The North Texas Moto Journal
http://motoblog.richardswim.com
The North Texas Moto Journal

Wyoming Ride Day 4 - Gillette, Wy

July 18, 2008

The Grizzly attack stories continued with the Cooke City locals this
morning at the fuel station. Tom and I loaded up with fuel and headed
out at 7:00 towards Beartooth Highway. How appropriate. Early
morning is the most favorite part of the day for wildlife, so that
fact and the 36-degree air kept us a bit under the posted limit. The
cool air and spectacular scenery woke me up quickly and made the
slower ride very pleasing. We saw a couple of moose, plenty of deer,
pronghorn and some random marmot for good measure.

We stopped for a SLR moment at a still pond with the mountains rising
from the far side. The water vapors were rising from the grass as
the morning sun first hit. On up Beartooth Highway, the road rose
near 11,000 feet and above tree line. As we ascended the pass,
ten-foot snow drifts lined the side of the road that twisted tightly
and demanded attention to keep the bike on pavement. This has to be
one of the best mountain rides in the States.

We rode through Red Lodge and out in the high rolling sage hills of
Montana to highway 14A over the Bighorn range. This section was an
exciting surprise that rose out of the dry scrub. Once down in
elevation, we shared ride stories with another group from Arizona and
Seattle at the Sinclair. The rider said he was "still on the high".

We got off of the short stretch of interstate quickly, rode the back
roads of hwy 14 and entered the MOA rally site in Gillette. We went
through registration and chose a grassy area to pitch the tents. I
took my bike over to a washing area to get the Texas rain and Montana
forest road construction grime off of my bike in prep of tomorrow's
25th anniversary BMW K-Bike Koncours celebration. And who rolls up to
wash his bike but Greg Feeler with my bike's sister serial number
K75S. We exchanged greetings and I held both bike's handlebars. It
was a touching moment. "Separated at birth and reunited in Gillette."

I'm finishing this post listening to the New Riders of the Purple Sage
playing Panama Red outside the Beemer Saloon and having an Odells Pale
Ale microbrew from Ft. Collins, CO. The big thunderstorm earlier this
afternoon rained lightly on us, flattened a few tents, and nicely
cooled things down. The music is good, evening air is good, ale is
good, company is good and today's ride was a dream. Life is
definitely good.

If you have never attended a MOA national rally, consider next year's
site in Tenessee.

Wyoming Ride Day 3 - Cooke City, MT

July 17, 2008

'm starting today's post while waiting on the Pilot vehicle to lead me
through some road construction just outside of Silver Gate, MT. But I
see the truck heading in my direction, so I must get ready to ride.

I'm resuming the journal now in our room listening to the soothing
sound of the Soda Butte Creek that is just below our window. Tom,
Paul and Marilyn split off from me at the top of the falls of the
Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone so they could head on to the Soda
Butte Hotel. I spent another couple of hours riding the 60 miles of
beautiful northern Yellowstone shooting way too many photos, but you
know I had a great time.

We started out early this morning riding through the Grand Tetons.
Carolyn, a very friendly park ranger, struck up conversation with us
at the Snake River Overlook. I removed myself and remembered the times
when I was very young in this very spot with my parents. I owe so much
to them for introducing me to this beautiful country of the West.

In Yellowstone, we visited Old Faithful but were surprised by the
number of people. We decided to not wait for an eruption after seeing
the traffic of the previous as we were arriving. After a quick lunch,
we moved on. We enjoyed the sweeping and twisty turns of the park and
listened in on the French visitors using the same radio channel as
ours. We couldn't understand a lot, but Tom corrected their
"Continental Devine".

While now on my solo ride, I had to put on rain gear at the top of a
mountain when the temperature dropped 15 degrees and the sky darkened.
The rain was short-lived, and the afternoon light was spectacular on
all of the flowers covering the valley below me. My ride into Cooke
City was stopped many times for wildlife and wonderful lighting on the
Sage and hills around me.

So once I got through the final 2.5 miles of road rebuilding, I rolled
up to the hotel to see Tom sitting in the timber-ceiling lobby window.
We had dinner and a brew later and listened to a chap telling a story
about a camper that was attacked by a bear the night before just
outside of Cooke City. We were trying to figure out if the story was
legit and later found it to be true after meeting Adrian in the lobby.
She is an empty-nester from California and spending time hiking here
where she once lived. She was at the same camp last night when the
attack happened. The rangers made everyone break camp and either leave
or sleep in their cars.

Next up is Beartooth Pass and on to Gillette.

Wyoming Ride Day 2 - Dubois, WY

July 16, 2008

Blogging live tonight from Dubois, Wyoming listening to the Prairie Grass bluegrass band performing some excellent music with 12-year old Tori Anderson leading the vocals. We just had a wonderful steak and salmon dinner at the Rustic Pine Steakhouse and Tavern. Our waitress, Cathy told us about the concert right next door.

This morning at breakfast, we met up with Jon Wiggins, Richard Neas, and Kurt and Angie Gibson who were on an off-road excursion through the Trans American Trail. They are from Springfield, MO and started their all-dirt ride in Arkansas and will finish around Ouray, CO.

Today's ride took us 546 miles through central Colorado and through the windy high plains of Wyoming. We left Westcliffe early in the morning and immediately spotted Elk in the valley just below the road.  In fact, we couldn't go more than a few miles before spotting more wildlife along the highway..

Along the Arkansas River we came up on a Harley sidecar rig with a dog wearing goggles. He (the dog) kept turning around to check us out as we were passing them.

We had to stop again for cows in Wyoming, this time a cattle drive.  The cows were complaing at us since they acted like we were messing up their road crossing.

We met up with Matthew in Rawlings, WY at a fuel stop. He has been on the road for over a month riding his R1100S through the eastern states. He was on his way back home to Dubois. We rode with him for the last 80 miles of today's leg into Dubois and he led us through the canyon sweepers into his home town. It was cool watching him wave to the locals once we entered town. But, he said he was just returning to pack and get the heck out of Dubois.

Tomorrow is a ride to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone with a stay overnight in Cooke City, MT.

Wyoming Ride Day 1 - Westcliffe, CO

July 16, 2008

We are in Westcliffe, CO after a 536-mile run today, and blogging real-time from Poag Mahones pub downtown. It is a great find for dinner where our waiter, Brennen has served up some very tasty rib eye steaks and burgers with fresh baked Amish buns.
  

The ride across the Panhandle was hardly hot since rain showers greeted us from just west of Vernon to Amarillo. We donned the rain gear and welcomed the cooler temps.

We made a detour off the main route through northeast New Mexico on hwy 72, near Capulin Volcano. 
Bo would be proud of us since the road was small enough that we had to wait on cattle to clear off in front of us.  
Another nice road find was hwy 165 just west of Colorado City.  This road was lightly-traveled and very winding over the mountains into Westcliffe.

Debbie, here are the Sangre de Cristo mountains at Westcliffe that I was describing to you on the phone tonight. 

Tomorrow starts the run through some of the best mountain scenery of Colorado into Wyominq.

As Tom just said, "Life is good..."

Wyoming Ride - Prologue Ride to Vernon

Tom, Paul, his wife Marilyn and I wanted to get the heck out of the big city and get closer to the cooler high country, so a short evening ride to Vernon was in order. 
 
Debbie giving me (or my helmet) something to remember.
 
Ready to roll

We met up with Tom near his house north of Frisco.
 
 A quick gourmet meal at
a Wichita Falls truck stop 
We are here in the metropolis of Vernon, TX amongst the grain elevators just a couple of hundred miles up Hwy 287.  The weather during the ride cooperated nicely, with some cool outflow from nearby thundershowers around Decatur.  The roads were dry, though.
              
Tomorrow morning we get up early for the trek across the Panhandle, through a corner of New Mexico, and into the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.

Wyoming Ride - The Week Ahead

July 13, 2008

Today starts a week-long journey through the mountains of Colorado and Wyoming with the destination being the BMW Motorcycle Owners Association national rally in Gillette, WY.  Tom, Paul and I will be leaving the metromess after work to head up the road a bit to Vernon to get out of the Dallas traffic and take advantage of a few hours of relative cooler temps.  Tuesday will be a ~ 500 mile ride to Westcliffe, CO via the northeast section of New Mexico.  Wednesday's ride will following the valley splitting the Rocky Mountains in Colorado up to Dubois, WY.  Thursday we will ride down to the Grand Tetons and then head up to explore Yellowstone, and wind up in Silver Gate, MT.  Friday's trek will go over the spectacular Alpine-like Beartooth Highway that winds its way down to Red Lodge, MT.  We will also pass over an interesting looking mesa in Wyoming on our way to the rally site at Gillette.  Saturday will be an off-day from riding.  I will show my bike in a 25th Anniversary of the BMW K-Bikes along side another MOA member that has an identical K75S with VIN's in sequence.  We are considering this event as "Separated at Birth and Reunited at Gillette".  After dragging ourselves out of the tents on Sunday, we will visit Devil's Tower and then wander through Sturgis and the Black Hills on the way to the Badlands National Park in South Dakota.  Monday will be a ride south through the heartland on the way back home with an overnight in Hays, KS.  The total ride should rack up around 3,200 miles.  Check back daily at http://motoblog.richardswim.com for updates during the week's ride.



Here are some GoogleMaps route links that should be close to our actuals:
Prologue - Vernon, TX 198 mi – http://tinyurl.com/5zzskp
Day 1 - Westcliffe, CO 534 mi – http://tinyurl.com/56dmy3
Day 2 - Dubois, WY  542 mi – http://tinyurl.com/57kpwp
Day 3 - Silver Gate, MT - 261 mi – http://tinyurl.com/6xg87d
Day 4&5 - Gillette, WY - 347 mi – http://tinyurl.com/6nufhn
Day 6 - Badlands NP, SD - 344 mi – http://tinyurl.com/6qjmoh
Day 7 - Hays, KS - 484 mi – http://tinyurl.com/5j4pwt
Day 8 - 541 mi – http://tinyurl.com/66ufm3

LSBMWR Breakfast at Tin Top

July 13, 2008

Bo put together an early-morning breakfast run to Tin Top and coerced around 15 riders to get up way too early on a Sunday.  The ride there was a typical bit of a drag through the metromess, but it was early and the winding roads out southwest of Ft. Worth made up for the urban journey.  Breakfast was great at Mary's Brazos Cafe, although I think we overwhelmed the staff when we all converged at the same time.  The coffee was good, and the waitress must have thought I wanted a little extra down my back so she broke the carafe on the chair behind me.  A bit hot??  Yes!



David joined up with us on his new-to-him 2003 K1200LT.  Nice sofa on two wheels.  We found out today was Colin's birthday, so... Happy b-day, Colin!  Friggin' hot on the return.  Tomorrow starts my week-long run to Wyoming along with Tom and Paul.  Once we get out of Texas, the temps should be good.  Other club members are on the road already.  Check back at motoblog.richardswim.com for almost daily updates from the road and the MOA rally.

Photos at: http://picasaweb.google.com/rlswim/LSBMWRTinTopBreakfast

LSBMWR Club Meeting at Humperdink's

June 16, 2008

The monthly meeting of the Lone Star BMW Riders was held at the usual spot - Humperdink's.

 Humperdink's has been treating us well with a private area in the restaurant, good food and sectioned-off parking for our bikes.
Patt gave a presentation on proper hydration for these hot summer months, while some of the club members enjoyed an alternate interpretation of hydration (not condoned by the club in any manner).  We also talked briefly about the upcoming BMW Motorcycle Owners national rally in Wyoming.  There are around 15 of us attending that event in July.

There was a good turnout and a lot of great discussion and tire-kicking out in the parking lot.
 
 

Roadrunners Vintage Bike Rally - Austin

June 1, 2008

Keith offered up an invite to stay at his place near Zilker Park in Austin and to make a ride out to Ski Shores the next morning for a vintage bike show.  I took the bait and was ready to get out of Dallas for a short time. 
It had been really busy on the home front with all of the preparation for Laura and Blake's wedding last Friday.  But that was behind us, and after the lovely ceremony and short stay at the Hotel Crescent, they were out in the Caribbean somewhere near Jamaica.   

Deb and I wrapped up yet some other lingering wedding related things Saturday morning, and I was on the bike around 1:00.  The temperature was in the high 90's with our early summer-like heat, so I tried riding with shorts under my mesh overpants.  Interstate 35 between Dallas and Austin is like a 200-mile long freeway in a big city, so finding another route on the two-lane roads is much more enjoyable, even if it takes more time.  The chosen route down to Austin took me across Lake Whitney, Gatesville (lots of prisons) and west of Fort Hood through some entertaining roads.

Once in Austin, we went out for dinner and brews at a local eatery, Kerbey Lane Cafe.  Good food and interesting wait staff.  We made our way back to Keith's place and attempted to get in the top 10 finishers in Xbox Moto GP.  Thank goodness I don't ride and crash my bike the way I do in the game.

Sunday morning Lily was not too thrilled about an early rise (9:00???), so Keith and I went out for breakfast at Kerbey and came back later for Lily.  We put on the road armor, and did a leisurely ride out through west Austin and to Lake Austin through some twisty roads.  A coyote passed in front of Keith and Lily at one point near the lake.
   

The bike show was fun (and hot), with just as many interesting motorcycycles in the parking area as the show itself. 
   
 

I ran into another long-time friend, Ronny.  He had ridden his Concours out to the show.  His '68 Triumph needs to make it into the show eventually.

The temperature continued to rise, and there would be little escape from it in the afternoon.  But, it is much more tolerable at speed, so it was time to head home.  
  I did not have a planned route home so I just headed north on 183 to avoid the interstate again.  I just made semi-random turns onto roads in the general direction of home for some exploration.  There were several that were very narrow and not too well maintained, but that makes the journey that much more interesting.

It was yet another good trip with around 500 miles clocked.

Photos at: http://picasaweb.google.com/rlswim/RoadrunnersVintageBikeShowAustin

LSBMWR Photo Class at Motopia

May 28, 2008

The Lone Star BMW Riders met a couple of weeks ago and tonight at Motopia Cafe for a couple of photography classes to share knowledge and experiences.

      

Byron taught the class on 5/14 about getting the best possible image in the camera.  I taught most of tonight on managing the image after it leaves the camera.


We had a good crowd both nights and lots of great information was exchanged between the members.  The club appreciates Rene's support in arranging his cafe to be available for these classes.

Photos at: http://picasaweb.google.com/rlswim/LSBMWRPhotoClassAtMotopia