As always a great report.

How about a quick review in that airhawk?

 

Hey, Bob. I recently bought a Canon S110. (I think their latest version is S120.) It's a higher end point and shoot which works great. It also does very good video. However, that Panasonic is a good camera. I agree with "rehisen" that you should be able to set it on shutter priority at a high speed and eliminate any blurs. Of course at a high shutter speed the photos don't come out to well if it's in a dark or heavily shaded area.

 

Like many others here, once again enjoying your great ability to provide the details of your travels. Thanks!

 

Thanks again guys.

I'll work the Airhawk into the last days ride. Spoiler - It was a blessing.

And thanks for the camera tips. I'll dig into it a bit and see if I can make adjustments.

 

Day 5

We know that we only have about 350 miles to ride, but also know that will be a ride that we want to savor. We’ll ride much of the San Luis Valley which will offer great riding and spectacular views of The San Juan and Sangre De Cristo Ranges. Maybe not a technical, “pass – marathon”, but exciting none the less. Later we'll leave the Valley and head up towards the Sawatch and Mosquito Ranges, which contains some of the highest mountains in Colorado. We should make Buena Vista CO for lunch and then we’ll take an after lunch jaunt up to Cottonwood Pass. Finally, we will traverse Independence Pass. Much of the ride is through National Forests as well.

Here’s the route –



We set the alarm for 6 AM and plan to leave at sun up. No Starbucks necessary because the condo has a coffee maker and the nice folks at Hacienda Nicholas have left some of the best coffee beans I have ever had there. We savor the fantastic brew and then load the bike. It’s day break when we take on “the hill”.

Now, I’m going to post up a picture of the hill, and every one of you will think – “What’s the big deal?”. I’ll just say that pictures don’t do any kind of hill justice. I know this from skiing when I have snapped photos of runs called “Elevator Shaft” and “Corbet’s Coulior” and they look like a snow covered farm field. Plus, they graded the road because of all the washouts, so the ride down was less perilous (or not at all perilous really) than days earlier. So much so, that Cheryl mustered up the courage to take this pic –



We try to keep the volume down while putting out of Santa Fe. The night prior we had noticed that the locals (as well as visitors) aren’t big fans of loud bikes. A few guys were cruising the square and they were pretty obnoxious – revving loudly at each stop sign. My exhaust isn’t whisper quiet by any means, but we try to keep it down and not draw attention to ourselves. As such, we chugged out of Santa Fe as quietly as one can on a 107 cubic inch, fire breathing instrument of fury. If not an instrument of fury maybe a tool of mild irritation? Regardless – we left as quietly as we could as the sun peeked over the mountains –



We followed a nice tree lined route through a residential area that eventually led us to our main corridor north – Hwy 285. We’re used to the cool morning starts and Cheryl has become a wizard at controlling our core temps. The wonderful Harley Davidson heated grips have long given up the ghost so I’m relying on my Gerbings G3 gloves, which more than make up for the loss. The cool air flows around us as we head towards Espanola. Bill boards announce the arrival of this natural wonder –



I’ll admit, it does look like a Camel. But, the string of RVs, billboards, and morning commuter traffic in this busy section of New Mexico take away from an “Oooh-Ahhh” moment. If it were in the desert, far from a city, we would have pulled over and spent more time looking at it. But, because it’s surrounded by touristy crap, we all but ignore it. In the end, sad to say, it’s our (by “our” I mean people in general) very presence takes away from it being of interest.

Leaving Camel land – promising things ahead –



It’s funny that the production value of the natural wonders we find noteworthy on these trips is inversely proportional to how far they are from population. In other words, if the camel was in the middle of nowhere, it would be awesome. But because it was surrounded by billboards, it was ho-hum. They might as well been selling Minnetonka moccasins off the front of it. I’ll bet that dichotomy is even more obvious to those who roam the earth on 2 wheels because we are more in the moment vs being in a car surrounded by glass and metal.

Digression over. Heading north and the sun rises higher. We pass through the small towns with great names such as Ojo Caliente and No Agua. No sooner than we enter the town limits we’re back out into the wilderness, just like that. This is the high desert and we love it. Plateaus, tumble weeds, and lots of nothing. It’s an arid paradise that makes for a perfect canvas to paint our adventure.

Crossing the Rio Grande –



The San Juans make for a beautiful backdrop to the many layers of color the high desert offers -



The open road is a beautiful thing as well -



A vanishing point with iridescent skies just for us –



These are the images that stick with us long after the trip is over. Because we were experiencing it on two wheels we also remember the smell of Sage and the cool air on our skin. If I close my eyes I can hear the thrum of the black Harley Davidson beneath us and feel the feint vibration of the surface as it travels up to greet me through the handlebars. This is why traveling on two wheels is better than anything I can imagine and why we continue to do it as often as we can.

To be continued…

 

I am really enjoying the ride posts, as always you bring the reader into the ride. It is especially nice today since I can do nothing after taking a spill on the lake last weekend and severly fractered 4 vertebrae. Although I will admit I am going to use it to give myself more ammunition to purchase a touring bike closer to spring, love the wide glide but do not think it would be practical for such long trips.

Not sure if I said thanks, but your advise to take the Cassiville Ferry on the ride up and down the Mississippi was one of the highlights of the trip.

 

I heard about your injury - that does suck. At least it's in the winter and it sounds like you'll heal up well.

The WG is a great bike and many people have covered great distances on all kinds of bikes. But I agree, for covering a lot of ground, there is no finer machine than a Touring. That's why I bought it.

And I'm glad you enjoyed the Cassville Ferry. Cheryl and I do it usually at least once a year. Lots of great riding all around the "Ole Man".

There's Cheryl behind the bikes. Sometimes there's dozens of them waiting their turn for a ride across.

 

Heads Up - my computer tells me it's hard drive is doomed. I spent a few hours backing everything up and hopefully I can limp it along for a while. But, if I dissappear for a few days, you know why. Wish me luck.

 

Not that it is at your choice, but you really do know how to bait the trap! The only question that I have is, "Who shot J.R.?"

 

Good luck with the "puter", I'm waiting as patiently as I can...........