| Author | Message | ||
     Jerry_haughton |
DAY SIX, cont.  another "side" road, this time Colorado Highway 742 northeast of Gunnison. this is the Taylor River, which ultimately joins the Gunnison River to the south. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 03, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY SIX, cont.  looking north, at an elevation of 9500 feet, facing the Sawatch Mountain Range and the Continental Divide. nearly everything visible in this photo is part of the vast expanse of Taylor Park. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 03, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY SIX, cont.  a small detachment from the Central Colorado FSAC. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 03, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY SIX, cont.  one of several small streams that help form the Taylor Park Reservoir. there's a little more to this day, but this is all the pix you get from day six. yet ANOTHER keeper. i can't describe how cool it was to be seeing the country this way with JB2, and even though today's miles were not noteworthy, the experiences WERE, and the photos immediately take me back. good stuff, my friend.  TOTAL MILEAGE FOR THE DAY: 133.0 (Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 03, 2004) | ||
| S2pengy |
Knowing JB2 every photo op has to be done as well as every coffee shop has to be sampled... | ||
| Jb2 |
S2pengy - More water than coffee actually. The arid climate and miles kept us wetting our thirst with the clear stuff. BUT, yes I had a cup of coffee and a dark brown ale going every time we stopped for the night!  FB - Yes, car bumpers they used to be until Mr. Guerrero got a hold of them. | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
S2Todd, one of the MANY cool things about riding around the country with JB2 was the fact that he was as eager to get "the shot" as i was. often it's tough riding with someone when YOU are interested in trying to capture a moment or scene on film (or pixels) and they are NOT. this wasn't the case with Jim, and i'm looking forward to seeing his work from the trip. oh, and i know what you mean about the coffee comment - he DOES like the stuff, doesn't he?  | ||
| Bomber |
JH -- due to curcusdancers beyond my contorl, my relationship with my dad was very different than the one you enjoyed with yours -- while not envious (one of the glass half full, emotions, I think), I am very pleased for you -- but, the real reason for the post is to thank your for reminding me to strive to be that kinda dad to MY kid! thanks brother! | ||
| S2pengy |
I can remember posing with Darkside Danny for JB2 quite a few times on our infamous Blue Ridge ride | ||
| Awprior |
I'm still here, and yes, a bit quiet... I'm back at school for my last semester, and the past few weeks have been incredibly busy. And no, I haven't joined the ranks of the gainfully employed yet, not sure when I want to make that jump. I want to mess with bikes all day, just have to find a way to make that happen. Jerry, Awesome pics. It's a heck of an adventure. Alex Signing off... for now. | ||
| Ebear |
Thanks, Jerry....Im guessing by now you have read my Email to you the day you left........You've left me Speechless and teary eye'd....And I thank you brother. | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
Bomber, thank you. S2pengy: you'll prolly not be surprised then to hear that JB2 and i recreated some of these shots whilst on the BRP. Alex, good to see you're still with us, hope everything is going great. EBear, THANKS! | ||
| Edmanning |
Great photos and story Ferris, I felt privlaged to be a small part of the adventure, and am looking forward to seeing the story unfold. Thanks, Hillbilly and the Banana Boat | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
thanks Ed, it was cool to finally meet you (and ride with you!) after all these years. i'll get back to telling the tale after the smoke from Oktoberfast clears. | ||
| Bartimus |
"today's miles were not noteworthy, the experiences WERE, and the photos immediately take me back." As always, the experience is what it's all about, Jerry. This story is turning into a true adventure to all who gaze upon it. I'm sure many have travelled the same roads and wished they had taken the time to pull over and document it for reviewing at a later time. I recognize many of your stops in Colorado, and am having "flashbacks" myself, of the days past when I rode the rockies. You truly have had a wonderful experience, and I for one appreciate your posting it here for all to enjoy. Thanks, my friend! BBB | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
geez Bart, my apologies for not responding earlier to your post above - been busy with Oktoberfast and the Suckless thread (and trying to remember how to earn a living again...), and have neglected this space for awhile. thanks for your wonderful words above. me 'n D are looking forward to our next visit (and ride) with you Bad Billy Bartimus! DAY SEVEN, THURSDAY 9/9/04: well, we pulled outta Gunnison this morning, and it was frikkin' cold. clear, tho, and we were lookin' forward to moving again. the ride to Montrose - all 65 miles of it - was glorious, thru rugged Colorado landscape, and oh-so-cold, so by the time we began the descent into Montrose we were both rather chilled. when i spied a bike shop out of the corner of my eye as we rolled into town, and noticed an SV1000S (a bike i've been secretly lusting for) parked just outside the front door, well, we had a perfect excuse to stop, warm up, drink some coffee, kick some tires, and be on our way. um, later that day we WERE on our way, except I was on my way on a new scoot:  (Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 24, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY SEVEN, cont. like i said, i've been sniffing around Suzuki's SV1000, looking for another v-twin sport-touring mount, and even test rode an SV-S the day before i left on this trip, but KNEW i couldn't make it the comfortable, long-distance sport-touring mount that i wanted, even with Heli bars and lower foot pegs. ever consider the V-Strom, you might ask? NEVER! my gawd, what an ugly motorcycle!!! (even tho it's basically an SV-S with a different set of clothes...) when the V-Strom was born, they slapped the designer. and his mother. well, about 3/4 the way thru a lap of Davis' showroom - after we'd kicked tires on a surprisingly large and varied collection of moto-toys - i turned around and this yellow and black V-Strom smacked me upside the head, and for reasons that i still cannot fully explain, it had to come home with me. so it did. this shot was JB2's idea, something about the VFR needing to transfer its karma to the new machine. don't know about that, but it's a cool photo nonetheless.  (Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 25, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY SEVEN, cont.  that's Davis' Troy Rhoten on the left. when i first asked him to run numbers on my bike plus cash against the V-Strom, he thought i was kidding. he gave me a screamin' deal on the Viffer - more than it was worth on the street (62+K on the clock and all), and stepped all over the price of the Strom as well. i called him recently, and turns out he ended up buying my VFR from the dealership for his own bad self. might explain why he made me an offer i couldn't refuse. note the SV1000S to the left in the photo. it's its fault. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 24, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY SEVEN, cont. never did ask why, but every machine on Davis' floor has some manner of stuffed critter perched upon it. Fozzie Bear himself was hanging out on the V-Strom, looking all color-coordinated and all, and i made sure that when the papers were signed he was included in the deal:  btw, some of you know that California is real tight-assed when it comes to buying a new 49-state bike out of the state and bringing it back in, stating, in essence, that one cannot do so until said 49-state bike shows at least 7501 miles on the clock. people cheat this law all the time of course, but in two long distance calls to the California DMV they made it clear that to do so and get caught would not be pretty (read: expensive) including "blackballing" the bike from the state for two years. during the pondering process that took place before i pulled the trigger on the V-Strom i gave JB2 my road atlas and asked him to rough out the mileage i had yet to accumulate on this trip. he came back a few minutes later with an estimate that i'd hit the Cali border at Death Valley with about 5500 miles, based on my projected route. in other words, in order to do this thing all legal and all somewhere along the line I was gonna have to ride an additional 2000 miles, give or take, before my reunion with Denise in several weeks’ time at Furnace Creek Ranch. you mean, i have to ride an extra two thousand miles on this trip? like, i HAVE to??? sucks to be me. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 24, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY SEVEN, CONT. the plan this day had been to ride Hwy 550 (the Million Dollar Highway) down to Durango and beyond. rescuing an abandoned motorcycle along the way (sorry, STILL think the V-Strom is butt ugly) blew a considerable hole in our riding time, and we only managed to make it to Ouray before the light was fading (and the sky was starting to open up). found the coolest little set of rooms and cabins on the outskirts of town, and asked where we could get a good steak. "The Outlaw!" came the cheerful reply. we checked in, unloaded the scoots, rode into Ouray proper and found the place. well, if the ambience at this genuine old west saloon hadda been any cooler, Mr. John Wayne woulda pushed thru the swinging doors and announced that drinks were on the house. JB2 couldn't enthuse enthusiastically enough about his steak ( "This is the BEST steak I've EVER had!!!" ), and the beer - in this case, Fat Tire Ale - was admirably addictive, and pretty soon we were glowing. well, good ol' Dave, the local honky-tonk piano dude, showed up about this time and started hammerin' on the keys like a man possessed (there's a bit of a back story here i'll tell you about some time...) and pretty soon me ‘n JB2 were laughin’ and grinnin’ like two old west cowboys on payday Saturday night in Deadwood, throwin’ tips at anyone who'd catch them and buyin’ Fat Tire like we were thirsty or sumthin’. you REALLY shoulda been there. when we’d had about enough we moseyed back to the scoots, which we had conveniently parked in front of a liquor store, and decided we needed a poke of Fat Tire to go. suitably armed, we stagg...oops, swaggered back to our room. long story less long, whilst we’re peeling ourselves off the bikes a maiden by the name of Christina appears out of the dark of the night, notices our supply of Fat Tire, and a close encounter of the warm, beery kind began.  (Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 25, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY SEVEN, cont.  Christina, as it turns out, works at the place (help me out JB2, the Riverside?), and among other things rides bicycles competitively, and had recently ridden in a gig sponsored by (drum roll, please)... ...Fat Tire Ale. a beautiful spirit, Christina, single mother of a clutch of kids, creator of a foundation to help single moms cope with the stress of being single moms, singer, songwriter, bike racer, who knows what else, and as innocent and as at peace as you're ever likely to find. as the Fat Tire flowed amongst us, Christina produced her guitar and proceeded - while sitting on the sidewalk in front of our room - to bring joy to two crusty old road-dog hearts with lyrics and music of her own creation. you REALLY shoulda been there. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 25, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY SEVEN, cont.  Christina had a new pup - rescued from the pound, of course - named Abbey, and me 'n Abbey hit it off immediately. this pic was either shot at a very slow shutter speed in the Colorado night ambient light, or was shot by a riding partner who had had a few beers. your choice. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 25, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY SEVEN, cont.  Christina and Abbey. yes, I shot this pic. yes, i'd had a few. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 24, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY SEVEN, cont.  i've had two VERY cool dogs over the years, Miko and Dakotah. Abbey was cool, too, and about stole my heart. JB2, how does it get any better than this? (Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 24, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY SEVEN, cont.  i'm not gonna explain this pic, i just think it's kinda cool. what an awesome day. if you look at a Colorado map, and really scrutinize the distance from Gunnison to Ouray, you'll easily see that me 'n JB2 covered virtually no ground at all. yet, we had each traveled thru the cosmos and back - and there and back again - and wondered anew what we each had done to deserve such good fortune, such good karma, such good peace. such good beer. i don't know the answer; all i have are questions and the desire to find the truth. on a motorcycle. TOTAL MILEAGE FOR THE DAY: 103 (Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 24, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY EIGHT, FRIDAY 9/10/2004:  this is what we woke up to in the morning. not a big deal, nor was it JB's first moisture on the trip, but it was mine. note the Geeza cover (made for the VFR, but with some determinated alcoholized fervor managed to fit the V-S just fine). this was the LAST time during this trip that i gave a flying rip about trying to keep the V-Strom clean and pristine. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 24, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY EIGHT, cont: Hwy 550 - the Million Dollar Highway - south of Ouray was a slow, deliberate, painstaking at times, wet, dirty, socked-in mess, and we saw precious little of the altitudinous views that were supposed to make grown men faint and mature women blush. and since everything of any value was wrapped up tight in at least two layers of industrial-strength Hefty bag, there are not many photos from this leg to show.  at least the rain gear worked. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 24, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY EIGHT, cont.  hmmm, the V-S still looks pretty clean. note to self: an adventure-touring motorcycle shouldn't be clean. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 24, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY EIGHT, cont.  Fozzie is pretty pleased that he finally has someone his own size to play with, but JB2's wart hogs are obviously less enthused... "Hey, do you mind not TOUCHING me?!?!? And what's with the stupid polka dot bow-tie and yellow beanie, freak boy? Geez, grow some tusks already." (Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 24, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY EIGHT, cont. like i said, not many pix from this leg to show. the descent into Durango on 550 was nice - drier and warmer by the mile - but my notes (and memory) recall that Durango SUCKED! traffic SUCKS!! diesels SUCK!!! i'm told that there ARE cool places in Durango to visit. we, apparently, missed them all. hence, so far, Crested Butte + Durango = sucks squared. this pic, most assuredly, was taken AFTER Durango.  (Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 24, 2004) |
