The Australian Invasion

Post CCC Trip

2009-09-15T19:19:00.000-07:00

Dano says:
I would like to say...thanks to everyone that participated in the CCC Trip in any way. I had lots of help directly and indirectly. There are a lot of great people out there that just want to help, my hat goes off to you.

The day after we returned back to my place, we ran to Chaparral Motorsports and to get Chewie a pair of American cowboy boots. With the clothes washed and everything all packed, me and the fellas loaded up in Marks truck and met some of the SoCal guys at a restaurant. We had a few hours to kill before the Aussies took off so we decided to have dinner and drinks. After we finished dinner, we dropped the fellas off at LAX and checked them in. As I was leaving the terminal, I was standing on a balcony overlooking them as they went through security. Guess what I yelled...AUSSIE, AUSSIE, AUSSIE, OUI, OUI, OUI. Ah the look on Buckets face was worth it.

I had the time of my life and I wouldn't have changed a thing. I hope you enjoy the blog as much as I had living it. Life is short, get out, make memories and see the planet. Take care 'till next time y'all.

Day Nineteen of the CCC trip

2009-09-14T15:45:00.000-07:00

Dano says:
Knock Knock Knock, was the way I woke up in Prescott, Az. Bucket did his morning rituals and woke us up. Since we enjoyed the food last night at JB's so much we went for breakfast because it was so readily accessible. I tore up the breakfast bar and got my share of biscuits and gravy, and lets not forget the bacon.....who can forget the bacon. With a nice sunny morning overhead we scrambled out of town. The remainder of the 89 is nice and goes on for days, but so does the long arm of the law. They were scattered through the road and made it impossible to have any fun(at least without tickets). We stopped once or twice for water and gas before we hit the I-10. There wasn't a lot to see except for the wide open hot vast desert. There was one location where Chewie wanted to ride the RC51. It was on a open stretch highway that Chewie felt the 51 come to life and really opened her up. Go Chewie Go!!! After a few miles of that his back had enough and me and Bucket traded so that we all ended up on different bikes. I rode the Hawk, Bucket on the 51 and Chewie on the Sprint. We passed the entrance to Joshua Tree State Park because all of us just wanted the ride/day to be over with. It always seems like that, when you are close to home, that's the only place you want to be. We had a gas stop in Palm Springs to notify Buckets relative that we wouldn't be stopping as we were pressed for time. Just outside Morongo near the wind turbine farms we ran into some serious wind. It was blowing head on into us and it was some of the strongest wind I have experienced on a bike. WOW! it was bad, a great way to end our trip. NOT
After we got back to my place we shook hands and thanked God for the wonderful trip and that it went off without any real problems. We unloaded the bikes and went upstairs to clean up and relax. Time to get our drink on.

miles traveled for the day=440

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Day Eighteen of the CCC trip

2009-09-13T13:47:00.000-07:00

Dano says:
I must say the hotel was nice and offered a free sit down breakfast in their restaurant. We got our moneys worth, loaded up and got the hell out of Dodge, I mean Tuba City. As we were gassing up to leave we spied this sign across the street and I thought that Bucket was going to pass out from excitement.

A few miles out of town I spied a dinosaur foot print park, I made a detour into the park. I mean, how often do you get to see actual dinosaur foot prints?

As we parked the bikes near a few make shift stands we were approached by a little Native American woman. She was all smiles and energetic to show us the park filled with foot prints. We had a good half hour hour showing us the area when she dropped the bombshell on us.....that she gets 20 dollars per tour. WHAT? Damn little hustler...We argued for a few minutes but couldn't resist her till then humor and charm. It still burned me that she took us for some money, I guess we were suckers for a cute smile. Off to the Grand Canyon we go.

At the entrance of the Grand Canyon we were behind a car, this car was being driven by a man with his family in the car. This family was very religious, or so they made themselves out to be, because they had all types of window/bumper stickers to prove so. At the guard shack we noticed the man in the car shouting to the Park ranger that she was going to hell and other stuff. She was in tears and saying to please have a good day and move on, but the family wasn't having none of that and continued to dog her. After a few moments they moved on, wow I guess these freaks believe in WWJD. Way to hold their tongues. We paid and drove through as she apologized, we told her it wasn't her it wasn't necessary and entered the park. For those that haven't been to the Grand Canyon it is a must see, must do place. It is hard to describe, it has to be seen to appreciate. I'll let the pics tell the story.

We started at the east side and worked our way west, from there we went south towards Flagstaff. We pulled over once to get some cold/wet weather gear on because it wasnt looking good ahead and the temps were dropping as we gained elevation. At a gas stop in Flagstaff we decided that we didn't want to have a repeat of last night and bought our bourbon right then and there. With that taken care of we set off onto Hwy 89 towards Sedona, Arizona. I will admit that it is a sweet road, but we got caught behind a slow moving traffic train of cars, BUMMER. I recall passing the spot that DirtMcGirt took his underwear swimming slip slide excursion. I also have never seen or smelled many dead skunks along the side of the road as we did on the 89. After we passed most of the traffic in town we decided to continue onto Prescott. Onward Ho.
Lets just start the next part by prefacing that I know from a LOT of reading and friends that Arizona is strict on speeders and likes to write up tickets. So with that in mind, we headed up the hill to Jerome. I was in the lead and we kept a legal speed going up the hill enjoyed the sights. As we got close to the bottom of town we came upon a slow moving car, a white Camry or something of that make. It was driven by a white older woman and there was some type of "Justice, Liberal, political b.s." on the bumper. I can still see her looking in the side view mirror with a scowl at us. Before we got into town the posted speed limit was 35MPH, she made the point to slam on the brakes and slowed to 25MPH. Now for those that haven't been through Jerome, let me tell you it is steep and full of switchbacks. It takes forward motion to keep bikes upright and this hag was doing everything in her power to piss me off. At stop signs we had to stop and then take off from severe inclines, after a few turns she went the opposite way we did. With the psycho driver out of the way, we sat waiting at a construction one way section before we could exit town. Not once did we break a law, we just took it slow and tried to enjoy the town and its sights. When we got out of town a few miles we were fortunate to be in no traffic and twisty roads again. It felt good to finally be moving again and even a compact truck turned off the road to allow us the lead. A good FIVE miles out of town I looked back in the mirror to check up on my mates and was rewarded with seeing some fast approaching flashing blue lights. Huh? I wonder who he is after I thought? I slowed down to let him pass to go catch whoever he was after, to my surprise he pulled in behind us. WTF? We pulled into a large pull out and got off the bikes. Cop dude looked pissed until we all pulled off our helmets and exposed ourselves as old white dudes. I had to ask, "Whats the problem?". He said, "You were speeding and tailgating a car". I said, "What CAR?", as there wasn't one in sight for miles. He replied, "You were speeding in town and tailgating a car and another officer saw you". I asked, "Who is the accuser, we have the right to know my accuser". He says, " I cant tell you, its for their safety/protection". He asked us for our Id's and registrations, with all of that in hand he went back to the car and in his words, "I'm gunna check to see if these bikes are stolen or ok". He also informed us that we were going to get speeding tickets because some other cop saw us earlier, I was stewing thinking about it sitting there. After the wait he came back and handed our papers back and sent us on our way WITHOUT tickets. NICE, thanks to my OZ mates I got out of another ticket because of them. "Slow down and don't speed", he barks and tears off in his car. Now riddle me this, can a CITY cop of Jerome issue tickets 5-6 miles outside the city limit? And give a ticket when he or she didn't witness the event? That stop still pisses me off, I know it was the stupid biotch that was going 25MPH in her Camry up through town. She had to be the one to call us in and complain about the 3 black leather clad whipper snapper sport bike riders terrorizing the town. By the look she gave us in the rear-view/side-view mirrors it was obvious it was her and she had some type of political tie in the city. So heed my warning, piss on Jerome ,Arizona. Don't stop or spend and time or money there, tread lightly and go elsewhere....bunch of jerks. Rant off.

Ok, with the cop stop behind us, we were SO fortunate to have a flatbed tow truck pass us just as we were about to exit onto the road. DAMN IT. With no passing zones available I didn't risk getting a ticket after our last run in. The douche driver of the tow truck never pulled over to let us and the line of cars behind him pass. I so seriously just wanted to get the hell off the 89 for the night. We arrived in Prescott just after dark and got two rooms at Motel 6. Bikes unpacked and us cleaned up we went to grub out at JB's. We all had a few brews and enjoyed a nice dinner then walked across the parking lot to the rooms. A few bourbons were enjoyed because we were on our last night on the CCC trip. I racked out early because I knew tomorrow was going to be hot and a long ride home.

miles traveled for the day=260

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Day Seventeen of the CCC trip

2009-09-12T20:27:00.000-07:00

Dano says:
With a huge day looming over us that consisted of Monument Valley, Gooseneck Park and Mexican Hat rock I got up extra early. I wanted to get some pictures of the the famous Mexican Hat rock in the rising sunlight.

I also wanted to get pics in of the surrounding area because of the stunning rock colors. It was about 15 to 20 minutes before sun rise and Chewie was still outta it when he got on the bike, how did I know? Well when we left the parking lot he proceeded to ride in the left lane....his sleeping brain was still in Australia and the wrong side of the road...haha. Well we were treated to some stunning views and got great pics of the area.

After a gas station breakfast we zipped outta town headed to Goosenecks State Park. What an up close and personal look at what a river can do.

Once we had our fill of that, we blasted, (well Bucket and Chewie did) up the Mugi highway. Reading the reports on this road are a little misleading, it is a fine road for all bikes, it was easily navigated and provides for some spectacular views.

With those two places done we went back to the hotel and loaded up and headed into Monument Valley. I expected to see cowboys and Indians or Wile Coyote and the Road Runner at any moment, but didn't. What I did see is the famous stretch of road that is in Forrest Gump. Its the spot where he stops his running, turns around and goes home. I did get to see the landscape that I have seen for decades in movies, it was nice to see it in person.

We stopped at one spot to take pictures and started talking to a German couple. Two out of the three bikes were Honda V-twins and the German dude starts smack talking about Triumph triples and that V-twins are the best, Ducati, BMW twins this and that blah blah blah. The dude was talking all type of smack and didn't even know what a RC51 or VTR 1000 was. I wanted to slap him. After that and a few other photo detours we set sail towards Tuba City. When we pulled into Kayenta, Arizona we decided to chow some Subway. While doing so it was determined that all of our clothes were just a little funky, sooooo we did laundry and tried to get a haircut, no dice on the haircut as the waiting line was four hours. With our clothes all fresh we bounced out of town with visions of beers at nightfall. We rolled into town and found some rooms. Chewie and me went out after we unpacked to try to round up some beers to enjoy in the room. As we went down Main St. on our search for beers we came to a deserted intersection. Imagine this, tumbleweeds being blown across the street, dust in the air, and cattle walking along the street and sidewalks eating grass. It was a sight to see, made me feel like i was in the wild west, haha. Guess what....we found out that we were holed up in the smack dab middle of a Reservation. And guess what they DONT allow on the Reservation? That's right, fire water, AKA, beers, alcohol. DAMN. So we faced the fact that we weren't going to be imbibing tonight so off to have a culinary experience. I took the fellas to an American Classic, Taco Bell. With their taste buds exploding, I made them try an carmel-apple empanada, they thanked me afterwards. Off to the hotel we walked, the day was done.

miles traveled for the day=160

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Day Sixteen of the CCC trip

2009-09-11T15:31:00.000-07:00

Dano says:
Bucket likes to get up early, it was good to have someone to roust our asses outta bed in the morning. We geared up and loaded the bikes. As we were doing so we noticed a chap working on a GPS power hook up on a Beemer. I did a few checks and told him that the connection was bad at the fuse holder. He walked across the street to a Radio Shack and picked up some parts and had the problem fixed. We ate some breakfast in the lobby and then rolled out through town bright and early after the chains were lubed. Out the 64 we headed. We stopped for gas and proceeded to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. And this is where the fun begins.

Just outside Taos, New Mexico is the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. I had been through this area before and I knew that there was parking/viewing spaces on both sides of the bridge. As we crested the hill and saw the bridge, I spotted two cop cars on the near side of the bridge and they were sternly talking to one or two dudes on the bridge. With that kind of commotion going on there, I decided to go to the other side where the parking lot was vacant to park and do our sightseeing from there. As we parked, one of the two cops drove past us and went up the highway. We three got off the bikes, grabbed our cameras and walked down some well worn paths to get some pics of the bridge. After the pics we walked out onto the bridge to get some pics there too.
It was a nice morning and we weren't in a huge rush, we took our time enjoying the scenery. As we started back to the bikes, I noticed one of the cops parked next to our bikes. When we approached he got out and motioned us over with his finger and said, "Come over here" . We walked over and he says, "Where are you guys from?", Bucket and Chewie answer, "Australia", I say, "California". The next sentence out of his mouth was, "Do we all speak English here?". "Yes" we all politely answered. The officer barks, "Ok, I just want to make sure we all understand one another and are on the same page." He asked what we were doing, we replied, "Taking some pictures". He says, "Do you see that Posted sign? You went into a private property and I have to give you a ticket".
I said, "We just walked out to take some pics on the other side of that fallen down barbwire fence and didn't go into the restricted behind the chain link fence". He replied "Its all Posted, all of this area next to the Gorge", ok there would be no winning this battle. He says, "I need your License's". I handed over mine and Bucket and Chewie handed over their out of country Australian ID's to the rude cop. He walked back to the squad car and sat there writing tickets for twenty minutes at least. Or so we thought. After the long wait sitting there beside the bikes, he got out of the car and strolled up to us and says, "Watch where you are going", and hands us back our ID's with no tickets or warnings. HA HA HA.....I guess that he called his commander and asked how to write up a ticket on two Australians and his boss would have laughed and asked if they would ever see the money from those tickets and that he would be wasting time and ink to write those tickets. Because I was traveling with my two Oz bruddas, I got off scott free too. Wooooo HOOOOO!!!

So we turned out of the parking lot and headed west down the 64, where we stopped to check out a few weird houses that I wanted to investigate after seeing them in 2007.

These houses were part of a small community that shares knowledge and help to other like minded people that then build in my words, "recycled" houses. The homes are built to utilize the sun and the surrounding terrain to help heat and cool the homes. They used old tires, bottles and such to form the walls. It was neat to see up close and to watch the various stages of construction going on at one house. Back on the road we set out to make some sweet miles down Hwy 64 going west. The roads were covered in taranchulas as I bet I saw 20 of them in a 10 mile stretch. After a few miles we came to a stop that I knew had a good over look.
Since we were gaining elevation too I took the opportunity have the fellas install extra layers to keep warm. Bucket was getting cold so he decided to change into his Frank Thomas weather proof pants from the blue jeans that he was wearing. I can tell that Bucket likes to get naked because the next thing that I see is a white ass glowing in the sun, with a black set of grundies on. Next thing you know a group of Harley guys pulls up and Bucket is spread eagle flashing me and Chewie (as we are crying laughing trying to take a picture of him) and the Harley dudes are like WTF? After everyone busted out laughing, we all said hello and small talk began. Someone asked where we/they were headed and we replied, "Mexican Hat, Utah". They said us too. I told them about the restaurant and the atmosphere there and that maybe we would see them there for a beer. We tore ass outta that spot and fell in sync with the Hwy 64 curves and undulations that it consists of. What a beauty of a road. We pulled into Chama, NM to gas up and have lunch. I suggested the little restaurant that I ate at in 2007. The fellas had the lunch special that was a the loose meat sandwich. They loved the lunch and with tanks and bellies full we headed out. I took us down the 64 and stayed on it versus going north to Pagosa Springs. The reason was the weather forecast for that area, it looked gloomy and dark to the north in the mtns around Durango. The 64 from where it splits with the 84 is a fantastic road that winds in and out of rocky outcroppings with some grazing pastures mixed in. I used to live in Durango in the early 90's and I never took this road, what a surprise. Somewhere along the route someone motioned that they had to take a rest break. So we pulled over next to a cattle guard entrance. Next to the cattle guard was a sign that denoted the land beyond the sign was of a certain Indian heritage. Well I was in the bushes taking a leak when Bucket yells, "Stop pissing on my ancestors you Damn Honkie, these are my peoples lands". Hahaha, its funny to try to hold a steady stream while laughing, I'm glad I wasn't aiming for a commode, as I wouldn't have made it. Damn you Bucket, you funny bastard. We stopped for gas in Farmington and took a nap/ice cream sandwich break. From there we cruised out towards Shiprock and the weird/strange erie rock formation that it is known for. The Shiprock is famous in the area and sticks out like a sore thumb and always comes across as ominous/sinister to me. It gives off a creepy feel that makes you look at it, it stands in total contrast to what is around it in size and color. From there we took the 64 to the 160 to 191 north to 163 west into Mexican Hat. You might call me crazy, but there is something magical about riding a bike in the desert in late summer, the weather was fantastic and the sun displays amazing colors as it strikes the desert dirt/rocks/canyons.!!!

We got into a little dust storm when we stopped for gas at trading post in the town of Teec Nos Pos. The Native American peoples in the trading post were very traditional and the main language being spoken wasnt English. It was neat to see old traditions and ways being preserved. Time seemed to run slower at that gas stop and I didn't mind. Outside the wind was picking up and a major wind/dust storm was on a collision course with us. Thankfully we only hit a few minutes of it and then out ran it. We were safe to make it to Mexican Hat on this tank of gas, off we go. I hadn't taken this road before so I had no idea of what to expect, as I said before, I love the wide open desert environments. We had a perfect setting to ride in, the setting afternoon sun to dazzle us with lighting and stunning rock formations. The roads were empty and we cruised at a sane speed so that we could make time, then all of the sudden as we would round a corner and get floored by a stunning vista. It goes on and on like this for miles. At one point we topped a hill and BAM there off in the distance was Monument Valley and its recognizable formations.
The sun was just about to set, so we stayed there to watch it work its magic as we stood there in awe of the grandeur before us, stunning. We rolled into Mexican Hat a few miles later where we picked up a cheap room across from the famous Swinging Steak Hotel. I would have liked to stay there but they were full, no worries, we saved a few bucks and promptly spent it on dinner there later. We cleaned up and walked across the street to grub out on a steak that I had been thinking about for a long time. See I have researched this area for a while and read reports on the famous "swinging steak", so needless to say after a long day in the saddle, I was HUNGRY. As we were sitting there with our beers, who proceeds to walk in....the Harley riders that Bucket mooned earlier in the day. They pointed and laughed and we said come on over and join us. They ate dinner with us and then went down to the river edge to set up tents to camp. After dinner we walked back to the hotel and made a pit stop to grab a few beers, me and Bucket killed the most of them sitting on the front porch and Chewie retired after a few of them. I slept like a log. What a day, only +/- 350 miles, but wow what a visual experience, at least for me.

miles traveled for the day=333

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Day Fifteen of the CCC trip

2009-09-10T14:20:00.000-07:00

Dano says:
Because we didn't over drink the night before, we were able to get up before the rooster crowed. We three graced the complementary breakfast buffet and got our grub on. With that outta the way we saddled up and were gone almost before sun up. Nimec told us to give him a two to three hour warning before we got into town, sorry buddy but we were 100 miles west of you at 9:00am. We were turning and burning. We did make a gas stop at the Big Texan where we added layers and rain gear as the weather ahead didn't look promising,

plus we were gaining a little elevation and the temps were cooling. I figured it would be better to be nice and warm vs stopping to get into rain gear on the side of the open road. I missed Hwy 104 in Tucumcari and went west till we picked up Hwy 129 north at Newkirk, New Mexico.

From there we shot up 129 to the 104 intersection and headed west again.

That was the first time for me to take that road and I was happy that we did, it was filled with great views and no traffic. Hell, it was a empty countryside and we had the road to ourselves, for the most part. At one spot we came across some highway construction and the road was just covered in gravel. It was loose and dusty, Chewie passed a semi truck carrying a bridge support and continued hauling ass. Bucket and myself took it a little more reserved and passed the truck after we ate enough dust from the truck, cough, cough. Once we all grouped back up and got into some scenic areas we stopped and took some pics and enjoyed the wonderful sights. I think it was on the 3rd or 4th stop that Bucket did a high speed pass on the Sprint. Bucket took me by surprise, I was cruising along about 70mph and whoooooosh goes a yellow blaze. I'm a man, so I grabbed a handful of RC51 throttle and Bucket was still pulling away, downshift a few gears and THEN the 51 was cooking and starting to chase down Bucket. I think I passed him doing 140 and didn't let off until I saw 164. Damn that was fun,

open high plains roads with stunning scenery to boot. A few miles up the road we pulled into Las Vegas, NM to gas up where we picked up the 518 to Taos. The 518 is a great road,

its scenic and twisty. The day turned out to be great regarding the weather, as the early morning hours in Texas was the only place that we encountered mist/rain. The 518 and the sight of the Rockies made the past few long days worth it. I remember coming around a corner and seeing a fresh skunk killed in the road.
I had to stop to show the fellas up close what a real skunk looks like as that is my moniker(I ran over a skunk a few months back on my Speed Four going to work). The trek up the hill in the higher altitudes sent the message to my lungs that there is less oxygen up here....huff huff. I'm huffing along and I look over and what is Bucket doing? Lighting a ciggy, haha. With pictures of a skunk up close now in hand, we jet off to Taos. I think we ended up at a Motel 6 in a large suite and had a cot delivered to the room. After a brief rest we cleaned up and rode down to a Mexican joint and ate dinner. The place was good and we shared some nachos, I forget what he guys had, but I recall we were all stuffed and enjoyed the food. Back to the room we went where we watched tv and called it an early night and we did a fair amount today. I was tired.

miles traveled for the day=400

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Day Fourteen of the CCC trip

2009-09-09T13:29:00.000-07:00

Dano says:
With some knocks on the door by Bucket, I was up and off to the shower. Me like hot water, hot water good. Damn my head was still spinning from last night. We packed the bikes and went down to the Ol' Miss riverfront to take a few pics of the Mighty Mississippi.

From there we got on the 40 west again and headed West. As we crossed the Mighty Miss I let a nice wheelie go to celebrate another awesome place to wheelie over/through. Yut Uggggghhh!!! A few miles down the road we pull over to get gas and Nimec informs us that he is going to blast ahead of us to make it to Amarillo, Texas that night. He told us that he wanted to party with his pal and that he could sleep in and meet us the next day, his plan was to make about 760 miles that day. We parted ways after the gas station and off Nimec went into the wild blue yonder. We stopped and had breakfast at a Waffle House, because we wanted to be ready for a long day in the saddle. With our guts all greased up, we set out to knock down some miles. Today was a day that we decided was all about quick stops and LOTS of miles. We wanted to pass the central States so we could make it to the Rockies as fast as we could. We had good weather for the whole day, slight overcast and warm weather. Late in the afternoon we were in Elk City, Ok. and we decided to push on and try to make another hundred miles before we finished the day. The late evening sky to the south of us was filled with huge thunderstorms with massive thunderclouds that had bolts of lightening shooting out and flickering inside the clouds. Looking back south and east on them made for an amazing sunset and the last day sunshine rays shined down on the massive thunderclouds. The open plains have some awesome vistas to admire spectacular sunsets, the sky/horizon seems to go forever. After +/-650 miles for the day, we called it quits even thought Chewie was chipper and wanted to break his all time most miles in a day ride. We ended the day in Shamrock, Tx. We missed out on dinner and had a few drinks at the hotel bar that was filled with smoke and oilfield workers. Yes we drew a few looks/stares, like "What are you boys doing here?", at least that's what I felt like. We had two separate rooms, one single and a double that Bucket and I shared. I passed out quick in anticipation of another long day ahead of us. There was no real pictures of the day because we didn't stop for anything, all we wanted to do was make miles.

miles traveled for the day=630

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Day Thirteen of the CCC trip

2009-09-08T13:26:00.000-07:00

Dano says:
The house woke up early with two young boys running around, no worries, we wanted to get a early start. With showers and the bikes packed, we departed Todd and Lisa's abode. Our endpoint for the day was on the Blues Delta, Memphis Tennessee, where we would hit up the famous Beale St. to listen to some Blues. As we were rollin down I-40 towards Memphis I recall coming upon a group of Harley riders. At the back of the Harley procession was a chase van with some slogan that said something about Australians across America, or something like that. It was funny to pass them with two Australians in our group with NO chase van. I looked back in the mirror to see if all of our group had made the pass and was ok. I can still see Rose (Nimec) at the back of the group doing his thing, arms out wide and flying on autopilot past the other group. I laughed in my helmet, thinking what must the other riding group think of the four dumb Sportbike riders that passed them. We had a pretty much uneventful day as we did about 330 miles on I-40. The only real stops were to hydrate, gas up and have ice cream sandwiches. As we pulled into Memphis it became clear that finding a hotel room might be hard. There was a Southern Baptist convention going on in town and most all rooms were taken. I had the fellas stay at one place as I scouted a few places myself.

The reason I did that was because it was stifling hot and humid. Bucket, Chewie, Nimec and myself were sweating bullets and I figured that I could zip around easier by myself instead of a group of four. I located a cheap set of rooms at the Benchmark Hotel, reserved them and went back to get the fellas. We paid and parked the bikes in a secure underground lot under the hotel. We showered up and walked down to Beale St to have dinner and enjoy some Blues.
Chewie was prime for this night, he had a new pep in his step. We turned onto Beale St and took a few pics here and there.
Suddenly we were introduced to Gino....no not the DirtMcGirt Gino that you and I know(he was drunk like Dirt though....). Anyways before I could tell the Aussies NOT to talk to certain strangers we were hit up by Gino. Gino wanted to give us a newspaper and tell us of the local building stories...blah blah blah. After the 15 minute speech he did the deed and asked us for donations to his church or organization. Time to move on, lets go guys...time for dinner. He decided on The Blues City Cafe where we grubbed out on ribs, and different meats along with a few nice Bourbons and coke.
We had nice close seats to the band that was playing a historical tribute to Johnny Cash and his life.

Chewie was in heaven, he was smiling ear to ear and I could just tell that he was immersed in the moment. It was gratifying to be part of something that we had talked about for a while and to see it happen before me. I was glad to be a part of that. With the night still young, we went outside and walked across the street to BB Kings House of Blues.

We sat down and had a mess of drinks and sat listening to a group of amazing men sing and play some live Blues. They played all types of songs from U2 to Prince. What a wonderful night, fabulous music, great friends, good food and drinks culminated in an awesome night. We stumbled back to the hotel and sacked out. Turn out the lights....the fat lady has sung.

miles traveled for the day=330

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Day Twelve of the CCC trip

2009-09-07T23:53:00.000-07:00

Dano says:
We woke up fairly early at Karts house eager to hit some SAWEEEEET local roads on the way to the Dragon,
this is Karts home and he knows one or two choice amazing roads. Kart had a few of his pals there at his place in the morning to ride with us. Ron decided that he had to high tail it back home as he had been gone for a while, so he said his adios and blasted outta there. The weather was a little overcast and drizzled a few times here and there. I wished that I could make a map of the roads that Kartstar took us on, but, I don't recall all the turns that we make. I loved the area and the rural countryside, I felt as if time had stopped in a few of the places that we passes. I wished that I would have stopped for pictures that day, but it was just wet enough that I didn't care to get my camera wet. When we reached Fontana Dam after finishing The Hellbender on the 28 and southeast of The Dragon and the Tennessee border Kartstar said he had to turn around. In his words..." When I go over the Tennessee border, lights and alarms go off, and cops chase me. So I dont go there." Fair enough, hahaha. At that point we said our asta la vista's to Kartstar(Fred) and his friends. Thanks you Fred for the wonderful roads and warm hospitality, I owe you.

I remember Chewie saying that The Hellbender was the best road that he had been on and it showed in his face as he was grinning ear to ear. Once we made it to the Tail of the Dragon, we stoped at the store to buy shirts and stickers to prove that we did the Dragon.

With the customary pics at the Resort we headed out over the famous 318 turns in eleven miles. There were plenty of people warning us of PoPo ahead, so we kept it to the speed limit the whole way. we stopped at the top lookout to shoot a few pics and enjoy the wonderful weather.

We finished the Dragon and turned right back around and did it in reverse and then proceeded to Robbinsville where we gassed up to tackle the awesome Cherohala Highway. The weather was fine and we set off to enjoy some motorcycle bliss. Once we came to Tellico Plains, we stopped for a quick bite to eat. As I was pulling my helmet off, Chewie gave me a big non-sexual hug and said...."Thanks mate, the last two days have been the best rides of my whole life". I got a little verklempt. I was happy that I had been there to share the rides with these fellas. We then tore ass down the hwy 68 to I-75 north to I-40 east to Crossville. We gassed up in Crab Orchard and that's where I gave Lisa and Todd the heads up that we were almost to their place.

Once we arrived to their beautiful house we were greeted by Lisa, Todd, Luke, Ben, David and Jane. They had some awesome burgers and food waiting for us. We feasted like kings, caught up with everyone and just enjoyed the wonderful company. It was good seeing everyone again. Thanks a million Todd and Lisa for all that you did for us, you always go above and beyond. With some hot showers, a few beers and some harsh 'shine from the freezer, we settled in for a early night.

the aprox miles done for the day (some roads were uncertain)

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Day Eleven of the CCC trip

2009-09-06T20:38:00.000-07:00

Dano says:
Well today was the day that we dreaded, the point where we start our sojourn back west. We planned on riding the Blue Ridge Parkway about two hundred miles south to Ashville, North Carolina to Kartstar's house. We assembled everyone to do the farewells/goodbye's at Cheaps house where everyone loaded their trucks or trailers.

The group photo shoot was cool except for the ghey Harley in front of the group, thanks John!

With all the tears and hugs done,
we set off towards the BRP. As we rolled down Hwy 52 north, Cheap decided to unleash the longest wheelie I have ever seen. I was right beside him and it HAD to be over a mile long. He just clutched one up, sat there grinning like a 'tard and rode that sucker out. Damn nice wheelie Cheap. We took the BRP at an easy pace to enjoy the scenery stopping to take pictures along the way.

At one point we had to take a detour off of the BRP and that's when Cheaps Triple decided to die with a stator/rectifier problem. Chewie was riding the bike, BobW was riding behind Chewie and stayed with him until we made it back to him. We managed to get Cheaps bike to a local gas station and then he waited there until BobW came back with a truck/trailer. BobW you are a true hero/gentleman, thank you for doing what you did. Once Cheap was safe at the gas station, Leeds and NakedChic decided to head back to Cheaps house where their truck/trailer was. The rest of us, Chewie, Bucket, Nimec, Ron and myself took off down the BRP to make Ashville before nightfall. We arrived just after dark, proceeded to Kartstars house where we then went for some awesome pizza. With our bellies full, we washed clothes once we were back at Kartstars casa. One or two beers later and we were horizontal grabbing some ZZZZ's. What a fun day on the BRP, it is an amazing road, with endless curves and sights. Truly a must see, must do.

Chewie says:
Time for me (Chewie) to add something. The BRP is an amazing road. Speed limits force you to keep it sane, but that is a good thing, as we had a chance to enjoy the scenery, which is amazing. It is like riding through a landscaped garden for 200 miles.

David says:
Dina and I got up early and got everything ready to roll out. We decided to wait till the group leaving for the west coast left so we could ride to the parkway with them. Getting a bunch of hung-over not overly motivated people started early turned out to be a pipe dream. I think we ended up leaving about 11:00 am. We hit a bit of traffic on the way to the Blue Ridge Parkway but it wasn't bad. This was the moment I was dreading. At the BRP We parted ways with a wave and a beep of the horn. Dina and I headed north and the rest headed south. I would have loved to head south with them and not just to continue my trip, but to avoid the worst rain I had hit so far. It's not all bad though, Dina said my new rain suit never leaked once during the hour of downpour we endured. I'll have to remind her to thank Dano for making me buy it. The rest of the way home was a wet but uneventful and easy ride.
I learned a few things on this trip. 1.Even in August its cold somewhere, pack accordingly. 2.Whatever it is that you're rushing to get to will still be there if you're late. 3.Take a close look at your dreams and aspirations chances are you've already reached more than you thought. 4.The harder things get the more you can revel in getting through it. 5.Good friends and family will tell you you're crazy for trying this then ask if they can help or come along in the same breath. Spotsylvania VA 8338 miles. Home.

miles traveled for the day=215

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Day Ten of the CCC trip

2009-09-05T15:47:00.000-07:00

Dano says:
Another day of the wonderful weather makes for great riding. We divided up again and this time Bucket was ready to roll. Off we went with Cheap and Fasterdunnlap leading the procession.

Of course Cheap and Dirt had to wheelie at every straight a way. Some how at one stop we got separated from a few of the group and managed to meet back up with them.

Not before Fasterdunnlap decided to throw his 500 mile new Harley XR1200 down in a corner....with DirtMcGirt right on his ass. I had front row tickets and was a mere few feet away from the scene of the crime. All I heard was SCRAAAAAAAPE....pause, pause...SCRAAAAAAPE then a lot of scrape.
I looked up to see Dirt cutting into the inside to make it around John as he laid on the ground. That Harley was hauling ass, but hard parts and pavement don't mix when your suspension bottoms out. I hated to see that happen to ya John, your a good guy and one hell of a rider. We did a brief photo shoot in that same corner and then headed back to meet up with Cheaps group.

We gassed up and had a snack lunch, Chewie had a ice cream cookie sandwich, Bucket had a smoke. We had a chase crew made up of Nimec, BillT, and AdvCole in BillT's dodge truck.
Later in the day we did the usual action photo session where I set up in a nice corner. I took lots of pics of the group along with a few other camera men.

We ended up at a small town where we shot a few pics. The town also had a river nearby that we also checked out, Dirt proceeded to get down to his skivvies and took a refreshing dip into the river. After said swim, he didn't feel like wearing gear again so he rolled to Cheaps casa Squid style. Who knew basketball shorts, helmet and boots were a winning combination? If your going to squid it up, you might as well throw in a few stand up wheelies right? Well we all arrived back safe where we got cleaned up to have a fabulous hamburger/hot-dog dinner. The dinner was awesome with all of the fixin's.

Trippeee enjoying a burger...

Add lots of friends

and beers, result equals good times. The day was fantastic with awesome riding again and with a few incidences.

Later in the evening Cheap had a TST.com prize give aways. There was some cool stuff handed out from tires, sliders, shirts, leathers to a low mount GP ChainReaction exhaust.
I didn't win a damn thing. Time to sit back, relax, down some brews(a little corn mash too)along with Dfibs homemade spiced apple pie drink. Lots of bench racing and general bullshitting rounded out the evening late into the night. I forget the hour I passed out.

David says:
Day 22 King NC
Dina and I got up and had another wonderful continental breakfast. Kidding. It was pretty much a straight shot to Wrightsville Beach and we made it there before lunch with time to spare. You would think two people in full gear (including helmets) taking pictures on a beach would draw a comment or two from a passerby, nope just a lot of funny looks.
Leaving the beach I was again feeling pretty good seeing as I had just officially completed my coast to coast bike trip so I celebrated with a wheelie. Picture a four lane bridge with bumper to bumper traffic heading into the beach, empty lanes leaving and both sidewalks packed with beach goers. Yep I nailed it. At least a hundred yards nice and high and not a lawman in sight. We got back to Cheaps in time to find out today's ride wasn't nearly as hard on hard parts and people and nobody suffered anything that wouldn't eventually heal. Emily again out did herself and put out a spread that filled close to 50 bellies and never lost the smile she always seems to have. The drinking began in earnest and details are again a bit fuzzy but these are the blurry memories of a lifetime. King NC 8038 miles so far.

Day Nine of the CCC trip

2009-09-04T14:33:00.000-07:00

Dano says:
With a decent nights sleep, I grabbed a shower and went downstairs to see who had arrived for the ride. Bucket decided that he would stay put for the day as his head was still spinning from all the drinking. Hockeyfan took off with his wife(so nice to meet ya Dina) to make the CCC trip a true CCC trip. More power to ya David, I wished that I could have done the same. There was a large group of people and we had decided that it would be best to divide into groups. Fast, medium and slow (like me). I signed up for the last(slow) group because I wanted to take pics and sight see with my Oz mates,

not to mention the fact that I was riding my pals bike and needed to return it to him in one piece. So we set off with Cheapbastard and the rest of the wrecking crew, about 45 miles into the ride, we stopped for a break and deduced that we lost a few of the group. One of the riders was Leeds, NakedChicks husband, she tried calling him to no avail. Cheapbastard, Nakedchick, BrianK and myself retraced our route to try to find the wayward riders. We made it back without finding them, but they showed up later as one of the riders in that group had GPS and continued riding for a while. Later in the afternoon a few of us went to the motorcycle shop and got supplies to change our oil and filters. BrianK took Chewie, Bucket and myself to the shop in his car. First we hit some BBque lunch with Nimec and Dfib. From there it was a short drive to the motorcycle shop where Cheap demonstrated his wheelie abilities to us in the car, a few feet away. Squid. At the shop we purchased our supplies and the manager got wind that we had ridden across the country and had a couple Aussies with us. The manager was cool enough and gave us some free shirts, I think Cheapbastard's free "aura" was working its magic. Back to the casa we roll, to do the services on the bikes. With a few drinks in hand, we quickly changed the filters/oil in three bikes with a lot of sideline mechanics staring over our shoulders. The day was done, time to chow down on some pizzas

and drink a few cold ones.

Later in the evening we got together to do a "Thank You" to Cheapbastard for hosting the 2009 ECR. I asked Chewie to be the MC and do all the talkin'.

We got Cheap into the garage and rolled the film,

Chewie gave a great thank you and led up story to where we gave him his gift. With all of my appreciation, I thank everyone in TST.com that donated to this gift. With the inside knowledge that he was tired of paying 15 dollars to change a tire, we decided to get him a Cyclehill tire changer kit with balancer. Bucket and Chewie threw in a set of Bridgestone BT0-16's to sweeten the deal. When I thought the awards were over, I was told to get from and center. I was then thanked and given a SWEEET Arai exact replacement helmet that I have. I was so grateful that everyone chipped in to do this for me and Brad, Thanks everyone, you guys rule. There is a drawback to having two of the same helmets now. One helmet has a clear lens while the other has a dark smoked lens, now I have to carry the other helmet with the opposite lens in case it gets dark/bright outside. hehe

To recap the day though was kinda painful. I knew to keep myself in check having rode those local roads the previous two years. North Carolina has some amazing twisties and the locals are fast on their home court. Hell they are fast anywhere! Our small slow group was fine for the most part, Nakedchick had a grassy knoll moment and slipped on a U-turn. She and the Monster were fine. I was almost run over in a sweeping left hand corner by a black Ford Ranger that was all the way in my lane...damn that was a close call. I had all of MAYBE two feet of pavement before I went off roading.

After we got back to the house, we found out that a bunch of the riders weren't lucky. Check the egos at the door people. I remember being 4th or 5th in the line of bikes and seeing the outta towners going at a fast clip with the local fellas. I remember thinking that they are riding to fast out of the gate, slow down, there isn't anything to prove. I think there were 5 or 6 wrecks that day. I was sad to see all the carnage, it was a bad way to start a fun weekend. I don't have a map of today because it was chopped up and we didn't adhere to the regular map schedule.

With everything taken care of we proceeded to enjoy a wonderful evening of drinking and a lot of bullshitting.

David says:
Day 21 Whiteville NC
You read it right that says Whiteville not King. After talking to Dina last night we decided I would wait until she got there and then we would see the other coast together. I got to sleep in and take my time getting cleaned up for the first time in three weeks. The timing seemed to work out cause no sooner than I got done the carnage started to show up from the days ride. I'm not the fastest guy in most of the groups I ride in and I can't come close to some of these guys and I except that especially on roads I'm not familiar with. Some times its good to make that admission early on and just enjoy the ride. Dina, Bryce, and Catlin showed up around two and I find out Dina has ridden all the way from our house and is still raring to go so after meeting a few people we headed out. Let me just say this about NC road signs. They suck. Interstates are not always identified on the exit signs and sometimes your expected to know the old route number too. Since we got a late start and Dina had already done 300 miles when we left we didn't make it to the Atlantic today. We did get close enough before dark to make it an easy day tomorrow. I fell asleep sure I had missed another good night of camaraderie with people from around the world and many different walks of life, but there is much to be said for spending the night in a strange town with the love of your life after being apart for three weeks. Whiteville NC 7705 miles so far.

Day Eight of the CCC trip

2009-09-03T12:55:00.000-07:00

Dano says:
Agenda for today, have a nice semi short day and arrive at Cheapbastards house in Kaaang, North Carolina.

I found it hard to believe that with the amount of adult beverages being consumed every night that we were waking every morning pretty easy. Not once did I have a headache from drinking, it pays to drink the good stuff right? So I shower, go downstairs roust a few of the guys to start showers. Gary and Jessica had started the day all ready and she was gone by the time most of us were up. Gary being the superstar that he is began making us breakfast. Sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs, biscuits, country gravy, coffee and juice. That's what I'm talkin' bout. There isn't a better way to wake up to bacon cooking in a house, nom nom nom. The morning was(in Doug's words) fantastic, so we ate outside on the patio. Baily the lab got her fix of chasing the thrown ball in the back yard. Nice bee hive ya got there in the back yard Gary, glad I didn't piss on it last night in the dark while I was drinking. With plenty of warm food in our bellies, we saddled up and took off, with Gary in tow on his 600RR Honda. He rode with us for a while before he had to turn around and go home. Thank you so much for all that you did Gary and Jessica, you went above and beyond the call of duty. You have a beautiful house and I was glad to see and visit with you again. And because of the on going bagel story that you have going with your friend, you made us think that you stashed the cash we gave you on one of our bikes. Thanks for making a memorable night for me and my friends.

Down the 64 east we go, at fairly early time with great weather and temps. At the first gas stop I lubed up the chains and decided that I needed to tighten the RC51 chain. Well the chain was on its last leg, it was stretched beyond help. Time to call Cheapbastard and have one ready when we arrived. Thanks for procuring one Cheap, as all the places that we checked along the way were either out or had chains for 200 dollars. Well I adjusted it as best as I could and lubed that chain at each gas stop to make sure that it made it to Cheaps. Man was it worrying me the whole day that it was going to snap, I kept the throttle as smooth as I could to spare that chain. The ride along the 64 was fast, had nice scenery and allowed us to make it to the 77 south turnpike. That was a pretty road with lots of great views running along the mtn floors next to a river. At one toll booth I got delayed as I had to make sure that I zipped my pants pocket shut. I had the fear of losing stuff like Hockey did. So all of the guys tore off without me up the racetrack that is the 77 turnpike. Well shoot, that is just horrible, I've got some catching up to do...I played RickyRacer for about 10 miles hauling major ass in excessive speeds in some sweet sweeping corners dicing in and out of traffic. It all came to an end when I rounded the corner and spied a few of the guys waiting for me. Later I told them about my delay and the fact that I had to gradually build speed because of the chain. At the last gas stop, I called Cheapbastard and told him we were about 45 miles out still. He said that he would meet us outside at the off ramp in Kaaaang. Lets do this yall, and down the road we roll. A little over half a hour later, we exited into Kaaang and didn't see Brad, so I took us through town and stopped at the Hot Wings place and called to see here the hell he was, after the call we continued towards his place. In route him and DirtMcGirt met us on their bikes. The CCC boys have arrived, let the party start. We made our introductions to the new faces and hugged the old familiar farts. Bikes were unloaded and the decision was made to go back to that Wing restaurant and have dinner. After we all gathered ourselves, we rode back to town in a massive Triumph convoy. We mobbed the restaurant, ordered lots of tasty food and shared lots of laughs with all the amazing people that make up TheSpeedTriple.com.

I love the camaraderie that exists with all these people, what great friendly, generous people. I feel right at home with all of yall, the best part about it is, that we know and joke with each other like we always do....fun time people, fun times. After a nice long feast session we all loaded up on the bikes and rolled back to the ECR(East Coast Rally) headquarters. Time for some beers, lots of bullshitting and talks about our ride so far. What a whirlwind, so much to recall. I took the opportunity to change the chain out on the RC51 with the help of BBOPP750(Brian).
BBOPP is another awesome man, ready to help at a moments notice with tools in hand. He brought over a chain tool and we made quick work of the removal/install. Thanks Brian, you da man. After the chain repair, I could relax and enjoy the beers a little more.

Oh yeah, "We're makin muf#@kin turkey burgers!!". A late night ensued with Bucket and Dirt going at it. I warned ya Bucket,

Dirt don't know the word stop, or that's enough, hahaha. I have no idea what time I crashed out in the Princess room, but Id say it was after 2:00am. Im pretty sure that Hockey slept in the Princess room with me the first night on a matress on the floor, the next few nights it was Nimec.

David says:
I've often said every good day starts with a fart. After checking my watch to make sure Gary's wife had left the house I let go a squeaker that rose in pitch about six times in the ten or more seconds it lasted. Almost everybody in the house busted out laughing. It was going to be a very good day.
Gary made a breakfast that would put Bob Evans to shame. We rolled out with full bellies and an easy day ahead of us. I was pretty giddy rolling through the Blue Ridge Mountains cause I was finally getting to show the Aussies what it was like in my backyard. At one point the interstate went through a mountain and while I was in the tunnel I dropped all the way down to second and hammered it. The sound echoed for what seemed like forever, Leggy later said he thought his ears were going to bleed. I thought he liked the sound of the Zard and he said he loved every second of it but it was still painful.
After a bit of confusion we ended up meeting up with Dirt and Cheap on the way to Cheaps house and rode the last few miles to the ECR with them. For those that don't know the ECR (East Coast Rally) is an annual event hosted by the world renowned Mr. and Ms. Cheapbastard. You would be hard pressed to find a more decent and gracious couple to host this shindig. My hats off to you guys yet again. The weekend is supposed to consists of two days of riding local (sweet) roads and a few nights of drinking. Solid plan but I realized on the way to dinner it wasn't going to work for me. Dina would be arriving the next day in the afternoon so I sent her a text during dinner and asked if it would be ok if I wasn't there when she got there. She called me right away and asked what was wrong, she knows me too well sometimes. I can't express how bummed I was that it was almost over. I was done. A short 300 miles and I would be home. Not that I didn't miss my family but I just didn't want this adventure to be over. So after some back and forth plan B, or maybe it was D who knows it could have been Z by then, was hatched and with my mind at ease I settled in to another fantastic night of BSing with friends both new and old. King NC 7450 miles so far.

miles traveled for the day=381

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Day Seven of the CCC trip

2009-09-02T13:35:00.000-07:00

Dano says:
Well I know I slept like a rock and I woke up feeling great. Time to roust the gang, I open the door and there is Doug, Doug looks at me and says, "Who the f#*k bought this confrontational bastard?", pointing at Nimec. HaHaHa...good times my friends, good times. There was a LOT of trash outside the rooms, it appeared that we all went to bed without cleaning up outside. With a quick sweep of the area and dispensing of the trash, we got ourselves ready. Bikes packed, chains lubed we decided that our agenda today was to see the St. Louis Arch and then off to my pals place in Lexington, Kentucky. We got to downtown St. Louis and found the interstate was detoured....damn. Well we continued on as far as we could and luck had it that we made it to the Arch. Some of the group didn't care to go up in the Arch, but I did. So Leggy, Uncle Dude, Doug and myself took off walking from the parking lot as everyone else stayed with the bikes.

Family resemblance?

The Aussies got a first hand look at the new Chevy Camero,
I like it. We paid our fees and waited to board the tram to the top of the Arch. OMG is that a small capsule, and it seated five people. Not us people, maybe Leeds and Bucket people. The Arch tram is a combination of elevator and tram, it pulls you up and sideways at the same time. There is a funny rocking motion as it goes...what a ride. We four larger than average guys were crammed into a space about the size of the front seat of a Volkswagen Beetle.

Damn it was a small space. So we get to the top and exit like accordions. The feeling of being at 630 feet high and in the inside of the Arch looking out, gave me the feeling of being in an aircraft.
From the look, to the sound of the air conditioner, it made me feel like I was flying. The views were cool and worth the few bucks.

We did the photo shoots and made our way back to the Love Capsule to head out. At the bottom we got a woman attendant to shoot a few pics of us crammed into the capsule. I'm glad that I love these guys as it could have been a little awkward. Back to the bikes we go because now we have lots of miles to Lexington still ahead. We turned out of the parking lot and followed the signs to the interstate. Lets just say that St Louis has horrible road directions and worse road crew people directions. The road crew guys liked our bikes but couldn't direct their way out of a paper bag. And they work for the city road crews, wow. All I want to do is get on that bridge that is over our heads, how do we do that? Scratching their heads and saying "Well the roads have detours, so you have to go this way,....hey Mike/Fred(one of their own people)....how do you get on the 64 east from here?". Thanks guys, We'll figure it out, we made it this far across the country. Two minutes later with a few left hand turns we are screaming over their heads on the 64 east. With the day having moved on faster that normal because of the Arch stop, we were approaching lunchtime. So with people making the universal holding a imaginary burger to the helmet gesture, We spotted a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant. It was good grub and plenty tasty, I had the boneless wings split in two different sauces. With our bellies full it was time to roll out. The bad thing about eating a large lunch and then riding in the sunshine and nice temperatures, is that you get sleepy. We did a few hundred miles and Chewie rode up next to me and gave the laying your head on the hands sleepy gesture. Ok, time to take a rest break, better safe than sorry. We exited the next available place and as would luck have it there was a new rustic restaurant there.
It had a huge covered patio with benches out front that had our names on them. Chewie stretched out and grabbed some zzz's. After about 15 minutes he got up, I said nope...get back to sleeping, he didn't argue to much. We all took a little nap and then got up maybe 30 minutes later. It was well worth the loss of time to be traveling well rested. As we were about to leave the manager approached us and told us to come in and enjoy some dessert.....damn, OK.
This time I didn't share with Hockey. I got apple pie and a few others tried the Bread pudding with bourbon sauce. Damn it was good too. Ok time to leave now. We made good time the rest of the day only stopping for gas. We got to Louisville,
stopped for gas and I called Gary to tell him where we were and the expected time of arrival. It looked like we were going to hit some rain and we did get a few drops, but we skirted the bulk of it. A little over a hour later we were in Lexington where Gary was waiting for us on the side of the road in a truck. He led us into his casa where we introduced ourselves to my pal. We unloaded and cleaned up as Gary made some mighty TASTY burgers.

As Gary made dinner, his wife Jessica came home and they set out chips and dips for us. Then came the ice chest of cold beers and two bottles of whiskey. One of Crown and another of Woodford Reserve. Wow, that Woodford is some nice whiskey. It is also made right up the road from where we were. We sat outside on the back patio and enjoyed a great dinner with my good pal Gary and wife Jessica. It was a perfect night to sit out and enjoy the outdoor temps and that's just what we did, petting the chocolate lab Bailey and the poodle with the cone on its head. That poodle kept us entertained by himself, what is it about a dog with a plastic cone on its neck that is so funny? Well on to more serious stuff, like the whiskey and drinking. Gary decided to turn it up an notch and walked outside with a Mason quart jar that is 3/4 full of a clear liquid. He sets it on the table.... we can all guess as to what it is. Good ole 'shine. Bucket is the first to pick it up, and we talk him into being the taste tester. He unscrews the top and sniffs it, and wrinkles his face. He reluctantly takes a sip and swallows it down...then he breathes in. Cough, cough....man that warms you up. He takes a second sip and passes it around. Doug takes the jar and two fists the shine. Go man GO. A second or two later he says, "That's FANTASTIC" and goes immediately to round two. Oh no, this don't look good, somebody is going to be comatose soon if they keep drinking that 'shine like that. Doug's eyes were mere slits about 10 minutes later, that 'shine kicked into overdrive and put Doug on easy street. We passed that jar around until it was gone and had a blast doing so. Three bottles of liquor vanished along with a lot of beers, wow another great night with the boys. During the passing of the 'shine jar, someone mentioned something about not wanting the other dudes germs on the jar. Yeah right, that 'shine is a pure disinfectant and kills all the germs. Damn it was tasty, by far the best that I have tasted, it was smooth and almost had a corn hint to it. I don't recall what time we went to bed, but I'm sure it had to do with the liquor being finished off. Gary was awesome and had a few beds, couches and blow up beds for us to sleep on. With everyone settled in, I crashed out upstairs. What a night, every night seems to be getting better.

David says:
We took our time getting on the road so traffic could die down going into St Louis. We got to the arch but I wasn't particularly interested in seeing it so I went across the street to the old courthouse where the Dred Scott case was heard.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dred_Scott_v._Sandford
Much of the old courthouse was being renovated but I still thought it was cool being there. After some confusion and a lot of left and rights that we probably didn't need to make we got to the interstate and started making time. It was getting late and we were pushing hard trying to make it to Lexington So I decided I didn't really have to pee that bad I could possibly hold out till we got there. My plan was flawed from the beginning because not only did I not know where we were going but I had no idea how long it would take to get there. After a while a fart also started brewing but I wasn't relaxing any muscles down there so I just held onto that one too until I hit what felt like a speed bump at 75. My bladder held its own but the fart escaped and felt like it may have brought some solids along for the ride. About that time someone signaled for a bathroom break and we pulled into a rest stop. I took off into that stall fully prepared to sacrifice a pair of boxers and bike shorts minimum. A quick check revealed no need. Sweet. We met Gary on the off ramp and followed him to his house. Gary and his wife Jessica fed us and got us completely hammered. Most of that night is a little blurry. I did have a chance to call Dina that night and tell her for the first time since I had left that we were in the same time zone. It made me feel better because I was missing her pretty bad by this time. Lexington KY 7051 miles so far.

miles traveled for the day=370-380

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Day Six of the CCC trip

2009-09-01T14:08:00.000-07:00

Dano says:
The morning came fast, wow. But I will admit that I had no ill effects from the late night festivities. The only thing that bothered me was the damn garbage truck that came by at 5:00am and banged the trash bins around LOUDLY. Nice job ASSHOLES. We all cleaned up and saddled the bikes, proceeded to the front of the hotel. That's when two special somethings made their appearances on the Aussies bikes.

Uncle Dude can tell that story. They had a free continental breakfast and we sat down and ate. I had a waffle and a couple glasses of really acidic orange juice(bad idea Dano). Since we were gassed and lubed up we tore ass outta Dodge and rode east. It didn't take long for the orange juice to come back to haunt me. A night of heavy drinking followed by extremely concentrated OJ on my stomach didn't mix well. Lets just say that there were more than a few stops to vacate myself. Hell I did two times in one stop. Man I felt like...
.. well crap. I felt so bad that Bucket let me ride the Sprint to make me more comfortable. Thanks bro. We stopped later in the day to have lunch at Subway (they should have been a CCC sponsor) and I ate a sandwich. It helped tremendously as did a nap and some Powerade. I was over the worst part by lunch. Time to make waves to St Louis. Saddle up fellas. I don't recall anything really exciting about that leg of the trip. I do recall stopping on an On-Off ramp to take a leak and call Doug((Brian)confusing I know) to see where the hotel was that he reserved for us. We also discussed our arrival time to the hotel. With that all settled we traded bikes again, I don't recall what I was on, but Hockey had his first try on the Sprint. I got to know one thing about this quite man named Hockeyfan. He like wheelies, so much so he does them in front of cops, refer to day one of his trip. I was in the lead and looking in the mirrors as we came up the steep on-ramp. I saw a quick wheelie followed by it setting down ok. A few seconds later I saw the bottom of the Sprint's oil pan as he did a 12 o'clocker...hahah on the on-ramp merging into traffic. The bike came down faster than he expected I think, haha. Nice one Hockey, way bigger than what I have done on that bike. It was a fast day and we arrived into St Louis fairly early in the afternoon. I was skeptical about what hotel we were supposed to be at because they didn't have reservations at the one that we pulled into. So I rode down to the corner and down the street to another motel6/8 to check there. In route I came across something that stopped me in my tracks. A beer/liquor store named Dirt Cheap. Anybody on TheSpeedTriple.com knows what this refers to. I got back to the 1st hotel where the guys were and told them of my discovery. More on that later. As we were standing there our new pal pulled Doug pulled in on his clean Roulette Green 1050 Triple.
We Check in and get 4 rooms with military discounts again...saweeet. Off we go to our rooms and unload the bikes. After that we went across the street and gassed up for the next day. Then we all ride down to the beer store and some of us piss off a lady in a car. She makes it a point to race in the parking lot and almost hit some of us and start a screaming match that we can do whatever we like. Settle down lady. She goes into the store, buys her alcohol and comes out screaming still at us. Wow, have a drink lady, take the edge off. We were still outside because we were all laughing because of the store name and the billboards. Speaking of billboards, its not a good idea to leave a ladder attached the sign. Yes we scaled the sign, yes all of the CCC gang.
Chewie, Bucket, Hockey, Doug, Nimec, Uncle Dude, and me were all on the sign. Some random Dirt Cheap customer was cool enough to take our pictures while we were on the sign getting honked at by cars on the nearby Interstate. With the artsy pictures done we head inside to get our nightly poison fix. Lots of beers, check. Crown Royal, check. Miscellaneous other liquors, check. Two sets of Dirt Cheap boxer underwear, check. As we exit the store, I think I suggested that we do a burnout video in front of the Dirt Cheap neon sign. Ok, lets do this shit. We were all ready to do this covert illegal video and haul ass outta the parking lot. I say to self, "Self, the store managers and workers seemed cool as hell. I wonder if I asked if we could do a burnout in their parking lot, if would they mind?" Ok, out of my mouth comes, "Hold on dudes, I'll go ask if it is ok to do a burnout". I walk inside and sure as hell the manager says, "Fire it up man". I walk outside and tell the good news. Ok, who is going to do the burnout? Hockey stumbles over himself raising his hand and yelling "I'll do that shit". Perfect, we got an action hero and Uncle Dude is on the video detail. We gather around Hockey as he does two nice long burnouts.

We accomplished the Great American Burnout at Dirt Cheap. Its amazing the little damage that the burnouts did to the Pilot Roads, man are they some tough tires. With the side show done, we acted like law abiding citizens on the way back to the hotel. We tried to duplicate the previous night and ordered pizza and sat outside
in front of the rooms. Good times my friends, good times. It was fun having the new fish in the group, Doug. We had in our midst two of the class (TST site) clowns, Uncle Dude and Doug. Lots of laughter and joking went on. Whiskey Dan made an appearance tonight, he is similar to Tequila Dan minus the tequila. It was my first night to room with Bucket and I learned that he likes to sleep in the bed nearest the bathroom. He informed me that it is easier for him to make it to the pisser while being pissed. HaHaHa, no worries mate.

I didn't know Kartstar worked at Dirt Cheap, and dang your lookin old Fred.

David says:
After a night of drinking I can say I was sleeping rather soundly when I heard what I thought was a truck loading up our bikes by dragging them up a ramp with a chain outside. It was about to be on like donky kong when I got to the window and figured out it was only the trash truck. No getting back to sleep now. We get cleaned up and ready to leave and there is still no more than 10 cars in the whole parking lot. Today's menu consisted of toast, cereal, bagels, and make your own waffles, not bad for a hotel breakfast.
I got to ride the Sprint for a while in the morning and I remember mentioning to Bucket how smooth the power is on it. I said something like "I bet I could wheelie the sh*t outta this thing". The response was classic Bucket, "I'll be expecting to see that the first chance you get". Not wanting to be a bad host and disappoint my Australian buddy when we hit the on ramp I rolled on the gas and gave a little tug on the bars. It carried the tire about a foot off the ground for about 10'. I slowed it back down, checked the mirrors to be sure Bucket was watching and grabbed a handful of throttle and gave it a good yank. Now that was a wheelie. I rode it up the rest of the ramp and onto the interstate to a few fist pumps and a bunch of thumbs up from the cars that were close enough to see it. Bucket rolls up and gives me a thumbs up and an approving head nod. We got off the interstate for lunch and I was on my bike going along a feeder road next to the interstate. I guess I was at the back of the pack when I rode out a nice wheelie but no one saw it. That was the only decent 2nd gear wheelie I nailed the whole trip.
We rolled into St Charles, MO early in the evening and Dan rolls out to make sure we were in the right place. He comes back after a few minutes with a sh*t eating grin and says you're not going to believe what I found. We get checked in lose the bags and take off to see what was so funny. We had caught up with fellow TS3 member Doug and end up in the parking lot of Dirt Cheap Liquor store getting screamed at by some psycho lady for what she felt was dangerous riding. Never mind the fact that she came rolling into the parking lot like a bat out of hell and almost taking Leggy out. I bet Doug was wondering what he had signed up for about then. Booze in tow and burnout pics in the can we rolled back to the hotel to try and pick up where the night before had left off. St Charles, MO 6675 miles so far.

miles traveled for the day=395

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Day Five of the CCC trip

2009-08-31T22:24:00.000-07:00

Dano says:
Ahhh, the day that I was waiting for. The wide open Plains of eastern Colorado leading into western Kansas. I-70 east out of Denver is motorcycle bliss. Well, we all ready ourselves at Castle Moke and prepare to head out so Ian can take his son to school. After the round of "Thank you's" from everyone we rolled over to I-25 south for a few miles to hit a gas stop. With the new morning scheduled breakfast that we had to include (Uncle Dudes breakfast, like I argued with it), I spied a Waffle House near the gas station. Oh yeah, time for an American grease spoon icon. We grabbed a bunch of seats at the counter and grubbed out, lets roll bishes. Down to the 470 we go, but wait....whats this? Is my stomach upset? How can this be? Damn Waffle House strikes again. I detour into a Marriott hotel parking lot and proceed to use their accommodations.

Ok, fast forward if you don't like sophomoric/teenager boy humor. You have been warned! So I get to the nice restrooms and make my way to a stall. I know the boots in the next stall,

they belong to Uncle Dude. The restroom rendezvous goes like this...(Dano) What's up Dude? looks like we are going to be stall neighbors." (Dude laughs) "sup brudda." hear the ass gaskets being opened and placed on the Thrones, bare asses sitting on them....silence....pause. (Dano)"I'm gunna be nice and give ya a courtesy flush." smiling I do so, and let one rip in the whirlpool background noise. Quickly Dude follows up "Oh yeah." and fires one off too. Both of us are laughing now. I smile and say "Back at ya." and launch a retaliation second round. Giggling school boys we are, Dude pipes up and says, "I'll see your flush and raise you one." and immediately cranks out two rapid fire flushes, damn professional. I'm crying I'm laughing so hard I cant talk. (Dude)"You can out corner me, but ya cant out flush me." Dude gets up and because he is in the handicap stall he walks out of my boot viewing sight. Water in a sink turns on and he starts to wash his hands....in the stall too. I ask, "They have a sink in the stall?", (Dude)"Yeah, and they have bagels and coffee machine too." I was glad that I was on the toilet because I would have crapped or pissed my pants because I was laughing so hard. The boots walk off and leave me. I get outside and we both laugh looking at each other. With everyone fed and relieved, we head out into the wide open spaces that is eastern Colorado. At that point Steve parted out company and headed back on his own as he was going to do some big mile days at a faster speed than us. Adios Steve, good meeting you.

The weather was sunny and blue skies, perfect weather to ride in. We all took full advantage of the hair-ties that Hockey had given us and set our make shift cruise controls on. Private Parts(Chad) practiced his Iron Cross cruise control balance act. I did a high speed strafe on Private Parts and Hockey with the RC FiddyOne at full song. We swapped bikes a few times in during the day at gas stops. I recall eating at McDonald's because Chewie wanted to see if they made the burgers the same way as in Australia. They did, tasted exactly like what he was used to. While eating lunch, Hockey posed a question. The question was that we vote on changing CCC Chad's name from Private Parts to Rose. Hockey can fill in that story, haha. It might gave been at that time that I also nominated that we change Hockey's name to "The Fall Guy" because of his run in with the ground at Lake Arrowhead. Hockey laughed but wasn't too keen for the change Hahaha. With a quick bite to eat we rolled out to get across the open plains. We stopped at the Colorado/Kansas border and took the normal State line sign photo.

From there we made it into Salinas, Kansas for the evening. We spotted a Travelodge right off the interstate and booked 3 rooms with the sweet military discount that Hockey provided. Hockey and I were at at the counter and asked to have three room right next to each other. The girl at the counter said she would look for three open rooms together. Hockey and me look at each other(not because we are sexy, but we are) because there was maybe FIVE cars in the whole parking lot. The hotel was three buildings and two stories each. Do your best then please. With keys in hand we divvy up the rooms and unload the steeds, leaving the unloaded Ventura packs on the bikes. Why? Because its early, we ain't got no jobs and we ain't got shit to do, I'm gunna get you drunk. (Friday the movie reference) Off to gas up the bikes, lube the chains and make a beer, whiskey run. With all the party essentials in hand (thanks for the tequila guys) we went back to party central. The tables and chairs from all three rooms came out in front of the rooms onto the covered sidewalk. We formed our own private outdoor patio club, with our six bikes right in front of us. We had the whole backside of the hotel to ourselves. Next on the list, pizza. Domino was called and grub was delivered. We couldn't have had a better time than what we did. Six guys with nothing to do except ride, drink and have fun. We drank lots, and enjoyed a great evening of bullshitting and great company. Tequila Dan made an appearance, that's me when I have lots of tequila and start to smile and laugh a lot. I'll let some of the others fill in the blanks of the night because I don't recall a lot...I do remember that the Aussies became Crown Royal fans, Cheers big ears! What a night, fist bumps all around.

Chewie says:.....this was one of the best nights we had......one of those things you can't plan, they just happen.

Dano says:.....I agree Chewie, it was by far the funnest night of the trip(speaking for myself). There were other many close seconds, but this night topped them all.

David says:
We actually got an early start today. Good thing too because this was going to be a big mile day. We fueled up the bikes not too far from The Mokes house and Dan spotted a Waffle House. I wasn't exactly pleased with his decision because I've had a few bad experiences at the WH but I made the best of it, ordered light and stayed away from anything fried. About an hour into the ride Dan hits an exit ramp and rolls into a hotel parking lot. I have no personal knowledge of what went on in that bathroom but he went in with a slightly panicked look on his face and came out giggling like a school girl. After that we headed down to I-70 on a toll road. I've never been through a toll that doesn't get their money right away, this one took a picture of your tag as you drove by and mails you the bill. The combination of the overloaded bike and dirty tag means I never got a bill. Good because that one toll in Ohio cost me over a $100.
I'm not really sure why but I was expecting a big drop in elevation leaving the mile high city. That was not the case. The Great Planes spread the elevation drop over about three states. I never knew that. We did about 400 miles on a straight, flat, boring interstate. Along the way I guess Nimec started to fight the boredom by trying to see how long he could ride with no hands. I watched him ride along with his arms floating out to the side for probably 10 minutes when it hit me, it looked just like he was recreating the scene from Titanic where "Rose" is standing on the bow of the ship. I chuckled to myself till the next stop and put the name change to a vote. It passed.
I have to agree with Dan and John that was one of the best nights on the road. I have no idea how long we were outside but it was one of the most relaxed and stress free times I have had and I'm glad I had such a great group of friends to share it with. It was one of the moments that has made me define this trip as "life changing". Salina Kansas 6266 miles so far.

miles traveled for the day=458

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Day Four of the CCC trip

2009-08-30T16:42:00.000-07:00

Dano says:
Today I felt that everyone was getting in a semi-schedule routine. We were getting up early enough, taking care of business and generally getting ready to hit the road. I got up and lubed and tightened a few of the bikes chains, I also checked the oil levels. With the dirty work and the packing done, I grabbed a shower, and then Chewie and me enjoyed the free breakfast in the lobby. With everyone good to go, we departed Grand Junction with beautiful weather at a decent time in the morning. I-70 east out of Grand Junction is wonderful for making time and having amazing scenery to enjoy as you go.
I love the Colorado River and the tall narrow canyons that it runs in. The elevated highways and occasional sighting of the Amtrak train are stark contrasts to nature's beauty that they run through. All of this beauty and to add to the fact that you are gaining elevation into the famous Rocky Mountains. At one fuel/rest stop in Aspen we pull in and got the cold shoulder. I guess that we weren't riding BMW's or Ducati's, what a pretentious bunch of wankers, I hate snobs.
While stopped in Aspen, I called TheMoke(Ian) and told him our arrival time. I was doubting myself that I missed a turn off, so I exited and called him once again. Sweet, I didn't pass the exit and we had a few miles till we met up with him. As we were leaving, Steve decided to "leave" a little of the rear tire on the pavement. I missed seeing it, but I heard that big flat 6 Honda bouncing off the rev limiter...haha(being in front sucks sometimes as you miss all of the hooligan behaviour). We meet up with TheMoke at the next exit, the usual twenty minute meet and greet takes place and we inform TheMoke that gas is needed. No worries as his GPS tells up there is a gas station in Empire, cool. A few miles down the road we pull into the ancient station and swarm the only premium pump. The sad thing was that it was an OLD pump... it took forever to pump, pay, pump, pay....yeah all the bikes had to do this with cash basically. We decide to throw some nuked burritos down our throats and get ready to hit some big mtn country. As we were leaving, we were approached by a local young custom bike builder. The fella had a small Chinese motor grafted onto a bike frame and another low rider bike. Major props to the kid for his design and fab skills. Oh yeah, fatty(me) broke his side stand while in the full tuck on the bike taking a picture. All I remember is hearing a "PING" and feeling the bike start to lean left....
I felt bad and apologized and tried to make it right, but he insisted that it would be a easy weld fix and the bike was just a mix of parts anyways he says. Very nice kid, he even gave one of us his business card with website info on it, who has that? It was a fun stop, we got to enjoy his creations that he was eager to show,

and he got to ogle some sweet bikes.
With the day ticking away, and the not so good looking weather looming ahead, I suggested that everyone suit up for nasty weather. My concern was the rain and lowering temps, I didn't want anyone to get hypothermia if they were to get wet in the cold. We suit up and take off, hwy 40 up to Winterpark is fun, mixed in with a few sprinkles here and there. We pulled into Granby, because the temperatures rose and a few of the guys were roasting in their suits. A quick stop and off we go, next stop, the shoreline of Lake Granby for a few pics. While stopped we gassed up, and donned the rain suits again(lucky me, I had my Tourmaster textile gear). I insisted that everyone get ready for cold and wet roads ahead. I couldn't see the mtn top in a few places so in my past experience, it forecast harsh conditions ahead. For the most part we got lucky and only got rained on at the 12k foot summit.
Yes we got rain, sleet and hail. Yes it was cold, and yes the rest of the fellas were ready to get off that mountain. So we proceeded down after a picture stop (I installed my suit thermal liners, hate me because I'm beautiful, not because I'm warm).

The trip down got better as we descended, everyone was amazed at the lack of guard rails at 12k feet. You better pay attention to the road, target fixation up there will get you a nice fall over some BIG cliffs. Like riding on sleet/hail/rain covered roads wasn't bad enough to distract you. Fun times...just a few days before and we were roasting in 118 degree heat, now this. Welcome to America Chewie and Bucket. I love going over that pass. You never know what type of weather you will get, along with the wildlife and natural sights makes it a must see. We didn't need or want to stop in Estes Park so we set out to Castle Moke in Longmont. As we came into Longmont I was amazed at the ability to now wheelie again because of the lower elevation, Hockey agreed. We arrived a little before dark and unpacked. WOW what a nice castle Ian, truly a sweet place. You have the English cars, bikes, yourself, a castle, all that is needed to complete the package is a moat. A moat for TheMoke. When we arrived at Castle Moke we took a breather in the bailey as we stabled the bikes. Hockey's rainsuit looked a little tattered, he decided that the easiest way out was to summon his inner Hulkamania.
No No NO....wrong shirtless dude,

this is the Hulkster

And this is the Hockymania...

A few of us stayed there are cleaned up and TheMoke(Ian) and a few others ran out to get some adult beverages, only later to be denied because it was to late. When Ian returned he and the wife provided chips and dips and LOTS of nice English beers, while they finished the fabulous pork ribs, chicken and baked beans...nom nom nom. The dinner was fantastic and I stuffed myself and enjoyed everything about the night. You have a great family Ian, a wonderful wife Darla, daughter and son.

After dinner some of us washed clothes and ourselves too. We sat around watching videos from Uncle Dude and discussing the fastest route around Denver via the toll roads. Thanks for the tip on that Ian. Later in the evening we all calmed down because we were tired and TheMoke family had a life that started early the next day. So with that in mind, we scattered to our beds or sofas.

Many thanks go out to Ian and his family. From meeting and riding with us, to the wonderful dinner, beers and the sweet accommodations at Castle Moke. I owe ya.

David Says:
Commuting on I-95 in northern VA everyday has given me a pretty solid dislike of interstates. Weekly I see three lanes packed with people doing everything from typing on a laptop to shaving while traveling well above the speed limit. There isn't much to hate about I-70 leaving Grand Junction. It follows a river up through the canyon and at times the east and west bound lanes are almost stacked on top of one another. Across the river there was a set of railroad tracks and I kept waiting for an old steam powered locomotive to come around the bend. After a bit of that we met up with the Moke. While Dan was destroying some poor kids life work I spotted this wicked Jeep.

I'm not sure why you would take the doors off a vehicle when you live in CO but then again we were on motorcycles heading into the bad weather. With the weather looking gloomy we decided to put on the rain gear. Rain Gear is one of the things I wanted to upgrade before I left but never had a chance. I had a feeling if it got cold it wouldn't last more than a day but this was the worst weather I'd hit so far so I put it on. Glad I did too because the higher in elevation we got the colder the rain got. Speaking of rain I have to admit I ride pretty much like I grew a vagina when it starts raining. Always have. Don't think I've been setting any records in the twisties since Cali 'cause I haven't. The rain just makes it worse. We headed into Rocky Mt National Park and as we started really getting up in the elevation the rain started to develop chunks. By the time we passed the 11,000 ft mark it was sleet. Big vagina, but so worth it. The views were amazing on top. Even though we couldn't see much past the next ridge line that still left a pretty rugged looking valley to see. We start down the other side and the weather relents a bit. Later The Moke tells me he's surprised it didn't start snowing, I said "good thing 'cause I would have walked the bike down". It would be getting dark soon and there was a fantastic meal waiting for us at The Mokes house so we quit messing around and started making time. Saw a few bull elk and a big mule deer on the way out of the park but didn't have an opportunity to get a picture. The Moke and his family treated like kings, fed us, let us drink his booze, and let us crash at his very nice pad. Thank you and your family. Day 16 5791 miles so far

Bucket says: Loved that road heading out of Grand Junction with the elevated highways, brilliant. So many different variations of roads over the last few days, amazing. When we got to ASSPEN I realised this was a money town, so I made a point of saying hello to as many people as I could. Funny some of the responses. I felt like a troll when we stopped under the bridge while Dano called the Moke, meanwhile Uncle Dude and myself got a great photo, I didn't realise you were so short Dude. Next thing Stevo is bagging up the the big Honda and we are away again. We meet up with the Moke and fuel up in Empire, where once again people were having trouble with the accent. Off up into the Rockies, whilst everyone else was donning there rain suits I decided to go hard core and do it in jeans as I was sick of my textile gear. Yep, that was a good idea as when we got to the top my jeans were actually frozen, you could tap them and they made a noise and were crunchy. I decided to warm up with a cigarette but couldn't be bothered to take off my helmet, that was an experience as Hockey dared me to take a choof and blow it out with my visor down, COUGH COUGH, but another great photo indeed. Just the sheer size of these mountains is amazing, the scenery is breathtaking. I also noticed the air was a bit thin up there. Then it was on to The Moke and family castle. What a great home and family. Putting all us smelly motorcycle enthusiasts up who they had never met before, awesome. They fed us and gave us booze and good company, thankyou you very much The Moke family. Another brilliant day with my mates.

miles traveled for the day=335

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Day Three of the CCC trip

2009-08-29T14:52:00.000-07:00

Dano says:
I almost got a good nights rest, but I had Sir Snore a'lot (Nimec) under me in the bottom bunk-bed. I peeked outside and found that it was a glorious day and I was eager to hit the awesome roads ahead of us. I showered and got loaded up to go. "Hold on partner", said Uncle Dude in his calm, relaxed, on vacation voice spoke. "I need some breakfast and coffee before I hit the road". Ok, says me. We all order something to chow down on and warm up with. It was then that I found out that Uncle Dude's schedule is dictated by his stomach. A man after my own stomach..haha. I have no idea how he stays so thin, must be a tapeworm. Moving on, Utah Hwy 12 is a motorcycle delight, it must be ridden to understand. So many sights, views and twisties for miles. I almost felt bad for going more than a mile at a time without stopping for pictures,

but we did stop at a few great spots to grab some. If we had stopped every time that one of us in the group wanted to shoot a picture, we would have never gotten anywhere. Along the way to Torry we had a few run ins. You have to love open range roads, yes either cattle drives or cattle on the side of the roads. I got to hear the boom of the Staintunes again as I rounded a corner(at a slightly elevated speed) and had to grab brakes for a black cow on the road. Between the two big V-Twins booming along the cow made a fast exit into the woods. It still was a wake up call to me.....slow down(but the roads are empty and fun as hell, sweepers begging to be ridden hard) and keep the group safe. As I railed a few corners down the way, I got the chance to dodge some cow patties in the road. Wow, that's NOT what I want to do, eat shit as I wipe out on cow shit. Time to SLOW down. At one photo stop,

Bucket noticed that the clutch cable on the Sprint was fraying, great! I called MrBiff to start the ball rolling on finding a cable for us. He also got in touch with TheMoke as I didn't have his number. I also called Cheapbastard to help in the cable search. Major props to ALL that was involved and helped procure a cable for us, Nicene and BobW....you are great guys. So we tell Bucket to do as much clutch-less shifting as he can do to save the cable. Off we go.

I remember stopping once just west of Torrey and trading bikes with Hockey. He wanted some of that FiddyOne. At the gas stop in Loa,(after the high speed pass, haha) he expressed his fun with an ear to ear grin. With some "spare" gas bottles filled up and the tanks topped off, we set out to run Hwy 72. Wow, what a nice piece of road too, freshly coated and sealed.
It was a perfect day, wonderful roads, temperatures and awesome sights. Then it happened, we rounded a hill and you could see the road laid out in front of you for miles....and there it was. The perfect top speed bomb run road.

I surveyed it for about half a second and said it would be worth the ticket, next thing I know the RC51 is being pinned in each gear. I knew that If I didn't jump on it that I would have a few bikes passing me. Funk that! At 8,000 feet you lose a little power, but I was still able to hit a "Pass Go and go directly to Jail" speeds. It was awesome, at least I didn't get passed right? Well we hit our home for the next few days....Interstate 70. We stopped in Green River for gas and lunch. Subway it is, but we get hit up by a couple of young barefoot dirty, smelly hippies. I went inside and scarfed a sammich, then kicked the tires as we still had miles to go to make Grand Junction that evening.
I wanted to make it to a bike shop to see if we could find a similar clutch cable. The rest of the ride to Grand Junction was filled with open roads and Nimec doing the "Flying Cross" with his new throttle lock installed. Chad's actions earned him a new CCC name later because of this. He couldn't find that certain speed to just cruise along, no... it had always seemed to be a few mph faster than the rest of us. In doing so he weaved in and out and around us to go by doing the Flying Cross, than he would slow the bike down and retake his place in the group.

At the Spotted Wolf canyon we pulled over to take in the amazing red rock scenery. I suggested that we do a photo shoot with the awesome backgrounds.

We didn't make the bike shop in time, it was closed up, damn. Off to the hotel, we get settled in and Hockey and I decide to do some parking lot wonder work on the Sprints clutch cable. We roll over to Lowes and buy some aircraft cable and a few crimp sleeves. We pulled the old frayed cable out, threaded the new one in and crimped the aluminium sleeve on to secure both ends. The temporary fix is awesome and worked great. Hockey and I rule, damn awesome roadside mechanics. Time for a beer, time for dinner. Applebees's here we come. We walked over to dinner and stumbled back...whooo hoooo. I called it quits early, and sacked out.

David says:
Who knew the store next to the cabins would have such awesome food. I ordered a breakfast sandwich that was quite tasty until I spied Uncle Dudes plate of Eggs Escalante. The Dude knows his way around a menu. We hit the road after that for one of the nicest days of riding I think I have ever had. The scenery was amazing, the weather was beautiful, the roads were in great shape, (except for the tar snakes that continue to rattle me) and the company was to say the least "entertaining". At one of the picture stops I ask Dan if he wanted to take a break from the 51 for a while. As we were pulling out I stalled the Honda. It happens, new bike and all. Well as I'm trying to get her started again everybody pulls out and leaves me. Every time I hit the starter, nothing. I check the kill switch, the kick stand I even cut the key off and back on, nothing. Finally I put the old girl in neutral and she fires right up. By this time I am pretty far behind so the way I see it there's only one option. No worries Mark I shifted at about 8500 and didn't get it much past 130. That's about how fast I was going when I caught and passed the group too. That'll teach 'em to leave me. Dan did say later he thought I may have stretched the chain while I was on it. WTF does that mean, you calling me tubby? Leggy got a turn on Speedy and enjoyed it thoroughly. I don't think you could've wiped that grin off with a shovel. As you can see from Dans photos Spotted Wolf Canyon provided a pretty good backdrop so we all took a turn getting our picture taken. I generally hate having my picture taken but I figured I wouldn't get many chances like that so I relented. I even had Dan take one using my cell phone so I could send it to my wife which turned out to be great timing because she said she was missing me terribly when she got it. At one point we were just cruising through some easy sweepers and enjoying the sights when I heard the RC open up. I don't know if he down shifted or not but I went down two and hammered it. Uncle Dude was between us and he generally doesn't ride all that hard but he had a pretty good handful because for a while I wasn't sure if I was going to catch either one of them. By the time we rolled into Grand Junction Buckets clutch cable was on its last leg. After striking out with the local shops Dan and I decided to go all shade tree on it. I took less than $8.35 in Home Depot parts to put something together that would make it to Cheaps house without another worry. Then off to find some food. The waitresses weren't nearly as nice as the ones in Escalante but they did keep the Crown and Cokes full so they managed a good tip anyway. Day 15, 5447 miles so far.

Bucket says: Well what can I say, I was sad to be leaving the waitress from the diner behind, but hey, you break a few hearts when you're on the road. Here we were heading off again into the wilderness, fn awesome. The roads were brilliant the temps were good and the scenery was amazing. I was in another country with mates I had only just met a few days and the night before and riding motorcycles, nothing beats it. As mentioned above at one of the stops I noticed the clutch cable fraying rather bad and I thought not again. I had a clutch cable go on the top off Bathurst Mountain(Australia) once before and had to ride down the mountain and into Bathurst without a clutch, not a big fan of this situation. With a bit of advice from the fellas it was clutch less shifting and all was fine. I love the road trips we do in Australia but this was just amazing, I couldn't get over the sheer size of the cliffs and canyons. I remember as we were riding up to Spotted Wolf canyon thinking "Where the f#*k does the road go". From a distance you couldn't tell, I couldn't pick if it went around or what, then BAM, we were riding through the middle of this massive canyon. Brilliant. Lots of photos taken up the top looking down. When we rolled into Grand Junction we had to move the motorcycles from around the front of the motel to the side, that's when I felt the cable pop, there was two strands of wire holding it. We had to decide what to do over a few beers, then the maintanence crew rolled into action. Hockey and Dano came back with some cable and crimps and within what seemed like minutes it was fixed. Thanks fellas and to all who were involved in having a new one waiting for us at the rally, you know who you are. Another fine day.

miles traveled for the day=285

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Day Two of the CCC trip

2009-08-28T13:59:00.000-07:00

Dano says:
The agenda for today, Check out Hoover Dam, Valley of Fire and then up I-15 to Cedar City where we would run Utah 14 east to 89 north and pick up the 12 to Escalante where we had cabins reserved. Sounds easy huh? Think again.

We all woke up at different times, but still early. The call was made to get J-Pip to the Venetian to roll with us to Hoover Dam. J-Pip came in a car, so he would lead the way with the GPS. I'm not admitting to have done any illegal behaviors, but the RC51 developed a sticky throttle,(maybe it was a pothole, as Hockey's bike did the same thing) in a few places. The Vegas Strip was one of them, that damn bike is gunna get me a ticket for doing a wheelie. And don't listen to J-Pip, he has no photographic evidence that Hockey and I were wheeling down the strip as he followed us, didn't happen.

Did I mention that it was getting hot? It was. We had a hot and uneventful ride to the Dam, we rode over the Dam and parked. Some of us stayed under a parking awning while few of us walked back over the Dam and took pictures.

Ok its hot, dang that water looks refreshing, I wonder if they would mind if I took a dip? We saddled up, hit a gas station, said our goodbye's to NotNotRazorback as he was splitting off to head back home via the long way. Thanks Brian for the tire repair kit, and it was a pleasure meeting you, I hope to ride with you again. Time to make some miles happen, but in this heat...it was going to be a chore. This is when things that can go wrong, do. I asked all the guys to have a CamelPack with them on this trip because of the intense heat in the areas that we were riding through. I am concerned for everyone's safety first, comfort was second. A little ways into the park, Chewie motions me to pull over, I do and all of the others too. Chewie needed a drink as he and Bucket didn't have a CamelPack. I had just iced mine down and filled it with water. I took a few sips and insisted that he wear the pack. I showed him how to use it and off we went thinking things would be ok for a while. My pack hold 100 ounces, Chewie a few miles up the road motions me over again. No worries, he says that he isn't getting any water, I figure there might be a issue with the bite valve on the pack. I asked if he was blowing back into the hose when he was done drinking to re-inflate the bag. "Yes", he says. Ok, I take the pack off of him and unzip the CamelPack to investigate. Chewie had to be super thirsty as he drank almost 100 oz in a short while and managed to suck a vacuum so tight on the bag, that it shrink wrapped the ice cubes in the bag. That man was thirsty and going on the verge of dehydration. I was very concerned as I knew we had a ways to go before relief from the heat. I asked J-Pip if he would wear Chewie's jacket and helmet and ride his SuperHawk while Chewie followed in his car. Did I mention that it was 118 in the shade? There was no shade to be seen.

Joel agrees(thanks a million Joel for being there, that could have turned out bad)and we take a few pictures as Leggy drinks from my Camelpack after I added more water to it that Joel had. We sat Chewie(he looks like a typical cager huh?) into the car to cool down in the AC. I almost thought the heat had gotten him as tried to get in the passenger side of the car to drive it. I then realized that you can take the Aussie out of Oz, but you can't take the Oz out of the Aussie. Wrong side of the car Chewie, haha. Crisis diverted we move on. In Logandale we pull over to rest and fill up. We all park the bikes in the small sliver of shade near the front of the store, half an hour later the local PoPo shows up and asks us to move the bikes that are half in half out of the "busy" handicap parking spot. Sure thing, we don't want any troubles, right Hockey? We all down a few Gatorades and waters, have a small snack and decide that we better move on as we were behind on time. As soon as we hit I-15 north, things got better as elevation climbed, temperatures dropped. I know my spirits looked up and the scenery past Littlefield gets pretty once in The Narrows. I love the sheer cliff bluffs that tower overhead, the occasional sighting of a few black colored Bighorn sheep and other sights that signaled that we were exiting the arid desert to the higher mountain areas. J-Pip broke from the group at St. George because he has family there and that's where he was spending the night. It was great seeing ya Pip and major kudos for helping ride Chewie's bike, see ya soon I hope. I only have one way to say this, we stopped to piss on Leeds. Leeds, Utah that is, not our short friend. Fast forward to the Cedar City highway 14 east exit. I pull the group over to gas up, grab another snack and water too. Hockey spotted a Wal-Mart at the exit, he gassed up, and yelled to me that he would be right back. Off he went with a howling Zard. twenty minutes later he returned with two camelpacks, one for each of our Austrian friends. All I can say is that Hockey has a soft streak in him, as I would say many times on this trip, thanks Hockey.

I felt that we entered a new phase of the trip as I hoped that everyone was about to enjoy the 12 and 14 like I have before. We rest in the cool shade and I buy Chewie and Bucket an ice cream treat each to cool them down more. I gave Chewie a Mrs Fields ice cream cookie sandwich. Lets just say that Leggy became an instant fan of ice cream cookie sandwiches, he destroyed hundreds(ok, maybe a few dozen) of them on this trip. The man likes his ice cream cookie sandwiches. Not something I expected to see, a towering motorcycle man clad in black leather head to toe, eating ice cream sandwiches every time he had the chance. I created a monster haha.

Refreshed, we tore out through town and proceeded up the beautiful Hwy 14. Because we were behind on time and the chance of sprinkles, I pressed on without photo stops. We rolled through to the 89 north where we picked up Hwy 12 east. I was sad that we wouldn't get to see the 12 during daylight as the sun was setting. I had another thought, critters on the road. My concerns became valid when I saw eyes in the bushes and movement going from the field to the road. I grabbed a handful of front brakes and slowed WAY down. Sure enough 5 deer ran from my left out of the bushes in the ditch to the field on the right. With that disaster avoided, I focused my attention to Chewie on the SuperHawk that was sounding off the Staintune pipes grabbing lower gears behind me. I cringed as I heard him banging down through the gears, luckily he avoided me and came to a stop next to me. Ok, time to cool the engines as I was going fast to make up time to get to the cabins.
Another half hour and we arrived in Escalante. Uncle Dude(Bill) and his pal Steve were there waiting with beers in hand. SAWEEET! We slap hands all round and decide that dinner is in order, off we go. Uncle Dude and Steve stayed as they had eaten before we arrived. Other fellas of the CCC can tell about the dining experience in Escalante. I share another "Hockey moment" and divide a peach cobbler with him, good pizza, John loves quesadillas. Fun times. With a full belly we rolled out of the diner and back to the cabins to b.s. the dynamo duo of Uncle Dude and Steve. I honestly don't recall to much that evening as I was tired again, I had a beer with the fellas and sacked out after a nice hot shower. I slept good in the top of that bunk bed.

David says:
I got up early and went for a walk along the strip. I must say I like it better without all the crowds. Everybody else was up when I got back so we called J-Pip to meet us out front so He could see the Hoover dam with us. Dan may not want to admit it but I will, we rode a wheelie down the strip in Vegas. Check that box, I've done that S@#t. We head down to see the hover dam and I am amazed at how big it is. The water level was low but clear and beautiful. At the next stop it was time to say bye to NotNot. Brian it was a pleasure riding with you and next time I'm on the west coast I'll set a few days aside to tour San Francisco with you. On to the Valley Of Fire. Man they weren't kidding when they named that place. J-pip, like Dan said, thanks for being there. We got in some more dirt road action while there and some fantastic scenery. The heat was so bad I ended up closing all the vents in my helmet and jacket and felt better after doing it. Soon after leaving the park we get gas and get to talk to the local law man. Again. At least I didn't get a ticket this time. We saddle up and start trying to make better time. Up to this point I wouldn't have changed a thing but the biggest disappointment of the entire trip came next. That would be Bryce Canyon. Was it beautiful? Stunning. How about the roads? Twisty and smooth. The weather? Clear and cool. So why the disappointment? As the sun was setting behind us the red canyon walls were lit up with the dark shadows in contrast making them look like they were on fire. Pics or STFU you say, sorry no time to stop for photos. I understand why we couldn't stop but damn it still sucks. We didn't roll into Escalante until ten after a few close calls with some wildlife. The good news is there was beer waiting, cold beer. Thanks Steve and Dude. Off to find some grub. The Aussies accent wasn't hard to pick up on but I guess a few had a hard time with it at first. The waitress we had that night was one of them. Me being always helpful I tried to translate whenever I could.

Waitress " How's your food?"
Bucket "Bo-ful"
Waitress "????"
Me "He said your hair looks nice"
Waitress "Oh that's so sweet."

Bucket liked that so much he said we could be roomies. I don't know when he talked to my wife but she must've told him to tease me about snoring (even though I don't) because he started as soon as we woke up the next morning. Day 14, 5125 miles so far.

Bucket says: Well your probably guessing it was hot by now. As great as it was to see Vegas I was glad we were leaving, I'm not a big fan of the big cities and crowds, I appreciate that Dano wanted to incorporate it into the trip so we could experience it, cheers. Well to my surprise as we were leaving somehow Dano and Hockey's front wheels left the ground down the strip. Think it was a sticky throttle or summin, awesome sight though. Onto Hoover Dam, man that is one big pond of water. By this time the heat was starting to set in. Glad I was wearing textile gear, not ,so I decided to try and cool down in the shade and remove my boots and socks ,soggy, ooh yeah! Next stop and we said our goodbyes to Not Not, great meeting and riding with you, I think Brian started calling me Butter, he said as he was following me my riding style was as smooth as butter, hence the nickname Butter. As hot as it was in the Valley of Fire I was absolutely amazed at the scenery, absolutely awesome. It was a big plus having J-Pip there for when Chewie got heat exhaustion. Coming from winter over in Australia into that heat got the better of the big fella. Guess Pip got to go for a ride though. Next stop where the police told us to move our motorcycles I had to remove my boots and socks again, they were drenched, nice aroma as well. Through some more canyons, absolutely breathtaking. Hockey kitted us Aussies up with some Camelpacks, you sir are a champion. I remember seeing the town of Leeds and pissing myself laughing for some reason. I remember sh#**ing myself as I see the deer running across the road and brake lights a glowing, very lucky. Onto Escalante where the Dude and his mate Steve were waiting, once again it seemed like meeting old friends you hadn't seen for a while, made us feel right at home. Went down to get a feed, all I can say is I'm glad I had my translator there, thanks Hockey. I sure was diggin the waitress(leg hump smiley). Back to the cabins(they were awesome)for a few more beers and bulls#*t. I thought the world was ending that night but after a while realised it was Hockey snoring.

miles traveled today=360

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Day One of the CCC Trip

2009-08-27T14:15:00.000-07:00

Dano says:
With the amount of drinking that has been taking place, I was surprised at how easily everyone was greeting the mornings. Not a sour puss in the bunch. It was early and I had to wait for the shops to open to run my errand, so I suggested breakfast. Off to Denny's we go. Oh, my turn to order, I'll have some gravy with a side of gravy please. No really. With breakfast done, we head back. At the house we/I notice a huge deformation/slice in the rear tire of NotNot's bike. I knew he had a lot of miles left to do with us and many more to do after he split off after Vegas. Time for an emergency tire change. We removed the tire and threw it on the SuperHawk's Ventura rack and had Adam show NotNot the way to the local bike shop. With that taken care of, I blasted down to finish my last minute errand and returned to find most of the bikes almost ready to pack. Time was ticking and we were a little behind schedule, but nobody was to worried. That kind of understanding took some stress off me. I got packed, clean up and ready to start the adventure.

As I said a few years before, "It's time to blow this taco stand", and that's just what we did. Day one players and their rides, Chewie(996 Honda SuperHawk), Bucket(955 Triumph Sprint RS), Hockeyfan(Triumph 1050 Speed Triple), Nimec(Suzuki SV650), NotNotRazorback(Triumph 955 Speed Triple) and myself(Honda RC51). The route, run up Hwy 18 past Lake Arrowhead to BigBear, down the back side through Lucerne Valley and on to Vegas for the evening.

As I am cruising up towards Running Springs Hockeyfan motions me to pull over. I do, he says something is wrong, ok what? I go to the back of the RC51 and the license plate plastic mount has folded up underneath the seat. During a right hand turn and hitting a bridge expansion joint at the same time compressed the suspension enough to grab the mud guard and suck it up onto the tire...damn. Well we took a bungee cord and pulled the mudguard out and secured it from doing that again. It only took a few seconds but it wore through part of the license plate, in doing so it left a white stripe down the center of the tire..haha. We continue on because the temps and roads are perfect. Everyone was loving the sights and roads, we pass through BigBear Lake and head down to Lucerne Valley. The 18 is twisty with lots of great views, the sad part is that you have to pay attention to the roads. Why? because anything can happen and the road was covered with tar snakes. I will let Hockey tell his side of the story because me and Chewie were WAY ahead of all the other riders(because we were on Hondas). I like to keep a close watch on the group behind me when I lead a group, after a few minutes of not seeing anyone behind Chewie, I pulled over. A car comes by and gives us the news, rider down. DAMN, not this early I think. I hope everyone is ok, Chewie and I race back from the way we came. When we arrived all the bikes were upright and everyone looked fine. I park, ask who went down because I couldn't see ANY damage/carnage. Hockey raises his hand and I go to check him and the bike out....unscathed for the most part. It was amazing the lack of damage to the bike or him, literally minor scratches. WOW, I was relieved, no seriously I relieved myself.. another pat down of the bike and David to ensure that they are ok. (Later in the trip Hockey gets a new CCC name) Lets get going, daylight is burning. A few gas/water stops and we were almost to the State line just past Baker, Ca. I passed a flatbed transport truck that had a cool Mustang muscle car on the back. I took notice like all red-blooded Americans. I pass it and keep rolling, David come up and throws up a bunch of gang signs with a bunch of sign language zeros at the end to me. Ok, the heat(did I mention that it was 115 in the shade?) is getting to David I assume, he motions me to pull over. We do, and he can fill in the rest of that story.

After the brief detour, we had another stop at the Cali/Nevada state line.
From there the day was waining so the temperature was cooling a tad. Not much but anything was welcome. The posse rolled out and crested the hill to see Vegas in the distance and almost at night. I detoured the group to the south side of the strip and the Venetian
to see the Vegas Strip from the seat of a bike. It was Thursday evening so I figured that the traffic wouldn't be to bad, it wasn't and we got to see most of the strip in the early night with all the lights blazing. Cool stuff if I must say so. The group runs around the side of the check in and we park the bike, unload gear and lug the gear to the front check in....gawd was it HOT. We finally get two adjoining room, pay a bellman to carry the luggage and off we go to our posh rooms.

We all clean up and in the mean while we have J-Pip(Joel) coming to meet us for dinner and to meet the Aussies. J-Pip meets us at our rooms, most of us are hungry to an extent. Down the strip we go, except all of the places that we go into are just closing, DAUM. Ok, time for the ole reliable...that's right, Denny's to finish off the day. I'm exhausted mentally and physically, so anything would have appeased me. I think I ordered gravy again. I recall Bucket had another chocolate shake. Me and Hockey started a tradition of sharing desserts,(apple carmel cobbler) because we didn't feel like a whole one ourselves. How cute. I'm secure with myself damn it! Chewie and Bucket had salads. I knew that I wouldn't be able to party like a RockStar because I was a worn out wuss(the pressure of the past few weeks of getting all the bases covered depleted me), I mentioned to everybody that I was heading to the room and gunna sack out early. Chewie, Bucket and J-Pip came with me, Bucket stayed outside for a few minutes to smoke and got lost. The rest of the fellas decided that they were going to experience Vegas and headed out to have a few drinks. Have one for me fellas. Next thing I know is that I'm doing one of many fist bumps with the Aussies for the great ride/scenery/day. It didn't take me long to fully enjoy the large queen bed all by myself.

David says:
Last night the drink of choice for most was Jim Beam. Mr. Beam and I had a major disagreement back in the day so I didn’t partake. After some early issues and a Denny’s breakfast we hit the road. I’m not sure of the road names but we headed up through Big Bear and Lake Arrowhead. On the way I was third in line behind Dan and Leggy and I noticed a line just off center on Dan’s rear tire. All of us except NotNot are running the same tires and I had never noticed this line before. I passed Leggy and got a close look and tried to tell Dan his tire looked funny but how do you say that with hand gestures when it might not warrant a stop. We rode for another 15 or so miles while I watched that tire and I even got up close to try and see if a rock got caught in the swingarm, nothing. Finally as Dan was pulling off for something I noticed he didn’t have a license plate. Well he had one but it was flipped up under the fender rubbing the tire. Quick bungee fix and we're rolling again. Somewhere east of Arrowhead I went into a 20 mph left hander at about 30. Just at the point when I rolled onto the gas the front end stepped out about a foot. I wasn't going fast so I wasn't prepared and made a rookie mistake and looked right at the guard rail. I must have gotten it turned a little more because when the bike and I hit the ground I slid along the guard rail and not into it. Today is the reason I've been wearing my gear all these years. I bounced up and Chad and Bucket helped me pull the bike out and pick it up while NotNot slowed traffic down. Damage looked to be minimal and except my big toe on my left foot feeling like it was on fire, I showed no signs of just bouncing off the ground. We decided to move down the road a few hundred yards to a pull off and collect ourselves. Ok. I needed to collect myself. After a good look, the bike and I came through just fine. About then I was thinking someone should try and catch Leggy and Dan to tell them we would be along shortly when the sound of the RC started bouncing off the canyon walls. Dan rolls up and says "So who went down?". I raised my hand and he gives me the strangest "no shit" look. After a quick assessment agrees it was one of the gentlest get offs ever and we come to the conclusion that it must have been a tar snake that upset the bike. Dan assured me there were no more curves between here and Vegas so we rolled on.
Somewhere between there and the state line we catch up to what appears to be a bad ass Mustang on a roll back. As I get closer it starts looking familiar to me, then it hits me that's the Obsidian SG1 mustang. I saw that car in Hot Rod Magazine once.

http://www.hotrod.com/featuredvehicles/hrdp_0902_1967_ford_mustang_obsidian/index.html

At 1.3 million dollars this was by far the most expensive car we would see on this trip and it was being hauled on an open rollback down the interstate.
We roll in to Vegas as the sun setting and cruise down the strip. I must say it's a lot to take in at once but it looked like one giant party. We park in the Venetian parking garage and take a looooong walk to the front desk to check in. After a round of showers to wash the days ride off, we catch up with J-Pip and head out in search of dinner. "Vegas, we're always open" my butt. At 10 o'clock almost all the restaurants close, except Dennys. After dinner and a brief walk NotNot, Chad, and I decided it wouldn't be right to come to Vegas and not have a drink. I must say a hundred dollar tab won't kill too many brain cells in Vegas but the company was good and I think it was a perfect way to cap off an eventful day. Day 13, 4760 miles so far.

Bucket says: Well after the previous 2 nights alcohol consumption I didn't feel to bad when I woke up. Then it finally hit me "Us crazy fools are gonna ride across the god damn United States of Merica" Awesome feeling it was. I do forget a lot of details but I remember as we climbed up into the hills all the altitude signs up and over Arrowhead, a lot higher than our highest mountain, but as Chewie informed me Australia's mountain ranges are some of the oldest in the world and hence they are more worn than others, take that ya newbie Merican mountain ranges. So much to take in that a lot of the roads all mingled into one but I remember that sinking feeling as I came around the corner and saw Hockey on the ground, he was up in a flash and all was reasonably well,(thank whoever you pray to in this spot). After a brief check on man and machinery and urinations on the side of the road(I think that might have been my first outdoor piss in Merica , ooh yeah! ) The heat was wrong as we got down out of the hills, but that's what it is all about, still better than being at work, still better than driving a cage. We stopped at the state line into Nevada, unbelievable. Here was downunder Bucket getting his photo taken in Nevada USA. Rolling into Vegas and seeing all the lights(I like shiny things) was amazing, man it was hot. After what seemed like a gazillion mile walk to our rooms we cleaned up and J-Pip(top bloke) came to meet us. Took a walk down the strip and finished the day with Denny's just like we started it with, BURP!

miles traveled today=275
map of the day:

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Day twelve Maintenance Day (of Hockeyfans trip)

2009-08-26T05:25:00.000-07:00

Hockey says:
We got started by taking 6 tires and 4 wheels to the bike shop to get them switched out. It was a little confusing but it went like this, new Pilot Roads off the S4 wheels onto the RC wheels, tires that were on the RC get trashed and race take offs go on the S4 wheels. See, simple. Dan, Adam, Bucket and I went and had breakfast while we waited for the tires to be done. After we got all the tires back on the bikes and the bags mounted on the Sprint it was time to go shopping. We hit Chaparral, and Cycle Gear where Chad got Bucket his first American hook up. During all this running around it was evident that Adam on his R1 was not happy about the pace. The Aussies were getting their first taste of American traffic laws in LA of all places so they may have been a bit cautious. The plan was to stop for a beverage on the way to Dans’ place when everybody but Adam got caught at a light. Dan and I were at the front of the line with Bucket, Leggy, and Nimec behind us. I asked Dan if Adam knew where we were going, a nod was all the encouragement I needed. I told Dan “I’m gonna go F*@k with him” and ran the light. He was sitting on the side of the on ramp waiting and my plan was to wheelie past him. Well he must’ve known because when I came up the on ramp he pulled out and lofted the front tire also and we ended up riding it out all the way onto the interstate side by side. Would’ve made a good picture I bet. If everybody in LA drives like they’re pissed off I suppose Adam and I gave them plenty of reason that day. At one point I hit 140 and Adam was walking away from me. Needless to say we got to the Stop In ahead of the rest of the guys. After a few beers (thanks Adam) and some finger food we headed back to Dans’ to finish packing and getting ready for tomorrows departure. Later while Chad cooked brats and “little boys” (Aussie term) Dan and I modified a Ventura rack for the RC. It wasn’t some of my best work but it was solid and it passed the cross country test. It’s funny how I had only met these guys the day before but we were hanging out and busting balls like we’ve been doing it for years.

Dano says:
My neighbor pal Adam took us to the shop in his HUGE Ford, because my truck only seats two to three people. Bucket got a little "excited" when he saw the truck that we were taking. While the tire change was happening we went to breakfast, and Bucket was exposed to biscuits and gravy, lets just say that he loved it. The thing that got my attention was when he ordered a chocolate shake at 9:00am with breakfast. More power to you my friend, haha. We arrive home, install the tires and load up to head to Chaparral and Cycle Gear. First stop, Chaparral and the fellas are like kids in a candy store. I must admit that Chaparral is a mans store, its hard to NOT spend money there. I took the Aussies there to look for gear, instead they bought me a two piece Tourmaster all season suit. WOW, thanks guys, I loved the gift and it worked beautiful on the trip. After getting a few items it was time to hit Cycle Gear to pick up Buckets two piece Frank Thomas suit. Thanks Nimec for the major hook up with the discount on Buckets gear. Being Wednesday and all the shopping done, we decided to have a beer at a local bar. To the Stop In we go. In route to the bar, we make it to a red light merging onto an on-ramp. Adam on the R1 makes the red light and we get trapped behind it. He pulls over, Hockey slides up next to me, flips up his visor and yells, "DOES HE KNOW WHERE HE IS GOING?", I nod yes. Hockey then yells, "I'M GUNNA GO F*@k WITH HIM". TheSpeedTriple.com 2009 motto is born, I'm gunna go F*@k with him. All I saw after that was a R1 and Triple doing side by side wheelies up the on-ramp, with Hockey looking to his right side at Adam as they disappeared with the howl of a Triple's Zard and R1 screaming off into the distance. Its funny that I recall Hockey mentioning that he was done with all that "Hooligan" behavior, that he didn't want to talk to the PoPo any more. Huh....hows that working out David?

The Stop In is noted on TheSpeedTriple.com for having some pretty ladies that bar tend in bikinis. I wont name any names,(they flew in from Austria) wanted to go. We ordered a picture of beer and a bunch of bar food snacks between the six of us. Speaking of pictures...

Time to return to the casa and continue with packing and working on the bikes. Hockey and I finished the last bits of service work and fabbed up the Ventura rack for the RC51, damn it turned out fine. Rough around the edges, but functional. Man did it make me happy to get that rack built. Again, thanks for the help Hockey you da Man. We finished just in time to have Becky come down and tell us that dinner was ready. Thanks Nimec and Becky for cooking, it tasted great. At some point, and I don't recall the exact time(because I was running around with my head cut off) NotNotRazorback(Brian) showed up from northern Cali. Everyone made their introductions and we unpacked his Triple and squeezed it into my garage. It was awesome to finally meet you Brian, thanks for making the trip. The night's festivities continued as we listened to some Blues and enjoyed each other companionship and conversation well into the night. Damn this is starting out nice.

Bucket says: Well, after waking up with a slightly fuzzy head, I think I still has some jet lag, it was all systems go. After laying eyes on Adams ute and calming down a bit we were off into the traffic, OMFG,that's some crazy s#*t right there I tell you. I got to have my first Merican breakfast. Diggin' those biscuits and gravy. Although you sure do have some crazy names for thing over there. We call biscuits what you call cookies and we call gravy something you put on meat. Crazy Mericans. After coming back from getting the tyres fitted it was off on the motorsickles to get some gear. I have never ridden in traffic like that before and I must say I was s#&tting myself to start with but after a while I sort of got the hang of it but was still being very cautious. Man that Chapparal was like heaven, or what I imagine it to be like. Leggy and I had decided we wanted to get Dano something for all the work and effort he had put in to making this trip possible for us. I think he was fairly impressed when we bought him the gear. Kudos to you you Skunkman. Then back to Dano's where the boys started working on the bikes, tyres back on, racks being made and installed. Dano and Hockey were like a well oiled machine, thanks fellas, much appreciated. I had organised to meet up with one of my relatives who I have never met, my mums cousin, she is a blood relative on my mums side, long story short, my blood grandfather was an American who any of us had never met. Loreta was such a lovely lady and said I looked a lot like my grandfather(lucky bloke). She chatted away with the guys and me, brought us some water and gum for the trip. She didn't stay long as she had to get back to Desert Hot Springs but it was great to meet her. After a while Not Not turned up, great to meet ya brudda,then the drinking began again,burp.

Day eleven The Australians Arrive (of Hockeyfans trip)

2009-08-25T18:09:00.000-07:00

Hockey says:
Dan, Chad and I got up and hit the road in search of much needed maintenance supplies for my bike. While Dan ran a few errands I changed the oil, lubed and tightened the chain, washed the bike and generally showed the girl some love after the abuse of the last ten days. After a bit Dan and his buddy Mark (RC51 owner) showed up so we could leave to go to the airport. One question, why does everyone in LA drive like they're pissed off? I mean, really pissed. Anyway we make it to the airport with about an hour to spare and after we get the flight info, we go upstairs to get a few cold ones. After we offended the waiter by not ordering food we paid and went back downstairs. Within a few minutes I hear from down the corridor "Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi". The future men have arrived. I think it was Bucket yelling like that, something about not getting his cavity searched. After his first "Durry" on American soil, we left for a welcoming party at Biffs house. I would like to thank everyone who came out to welcome us to Cali. MrBiff, Night Train, Harley, FnSquirrel , GlennC, SonnyBoy, DirtyYamaha, MarkRc51, and Kaluka. The drinking started with a flask of Crown Royal Cast 16 I had brought with me from the east coast. After that I started helping Bucket with his bottle of Makers Mark. Evidently we weren't the only ones getting hammered as Dano tried to relive Buckets famous shorts pose.

Great food, great people, great dog made for a great evening that had to end far too early. I sometimes forget that most of these people have to go to work the next day. Sorry. After a little while on the interstate back to Dans house we introduced Bucket and Leggy to the bikes they've owned for the last six months. Leggy, the older and more mature world traveler of the two, promptly jumps on the Super Hawk and blasts to the end of the parking lot and back. The cops showed up not too long after that so we moved the party upstairs and tried to finish the Makers Mark. Almost did it too.

Dano says:
We roll out for supplies to service Hockey's and Chads bikes. While we were out, we stopped in at Qdoba's Mexican for a bite to eat. David says he isn't to hungry, well you sure made fast work of that lunch! Hockey was a blessing from above, he wrenched on the bikes like a mad man without any hesitation. I almost think he likes wrenching. If it wasn't for David, I would have had a melt down. I was burning the candle at both ends with a blow torch and he took so much heat off of me. Looking back I don't see or remember the stress so much, because (you) David helped me so much... not only then, the WHOLE trip when you were around. You my pal are a great person, my hat goes off to you.

We cleaned up and waited for Mark to pick us (David and I) up to go to LAX to meet the Aussies. We arrived at LAX, parked and directed ourselves to the nearest beer dispenser. All that we could find was a foo-foo restaurant upstairs, so we sat down and ordered a few rounds. We demolished a few baskets of the "free" appetizer bread. The waiter got a bit agitated that we ate the bread and drank just beers. Time to go meet and greet the foreigners, it wasn't long before I smelled a foul stench, and sure as hell, Leggy(John aka Chewie) rounded the corner. I saw Chewie easily as he towered above everyone, wondering where Bucket(Greg aka Grubbery) was I asked "what is that smell?" He pointed down, and THERE was Bucket, all 5 foot-2inches of him. He might be small, but he makes up for it in smell. Hey Bucket, are you French?

So handshakes and hugs all around before we get the luggage, we head out to the parking structure. As we are about to climb into the truck, Bucket asks to have his first smoke on 'Murrican soil. After his nicotine fix I tell Chewie to get in the front passenger seat of the truck. He goes over to the front drivers side and stands there next to Mark, I say again...."Chewie, sit in the front seat". So he stands there again looking at Mark. HaHa...we both had brain farts as he was trying to sit in the passenger seat in an Australian car,(whoops wrong side) and I didn't realize that he didn't make that connection.

We load up and tear ass to MrBiff's house to the SoCal welcome party. We arrive to the party and then make a run to the beer store for more beers. Bucket and Chewie are stunned at the prices of everything, Bucket loves America all ready because of the cheap whiskey prices. I must admit that we have some GREAT peeps here in SoCal, thanks everyone for showing up on a week night to invite these Aussies into 'Murrica. The party was excellent with awesome local BBque and plenty of tasty beers/whiskey. The cast of characters never cease to amaze me, they threw out the welcome mat to both the Aussies AND Hockey. I sure had a good night, thanks everyone...MrBiff, MrsBiff, Night Train, GlennC, Sonnyboy, Dirtyamaha, FnSquirrel, Nimec, Harley(and her girl), Kuhlka, MarkRC51, thanks so much to everyone that made that night awesome. Well the time was getting late and we had a hour drive back home, so we headed out. When we arrived to my place, the Oz fellas wanted to see their bikes. As soon as I opened the garage, Chewie had started the SuperHawk and tore ass down the parking lot and back. The cat was outta the bag Chewie can't fool me, from that stunt I knew I was dealing with an experienced rider haha. Bucket had "enjoyed" to much of the Makers Mark to test ride the Sprint, he just sat on it and started it to hear it run. I of course had to fire off the RC51 with its 2 into 1 Jardine pipes, well lets just say that they aren't exactly quite, and within a whole 30 seconds of bikes running at 10:30 at night we had disturbed the neighbors, yes the PoPo made did a drive by and warned us to stop making noise late at night. No worries, as we wanted to continue the drinking. So upstairs we go to finish off the bottle of bourbon and beers. With the dwindling supply of drinks, we made a liquor run with a Del Taco intervention, tacos and burritos for everyone. I took control of the situation about 2:30am and said its time to call it quits....Bucket said he wanted a drink or two more. Ok, but we are going to bed. With the lights off, this is what I heard. Bucket opening the balcony door, walks to the kitchen, the freezer door opening, ice falling into a glass, the cap on a bottle of bourbon being unscrewed, bourbon being poured, coke poured, the mixed drink being stirred, Bucket sipping the drink, Bucket saying, "that's the good shit", Bucket walking back outside for another durry. Ok, who was he talking to? With a beginning night of drinking like this, I knew that we were going to waste a lot of brain cells on this trip.

BUCKET says:
I remember as we were flying into LA, WTF look at the size of this place. After a 13-14 hour flight, with a baby crying a lot of the way(no not Leggy)it was great to get off the plane. After getting through customs (which wasn't as hard as I thought it would be) my beatches were there to meet us. Dano, Hockey and Dano's mate Mark. Instantly we were made to feel at home and started talking bulls#*t straight away. Then it was into Mark's truck and into the LA traffic. OMFG, talk about crazy fn Mericans. I think I had wet myself about 3 times by the time we got to Mr & Mrs Biff's house where the SoCal crew were waiting. Again, a great bunch of peeps who made us feel at home. Thanks everyone for coming to meet us. Biff had ordered in barbecue everything which we gorged ourselves on and we drank and talked a lot of s#*t. Much appreciation to all the SoCal crew and Mr Peabody. Then it was back to Dano's to check out the bikes, I was too tidly by then to take the Sprint for a lap but Chewie roared off down the parkin lot and got the cops called on us, fn trouble maker. Then we settled into some serious dranking and bulls#*ting, the rest is kinda blurry.
(wave smiley)

Day ten Moreno Valley 4316 (of Hockeyfans trip)

2009-08-24T17:35:00.000-07:00

Hockey says:
Woke up to a heavy mist, either that or it rained during the night. I decided to abandon the coast for a while so I took Hwy 46 inland to Hwy 101. I followed that south for about a hundred miles south when i got my first indication I was getting close to southern Cali.
I called Dano and told him I was heading his way on the 101 and he suggested I stick it out on there till I saw signs for Ventura or Oxnard. That plan worked out well because that's where I saw the next indication I was in SoCal.

I will give credit where credit is due, it was a damn fine burger. The fries on the other hand were really just your run of the mill fast food fries. So I can now say my neighbor (Matt) is wrong when he says 5 Guys burgers are not the best in the states. I cruised on through Ventura, Oxnard, and Malibu on a Monday afternoon like the tourist I had become. Saw more Porsches than I could count and a few Ferraris too. I hit LA around 1:30 or so and I didn't realize I still had almost a hundred miles to go. I hadn't figured my gas for that and had to stop somewhere called Inglewood. After that traffic started to back up and I wasn't sure what the rules are for lane splitting so I just played it cool till a bike went by. I guess there are no rules concerning lane splitting, at least not so I could figure them out. Once I rolled into Dans house I kind of was torn about whether to be disappointed cause the trip is half over or pumped because it just keeps getting better.

(Dano says:)
Hockeyfans arrival to Casa de Dano

I get a call from Hockey(aka David) asking "Am I supposed to turn left or right?", and I'm thinking, where the hell are ya? Well come to find out that he is in the other side of the complex and couldn't find my building. You sly dog you.....with a bit of go this way, turn past that, he gets to my garage. It was good seeing ya David, you looked tired and ecstatic at the same time. We unpacked the bike and stashed it in the garage and went upstairs so David could clean up and have a drink to wash the road dust down. Speaking of dust, I think he had every bug there was on the front of the Triple, damn that was one dirty bike. It was definitely rode hard and put away wet/dirty.

David showered and then we cruised down to the store to buy some drinks, chips and salsa and a pair of shorts for David. We stuffed the 24 pack of Coronas in the Ventura pack and headed back to the house, time to officially start MY part of the party/trip now that Hockeyfan is here. Now the crunch time was on, I had to do a complete service on a RC51. Why? Because my mechanic buddy put me in a time-line crunch regarding my Triumph Speed Four. With some info that I found while checking the Speed Four, I decided to use my buddies RC51(thank you sooooo much Mark, I owe you big time) that he offered to me to use. Hockey and I started servicing the two bikes, changing oil, filters, cleaning the brakes/chains, changing the coolant on the RC51. It was a mad rush to get it all done. In the evening Becky came over to meet David and we all went out to dinner.

Later in the evening Nimec (Chad) showed up with his girlfriend Tiffany. They unloaded Tiffany's car that had Chads gear in it. We all talked Tiffany into staying the night with us because it was getting later and she had a long way to drive back to San Diego. The party keeps getting bigger and bigger. Hot tub time....except there isn't "hot" in the hot tub, for some reason the pump worked but the heater didn't. So some of the group (the ladies) sat in the "warm" tub and the guys went over to the fire pit and sat around the fire and finished off the remainder of the beers, listened and talked to Hockey about his adventure across the States. After the beers are gone, what do you do? Go to bed. I now had two inflatables in the front room, David on one, and Chad/Tiffany on the other. Let the snoring begin.

Day nine San Simeon CA 3989 (of Hockeyfans trip)

2009-08-23T15:31:00.000-07:00

What they don't tell you in the tour guide is its always foggy along the coast in northern California. What can I say about the PCH that hasn't already been said. Even with the fog and mist this section of real estate is phenomenal. I couldn't resist stopping and taking pictures every few miles. I bounced between Hwy 1 and Hwy 101 for a while till I got to San Francisco.

The visitor parking area where I took that last pic was a mad house and it was here I remembered lane splitting in CA is legal. Sweet. I hadn't given it much thought but I had managed to avoid every major city all the way across the country. If I did have to go through one I made sure the tank was full enough to get completely past it before I got off the interstate. Not the case with San Fran. Hwy 101 takes you right through it. I managed to find my way south to the PCH again and started the stopping for pics every 10 minutes again all the way down to San Simeon State Park. I think I was the only English speaking person there, everyone else seemed to be European. I had saw signs for Hearst Castle but I didn't know what it was. Cell phone reception along the coast is spotty at best so my plan to google it for a possible morning visit was foiled. Big mistake. That place makes the short list for places to see before I'm done.

Day eight Jenner CA 3662 (of Hockeyfans trip)

2009-08-22T14:28:00.000-07:00

I got up early feeling very well rested and I guess 11 hours of sleep will do that for you. I apologized to my neighbors for crashing so early and they apologized for being so loud during the night. No worries I don't think a marching band would have bothered me that night. I continued on Hwy 20 towards the coast but ended up heading south down to Auburn CA. I was trying to figure out where I was and pick a route to the coast when a guy asked what kind of bike I was riding. Long story short he rides and helped put me back on track. Since I had an extra day to kill and wasn't in a hurry he suggested I follow 20 through Willits to Fort Bragg. Good suggestion. Hwy 20 from Willits to Ft Bragg was 33 miles of heaven. Tight twisty fresh pavement lined by redwoods and every car you catch politely pulls to the side so you can pass. Got a good workout on that stretch of road. As soon as I hit the PCH I saw the pacific. It was foggy and 10 degrees cooler than it had been 10 miles ago but I was still pumped. I did it. I just rode my bike across the country.

Dina decided to reward me with a Hotel room and a nice dinner on her. Due to some confusion I ended up paying for the room but she still picked up the tab for dinner. She wasn't real happy it happened to be a $60 steak dinner but I promised to bring her back to this very same restaurant and I would buy next time.

Day seven Grass valley CA 3330 miles (of Hockeyfans trip)

2009-08-21T18:58:00.000-07:00

I knew crossing NV would suck and it didn't disappoint. I got up early and rolled out at 6:30, I stayed after it and hit Cali by 1:30. Here is a pic from the road.
When I hit Cali on I-80 The road was in terrible shape and just felt like it was beating the crap out of me. Luckily I wasn't on it for very long. I hit Hwy 20 and headed into Grass Valley CA. The campground I planned to stay at advertised campsites with no water electric or sewer hookups for $20 a night. When I pulled up to the office and went to check in they asked where my camper was. I tell them I'm riding my bike across the country I didn't bring a camper, she tells me I can't sleep in a tent there. Only in Cali do you find a campground that doesn't allow camping. On the positive side they did have a cool statue near the entrance.

I called Dina and like the angel she is she found me a campground not too far away that allowed "tent" camping and I pulled in and set up camp while it was still pretty early. I got to talking to the people camping next to me and they were blown away that I rode all the way from Bonneville that day. I guess the fact that I left the east coast just a week ago was not that impressive. I wish I could remember their names because they were some really nice people and I felt bad for drinking one beer they offered and promptly falling asleep at about 7:30. I can be such a lightweight sometimes.

Day six 2804 miles Wendover NV (of Hockeyfans trip)

2009-08-20T18:49:00.000-07:00

I continued down Hwy 89 with the intention of hitting Hwy 39 into Ogden UT and meeting up with Jpip. Hwy 89 has some very nice sections down through the canyons but the trees and close canyon walls make it hard to get a good pic so I didn't. I saw a real live cattle drive in progress crossing the road here. Somehow I missed the turn and ended up in Logan UT which is not too far from the interstate and a long way from Hwy 39. Oh well I'll wait and meet Jpip in Vegas. I hit the interstate and rolled through Salt Lake City and got a pretty good look at the lake the city was named after. No idea if it was deep but it sure was wide.

After that I hit one of the most boring stretches of pavement imaginable. A hundred miles of NOTHING. Seemed like it took forever but it couldn't have been that long because I rolled into Wendover UT early enough to hit the Salt flats.

This, to a gear head like me, is hallowed ground. I rode out onto the salt flats and started to toy with the idea of seeing what speedy had in her without the bags. It didn't take long to figure out salt does not equal traction and I didn't have my jacket on. So I got back on the pavement and rode off into the sunset at a reasonable speed. Ok I was really going away from the sunset and I hit 137mph.

Day five 2433 miles Alpine WY (of Hockeyfans trip)

2009-08-19T16:49:00.000-07:00

This was the first day I didn't cross a state line. I followed Hwy 16 out of Worland and into a light rain. Nothing too severe so I didn't even put my rain suit on, only lasted about an hour anyway. Along the way I spotted a few planes on the side of the road, some were being stripped down and others looked like they could be flown.

By the time I made it to Cody WY it had stopped raining and the sun was starting to come out. Just in time for me to roll through one of my favorite spots on the whole trip. Buffalo Bill's State Park. I could fill this page with pictures from there but I'll just hit you with a few. If you want to see more or want the full res versions email me.

After that little slice of awesome I continued on Hwy 16 to Yellowstone National Park. Some of the roads were closed so I didn't do the full loop through but the shorter one instead. I pretty much knew what to expect in yellow stone so I can't say I was blown away like I was in a few other places that day. Well I didn't expect this.

Leaving the park I had to ride about 10 miles of dirt road that was mostly a construction zone. A normal dirt road would have been fine but this one ranged from loose sand and gravel to fist size stone sections to areas that were hard packed and full of potholes. As you can imagine I didn't ride this far to get stuck in traffic on a dusty road behind a row of single lane cars so I was still a bit annoyed after I passed them and got back to the paved stuff when I came upon the most impressive sight of the entire trip. The Grand Tetons. Holy cow what a sight. Like I said before for more or better pics send me an email.

I called the wife and asked her to help me find a campsite south of Jackson and she came up with one in Alpine. The office where you registered was a bar and you couldn't check in till you ordered a drink (That's my story and I'm sticking to it). After I got the tent set up and the bike unloaded I treated myself to a few Black Tooth Grins (thanks Leggy) and slept like a baby.

Day four 2118 Miles Worland WY (of Hockeyfans trip)

2009-08-18T15:07:00.000-07:00

Its 30 freaking degrees here! Speedy has ice on the seat. WTF. I doubled up on the jeans and t-shirt and it did help somewhat but it was still cold as a well diggers butt once you got moving. So move on I did. First I rolled through Deadwood SD, kind of surreal rolling through an old western town while 2Pac played on the Ipod. Stopped in a few places and got a few pics before heading out Hwy 24 in WY to the Devils Tower. Along the way there were a few places where you could see the road stretch on for miles so I used that opportunity to open the old girl up and see what she would do fully loaded. I got 140 once or twice then I decided to try a longer run. I must have held it flat out for a solid minute and the best I got was 142. After I slowed down I noticed the lack of tunes. The Ipod was gone. I had it in my tank bag in the outer pocket with my cell phone. Since the phone was charging and the Ipod was connected to my Chatterbox the zipper wasn't closed all the way. The zipper was now fully opened and the Ipod the cord and the cord to the cell phone was now gone. The other end to the phone was under the seat so it didn't go far. I considered for a second going back and looking for the Ipod but after hitting the road at 140 I'm pretty sure it was done. Moving on, as you can guess it didn't take long to get to the Devils Tower. Man that thing is huge, pictures don't do it justice.

After a few more stops for pictures I found myself standing on top of a hill where you could see for miles in every direction. Not even a breeze was blowing and the air was clear and still, that was when I noticed about a 3 mile straight with a nice downhill slope to it. I hit 146 before I started climbing the other side and started losing speed so I came off the gas and coasted up the hill just cruising. Guess what met me at the top of the hill.

She clocked me at 78 in a 65 and wrote me a ticket for it. Remember the zipper and the Ipod, well that was the same pocket that had my license, registration and every other important piece of paper in it, and now it's gone. I had my government ID with me so she didn't worry too much about it but it did worry me so I sent Dano and Cheap a text and told them "I am done with all of the Hooligan stuff". They laughed. After a short stint on I-90 I hit Hwy 16 to Worland WY. The scenery is amazing.

You ride along the bottom of this canyon for about 40 miles. At one point I stopped to take a few pics and left the bike running and it fell over. No damage, put away the camera zip the zipper completely and roll on. I was going to stay at a Super 8 in Worland but they were "renovating" and they wanted $20 more than the web site quoted me. I ended up camping and had the pleasure of meeting some very nice folks who were camping next to me who reassured me that I was in fact crazy for crossing the country on a bike.

Day three 1808 Miles Black Hills SD (of Hockeyfans trip)

2009-08-17T13:33:00.000-07:00

Today was supposed to be an easy 400 mile day and the start of the fun stuff. I got up early and hit the road to knock out some miles so I would have more time for sightseeing. Along I-90 in MN I came across an area where there were windmills as far as you could see and every direction. Like I said I was trying to get some miles done so I pulled of the interstate snapped a few pics and hit it again without even pulling my gloves off. This becomes a reoccurring and costly theme. At one point I managed to burn a tank of gas in 1 hr 37min. The cross winds through SD and the steady 90 mph speeds started to take a toll on me by early afternoon. My neck was sore by the time I got off the interstate. I rolled into Badlands National Park about two and the wind was still howling. I reach for the camera and find an open zipper and an empty pocket. Dammit. I figure I either I didn't zip the pocket up all the way or the constant winds just worked it loose. So all you get from the Badlands is cell phone pics.

It was still early and I really wanted to get out of the wind and warm up so I ditched the plan to camp there and decided to push on to the Black Hills. I must admit I wasn't prepared for the cool weather, I hadn't packed anything other than t-shirts or the liner for my jacket. I called Cheap to let him know how things were going and to tell him how cold it was and he said to "HDFU 'cause it's all in yer head". Dina found me a campground just outside of Rapid City SD in the black hills so I headed that way with one quick stop to buy a new camera. By the time I got into the mountains it was starting to get dark so I said skip it I'm pulling into the next campground I see. Next corner I find Creekside Camping, the very one the wife had told me about. The cabin I stayed in had a thermometer outside that read 52 degrees. Cheap is full of it, I knew it was cold.

Day two 1263 miles total Blue Earth MN (of Hockeyfans trip)

2009-08-16T17:19:00.000-07:00

No pictures today, not much to see anyway. Rolled through Chi-town in the interstate and got hit with a light rain for a few hours through Wisconsin neither of which I would like to do again. I had issues with my cell phone charging yesterday and today it wouldn't work right so I wasted two hours so the nice lady at Verizon could take 10 seconds and pop the battery out and then back in to fix it. Never has "Is there anything else I can help you with today?" sounded so much like a smart ass comment. One kinda funny thing happened today, after I checked in to the motel and unloaded the bags I decided to hit the Dairy Queen about a half a block away for some grub. I rolled up in all my gear (MN doesn't even have helmet laws) ordered a meal to go, got my food in a small paper bag and a large drink and walked out. Two Harley guys were watching and I'm sure wondering what I was going to do with the food so I could ride the bike. So holding the bag and the drink in my right hand I started the bike pulled out and shifted up through third without touching the gas. When I got to the parking lot they had come outside and were watching me park. I backed down into the parking spot slipping the clutch for brakes, killed it with the kickstand, grabbed my key, and walked in. Never did touch the right handle bar. Lesson over.

Day one 623 miles Orland Indiana (of Hockeyfans trip)

2009-08-15T16:13:00.000-07:00

Here is the trusty steed all loaded down and ready for action.

The plan was to get as far off the east coast as fast as possible and to avoid traveling any roads that the CCC would be hitting on the return trip. This put me on the interstate from Va through MD, PA, OH, and into IN. Nothing worth taking any pictures of except this Ferrari in Big Beaver PA.

I had been getting a little nervous about this trip for the past week or so. I had never done a trip nearly this big and I was doing over half of it alone. Like Cheap said that goes away in about five miles. Well by the time I got to Ohio I was feeling pretty good about things and it began to show. I was rolling out of a toll booth and there was a minivan beside me. The kid in the passenger seat was pointing and telling his dad to look at what was the finest bike he'd seen when I decided to make it memorable for them both. A handful of throttle and a good tug on the bars got the front end up good enough that I stretched out a good hundred yard wheelie. I had the stupid grin syndrome pretty bad even ten miles up the road when a State Cop went flying past me lights a-blazing. The grin faltered when he got in front of me and started pointing to the left shoulder. I was doing about 85 so I figured a speeding ticket was in my future. I didn't even get the helmet off before he was out and yelling at me "Nobody does a wheelie right past me and doesn't get a ticket". Damn it, you saw that. He takes my license and says "Your older than I am so I know you know better". I started eating humble pie and after about three good slices I asked if he could just write it for something I didn't have to come back for. He was still pissed when I saw the first crack in his armor, he mumbled something about how I needed to see a judge and it wasn't like he hated bikers 'cause he had a TL100S. A few minutes later he came out with a ticket and told me to sign it but not to read it. I did and later pulled out a "failure to signal for a lane change" ticket. Yessssssssss!

Day 0 (of Hockeyfans trip)

2009-08-14T15:55:00.000-07:00

First and foremost I'd like to thank a few folks for the help, advice, encouragement and permission (that one is just for Dina) it took for me to pull this off. After reading a few blogs about trips like this and around the world trips I knew it was something I wanted to do. I even told Cheap if I hadn't done one of theses in five years time he could have every bike I owned. Dano, Cheap, Trippeee, Dina, Johnny, Scott, Eddie, Mike, and Steve (for telling me every day I was crazy) Thank you. I'll raise a glass to each and every one of you.