US MotoGP Day 1

RAIN
OK. It hasn't rained in weeks before our trip. Who decided to make it rain TODAY?

I didn't sleep too good, anticipating our departure. After only 3.5 hours of sleep I was ready to go at 3:30 am. I tried waking Adam but he wasn't quite ready yet, even though he told me the night before that he wanted to get up early around 4:00 am and get started. I guess he just didn't want to leave at 3:30 am! I went ahead and moved bikes around so I could get Kay's topless jeep in the garage, pulled the bikes out, and got everything ready. True to his word, Adam ambled out of his room at 4:00 am ready to go.

It was still pretty hot when we pulled out well before daylight. I didn't check any weather since nothing of significance had happened in weeks. Little did I know a major storm was bearing down on central Oklahoma. Kay said it rained 10 minutes after we left. We didn't encounter any rain but started seeing lighting as we drove west on I-40 out of OKC.

It finally hit us in El Reno. We pulled into the Love's just seconds before the deluge. Got the bikes under an awning and sping an hour chatting with a local police officer that has ridden "motors" for years. I learned a lot about the financial end of police motors (motorcycles), quite interesting.

At daybreak we pulled out of El Reno hoping we were past the storm. Fat chance. West of Weatherford we were forced to turn around on I-40 and high tail it back to dryier weather. Hoping to skirt around the south end of the storm, we blasted south down to Corn, OK. What a nice, nice town. Classic small town Oklahoma. Very well kept, a nice town square, a local cafe where we chatted with all the farmers gathered around a central table before heading out to the fields. This is what I love about Oklahoma. The first Saturday night of every summer month they have a big town "jam" session in the central square. People from the county bring their instruments, the cafe opens late for food, and they gather around, play music, the kids dance in the streets, and have just a great local time. This would be an excellent family-oriented destination for a bike ride.

Once again after the rain we headed west. We could have donned the rain gear at any time, but I hate riding in rain unless I have to, so since these were scattered fast moving storms we just waited them out and tried skirting around them. However, 30 miles down the road at Cordell we were forced to stop again. What another great town. We have a hospital customer in Cordell so I knew the town a bit. We pulled up under an awning on main street and sat on a park bench while waiting for the rain to subside - again.

Texas at 104 mph

Finally around 9:00 am we were able to hit the road again and make some time. Catching I-40 at Sayre, the CBR's got to stretch their legs. At one point some gal with California tags in a Neon blew buy us at 100+ mph. We just tucked in about 200 yards off her tail and made some good time. She wasn't too smart, hanging out in the left lane blasting down I-40, but she was good for us. We stayed in the right lane except to pass and let her be our "rabbit" while using our radar detectors to scan ahead. Our average speed during this leg was about 104 mph! No complaints here.

East of Amarillo we were forced to pull off for fuel. It was starting to get hot now so we shedded our warm clothes we had put on in Korn. The Joe Rocket mesh jackets work great - you can layer up under them or shed clothing when it gets hot and stay reasonable even when the temps soar.

Hooters

Adam was leading the leg into Amarillo. Lunch time was approaching so he pulled into IHOP. I saw a sign for Hooters so as we pulled into the IHOP parking lot, I suggested a local with better "scenery". He quickly agreed so we stopped at Hooters for lunch. While the scenery was fantastic (I had no idea they had that many cute young girls in Amarillo fricken TX) it got packed at lunch and we lost an hour of time there.

New Mexico - finally

5 hours later than planned we finally crossed the New Mexico line. Nice and hot, but it could have been much worse. Temps were in the high 90's. Our last trip the temps were in the 110's so we were not complaining too much. Stopping in Tucumcari for fuel, we met a guy and his wife on a Goldwing that had been traveling from Las Vegas AZ to the east coast for 2 weeks and were on their way home. I love chatting with other motorcycle riders when we stop. We get to swap stories, compare bikes, and generally get to meet some really neat people. I can't remember their names - my brain is toast sometimes.

Rain AGAIN

It is long hot lonely ride from Tucumcari to Las Vegas NM. We made good time but couldn't really put the hammer down since it the road is narrow and some critter might jump out of the weeds at any time. As we topped the hill about 10 miles from Las Vegas we started hitting rain again. Another 180 back about 2 miles and we sat and watched as the rain shaft just sat on top of the town of Las Vegas. After a spell we decided to buck up and put on the rain gear. A downpour greeted us as we drove into Las Vegas. A friendly Shell station with some other bikers welcomed us from the rain. Once again we got to talk to a guy on his customized Kawasaki Vulcan as we both waited on the rain - and then hail - to subside.

TWISTIES

Finally, finally we got to pull out of Las Vegas and hit some twistie, winding pavement on the way to Angel Fire and our final destination, Red River. The roads weren't great but compared to the flat boring stuff we had been on, we were both pretty pumped. Adam and I would swap taking the lead. By this time I had fallen even deeper in love with my CBR. We put on 625 miles that day and I was very, very comfortable the entire trip. I started getting just a bit tired the last 80 miles, but overall I was amazed at how comfortable the CBR was. I actually prefer it to my BMW or any other bike I have owned as far as long distance cruising. Of course, when we hit the curves, I had a smile a mile wide. It is so responsive, light weight and agile, it is just a joy to ride. Passing anyone takes only a couple of seconds. You can be following someone at 65mph and rocket by them in about 2-3 seconds without even downshifting. Nice.

Red River

After 15.5 hours and 625 miles we pulled into Red River around 6:30 pm (5:30 mountain). Red River is one of my all time favorite towns, ranking right below Telluride as a favorite destination. Even though we brought camping gear, we both decided a hotel would be nice. Red River is a one street town and you get to sit on main street, eat pizza and watch the people go by as they stroll and drive up and down main street. We had lots of people stop and chat, telling us about the bikes they used to own and how we must be crazy riding crotch rockets across the country. Our response was to just smile like we we had a secret they didn't know about.

Day 2 will see us in Colorado most of the day - riding the winding roads we love.