Pics from Western Slope tour Sept. 16, 2007

[pilot]

Casually waiting along I-70 at exit 203 for the balance of the road crew.

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Warren, Brian and Frenchy catch up to Terra and Pilot at the Climax Conoco as we all suit up for a change in the weather.

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The obligatory photo
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One of the hammiest photos of the day--gotta love that grin Frenchy. Of course, that was after you heard the good news!

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[pilot]

Along C0 133 from Carbondale to Paonia. Excellent road. This is where we really started getting the hang of running at speed on on our wet tires.

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Create your own "caption"...


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This picture, by far, sums up the entire riding season. Atop the State 65 beltway through the Grand Mesa. Perfect road. No traffic. You choose the pace.

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Machines at the ready. Yes, that is the sun setting in the west and storm clouds on the horizon. I gotta admit it we rode that day.

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[pilot]

The view along this road and the pace were impressive. To bad we didn't have on-board cameras.

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This sign should say, "Bikers in area." Ha. Terra hamming it up.

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The 42 mile ride from Parachute to Glenwood Springs was the toughest we had ever been on.

I recall, just before we took off from the gas station, a cager saying, "Yah, you guys are lucky you're headed east." Followed by a HD rider saying he had just come from the east, Rifle, and it was great weather-no rain. 30 seconds later I saw some guy with a long beard and two elephants getting into a boat. I heard someone yell, "NOAH, SAVE US!"

It was 9 PM, pitch black and the pounding rain was driving sideways and flooding the highway while the winds blew in excess of 40-50 MPH. Cars were pulling off the highway. Cagers must have thought we were nuts on those bikes. Once again I learned the value of following a semi *but not too close, to benefit from his wake as he cut the water from the road--thanks "Old Dominion" freight.


We earned a 10 PM dinner at Avon--Knowing full well we had two more passes, Vail and the tunnels near Loveland to cross. If you saw NN's post about the snow at Breck, you have a general idea of what we dealt with that night.

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More photos available at: http://www.putfile.com/cancunpilot/images/146705

[pilot]

Later that night, or should I say morning, 1 AM. I got to know what it was like to get so tired I was "seeing" things. Like turns that weren't there on the interstate!:shocked: I thought I'd never fall asleep at the wheel of a motorcycle. On the second moment I phased out I immediately pulled off at Silverthorne. Let me tell ya, a slap in the face, a coke and a smoke got me to Idaho Springs. I put her up on the center stand and passed out at the gas station near the turn off to Mt. Evans. You know the spot. 30 minutes later I woke up. It was nearly 2 AM.

My hat is off to anybody with the Iron Butt sticker.

Respects,
~Pilot