John Anthony
08-05-2005, 10:36 PM
Maggie and I just got back from a week in Sun Valley. It's about a 575 mile trip from our house in Seattle to where we stayed. Maggie drove #2 daughter and one of her friends in one of our cars. I let her ride the ST the last few miles after I racked up an unofficial Iron Butt. The heat in eastern Washington/Oregon and Idaho was pretty intense with at least 6 hours or so of riding in mid-90's/low 100's. That part wasn't a whole lot of fun, but thanks to a good thread a week or so ago, we got a lot of helpful info. that we put to good use.
Sun Valley is around 5700' elevation and we did some riding into the 8K range. The ST just ate that stuff up, no stumbles, no hard starting - nada. Saw plenty of deer, both alive as well as some road kill. No helmet law in Idaho and we were a little surprised by the high percentage of riders who took advantage of that - early morning as well as late afternoon. Kind of makes you wonder, though, with all the game out there.
The big mountain in Sun Valley is around 8500' and we had some fun (?) taking mountain bikes down from the top. Took us the better part of 3 hours. Not sure I'd ever do that again! Okay, at 58 and about 40# overweight, I won't do that again.
On the other hand, we spend about 3 hours on a river run on the Salmon River with a great guide and her father who had just trailered a Yamaha cross country in a motor home he just bought. We had a great time with these two and the river was pretty spectacular.
This trip really helped me appreciate:
1. My 1300 - what a sweet bike on the road. Most of our cruising was between 65 and about 80 and that bike is just so smooth on the highway. Very, very enjoyable.
2. Fairing deflectors - I rode in some 100 degree weather about 3 years ago and damn near fried myself. What a difference these puppies made. Great $130 investment.
3. Russell seat - I couldn't believe we racked up that many miles without getting tired buns, but hey, what can I say. This is just a great seat!!
4. LD shorts - wouldn't have believed that a pair of shorts would make that much difference, but it's pretty amazing to rack up that many hours in the saddle, in those temperatures and come out with your buns in tact!
5. Cruise - I've been a big fan of the McCruise system since I installed it, but this was the first long distance trip, and boy it was great. Maggie used it whenever she rode (meaning of course we'll have to buy a unit for her '05).
John
Sun Valley is around 5700' elevation and we did some riding into the 8K range. The ST just ate that stuff up, no stumbles, no hard starting - nada. Saw plenty of deer, both alive as well as some road kill. No helmet law in Idaho and we were a little surprised by the high percentage of riders who took advantage of that - early morning as well as late afternoon. Kind of makes you wonder, though, with all the game out there.
The big mountain in Sun Valley is around 8500' and we had some fun (?) taking mountain bikes down from the top. Took us the better part of 3 hours. Not sure I'd ever do that again! Okay, at 58 and about 40# overweight, I won't do that again.
On the other hand, we spend about 3 hours on a river run on the Salmon River with a great guide and her father who had just trailered a Yamaha cross country in a motor home he just bought. We had a great time with these two and the river was pretty spectacular.
This trip really helped me appreciate:
1. My 1300 - what a sweet bike on the road. Most of our cruising was between 65 and about 80 and that bike is just so smooth on the highway. Very, very enjoyable.
2. Fairing deflectors - I rode in some 100 degree weather about 3 years ago and damn near fried myself. What a difference these puppies made. Great $130 investment.
3. Russell seat - I couldn't believe we racked up that many miles without getting tired buns, but hey, what can I say. This is just a great seat!!
4. LD shorts - wouldn't have believed that a pair of shorts would make that much difference, but it's pretty amazing to rack up that many hours in the saddle, in those temperatures and come out with your buns in tact!
5. Cruise - I've been a big fan of the McCruise system since I installed it, but this was the first long distance trip, and boy it was great. Maggie used it whenever she rode (meaning of course we'll have to buy a unit for her '05).
John