I decided to take a little ride from Denver to Texas to visit my sister & her family and to meet my freind The Patman & his.
So I changed the oil in the KLR, packed the mermites and crashed early. My plan was to be on the road at 4:00 am & make it to Texas by 4 pm or so.
So I hit the road at 4 am and headed south from Denver towards Colorado Springs.
Here is the full route-
I stopped just north of Trinidad, Colorado for this pic-
Then I stopped in Trinidad for some breakfast-
There is a cool looking mesa at the southeast end of town-
At Raton, New Mexico, I headed southeast and stopped for a few more pics- you can see for a long way out here.
I continued on until I saw some volcanoes. That's right, volcanos in New Mexico! I had seen these from the air and here they are-
One to the south-
A closeup-
And one to the north- this was much bigger-
A closeup of that one- notice the spiraling road going to the top.
I then stepped out to the middle of the road for the "long & strait road" shot-
About an hour later I stopped for a break and to solve a problem- even with my sunglasses on, the midmorning sun glare was killing me. So I broke out the black Gorilla duct tape (best duct tape around) and added a strip to my helmet visor. Worked like a charm-
So I continued towards Texas and didn't take any more pics until I arrived in the small town of Justin. I was meeting The Patman there, and after a Gatorade break, we were to ride over to his house.
Here are our bikes at the gas station- The Patman's KLR650 is incredible-
When we got to The Patman's house, I met Mrs. Patman, and had some pizza. My bike was running too lean (set to Colorado elevation), so while I took a shower, The Patman adjusted the mixture idle screw for me. Then we kicked back in his "tiki lounge" for a while-
I had planned on heading over to my sister's place (on the other side of Ft Worth) after visiting, but Patman invited me to camp there for the night. Sounded good to me as I had done enough riding for the day, approximately 900 miles.
So we put the bikes away in The Patman's shop before I headed off to bed-
The next morning I got up early, had coffee with The Patman & Mrs Patman, and headed over to my sister's house.
The Patman had given me a Garmin GPS V (thatnkls Patman!) but because I have a 1 1/4 inch Pro Taper handlebar (without a crossbar), I planned on hunting down a mounting solution while visiting with my sister.
I did eventually find a solution, a Vetta bicycle mount for only $10.99.
My GPS mount thread here-
http://klrworld.com/forums/index.php/topic,4205.0.html
Here it is mounted-
I spent the next few days visiting with family, relaxing, and studying the GPS V manual.
I then headed over to The Patman's place the day before my departure. The plan was to do some work on the KLR, go for a ride in the local area, beer & barbaque in the Tiki Lounge, and then sleep at a reason able hour as I was planning on a 4 AM departure.
So when I arrived, Patman had some ice-cold Gatorade waiting, and after 3 glasses, we started to look over my KLR (it was 100 degrees +).
My KLR was heavily loaded - the mermite cans full and my tankbag containing all of my tools, so Patman suggested installing a set of 1" RL-1 raising links (by Eagle Mfg) to better stabilize the bike.
The Patman added a "Patman Racing" decal to my panniers-
Sweet-
So after we installed the RL-1s, I sat on the bike while Patman measured the rake & set my sag. He added a touch of air to the front forks as well.
Then he adjusted the steering stem nut (it was a little too loose ) and we geared up for the ride.
We headed out & cruised around Lake Lewisville, which was at the highest level that the Patman could remember. On the way back home, Patman pulled into a huge construction site where we played in the dirt for a bit. Entering the area, The Patman nailed the throttle on his KLR & executed a very nice, 705 big bore kit induced wheelie across the lot. Sweet!
Then on the way back to his house, we were cruising down the street at 35 mph or so with me leading. Next thing I know I am watching the Patman pass me on the left in full wheelie mode. Very cool indeed. I thought that I'd add the 685 or 705 kit to my Christmas list after seeing that!
So we got back, had a wonderful barbaque dinner & some cold barley pops.
After dinner I repacked the bike, took a much appreciated shower, and headed for bed (I was planning a 4 am departure). Mrs Patman even set the coffee maker for 330 am so I could have a cup before I left- Thanks Mrs Patman!
Many thanks to The Patman for his hospitality as well! MOL>
So Up at 3:15, had some coffee, and headed out at 3:45 am. I had planned a different route for the way home, heading north to Oklahoma City before turning northwest towards Denver.
Here's the route I took-
The region was forcast to have 100+ degree temps all day, so I knew that I would need to take lots of breaks and keep my camelback full of cold water.
The roads I took were quite deserted with little traffic and not much to see. This is "The Great Plains" after all.
I did see this abandoned bus/RV coversion on the side of the road, so I stopped to take a pic (it was one of the few curious things I had seen)-
In southern Kansas I saw a "Historic Marker / Bison Preserve" sign, and looked back over my shoulder and saw a herd of bison off to my right-
I turned around and went up the short road where the sign for the bison reserve was. The gate was open and there was a sign that basically said to be carefull when driving around the bison, as thay are wild . So I headed over to the edge of the bluff and took this pic of the herd-
The gravel road went up to the top of a hill, but I thought I'd just get going. I'd estimate that it was 105 degrees at the time, and the last thing I wanted was a torqued off bison taking me out in the middle of nowhere. So I headed out though the buffalo chips (they were everywhere).
A few hours later I saw a rest area on the side of the road, so I pulled the KLR under the only tree with shade, and kicked back for a little while. It was friggin' hot, so I soaked my t-shirt down and took a break-
I then continued on, stopping here and again for water, food and backside breaks.
When I was about 150 miles east of Denver, I was greeted with a line of thunderstorms that had rolled off of the mountains. The rain looked inviting, but the lightning didn't-
I ended up riding through some light rain as the storms dissapated, which felt great.
I then continued on into Denver, making it home by 9:45 PM.
Total GPS mileage for the day was 881 miles, and my backside seemed to feel every mile.
Thanks again to The Patman for his hospitality, the GPS, and the tuning of my KLR's suspension! It was a whole different machine for the ride home, much more stable & comfortable.
What a trip!
