The bike was prepped, packed and ready to go by Sunday afternoon. The weather
had been in a cold, wet pattern which can be problematic crossing the North
Cascades on a motorcycle. I prefer to avoid the Interstates and Seattle traffic
so, when I spotted a little hole in the weather satellite photos I decided to
sneak over the North Cascades while I had the chance. The forks and shock have
been worked over by Lindemann Engineering and I'm hopeful I can fine tune them
along the way and get the sweet feeling I'm accustomed to back.
Cache Creek Rd. on the Colville Indian Reservation in Northern Washington.
Perfect weather, perfect pavement. The air smelled wonderful here and it's always
good to stop and allow the senses to absorb a new place.
A cool fog blanketed the higher elevations as I checked out the ski area north
of Spokane, WA. Ironically, it's located much closer to 48 degrees North than 49.
Jeff and I met up in Spokane and the following morning headed east towards
Missoula. This is Hwy. 278 in Montana. I entered this photo in Avon Tire's
promotional photo contest and ended up winning a free rear tire. That was fortunate
as the tire in the photo was spanking new when I left home but was completely
spent when I returned 4,787 miles later. I spent the last couple of days
with 44 psi in the rear and riding very conservatively just to insure I made it
home without cords showing.
Jeff noticed that his throttle action was feeling sticky near idle and we
decided there is no better time than the present to keep the thoroughbred in
top form. Wherever you go, there you are and it's all good fun when you're
not going anywhere in particular.
Looking east towards Ennis, MT on State Hwy 287 after a stop to check out the
historic town of Virginia City, MT where we stopped at a friendly cafe for a
bite to eat.
I can't imagine a better type of motorcycle to enjoy this sort of ride. Comfortable,
fast and with handling no heavier bike could aspire to.
This is 4-mile long Quake Lake that didn't exist before August 17th, 1959. It was
formed soon after an earthquake measuring 7.3-7.5 on the Richter scale caused a
massive landslide (estimated at 80 million tons) that dammed the Madison River in Montana.
28 people who were camping by the river that day died from the violent slide. The
Army Corp of Engineers responded quickly and engineered a solution at the
natural dam to prevent further erosion. This
photo was taken standing on top of the slide debris.
The effects of the forest fires
are evident in this photo taken just east of Yellowstone Lake, WY on Hwy. 16.
Traffic was fairly light and the weather pleasant until we encountered major
road reconstruction as we neared the summit of Sylvan Pass. The temperature
dropped as the clouds opened up and turned the torn up roadbed into a mud pit.
As I was cruising slowing in the parade of traffic just over the summit a very
old and wise looking mountain goat crested the steep
road shoulder not more than a few feet from me. He looked bewildered as he
stopped, looked me in the eye, and wondered how he was
going to cross the road with that pesky parade of motor vehicles in his way.
Wash me please. After a beautiful and scenic ride through Western Montana, we
stopped in Cody, WY for the evening. Jeff's bike required a
bump start every time it was shut off and we decided to head for the Ducati
Dealership in Fort Collins, CO who told us they had a new battery in stock. I
think I was looking forward to this more than Jeff. On a cold morning with
thick oil it could take more than one or two attempts to get it started and I
was getting much more exercise while fully suited than I planned on this trip.
The morning exercise ritual had the benefit of warming myself up before
hitting the brisk morning air. In Fort Collins we learned the new
battery did not solve the problem, which was traced down to spent bushes in
the starter motor.
Jeff decided to rent a big, sexy(?) Harley Davidson from the Fort Collins Harley
Dealership while we waited for a replacement starter
motor to be flown in so we could ride some of the scenic mountain passes in
the area. The fact that there were no rental motorcycles of a sporting nature
did not seem to phase him, he spent most of the next few days making Harley
"vroom-vrooom" sounds with a silly grin on his face. It was hard to communicate
with him verbally while he was in this state of intoxication.
You can see how happy he was in this photo.
We rode a number of fine passes west of Boulder and Fort Collins.
On this day we encountered a brief but ferocious summer hailstorm that turned
the road white in short order. Fortunately it stopped before the road became
unrideable.
Apparently this dealership had at least one unhappy customer as there were at
least seven bullet holes in the service counter.
It was fortunate there were no employees working late the night this customer
decided to vent.
The starter motor swap had Jeff back in the saddle of his Ducati and we took Boulder
Canyon out of Denver and rode Hwy 119, Hwy 70, Cr-65, Hwy 74, Hwy 73, Cr-78
and US 285 which provided some amazing riding through beautiful country.
Still, I think Jeff was missing the novelty of the big, chromed Harley.
Hwy 9 a few miles South of Breckenridge.
There's COLD in them thar mountains!
Madness 2007 - Part 2
Index of Madness 2007
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