OP
OP
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2005
- Messages
- 9,519
- Location
- Cedar City, Utah
- Bike
- 12/04 ST 1300s
- 2024 Miles
- 000420
- STOC #
- 5901
Day 17 – Sunday September 4th
Planned route for the day:
The original plan for the day was to ride back up and see Hoover Dam & bridge, then head for HOME! But I thought Dave would like to go see London Bridge in Lake Havasu City. So we changed our plans a little.
In the morning, we got up and decided we would wait for breakfast until we could hit the McDonalds in Searchlight, on our way to Hoover dam and the bridge. So I called the bellhop to come get our stuff, which we were lucky, not that many people were leaving Sunday morning on a three day weekend!
I walked down with the bellhop and Dave was getting his bike. When the bellhop and I got down to the loading area, he told me to go ahead and get my bike too and he would hold the stuff there for us. Cool. So I went and got my bike before Dave even got his going.
We both rode down, loaded them up and off we went the direction we came. Out 163 to 95 and north to Searchlight, where we filled up the bikes, found some shade and I went in and bought us some breakfast. As always, most of our stops are not short and this one was not different. So a good 45 minutes later we were heading north again towards Boulder City.
The temps were climbing a little, but it was still comfortable. We found the dam entrance and followed the road for what seemed miles. As we approached the “Security” area (it wasn’t there when I visited back in Jan of 2013), there we maybe five cars ahead of us.
Our first stop was at the parking lot for the bridge. “Hey, look, shade, right next to the bathrooms!” BIG MISTAKE, I kept having the smell of those things in my helmet for the next 100 miles! AIR, I need AIR!
Dave and I walk up the steps to the bridge and it was really windy! I removed my hat because I thought it would blow off! We walked about halfway out, took our pictures and headed back to the bikes. As we got back to the parking lot, an Australian guy started talking to us about the bikes and our adventure.
We then walked back to the bikes and all I could smell was the odor coming from the bathrooms! It was pretty strong; I will not do that again! (Park near outhouses). Dave and I then headed to the dam and I was thinking that the road from the Arizona side would be open, WRONG! So after turning around we stopped at an almost empty parking lot that overlooked the dam and the bridge and we took a bunch of pictures and then a Pepsi break!
As we got back on the bikes, our Sena’s started acting up. We could hear our music, but not each other. So I called Dave and we talked on our cell phones as we exited the park. Remember when we got to the Security area, that we were only like five vehicles back? Well let me tell you that that line was now backed up to the off ramp at the freeway! Some two or three miles back! And they weren’t moving very fast!
“Timing is Everything”, was the theme of this ride!
Now Dave and I are riding down Hwy93 in Arizona and our Sena’s were still not working, which was frustrating the heck out of me! So I kept playing with it, turning it on/off, laying with the dial, etc! I don’t even know what I did, but all of a sudden, Dave could hear me again! (I have to figure these things out, that all there is to it! And now that I have two of them, maybe I can!)
Wow, we were able to communicate again. The cell phones were great when we were trying to get out of the park, but once we hit speed, I couldn’t understand Dave too well. But with the intercom working again, we could talk just fine. And since the road to Kingman was long and not too exciting, being able to commuicate allowed us to make comments of the different cages around us and how some of them would go real fast until they got around us and then slowed down again. And we would pass them again! Oh well, at least we weren't going back down US95...again, since we had already ridden twice in the last two days.
We didn't even stop in Kingman, we just headed west on I40, and about 32 miles later, we took AZ95 south for another 25 miles or so, until we saw a Chevron/McD’s. And it was getting hot by now, so being inside seemed like the thing to do! Before we left, we had a few conversations with different folks.
We take these extended breaks and then Dave wonders why we are so late at getting to our destination??? Well Bro, stopping for an hour and a half several times has a tendency to delay us getting to the next point, and then it adds up over the course of the day! Hello!
Anyway, we head down to the bridge and I got confused as to which road to take, which put us at a parking lot that had a good view of the bridge. So we stopped and took some pictures there, then got on the bikes and figured that the main road does not connect to the bridge, you have to go east one block, and then to the road that goes over the bridge.
We rode over the bridge, made a u-turn and rode back the way we came and stopped in a parking lot to put our riding gear all back on. Since we were just doing slow maneuvers, we just placed our jackets over the topcases. It was just too hot not to be moving fast enough!
And back to the main hwy we went, heading south to Parker, where we could cross back over into California. The ride down 93 was fairly interesting as it follows the Colorado river down. Once in Parker, we crossed a bridge and into CA we went! We caught Hwy62 west from there and followed it for about 54 miles to Hwy177 and followed 177 for 27 miles, south to put us on I10 west for almost 50 miles. We got on hwy 111 and just followed it until we found a Chevron, where we took another extended break.
It was now getting dark and we changed our helmet visors to clear and took off looking for Hwy74. Hwy 74 took us over the mountains to Hwy 371 and then to Hwy 79 & Temecula. From there it was up Butterfield Stage and Murrieta Hot Springs. As we were riding down Murrieta Hot Springs, I called Chris to let her know we were almost home. As I came up to the next light, Dave wasn’t there!
My first thoughts was that he crashed or got hit and since I was on the phone, I couldn’t hear him tell me he got stuck behind a light. So I made a u-turn and saw him coming down the road, so I flashed my lights, but he didn’t see them. I then turned around again and was a few cages behind him. I gave him instructions to turn right, so he did and I was able to catch him and guide him back to my place, although by then he had already dialed in his GPS to take him there.
Shortly after that, we arrived home!
But the adventure wasn’t over yet! Dave was still almost 500 miles from home!
Total miles for Day 17 was about: 487
Planned route for the day:
The original plan for the day was to ride back up and see Hoover Dam & bridge, then head for HOME! But I thought Dave would like to go see London Bridge in Lake Havasu City. So we changed our plans a little.
In the morning, we got up and decided we would wait for breakfast until we could hit the McDonalds in Searchlight, on our way to Hoover dam and the bridge. So I called the bellhop to come get our stuff, which we were lucky, not that many people were leaving Sunday morning on a three day weekend!
I walked down with the bellhop and Dave was getting his bike. When the bellhop and I got down to the loading area, he told me to go ahead and get my bike too and he would hold the stuff there for us. Cool. So I went and got my bike before Dave even got his going.
We both rode down, loaded them up and off we went the direction we came. Out 163 to 95 and north to Searchlight, where we filled up the bikes, found some shade and I went in and bought us some breakfast. As always, most of our stops are not short and this one was not different. So a good 45 minutes later we were heading north again towards Boulder City.
The temps were climbing a little, but it was still comfortable. We found the dam entrance and followed the road for what seemed miles. As we approached the “Security” area (it wasn’t there when I visited back in Jan of 2013), there we maybe five cars ahead of us.
Our first stop was at the parking lot for the bridge. “Hey, look, shade, right next to the bathrooms!” BIG MISTAKE, I kept having the smell of those things in my helmet for the next 100 miles! AIR, I need AIR!
Dave and I walk up the steps to the bridge and it was really windy! I removed my hat because I thought it would blow off! We walked about halfway out, took our pictures and headed back to the bikes. As we got back to the parking lot, an Australian guy started talking to us about the bikes and our adventure.
We then walked back to the bikes and all I could smell was the odor coming from the bathrooms! It was pretty strong; I will not do that again! (Park near outhouses). Dave and I then headed to the dam and I was thinking that the road from the Arizona side would be open, WRONG! So after turning around we stopped at an almost empty parking lot that overlooked the dam and the bridge and we took a bunch of pictures and then a Pepsi break!
As we got back on the bikes, our Sena’s started acting up. We could hear our music, but not each other. So I called Dave and we talked on our cell phones as we exited the park. Remember when we got to the Security area, that we were only like five vehicles back? Well let me tell you that that line was now backed up to the off ramp at the freeway! Some two or three miles back! And they weren’t moving very fast!
“Timing is Everything”, was the theme of this ride!
Now Dave and I are riding down Hwy93 in Arizona and our Sena’s were still not working, which was frustrating the heck out of me! So I kept playing with it, turning it on/off, laying with the dial, etc! I don’t even know what I did, but all of a sudden, Dave could hear me again! (I have to figure these things out, that all there is to it! And now that I have two of them, maybe I can!)
Wow, we were able to communicate again. The cell phones were great when we were trying to get out of the park, but once we hit speed, I couldn’t understand Dave too well. But with the intercom working again, we could talk just fine. And since the road to Kingman was long and not too exciting, being able to commuicate allowed us to make comments of the different cages around us and how some of them would go real fast until they got around us and then slowed down again. And we would pass them again! Oh well, at least we weren't going back down US95...again, since we had already ridden twice in the last two days.
We didn't even stop in Kingman, we just headed west on I40, and about 32 miles later, we took AZ95 south for another 25 miles or so, until we saw a Chevron/McD’s. And it was getting hot by now, so being inside seemed like the thing to do! Before we left, we had a few conversations with different folks.
We take these extended breaks and then Dave wonders why we are so late at getting to our destination??? Well Bro, stopping for an hour and a half several times has a tendency to delay us getting to the next point, and then it adds up over the course of the day! Hello!
Anyway, we head down to the bridge and I got confused as to which road to take, which put us at a parking lot that had a good view of the bridge. So we stopped and took some pictures there, then got on the bikes and figured that the main road does not connect to the bridge, you have to go east one block, and then to the road that goes over the bridge.
We rode over the bridge, made a u-turn and rode back the way we came and stopped in a parking lot to put our riding gear all back on. Since we were just doing slow maneuvers, we just placed our jackets over the topcases. It was just too hot not to be moving fast enough!
And back to the main hwy we went, heading south to Parker, where we could cross back over into California. The ride down 93 was fairly interesting as it follows the Colorado river down. Once in Parker, we crossed a bridge and into CA we went! We caught Hwy62 west from there and followed it for about 54 miles to Hwy177 and followed 177 for 27 miles, south to put us on I10 west for almost 50 miles. We got on hwy 111 and just followed it until we found a Chevron, where we took another extended break.
It was now getting dark and we changed our helmet visors to clear and took off looking for Hwy74. Hwy 74 took us over the mountains to Hwy 371 and then to Hwy 79 & Temecula. From there it was up Butterfield Stage and Murrieta Hot Springs. As we were riding down Murrieta Hot Springs, I called Chris to let her know we were almost home. As I came up to the next light, Dave wasn’t there!
My first thoughts was that he crashed or got hit and since I was on the phone, I couldn’t hear him tell me he got stuck behind a light. So I made a u-turn and saw him coming down the road, so I flashed my lights, but he didn’t see them. I then turned around again and was a few cages behind him. I gave him instructions to turn right, so he did and I was able to catch him and guide him back to my place, although by then he had already dialed in his GPS to take him there.
Shortly after that, we arrived home!
But the adventure wasn’t over yet! Dave was still almost 500 miles from home!
Total miles for Day 17 was about: 487
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