Back from Houston. The long way. I didn't take a lot of pictures for various reasons. Mostly cuz I was lazy or put another way, I knew it was going to be a very long ride and every minute I spent doing something other than riding made it even longer.
I picked up the bike, a brand new (sorta) Yamaha FJR 1300 in Houston on Friday. The very first time I took it out for a spin, it rained cats and dogs. Saturday morning, 6AM, I drove out of Houston and had a great ride into Wichita.
Then, Sunday, I rode from Wichita to Burlington, Colorada. That is possibly the most windy section of road I've ever experienced. No big surprise. I lived in Wichita for years, I've learned to admit that now. :) So, I should have expected it, but there's nothing like tooling down the freeway at ~80 MPH (130 KPH) leaning 20 degrees to compensate for the 30 MPH crosswinds. Notice which section of the trip was the shortest? It seemed the longest.
Monday, I got rained on in Denver. Lightening like I haven't heard for years. It just doesn't do that sort of thing in the Northwest. It only sprinkles, rarely do we get a serious thunder storm. And people talk about how much it rains in Seattle. Sheeesh. Ate lunch at a local Black Eye'd Pea. The waitress was very helpful and friendly, but reminded me of Ichabod Crane. The rain passed by the time I finished eating and I was back on the road again. Rode until late Monday night into Evanston, Wyoming. Wyoming had lots of curvies and of most relief, no winds. Odd for Wyoming, but I wasn't complaining.
Tuesday, I hauled my sorry, sore butt out of bed for what I knew would be a very long haul into Seattle. About 900 miles in one day, I made it home at 11pm. 2700 miles in 4 days. Not too shabby.
After just one day of riding, my bike looked pretty hammered. Warning, don't look at this while eating.
A passerby asked
“What'dya hit a seagull or somethin?“
“No, just Wyoming mosquitos.”
“How could you see through that?“
“I don't know, it was late and dark, so I couldn't see anything anyways.“
Bon Apetit
Universe.Earth.Travel.Motorcycles.Yamaha.FJR..KirkHaselden