Saturday Ride After Work Cut Short

August 8, 2009
Fort Collins, CO

Work is work and these days we appreciate the fact that there is weekend work, so you won't find Tim shirking work no matter how gorgeous the day is. No, we'll simply ride before or after work if at all possible.

The afternoon was nice and warm and well... the skies were almost clear as we rolled out of the driveway in the middle of the afternoon with no destination in mind, as usual. Lots of pretty toys, with two and four wheels were out enjoying the day. We got close enough to Thunder Mountain to make a quick stop. We are still waiting on one of Tim's birthday gifts to come in. The dealership is usually packed during Sturgis week but not so during the time we were there. Of course, one look to the north would tell you that people leaving late out of Sturgis and riding south through Wyoming got a taste of wild n wooly western weather for which the state is known. Kansas and Nebraska didn't look much better...

Thunder Mountain from the back side...

Thunder Mountain - Front door...

There was an interesting and fun bike that if it had a tail would likely be a Rotweiller. It was parked outside the front door - we called it Spike... I know - not very original but fitting. What appeared to be a flail (weapon in the shape of a ball with spikes - think Conan) was hanging from the rear fender. Ha! This bike's owner was definitely a solo rider but I'm still thinking OUCH!



As we pulled out of Thunder Mountain, thinking we had plenty of daylight left for a quick ride west, maybe toward Estes Park, the skies changed our mind. This Party Pooper Cloud looks fairly harmless and a long way off. Neither was the case. Clouds like this (we call them squalls) roll off the foothills rapidly and can cause all sorts of trouble along the front range. We took the long way home around the lakes and over the dam, but we did not stay out much longer. This same little cloud rolled through Fort Collins a little over an hour later just before we got the chicken for our fajitas off the grill. I managed to finish that off in the house, but it sure put a damper on our hang out on the patio evening.

No worries, tomorrow we have the whole day...