Scootin' around on the weekend

July 11, 2010
Colorado, USA

Saturday:

Fort Collins, CO -- We tried to stay close in to home this weekend and behave ourselves before heading out on vacation this coming week.

Work and Mother Nature helped out some in that regard. We had thunder and rain in the afternoon. Tim worked Saturday, so the after work ride was mostly scooting around so I could check out the new camera settings. We encountered stout winds north of town which is getting just a little too close to Wyoming I guess. We got tired of the wind pretty quick so we decided to answer the rumble in our bellies with a trip to the Pizza Hut. By the time we had finished off a large pepperoni pizza, the winds had died so we rode slowly home, enjoying the brisk evening air.

The Ride sitting in front of the house

Small lake near Fort Collins, smooth as glass

Terry Lake on the north side, a little rough

Sunday:

Fort Collins, CO -- Storms were forecast for later in the day, so about mid-morning Sunday we rode out for an over the dam and around the lakes ride. Horsetooth Reservoir was busy with people out enjoying the water and the campgrounds on the south end of the lake. A ride around no name lake at Chasteen Grove was great, beautiful weather, very little traffic. A ride around Carter Lake will wait until the fresh gravel they just put down settles so we altered course a bit and ended up at Sandstone Park (a favorite stop) in Lyons. There, we drank some thermos coffee and consumed a brownie.

Storms brewing as we ride along

Heading west toward Lyons

Vik in the park - Lyons, CO

Tim in the park - Lyons, CO

We noticed as we were riding into town that something was going on at RedHill Motorcycle Werx so we stopped by on our way back out of town. We lingered and shopped a bit and listened to some excellent live music. We found a couple of beanie novelty helmets and bought them. We were contemplating the BBQ when we heard a rumble from the little black cloud we had noticed earlier coming over the mountain. We rode out a few minutes later in a rain shower. It was damp for about five miles or so I guess before we rolled out from under it.

We lazily found our way home, watching storms brew on the horizons to the north and west and eventually east. The afternoon brought intermittent rain showers but not enough to keep us from throwing some taters and sausage on the grill and kicking back at the edge of the garage with a beer.

Storm over Lyons, CO - we just left there

As we ride home, storms to the north and east

We got a ride in both days and we're happy with that. Later in the week we will roll out for a six day ride and a couple of thousand miles or so... looking for roads we have not ridden and sights we have not seen. I have a new camera and plenty of memory... I may even tuck the laptop in somewhere... we will see... stay tuned....