hours of heavy cross wind in the afternoon. 

The last several days

Our riding group today at a lunch stop

All the bikes lined up this morning for a photo shoot. 

 I was having such a good time here that putting anything on this blog slipped my mind. We did some great day rides on fantastic black tops don’t ask me where we rode as all I did was follow the leader. 

Tonight is the banquet then my plan is to shove off in the morning by 05:00. There is 3 days of rain expected starting Monday so if all goes good I’ll make the 900 miles to Mom and Dads tomorrow night and miss the rain. 

Wednesday

 Not much to write about today. The weather was nice and I did a 200 mile ride with some of the other attendees. With all the twists and turns here I couldn’t begin to tell you where we went. 

Had a nice happy hour before dinner then some visiting around the campfire. No pictures although we road along a nice rushing stream that would rival some of Colorado's rivers.

I arrived

 Well I made it to my North Carolina destination, the Iron Horse Motorcycle Lodge. It was a pleasant day of riding. I rode up the road nicknamed The Tail of the Dragon. It has 318 curves in 11 miles.

After arriving Janet let me know that her sister Jodi's son–in–law was in the state somewhere riding a motorcycle. I texted him and it turned out he’s stay at this lodge so we had a beer and ate supper together. He’s leaving tomorrow and moving to another place but at least we connected today.

Attached are some pictures taken at the end of the Dragon road and of the lodge I’m staying at.

Another 700 miles

 I woke up and looked at the motel clock that showed 4:30. I wanted to get up at 5:00 so I got up. After dressing I looked at another clock and it showed 3:45. I then checked my phone and sure enough it was 3:45. So I was back on the road at 04:00 again.

The temperature was 55-60 most of the morning with mid strength winds. By afternoon it was 70-80 and little wind. All and all a nice day for a ride.

By starting out early my gas stops were extended and I had a nice sit down breakfast at a Denny’s. I arrived in Jackson, TN at 3:30pm.

Only 350 miles tomorrow and the weather looks to be favorable.

Tree lined highway today.

Day one on the road

 I shoved off at 04:01 this morning and had an uneventful day of riding for 823 miles landing in Elk City, OK. at 6:15 pm local time so a little over 12 hours. It was a little chilly most of the morning but I had my heated jacket liner and the bike has a heated seat and hand grips. After lunch I shed the warm gear and donned my mesh jacket.

It got fairly windy in the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma and the temperature got up into the low 90s.

 I’ll try and get another early start tomorrow and put a bunch of miles behind me.

So imagine looking at this view for 12 hours with lots of semis thrown in.

A long day

It's Saturday and the bike is packed, riding clothes laid out, checked the weather for tomorrow and now it's wait time. I probably won't get much sleep tonight, I usually don't before any kind of trip. I'm looking forward to getting out on the open road even if it is suppose to be windy across I-40. 

The plan is to make it to Elk City, OK tomorrow night (823 miles) then somewhere in Tennessee Monday night and finish on Tuesday.

First long ride in 2021

 So it's that time of year again, the first long distance ride. Early, early Sunday morning I'll be hitting the open road heading to a gathering of BMW K1600 motorcyclists in North Carolina. We will be staying at the Iron Horse Motorcycle Lodge near the famous section of highway known as The Tail of The Dragon. As of today there are 33 bike owners signed up to be there along with many spouses. This is the 5th year for this gathering so it's well organized and a lot of fun. There will be daily guided tours of the surrounding area rain or shine. I've met many of the folks, who will be attending, at other get togethers so after last years bust for rides it will be nice to catch up.

After this event I will ride to Iowa to spend some time with my Mom and Dad then down to brother Steve's in Kansas City and finally back home. I'll be gone for about 2 weeks.

I'll try and post some pictures and write ups during this ride so keep watching. 

Friday and the end of the RR ride

I brought Jerry and his bike home today and we are all well. Memorable trip on many levels. Now to start planning the next one.

Monday-Thursday of the RR ride

Eventful Sunday night. Jerry came down very ill and we had to call the EMT. They took him to the hospital. The short story is that he had an infection that became worse with a bacteria in his blood. Frank and I rode home where I grabbed my truck and motorcycle trailer and came back up to Estes Park in time to connect with Jerry when he was released Thursday morning. We drove as far as Grand Junction and will get home tomorrow. Jerry was fed lots of antibiotics and is doing well now.

Sunday of the RR

Nice ride down to Estes Park. Good temperatures and just a few miles of sprinkles. Sitting here at the KOA watching the clouds build up over the mountains.

Saturday on the RR

Another beautiful day of riding. Back over Beartooth and Chief Joseph to Cody for breakfast. Jerry took a different route to Cody by mistake and got there over an hour before us. We didn’t catch up to him until the end of the day. After breakfast the East coast boys decided to take the long way around by going through Yellowstone park. We are spending the night in a motel in Casper.

Enjoy the pictures especially the ones of the mountain goats.

Friday on the RR

Beautiful day today. Blue sky and moderate temperatures. Not much to write about so enjoy the pictures.