Saturday Flat-Landing it...

August 29, 2009
Fort Collins, CO

As seems to be the rule this year, we had to check our unpredictable weather and decide which day would be best for a ride this weekend. Since a cold front is due in tomorrow and the weather man says there's a better chance of rain at that time, we chose today. Tim has to work one day of the weekend so that will be tomorrow.

We rolled out of the neighborhood about mid-morning. Sometimes working night shift we get a late start. We were thinking: ride south and west - let's do Mount Evans today - maybe ride peak-to-peak on the way back. Mount Evans sits just west of Denver not far off I-70. It's a favorite drive and picnic spot for us - we have yet to make it on the motorcycle. As it turns out, we'll have to wait a while longer. We rode far enough out to get a view of the horizon and knew a mountain ride was not going to happen today. The mountains were almost obscured by low, dark clouds.

So... today was a flat land day. After about an hour of cruising around, we stopped at the CB Shop next to Johnson's Corner on I-25 to browse through the leathers and other motorcycle accessories. At the stop sign, waiting to turn on the access road we saw an older gent ride by on a nice H-D Ultra. We caught up with him at the CB Shop. If he's missing any chrome to go on his ride, we couldn't tell what piece that might be. Like many biker stops, the parking lot of the CB Shop is sort of an informal social circle, meaning, there's always someone ready to strike up a conversation and I'm not talking about weather chat. I'm talking motorcycles and then maybe the weather as it pertains to riding. Ha!

We met Don P, dressed in classic white western shirt and cowboy boots, from Fort Lupton as we talked with a couple of other riders and admired the bikes. Don P is an energetic 77. He's ridden all over the country on a Gold Wing in the past but now he's a Harley Man and has been for a few years. He says they sound better. He was on his way to Fort Collins where he planned to stop in at Unique Rides. Unique Rides on Mulberry Street is in the business of trike conversions. Don P says his left leg is starting to give him trouble and he may be ready to check into having his ride converted to three wheels.

Now, I've said it before - it is a sin to get that close to Johnson's Corner (across the street) and not stop in for coffee and a cinnamon roll or breakfast or pie. If you get a whiff of those rolls baking, you're a goner. Don P joined us for a longer chat over coffee and breakfast. He was an interesting fellow. We learned he'd been riding since 1973 on his own. (We were married in 71). 1973 marked the year of Don P's last divorce. Seems Don P has had a bit of trouble finding a woman that likes motorcycles and motorcycle riding as much as he does. He says he gave it up for about twenty years but decided the women (yes, there were two of them) just weren't worth it. LOL! He's ridden all over the states since then, been to Sturgis four times in recent years, including this year and is setting out for Las Vegas over Labor Day. We wished him luck with the trike conversion and safe travels before parting ways.

We rode the rural roads south and east of Fort Collins/Loveland for most of the day past corn fields and sunflower fields. Wild sunflowers lined the roads. Darker clouds started rolling over the mountains in the Loveland area late in the afternoon. We decided to call it a day and put The Ride away before we all got wet. A visit to Serious Texas BBQ and later a free PPV movie finished the day out for us.

Tomorrow The Ride goes in for 15,000 mile maintenance. Last year, about this time we had under 2000 miles to our credit... on September 6, 2008 I noted we had 2086 miles. We started out yesterday at 15,200 miles. Who woulda thunk it?