Forth and back-TOR '16

[wswartzwel]

Originally Posted by scottamann

Wow!
Incredible scenery.
Great pics.
We may be kin somewhere down the line...
Scott Mann

RBMann is just his pen name..

[signit98]

He doesn't even own a pen....

[RBMann]

Originally Posted by scottamann

Wow!
Incredible scenery.
Great pics.
We may be kin somewhere down the line...
Scott Mann

Thanks, as you can probably tell I enjoy taking pictures. RBMann is just my screen name so we are not related.

[RBMann]

Day 13-Riding to the Great Sand Dunes Nat. Park 268 miles

This is not another underwear ad but Ralf packing up to head home-



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcYsO890YJY

This just might be my next bike. I love the way it looks-



South down Hwy 92 along the Gunnison Canyon then Dillon Pinnacles and Blue Mesa Reservoir-



Hwy. 149 through Lake City and Creede. Rain chased me most of the afternoon-





I was finally caught but not by the rain. I was playing with the GPS, looked up, saw the speed limit sign and the car then grabbed the brakes. Thought I did okay until he explained I missed the first sign. 61 in a 45. I think he found it amusing that it was my wife's bike and registered in her name, just a warning-



Almost to the dunes when I met this guy who had huge chicken strips-





The dune are the tallest in the USA at 750' above the valley floor with a daytime surface temperature of 140-150F. Hiking up and into the dunes would be pretty but you have to start early and that wasn't in my schedule-

[RBMann]

Day 14-Into Kansas, Garden City 314 miles

I had stopped early yesterday and found a campsite where I could see the dunes. The view in the morning was great while enjoying breakfast-







Ants on the pile of sugar for scale-



Now we get to the good stuff-



Say what negative things you will about Kansas, it is better than eastern Colorado or SW Nebraska. I enjoy driving through farm country with small towns and old historic buildings-



I decided not to push into the evening and found a camping spot with a shower. Hadn't realized I was in a new time zone so it was the right decision. It was good until the wind changed and I could almost taste the feed lot somewhere nearby. Luckily the wind changed again-

[RBMann]

Originally Posted by signit98

He doesn't even own a pen....

Wait doesn't my packing index say I have one in the tank bag?

[RBMann]

Day 15-To Kansas City, KS 387 miles

High humidity and a heavy cloud cover this morning because it rained yesterday. Good part was it stayed below 80F until mid afternoon. I checked and it had been around 100F the week before so I felt lucky. Drove Hwy 156 and then 56 all the way to Kansas City. Saw a hill in the distance and it was Pawnee Rock which had a sweeping views from the top-







Drove some small farm roads-



A women at Pawnee Rock told me to go see St. Joseph Church in Ellinwood which is made of sandstone. The church and town looked very Norman Rockwell-ish. Five young boys on their bicycles started asking questions.

Boy 1-"Why are you taking pictures of the church?"
Me-"Because it looks cool."
Boy 2-"Where do you live?"
Me-"Seattle."
Boy 3-"How long did it take to get here?"
Me-"Two Weeks."
Group-"Wow!"
Boy 5-"On that."
Me-"Yes."
Boy 2-"Where are you going?"
Me-"Kansas City."
Boy 3-"Why?"
Me-"To visit a friend."
Boy 5-"He must be a really good friend."
Me-"Yes he is, I met him on my first motorcycle trip in 1970."

Now I am sorry I didn't think to take a picture of the group-



Hard to believe I took this photo from the top of a hill-



Saw an old farm house down a dirt road. I always wonder what stories it could tell-





Council Grove had some nice old buildings-



Made it to Kansas City in time for dinner, a shower and a few days rest.

[ckcarr]

Well, personally, I really like the desolate look of nothing in Eastern Colorado. I always thought there was good photographic potential out there for something...

Kansas is super nice too though, and fortunately for them it isn't a tourist magnet...

[RBMann]

I hear you CK, I find touristy areas tiring. I would rather go to a B grade destination without the crowds then see some well know ikon.

[RBMann]

Day 16-This covers my days in Kansas City and the ride report will restart on day 17.

I met my friend Neil in 1970 when my Kawasaki H1 was running poorly outside the Grand Canyon. He rode up on a CB350 wearing day-glow green boots and 3" sunburn blisters. I liked him right away and over the years found we have more in common than I did with my own brother. At this point in life we share a passion for bicycling. We adjusted his spare bike and went for a ride SW of the city-



The first 20 miles were fun but then the 95F and matching humidity got me. No more sprints or attacking hills. It was survival mode-just get back to the car with the minimum distance and effort. It was weird, I didn't bonk but had no power left-



The next day we decide to go to the art museum where there was AC-









Some other fun stuff we did was going for a walk to see how the rich people live, spend an afternoon at one of the city pools and of course burgers for dinner-

[wswartzwel]

Originally Posted by RBMann

I hear you CK, I find touristy areas tiring. I would rather go to a B grade destination without the crowds then see some well know ikon.

Explains why you didn't come to Arkansas... Gravity ain't what it used to be.

[sgoodwin]

This bike wasn't in need of repairs so he bypassed you Bill.

[wswartzwel]

[RBMann]

Originally Posted by wswartzwel

Explains why you didn't come to Arkansas... Gravity ain't what it used to be.

You still have pull Bill but two things happened, well three really. When I left home, in my mind it was a three week trip. Then leaving TOR I realized that was the half way point at two weeks. I had more trouble with the heat than I expected. Third I would have needed a new tire before I got home.

[RBMann]

Day 17-West to Turtle Creek State Park 157 miles

Rain delayed the start as I headed to Bill Mundis' house ten miles away. Talked to Mundis for awhile but every time I was going to leave it started raining again. This happened about four times and I finally hit the road around 4:30-



Oh wait, is that what the water is at the end of the road-



Grassy camping-

[RBMann]

Day 18-NW to Lake Ogallala State Park 402 miles

It got hot near the border-



Interesting interpretation of good-



Big sky day-



While taking a break I noticed this Prius in the parking lot. The owner must have had trouble keeping the Car bra in place and used about six sheet metal screws into the fenders to fix it-



Water front property, for the night-







Lots of stars but I suck using long exposures-

[signit98]

Go ahead, show them the stuff you kept from me...

[RBMann]

Might be a couple days. Now that I have you hooked in I want the suspense to build.

[signit98]

You are tragically overestimating the attention span of older BMW riders....

[PFFOG]

Originally Posted by signit98

You are tragically overestimating the attention span of older BMW riders....