Ride and lunch in Nederland, Colorado

Carl and Rita, who both ride motorcycles, are letting us stay with them at their house this week in Broomfield, Colorado. Although we know of each other through a motorcycle message board we have not met in real life up until now.

Broomfield is a really nice suburb located north of Denver, Even though I’ve only been here two days I really like it. Not sure what happened yesterday, but I was not feeling good. I woke up with a headache and my stomach decided to reject my morning cup of coffee. I‘ve had elevation sickness before but that was arriving from the flat lands and stopping for the night at 10,000 feet in elevation. Broomfield is only half of that. I’m feeling great today and while Mike is working (he can work from anywhere, just needs his laptop and phone) Rita and I went for a day ride.

At 10:30AM it was already a very pleasant day, the temperature in the 80’s. We left Broomfield and headed for the mountains. 20 minutes later we were climbing in elevation. Rita had a nice route picked out for us which was 110 miles long. Once we got out into the mountains we turned on 72 north. The tightest section of the road is located in between Wondervu to Pinecliffe, this is where you can find the hair pin turns.



Heading for the mountains on 93



Rididng 72 with snow covered peaks in the distance



10 mile an hour curves on 72



Lots of sweepers on 72 as well



Rain clouds in the distance on 72

We arrived in Nederland. Located at 8236 feet above sea level, Nederland is a small tourist town that is not too touristy. Rita and I locked up the bikes and went walking through town. There is a cute pedestrian covered bridge in town that sits over the creek.



Nederland, Colorado



It was lunch time so we stopped in New Moon Bakery and ordered some quiche. I had the mushroom with goat cheese and it was delicious. As we ate a storm was moving in. We were hopping to outrun it but just as we got to the bikes the rain started to fall. we went to hide from the rain under the overhanging roof of the visitor center but the lady inside told us to come in saying that just last week someone got stuck by lightening outside the visitor center. The storm moved quickly and 45 minutes later we were pulling out of Nederland and continuing North on 72.



New Moon Bakery in Nederland



New Moon Bakery quiche for lunch



Big rain falling in Nederland just as we were getting our bikes ready to leave

Since riding n the mountains you never go in a straight line, we got rained on again further down the road. By the time we turned on 7 and headed toward Boulder, the rain was almost behind us. 72 has some great mountain views, 7 had immaculate pavement and really nice rock formation along the way and runs along some creek or river. 7 is more my type of a road, with 30-40MPH curves.



Rain soaked 72



On 7 heading east towards Lyons



By the time we rode in to Boulder, the clouds were threatening rain again and the winds really picked up. To avoid getting rained on we rode over to the Celestial Seasonings tea company located in Boulder. This is where the plant is located and they do plant tours here. We just went to check out the store.



A dress made out of tea bags



A tea pot covered in tea box mosaic



Lots of stuff to buy here at the Celestial Seasonings store, I liked these black kitty tea sets

Once the clouds moved away, we rode back to Broomfield, the rush hour traffic was starting to pick up. Some great roads around here.



Our 110 mile route

Western Nebraska and Eastern Colorado

We rolled out of the Victoria Springs Rec Area camp ground and continued riding west on RT2. Pretty soon we had to pull over and put on our rain suits and minutes after that started to rain. The rain continued for a while, but when it stopped it got so hot wearing the rain suits that I couldn’t wait to get it off even though the skies still looked dark towards the west. I had passed a larger town with lots of gas stations when I still had half a tank of gas. The next few towns after that didn’t have any gas stations on RT2 and we didn’t want to waste our time going in to town, some of the towns were on the other side of the train tracks and those freight trains moved really slow.





Some curves on 21A leaving Victoria Springs Rec Area



Some big hills on RT 2

When I saw a gas station right before the town of Hyannis, I pulled into it and finally got my rain gear off. It was sunny here and the temps were in the 80’s already. The gas station had a deli and even though we were hungry we thought better things were waiting for us in town. We rode west and got in to Hyannis but there were no restaurants in town, at least none that were open on this Sunday. We continued riding west and back in to the dark clouds. The rain started up again but I don’t put my rain gear on hoping that it would be short sprinkle and it was. The rain lasted only about 15 minutes and soon I was in a clearing again.



That is a bug on my camera lens... leaving the gas station we had to ride though a large area of gravel and dirt, pavement is a luxury out west

We arrived at the end of RT2 in the town of Alliance. This was a larger town with many restaurant choices. Ken and Dales Restaurant was packed even thought it was already 2PM. That is always a good sign when a restaurant is packed full of locals.



Lunch at Ken and Dales Restaurant in Alliance, Nebraska

Unfortunately the food was so-so and the prices were very high compared to Chicago. Mike had a hamburger, no bigger then a fast food burger and it was around $6-7. I had a chicken wrap with honey mustard and it was $8. The fries were really good, but my chicken wrap consisted of a single piece of breast meat smeared with honey mustard placed in a tortilla with a slice of tomato and some lettuce. I’ve never had a whole slide of chicken inside a wrap.



Cheeseburger and a chicken wrap with fries

Over lunch we realized we still had over 250 miles to go. We turned south on 385. For a while there were some amazing views from the road but soon the scenery got a bit dull as we rode through some desolate looking landscapes. This is the high desert.



Leaving Nebraska on 19 South



Entering Colorado on 113 South

From there we took 19 south which turned to 113 in Colorado. And the rest of the trip was on the slab. I-76 heading in to Denver was loaded with cars. We were not on there too long before we had to exit and put our rain gear on again. We saw the storm from 60 miles away, but the roads would veer away from it. Now for sure we were heading right in to it.



Gearing up for more rain about 120 miles east of Denver



Heavy rain to the left and to the right, we rode through the middle

Back on the slab it started raining again but we got so lucky. Two big rain clouds one to our right and one to our left, and we rode through the middle not getting very wet. We gassed up outside of the Denver area and took of our rain gear again.



Approaching the Denver area and Rockies

We were staying with sport touring folks in Broomfield and at this point we had an hour of riding left to get to thier house, unfortunately we had a hard time finding the house, as the roads get very confusing. 120th Street is also RT 128 not to be confused with 128th street. We rode around in circles, but the whole time we were just around the corner from their house. We did get to see a lot of Broomfield though, which is a really nice suburb north of Denver. We arrived at the house around 9PM, the sun had started to set already.



Today's route: 2 to 385 to 19/113 to I-76 to Denver



Our route from Chicagoland to Denver

We did 431 miles today and 1182 miles since we left Chicagoland.

Victoria Springs Recreational Area, Nebraska

The bright sun woke us up early in the morning, but getting up was hard to do. When we got out of the tent we realized we pitched our tent in a softball field. The Victoria Springs Rec Area had very nice facilities with free showers.



Our campsite along the dirt road with the other motorcyclists behind us also with a yellow tent

The mosquitoes were still at it this morning. Across the dirt road from us there were two guys camping, one on a Harley and one on a FJR. We got talking to them and they said that this campground was much nicer then the one we were originally planning on camping at. They said that the campground at the Nebraska National Forests had dirt road that were made out of deep dirt and sand. They also said this was a nicer camp site. I’m really glad we camped here.
By the time we showered and packed up the clouds had rolled in and even sprinkled a bit.



Victoria Springs State Recreational Area



We pulled in here when it was dark last night, it looks like we had set our tent up in the middle of a softball field




The bathroom and shower building is to the left of the bikes way in the distance


All the roads in this rec area are dirt



Mud stuck in my tire from last nights rain

Nebraska and the Sandhills Journey Scenic Byway

We were on the road by 8AM. When I had originally planned the three day route to get out to Colorado I had us riding the interstate and also some back roads. Now that we were behind schedule we had to make up some time on the interstate. We still wanted to stay at the original camp ground that we had picked out for tonight.



Looking at of the Super 8 window in Williamsburg, IA

The day was warm and sunny. The interstate was straight, actually Iowa is not that bad, its got some rolling hills. The two states I dread crossing via the interstate is Kansas and Nebraska, those are flat. Even though we were riding through Nebraska on this tripwere we were only going to stay on the interstate for a while, and finish off Nebraska with back roads, that is, if we can make up some time today.

Soon we were near Grand Island, Nebraska. This was the end of the interstate for us, well, at least until tomorrow afternoon. We rode through town, which was surprisingly large, and found the scenic byway called RT 2. This road also is called the Sandhills Journey Scenic Byway and is 272 miles long. This scenic byway runs through some really remote Nebrasca countryside. From the pavement you can see sand hills, the largest hand-planted forest in the nation located near Halsey and running parallel with the road is one of the US busiest freight only crossings. Here you can see up to 125 trains per day pulling coal.



RT 2 called the Sandhills Journey Scenic Byway travels 272 miles between Alliance and Grand Island

A coal trail running along RT 2 west of Grand Island, NE

When we left the Super 8 this morning we already knew that there was a pretty good possibility of catching some rain today. But we got lucky and went around the first storm, we could see it in the distance but never got close enough to get rained on. As we approached Broken Bow, Nebraska the skies started to look dark again. We checked the weather on the phone and found a huge storm heading our way. We were less then 50 miles from the Nebraska National Forest and the camp ground that we were hoping to camp at tonight, but this weather approaching was not camping weather. There was supposed to be lightening and very strong winds. We were pretty bummed out that we would have to spend yet another night in a motel.

We gassed up in town. The gas station attendant told us of a really nice hotel and restaurant in town, but when we checked it out it was already full. The Arrow Hotel was only $70 per night too, too bad.

We went down the road and checked the other of the “nicer” looking motels but all of them were full too. There was two rooms available at the two really dumpy places, but they were way too pricey for what we were getting. Since there are not a lot of towns with motels on this road, I guess this town fills up fast.

The Historic Arrow Hotel in down town Broken Bow, NE

A guy on a horse in Broken Bow, NE

So here we were, no motel room and big storm heading our way. We were also hungry at this point so we went to Subway to have some dinner and think about our options for tonight. We could wait for the storm to pass and still try camping tonight. The storm was supposed to be over in two hours, the only problem was there was a chance of a smaller storm coming through at midnight also.

At this point we didn’t feel like riding the 50-some miles to the Nebraska National Forest and found a closer camp site. The Victoria Springs State Recreational Area was only about 25 miles from here. The area gets its name from the mineral springs and is the third oldest park in the Nebraska Park system.

After we ate our Subway sandwiches and had some ice creamto pass the time. Mike moved the bikes closer under the small roof of the Subway building and we were ready for the show to begin. The dark clouds spun above us, the lightening danced in the sky and the winds picked up. The storm moved quickly but it was large one and took at least two hours to pass. The bikes were in the perfect place since the rain and wind was blowing from the opposite direction. Even the Subway employees came out to watch the storm pass through. We don’t get storms like this in the Midwest that’s for sure.

Waiting for the storm to pass at Subway

Mike watching the storm clouds roll through above us

And here comes the rain

After the storm had passed and a double rainbow had appeared it was time for us to get to the camp ground. We rode west out of town, the sun was setting ahead of us, illuminating the sky in pastel colors of pink, lavender and light blue. The skies behind us were still very dark and angry looking. Then a few miles ahead we saw rain falling, we crossed in to it and got wet but only for a few miles. We arrived in the next town called Anselmo and turned on to 21A heading to the park. There were more dark clouds in front of us and for a minute we though we were heading back in to the storm.

A double rainbow appeared after the storm had passed

Heading west away from the storm on RT2

Pastel skies above us

When we arrived at the park we had to ride a dirt road to registration. Registration took place at the hosts house. They had lost power during the storm so there was darkness all around us and the mosquitoes were out in full force.

The non electric campsite was $11. I think there was also a fee to enter the park but I can’t remember what it was and can’t seem to find the information anywhere. I think it was like $3-5 per person. Once we registered we had to go back to the main road and enter the camp ground on another dirt road that had a bit of mud now from all the rain. Riding a muddy dirt road on a loaded up sport bike at night is not my idea of a good time, so I was very glad when we got there. Mike rode my bike through the mud and onto the grass. The first thing I had to do was to spray myself with bug spray but it seemed that the mosquitoes had already a bunch of opportunities to dine and I was itching all over. I ended up having to spray even parts of my face and under my hair, they were very persistent.

Victoria Spring Recreation Area

We set up the tent. I took a walk in the dark to the bathroom, which also had no power and we went to bed shortly.

We did 496 miles today

We were only about 50 miles short of where we were supposed to be staying tonight, not too bad for making up some time.

A troublesome start but we made it to Iowa

Even though I haven’t been working for exactly one week, I’ve been super busy trying to arrange things for our ride among other things. Originally we were planning on leaving for our ride on Friday July 11th in the late afternoon after Mike was done with work, but two days ago the call that I’ve been waiting for finally came in. My ST3 was ready!

Since a three day weekend was coming up, we wanted to take advantage of the extra day. Our first stop was Colorado and having three days to get there was better than trying to ride there in two days.

So just when I thought I had a week to get ready for the trip, now I only had two days. Since we knew we would be on the road for at least a month, possibly two, there was a lot of things to consider when packing for this trip. My longest ride so far was 10 days, this doesn’t even compare to a month or more on the road, carrying all the necessities one might need during that time. In my case I also needed to bring some papers, resumes, a lop top, mouse and mouse pad, DVD's for the computer, my check book, a note book and other things I usually don’t take on a sport-touring ride.

We picked the bike up yesterday. The 20 miles to get home it ran fine, although it did have two small hiccups when at a light the RPM‘s feel for no particular reason. We didn’t think much of it. Friday morning we still needed to finish packing, we knew an early start was out of the question, it took me 4 hours to load up the ST3. The bike has never been this loaded and fitting everything just right was like working an on intricate puzzle, where each piece had to go in a particular place. We planning on heading out no later than 10AM to still be able to ride 400 miles today.

Just after 10AM we were ready to go, I started the ST3, let it run to warm up but a few minutes later it died. I started it up again and again after about two to three minutes it died. I started it for the third time, but again it died. It wouldn’t even run long enough to come to the operating temperature. Finally we let it run with the enricher so it could come to temperature. Once it reached the operating temp we turned it off and let it idle but again it died again.

As frustrated as I was in the last few weeks having to bring the ST3 back again to the dealer, it was nothing like I was feeling right now. Having the bike all loaded up and ready to go. If we had some time, we should have ran the ST3 last night, but we were so busy packing since we brought it home that there was no time to take it for a test run.

Obviously there was still something wrong with the ST3.

A decision had to be made. Today was a holiday and the dealer was closed. Do we wait to leave for Colorado next weekend hoping the dealer could work on the bike and get it squared away this following week? I had no confidence in them anymore, they had the bike 3 times and it still was not running the way it should. So the other option was to take my Honda 954RR but with the soft saddle bags there was no way I could take all the stuff I already had packed on the ST3.



The ST3 all packed up to go

As a last resort, Mike took the side panels off the ST3 and went looking for loose connections, hoping the dealer missed something putting he bike back together. I remember back in 2005 when my bike kept stalling on me, the ground wire had slipped out of the ECU. We checked that and other things, but everything seemed fine. Mike went back in the house to search the internet for any clues to what this might be and what to check and I started to re-pack from the ST3 to the 954RR. We really wanted to leave today.



Last try to see if we could fix the problem

I used to tour on my 954RR back before I got the ST3, so the GIVI top case got moved to the Honda. Then I pulled the saddle bags out, I haven’t used them in like 4 or more years. Only problem was, back when I used to use the saddle bags, I didn’t have a GIVI rack on this bike. The GIVI rack was in the way, but after 45 minutes of adjusting the straps I finally strapped the saddle bags over the GIVI rack and secured it the bike. Then the tail bag got moved and a whole bunch of stuff got placed in the “can’t fit on the bike” pile. Basically I had to leave behind most of my clothes, many emergency items, and other redundant or luxury items. I was really going to be ruffling it without some of these things. With the ST3 I’ve gotten used to having the space for all the items I wanted to bring, but obviously the soft saddle bags didn’t hold nearly as much. I got so lucky, my new Ogio Tanker tank bag actually fits on the 954RR. I didn't think it would because it's so big. I'm so glad though, if I had to use my small Nelson-Rigg tank bag, I could only bring 1/3 of the contents of the Ogio tank bag.



My 954RR almost ready to go sitting next to the pile of stuff that I can no longer take with me

We also needed to dump some of the tools that we were bringing for the ST3, and bring the tools for the 954RR. The bummer was, the ST3 had a new back tire and new sprockets and chain. Its good to go for another 10,000 miles or more. The 954RR has about 6,000 miles left on the back tire and will need new sprockets and chain really soon and a valve service. The 954RR has 35,030 miles as of today so who knows what else will need replacing. I’m still on the original clutch.

The most upsetting part of this whole satiation is, especially now that I’m not employed is having to pay for the valve service on my ST3 $700+, then having to pay $400+ for them to fix the St3, on top of that paying for the new back tire, mounting and balancing, chain and sprockets. So that is an additional $400+ and now I'm not even taking the bike. Soon I'll have to spend that money again on the 954RR. With no income coming in this will be tough, since gas, food and lodging is already expensive. The thoughts of fixing the ST3 and selling it are running through my head. People keep telling me it’s not the bike but the bad dealerships and service, and I agree. For the dealership not being able to figure out in three visits what the problems is with the bike, is inexcusable. And they never even took the bike on a test ride after the fixed it each time.

This was the second Chicagoland Ducati dealer that I’ve been dealing with, the previous place I was going to also took over a month and three tries to figure out I needed a new ECU and exhaust valve springs in 2006.

By 5PM the 954RR was all packed. The bike felt so heavy that when I pulled out of the driveway I almost didn’t think I could ride it. The sport bikes don’t carry the weight as well as sport-touring bikes. That is why I like my ST3 for touring, it carries the weight really well. I don’t even feel the top case. On the 954RR I especially feel the top case and the bike gets really top heavy and slow maneuvers are tough with all the extra weight.



954RR is packed and ready to go

The roads out of Chicagoland were not too busy on this 4th of July afternoon. We had a camp site scoped out about 400 miles from home but leaving this late, we would not make it there. The plan was to put on as many miles as we could today.

With the sun already low on the horizon we pulled over for gas in Williamsburg, IA 255 miles from home. We have not seen any camp grounds near by. We could have gone another 50 miles, but riding in the dark wasn’t appealing with all the trucks on the interstate and the wild life, possibly drunk drivers on this holiday. Any way, at this point we decided to bite the bullet and get a motel room. Didn’t feel like looking for camping in the dark off the interstate. There were a few motels at this exit and we chose the Super 8. The rate was $75 per night, we almost wanted to ride down to the next exit and see if we could find something cheaper, but that would waste another 20-30 minutes, so we chose to stay at the Super 8. By the time we unloaded the bikes and wet next door to the restaurant for dinner, they were already closed. Apparently everything closed at 9PM in this town. We grabbed some food at the gas station, went to our room and by 10PM went to bed.



All interstate, we made it to Williamsburg, IA today, 255 miles from home