Trouble in Steamboat Springs

It WAS Trouble (Not Really)…

However it was a great deal of fun!!

Imagine, a group of seven women…each on their own ride…heading out of town on a road trip! Destination: Steamboat Springs some 200 miles “that-a-way”. What a journey it turned out to be!!

Initially, our group was to be eight, but one of the ladies forgot about the ride, so we ended up with seven. Six motorcycles, one trike. Five of us started out together, we picked up two more riders on the way (yes, we knew about them). The beginning of the ride is pretty uneventful; I’ve never ridden with a couple of the gals, so it was a matter of learning about everyone’s ride style and getting in with the groove. I had been warned; our leader was not one for stopping. Thank goodness her tank had a little over a hundred mile range so I knew a stop was in order at least every hundred miles!!

It’s all good. We do what we have to!!

Like I said, the beginning of the trip was pretty uneventful as we make our way. It is around noon and we are up in Breckenridge—as we round the curve and see…..a whole parking lot FULL of Corvettes…I look over at Miss Kaybee and I know what she’s thinking…perhaps there is a purple one??

As luck would have it, there WAS!! We pull in whooping and hollering…we found a purple corvette!! The vehicle is from Arkansas and sadly, no personalized plate for the extra points. We shoot the images and pull out…and incredibly, another purple Corvette pulls into the parking lot. The Blonde Smoothie yells…the tag is personalized!

I make a split-second decision—I’m turning around—and tell the group I’ll catch up. Not only did we locate a purple Corvette, the tag is personalized and get this…says PURPLE!! LOL….that was a stroke of dumb and blind luck if you ask me!

I snap the photo, thank the owner and get back on the road. My friends had pulled over and were waiting and I found one additional member in the group. We are now up to six…one more girl is to join us…

Lunch was a great stop at the Dam Brewery and we spent the time catching up on everyone’s lives and rattling on about the things girls talk about. In the middle of lunch, the last of our group joins us. Thank goodness for cell phones and voice mail. Otherwise, she would have booked it on up to Steamboat!

Full from lunch and talking, we head out. The weather has warmed up, but I’m pretty comfortable. As we head down the road a bit, I notice one of Miss Kaybee’s saddlebags isn’t latched…and gear hanging out. I honk at her and point…she starts fiddling around with her bags then pulls out of the group. I pull over and wait for her to come back—I know she lost some gear.
At the next stop, I quiz her on what she lost….her favorite gloves and a neck gaiter. Neck gaiter in July? Yes it’s true...neck gaiter. I have one on my bike too, believe it or not. We are up in the unpredictable Rocky Mountain Region!

Fortunately, our trike rider was riding sweep and saw that gear was flying by. She pulled over and picked up the gloves and neck gaiter. She said Santa was early this year—a matched set of gloves and neck gaiter…whooooohooooo!!

At that point, it had warmed up quite a bit and I decided to grab and extra bottle of water to down before we leave. Whew….

When we pull out, I notice that one of our other riders forgot to put her stand down. We honked at her, but the motorcycle spirits must have been looking down because she went over a bump and the thing popped up!

A bit of good karma.

We head over the pass and it cools down nicely. Again, riding down the road and the slow down signal comes up—we are on free range land and there’s a cow about five feet from the road. YIKES!! I look back and…..where did everyone go?? I pull over and wait….I’ll give the riders a handful of time and then head back, when the rider ahead of me comes back down the road and asks “what’s up”? I don’t know…and I’m just going to wait. She decides to head on back. I head up to catch up with the others and let them know what’s going on.

LOL..they pulled over and are waiting. We talk about ride up from after lunch and wonder what’s up…

Our other riders ride by and we mount and catch them. Everything looks to be okay.

Alrighty then, we continue on. The scenery is beautiful, of course. I’ve never ridden in this area before and am enjoying myself. I notice large orange signs….construction, road construction, etc. No worries, this isn’t anything I haven’t dealt with.

Then, we pass a big orange sign…ROAD ENDS.

HUH???

Okay, I understand ROAD ENDS and I have no problem riding on dirt…but the question that begs to be asked is….exactly how long?

We set off down this dirt road and I’m not too happy—I’m hoping that it’s not 20 miles of dirt road…I had that when I rode Phantom Canyon. Not to mention one of the girls absolutely hates riding on dirt and I’m not sure of the others. Well, we all take it slow.

Fortunately, it’s only a few looooonnnnnggggg miles and we are back on pavement and closer to Steamboat. Unfortunately, the accumulation of black clouds has occurred and my biggest fear—lightning.

A bolt flashes across the sky and hits the ground and I’m thinking “are we there yet”?

If I see another, I’m off the road.

Thank goodness we round the curve and pass the sign “Welcome to Steamboat Springs”. Whew….lets find the condo and get off the road!!!

That was an easy enough task and I finally get to ask my girlfriend why she pulled out the last time. It seems her highway peg came loose and fell off. Our trike sweep replies that Miss Kaybee is throwing gear at her!! First gloves, then neck gaiter..and then highway peg!!

LOL…

Thank goodness we are there…..at least she won’t lose any more gear!

So how long did it take us to get from Colorado Springs to Steamboat Springs (approximately 200 miles)? About eight hours. Factor in Scavenger Hunting, lunch, gas, mountain pass riding, potty breaks, lost gear part one, lost gear part two, dirt road due to construction and snack stops….yeah, that sounds about right!!

I’m hoping the ride back the following day is less problematic!!

Oh, for the record, it never did rain……

Keep the Shiny Side Up!

~The Rainbow Wahine