August 19, 2006 - Reporting from Somewhere On The Road! |
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Since I'm so behind on reporting maybe I should just give up the whole reporting thing and just post pics
instead?! Thankfully today's (Fri) ride report will be covered by my CO tour guide "Vstromper" when
he gets a chance (and out of the doghouse-sorry, Vstromper!) to post it.
Webmaster note: Apparently he got out of the doghouse. His ride report is included farther down this page. Hit very heavy rain and wind leaving Colorado Springs tonight and with standing water roadside & darkness falling I opted kickstand down. Sometimes you gotta stop to go further ya know. Maybe I'll use the time to see if I can find a set of deer antlers for my Strom...
Ride Report as posted by VStromper on the Stromtrooper Forum First some corrections, Stromette asked me questions about population and average annual snowfall that I guessed at rather poorly. In my defense, I qualified the answers with “I’m not sure, I think…)” I guessed the population to be around ¼ million, it is actually just over 1/3 at 360k and change (2k census). I guessed the annual snowfall at 6 to 8 inches. This was based on my limited experience having lived here for just 7 years and being in a drought the whole time my idea of average is a little short. We average 15.4 inches of precipitation each year, rain and snow combined, but snow is measured differently. The actual figure for snow is just over 30 inches. I still am able to ride all year and have only had one snow-day in the 7 years I’ve lived here. Stromette coming was a mere possibility until about 8PM the night before she got here when she called and we arranged to meet at my place at 2PM the next day. I had arranged earlier in the week to take Friday afternoon off. Very difficult since I had just returned from vacation and we had another guy out at the time. But my boss is way cool. I got off at 1PM and rushed home to prepare for our ride (change clothes and grab a sandwich). Where to go???? I only had four hours to show off my stomping grounds and there is just way too much to cover in that time so choosing the best route in the time allotted was hard for me. We decided to go up North Cheyenne Canyon and down Lower Goldcamp Rd, a route that included a short stretch of what I call “cruiser dirt” (this is dirt road that I’ve seen cruisers on) and then decide whether she wanted to tackle the 9 miles of cruiser dirt on the road to the top of Pike’s Peak. I should mention that we unloaded a lot of weight off Stromette’s bike before we left. After the canyon, Stromette said she needed a stamp and there was one close by so we went west on 24 through Ute Pass to Florissant to get a stamp at the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. Rain clouds loomed menacingly ahead as we approached Florissant but I knew we would be turning south and crossed my fingers that it would be before we got wet. It was, but while we were stopped, the storm built around us. Cripple Creek, the one place I wanted to avoid, was east of us and looked like our best bet for dry roads but we had to go south to get there. The rain moved in pretty fast and we got wet as we arrived. We had an ice-cream cone from the general store and sat on a bench outside waiting for the rain to let up a bit. It did but the rain was heading the same direction we needed to go so we suited up and left anyway. I was supposed to be home by 6:30 and we left Cripple Creek at 6:15 and caught up to the rain we had just waited out almost immediately. At 6:30 we were in Divide and I stopped to call SWMBO and tell her I was going to be late. SWMBO was not happy. We got back to the house and repacked Stromette’s bike and off she went. It was interesting for me to see Stromettes pictures because I take so much of that route for granted as that canyon entrance is about 15 minutes from my house and to her it was all new. I’m sorry the weather wasn’t better, she missed some really great views on the trip down from Cripple Creek in the pouring rain. I’m also sorry I had to rush off to my previous engagement. I didn’t get to spend near as much time as I would have liked riding and talking with Stromette. I had a great time and I hope Stromette did too. P.S. It’s not your fault I got in the doghouse; that was all my doing. And not to worry, I’m already out. That’s only the 2nd time in the last ten years I’ve been there so I think I got time off for good behavior. Besides, I took her out to breakfast and shopping this morning. I may even go for a long ride tomorrow. P.P.S. I thought my bike ran and sounded great but Stromette's bike sounds sweeter than mine, I way have to look into this TB sync, EFI remap, Valve Adjustment stuff. 
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
