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Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Sunday, October 09, 2005 - 04:38 pm: | 
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Spidey, this is on a mirror at the McDonalds in Gunnison. my poor little camera couldn't decide what to focus on, your sticker or the reflection of Madduck's Uly out in the parking lot, so it didn't focus on ANYTHING! 
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 09, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Sunday, October 09, 2005 - 04:40 pm: |
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Mesa Campground, Gunnison, Colorado.
for those of you intimate with my "Out of Words" cross-country ride last September, this photo will make sense.
for those of you who are puzzled, and who have a few minutes to spare, look here.
i'm here, Dad. i love you, Dad.
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 09, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Monday, October 10, 2005 - 07:51 am: |
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well, the sun set while we were stopped in Gunnison, and Grand Junction still seemed like a long ways away.
JB2 and i spent a couple days in Gunnison on our ride last September so i know my way around, and know where a GREAT little Mom 'n Pop motel is.
right about now, sleep sounds really, really good.
FBRAT is, in part, about hitting marks, however, and there are people up the line waiting.
i HATE riding at night, especially thru Deer Country (which most of Colorado most certainly is), but after a quick McMeal and a couple of photo op stops we were off again, wishing hopelessly that the fading daylight would stop fading so frikkin' fast.
by the time we hit Blue Mesa Reservoir it was Real. Uncomfortable. Dark.
along with the darkness came the cold.
and the deer. |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Monday, October 10, 2005 - 08:12 am: |
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the stretch from Gunnison to Montrose, a sport biker's delight during the day, was a grim grind.
i wanted to make time, but knew this was foolish given the conditions. damn, the Uly could certainly use some better lighting.
and the darned deer could certainly use some better sense when it comes to where to forage after dark.
one of the herds i saw was split into separate gangs, several on one side of the road, several on the other. nervousness ensued as we passed, wondering if any of them would change their mind at the last second and decide the grass was greener on the other side.
the next group we encountered was actually walking down the highway, a mom and at least several pups. i didn't see them until we were right on top of them, but near as i could tell none of them moved as we slipped by.
whew.
shortly after that, on a straight stretch where i gambled with our lives and dialed in a little speed, the headlight picked up the apparition of a huge buck, bounding across the road dead ahead on a trajectory that would have meant T-bone of the venison kind.
I HATE RIDING AT NIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i backed off the throttle again. screw it, we'll get there when we get there.
IF we get there.
we rolled down the hill into Montrose highly stressed and covered in a layer of greasy, grimy bugs. we didn't talk much, saving our energy for the task ahead, the last push into Grand Junction.
i made two cell phone calls, one to Alex Prior and one to Jim Corso, so they could get the news out on BADWEB in realtime that we were still alive, and still moving.
and back into the darkness we plunged. |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Monday, October 10, 2005 - 08:54 am: |
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i don't remember much about the Montrose to Grand Junction leg. my focus was lasered to a small spot on the road ahead, alert as tho electrified for dumbassed deer, rubber alligators, chunks of firewood, pieces of plastic lawn chairs, patches of diesel fuel, or any of the other wayward WMD that routinely ends up in a highway that could Search and Destroy a motorcycle.
i took a "shortcut" near Grand Junction, figuring i was smarter than the map, that aimed us on a more direct route to Interstate 70.
yeah, smooth move Ex-Lax.
we ended up on business I-70, and I couldn't find the REAL I-70 to save my stupid life.
we went around and around in circles. the traffic was thick, and every last car, truck and smoke-belching bus was the enemy.
i'm SO tired.
i'm SO tired of being tired.
in the immortal words of Glenn "Unibear" Dolph, after a SERIOUSLY epic weekend of riding/partying/riding/partying/riding earlier this year at SpringFast, "This...is...getting..........hard."
we ended up down a dark dead-end side street, in an angry daze, pretty much fusterclucked, pretty much almost, but not quite, lost.
THINK Ferris!
screw you, you little bastard, i don't wanna think, i wanna go to sleep.
once in a while i get lucky. maybe it's instinct, or maybe it's pity from above, but i pointed the Uly back towards the malevolent motorized maelstrom we'd just left and turned the controls over to a higher power.
yeah, yeah, i'm being a drama queen, but about two minutes later we pulled up in front of our motel, where a concerned DBird and Lori were outside waiting.
it was SO good to see friendly faces. |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Monday, October 10, 2005 - 08:57 am: |
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Posted on Wednesday, September 07, 2005 - 10:37 pm:
Just got off the phone with Ferris, he's in Montrose, CO and doing fine. They've another 60 miles or so to cover tonight and were stopped for gas and to scrape the bugs off of the face shields...I'm sure we'll hear something from him soon. (refresh, refresh, refresh...)
Ride, Ferris, Ride.
-- Prior |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Monday, October 10, 2005 - 08:58 am: |
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Posted on Wednesday, September 07, 2005 - 11:09 pm:
I also just heard from Jerry...Said it was slow going because of all the deer and bugs (as Alex mentioned above). He said that he will try to make some posts tonight once they get to the hotel.
--Pdxs3t (Corso) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Monday, October 10, 2005 - 09:00 am: |
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Posted on Thursday, September 08, 2005 - 12:08 am:
Waiting out in front of the hotel.
Still no f&d
10:07PM mdt
Man, they must be beat!
--Dbird |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Monday, October 10, 2005 - 09:01 am: |
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Posted on Thursday, September 08, 2005 - 12:42 am:
They just got here safe and sound.
--Dbird |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Monday, October 10, 2005 - 09:02 am: |
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Posted on Thursday, September 08, 2005 - 12:44 am:
Just got off the phone with ferris, he's at the hotel, and looking for beer!
--Bartimus |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Monday, October 10, 2005 - 09:34 am: |
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well Bart, it wasn't so much that we were LOOKING for beer as it was that Dave and Lori physically DRAGGED us down the street to the Rockslide Brew Pub and FORCED us to drink beer!
some new friends, eh? 
we checked in, unloaded our gear and got the bike stashed, and shuffled down the street with DBird and LBird for a brew or two. i don't remember what we drank, but it was local, and chewy, and good, and a platterful of steaming appetizers chased it all quite nicely.
on most any other occasion we'd have made an evening of it, but me 'n D had already experienced SEVERAL evenings this evening, and it wasn't long before we amoebae'd back to the Hampton and hit the hay with a vengeance.
sleep came several nanoseconds later.
it had been another epic day on the road, from the peace and tranquility and hospitality of Guffey (thanks again Sandy and TBear!), to the thin air of Pikes Peak, to the danger and high risk of Phantom Canyon Road, to a few fabuellous minutes in Florence in the company of Bad Billy Bartimus (Ho!), to the sweeping beauty of Colorado as seen thru the eyes of Highway 50, to...
...well, you get the idea i trust.
and tomorrow? lather, rinse, repeat.
g'night and sweet dreams.
mileage today: 1869.0 start, 2289.0 end, 420.0 total |
Dbird29
| | Posted on Monday, October 10, 2005 - 11:13 pm: |
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If that was FORCING you I wish I had been selling you something! Easy money from the push over.
And yes, we were worried about you two. |
Blake
| | Posted on Thursday, October 13, 2005 - 02:51 am: |
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Wait a minute. Am I actually starting to feel sorry for you? Not likely. Way to persevere amigo. |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Thursday, October 13, 2005 - 07:30 pm: |
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