Hard to believe the trip has come to an end. Every day was filled with new adventures and jaw dropping sights. While we hit Sturgis at the end of the event, it's easy to imagine things in full swing.....as Mike described it..."Spring Break for 40+ Year Olds". The riding around Rapid City/Sturgis was beautiful and challenging...Iron Mountain and the Needles...great fun. We didn't so much leave South Dakota as "get blown out of the state". The winds were some of the strongest we had come across. I noticed the last day heading home from Bloomington, IL seemed mild with regard to wind turbulence in comparison to what we had encountered and in the end those tough experiences were a real confidence booster for a novice rider like me.
I've had a tremendous time on this trip and have memories to last a lifetime. Mike and Curt did an outstanding job planning for this, especially in light of the fact that planning sessions always were done over beers or bottles of wine. A good balance of structure and "what the hell".
Thanks to Mike and Curt as well for helping me prepare my bike for the trip and for Mike in helping me build some skills pre-departure...I couldn't have done it without these guys....and thanks to Alison for letting me set off once again...I think she may enjoy the breaks : )
A few words on each of my riding partners:
Mike --- great teacher, bike mentor and friend.....lot's of laughs....tries to come off as a hard ass at times but has a big heart that shows through all the time....even on a bike he talks to other drivers via numerous gestures...fun to watch...looking forward to our return to Fries and our story enhancement!
Curt ---- rode over 6K miles even though we knew his clutch arm/hand was hurting...showed great courage for this and agreeing to room with me....great job in Napa making sure we received the first class treatment....I've know Curt for a long time and have always appreciated his guidance, friendship and choice of wines....the latter may help enhance the former two : )
Bob --- I didn't really know Bob or Jim before the trip, but was fortunate to spend three weeks with these two....Bob is Mr. Fix It...I'm convinced there's probably nothing he couldn't repair on the road...comforting to have him with us. In addition, Bob offered two simple pieces of advice for me. One was "trust the bike"....I repeated this mantra many times until I actually believed it, and it really helped me in sweeping turns during all kinds of weather conditions. The second "Yoda" like piece of advice was "look through the rain". This one not so much help as we fought with wind, rain, hail, and fogging glasses and visors....it took all I could do to find Mike's tail light and stay on it.
Jim --- "Mr. Mayor" ....never met anyone he didn't know...at least within five minutes....Jim also got answers to questions he or anyone else had...so we never left an area wondering...thanks for closing the knowledge gap. In addition, Jim was always calm, cool and collected....helped me believe that we might not actually meet our demise regardless of the conditions...
Great riding with you all....looking forward to other adventures!
Who the hell cares what you think of us? Zip it, rookie! :)
ReplyDeleteSeriously, I've enjoyed your posts more than anybody's.
So, what does RWV stand for? Rookie with a Vespa?