This day started bright and early with our gang meeting for the Strike Zone Poker Run up at Palmer Lake. We had nine riders on eight bikes. I have ridden with Karla, Jeanne, and Paul on previous occasions. New riding in are Jill, Nick, Kimberly, Mom and Dad.
Not my mom and dad, but Karla’s parents. We were introduced that way, so it’s cool with me.
Our morning started with hand signal school and basic rules of the road. We had several riders that are new and haven’t ridden in a group, so it was a good time to cover the basics to get everyone on the same page. It also allowed Karla to ask questions about skill levels and comfort zones as well as explain the route we were taking and what to do in the event of someone having to pull off.
We organized into riding order and headed up I-25.
Pulling up to the Strike Zone, there are no motorcycles. Of course we are late—not too late for sign-up and getting into the run—all the bikes have already left. That should have been our first indication of the day to come. I draw a jack of hearts and am happy with that—then promptly leave my form on the table.
There’s a lone rider who pulls up behind us so we invite him (his name is Rich) to ride in with us. Good thing he has a lot of patience!!!
We ride out the next stop and pull in—to a dirt parking lot in Sedalia. Oh boy. I don’t mind riding in dirt and have done it when necessary but I don’t like to do it especially on my Fatboy. The only time I’ve dropped my Fatboy was on gravel so I really dislike when I am not on pavement. We pull in and park and meet the rest of the riders. YAY! Finally caught up with them which is a GOOD thing!
Stop two--notice the dirt?
This is when I discover that I am missing my “official” piece of paper. Sigh. I’m hopeless, I think. Fortunately, I remember what I drew and they just logged it in and I drew my next card. Another heart!
Where's Christine??
Back on the bikes and I think the longest segment to ride: to Susie’s in Golden. When we get to Morrison, Nick indicates he needs fuel so we stop to gas up. This is where he makes the decision to get off our ride and head back to the Springs. Seems that he’s been married six days and his wife is getting off work. Can’t give a man grief about going home to his new wife so we bid him a cheery farewell!! Fueled up, he takes off and we manage to accumulate another rider. We are happy to have him. Although I’m not sure he made the wise decision to ride with us.
This is where it gets all crazy. Evidently the instructions to the next stop are wrong. We get to Morrison with no problem. The road we are supposed to take is not marked or not marked well and we are confused. Red Rocks is in that area and while it is a great place to be; it’s not one we necessarily want to hang out in at the moment. It’s got cool twisties and while I want to ride it, I know that Jill is getting the beejeebers scared out of her. She’s a very new rider and this is way outside her comfort zone.
We turn around and head back through Morrison. Morrison is a town that has approximately three city blocks to call downtown. Yes, it’s a hopping metropolis of yuppiedom. Actually, it’s quite quaint and I’d like to wander in and out of the shops.
JUST NOT RIGHT NOW! Come to find out, we are headed in the wrong direction and have to turn around again. It reminds me of the time in Forrest Gump when Forrest talks about going to the White House again to see the President again. It’s not really a problem, except we are in a pack of nine motorcycles. Turn around, go two blocks and turn right.
Simple, right? Not exactly. That wasn’t even right, so we had to turn around again. This time Rich got out and stopped traffic so we could get reorganized and head out. The turn is made to an unmarked road and I’m thinking that I’m so glad I’m not leading this ride!
No where on our map is this indicated! I’m thinking we got the bum copy to throw us off!!! LOL.
After riding down a couple of back roads we find the properly marked road we needed to be on. Somehow, Rich and the other dude (gosh I hate it when I can’t remember their names) think we are on the wrong road and we lose them. Heck, I don’t blame them…I’m the lost girl and I’m not sure if we are going right!!!
We finally find Suzie’s Grill and funny…the riders that we met at stop 2 were out on the curb looking for us!! Good thing they knew we were behind them, eh??
After a good natured ribbing from both parties, our cards were drawn and we sat down for lunch. They decided to go on and they promised they’d wait for us at the next stop. I hope so—since they had the cards!!
Lunch arrived and we ate and visited. As we were gearing up and getting ready to leave guess who shows up?? Our two lost riders. Seems they found it necessary to ride an additional SIXTY miles before finding the stop. Alright, I’ll admit it—those two guys were more lost than we girls.
Back in our pack, we head out to stop four. No major snafus and we make it in good time to our next stop. We even had a cheering welcome from the main group when we arrived!!
The rest of the trip was uneventful and we made it to our destination with our little group intact. Jeanne and Kimberly had to cut out and ride back home due to an emergency, but other than that, it was smooth riding!
Jeanne took care of her emergency and drove (yes, in her cage) back up to meet us. Good thing for Jeanne since she and Karla both won for their hands!!!
Yay to them!! Mine was bad, but not bad enough. Sigh, my luck again!!
We got lost, we were confused, it rained on us, it was cold, we saw snow, it was hot but it was fun!! No one crashed and no one broke down. It was a good day in motorcycle land!!!
In the rain
The start of our scavenger hunt began as well. Stay tuned….
Keep The Shiny Side Up!
~The Rainbow Wahine
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