Welcome to Colorado

Perfect riding weather, low 80's. Crosswinds in the high plains gave you a workout trying to stay upright

Pulled into Lakewood around 2pm. GPS was was getting confused  about the last half hour, . But I'm here.
Tros split off and headed north to Steamboat Springs.

                                                 A very sad note                       
                                                 Bob died today

Somewhere between West Kansas and East Colorado, Bob committed suicide by jumping off the bike into the path of oncoming traffic

For those who did'nt know Bob, he was my co-pilot on my long motorcycle excursions. Bob was from Sturgis and leaves behind no family (other than me). Really Bob, I did'nt know you were having problems. You should have said something. R.I.P. BOB


Bob the Bison
Born- Sturgis, S.D.
Age- 4 years old

So, I'm all settled in at the hotel. Time to find some BBQ

Piggin' out BBQ

No inside dining, tables and chairs outside with umbrellas

The ribs are their specialty, so I got them. Smokey, moist with a nice pink smoke ring. Dry rubbed to perfection. Choice of hot or mild sauces, hot sauce was tasty and not too hot. Home made mac and cheese al dente..excellent! and home made cornbread

Voted top five bbq of Denver                                  

Great Stuff!! 

Mileage  84120 

Travel Day 3

KSU at 0700. Awesome start to the day 70*, never went above 82* until we started heading southwest towards Great Bend, when it shot up to 93*. Tonight expecting to dip into the 60's,,,,nice!
Interesting sightings today, A stealth bomber flew by, passed a wind energy farm,some farm based oil rigs.

Now a sad note. 4 legs up BBQ is only open wed thru sat.  This being Tues.,,A day early just like in Santee. And no plan B. This place is so good no one else is competing. So used to being in touristy Florida and 7 day a week operations





So, we're in Kansas right? home of Black Angus,

We ask a local, and he sends us to Montana Mikes
A 14oz KC strip piled with peppercorns and sauce... Mmmm. Tros has a 20oz Porterhouse
Absolutely the best!




So, no BBQ review today
Tomprrow...Colorado!   Woo! Hoo!

Mileage  83709

Travel day 2

Blew out of Lexington at 730 , Looked like rain in spots, but never did, Ran into a cool front which tempered the heat some. 7 hours later pulled into Columbia, Missouri

Smokin' Chicks BBQ

Got the St Louis ribs with Brisket, Big meaty ribs, brisket had a nice smoke ring to it. But what made this place was their sauces

Gold is Carolina style mustard based and plenty sticky
Classic was overly sweet
Hickory was nice and smokey
Sweet not as sweet as the name says
Hot had a nice burn but not overpowering burn
Mixing sweet and hot was the way to do it
Fries were hand cut and good
Washed it all down with a sweet tea

Appearance- A

Taste- A+ when sauce added, A without                              
Value- A+
Atmosphere- B+
Sauces- A+  something for everybody

We liked it







Tomorrow Great Bend, Kansas.  Colorado getting closer!

Mileage- 83339

Travel Day

 A new riding buddy is travelling with me to Colorado. Tros from upstate NY He'll break off around Denver headed to Steamboat Springs. KSU at 730.  An awesome ride through the Blue Ridge and Appalachian mountains, cooler weather and long and short sweepers/ Pulled into Lexington. Ky. around 4:00

Billy's Hickory Pit BBQ

 Got the St. Louis ribs, moist, smoky with a slightly spicy sauce, Tros got the pulled pork and agreed

 


 Taste- A
Value- A
Appearance- A
Atmosphere= B


Tomorrow... Columbia Mo,
Mileage- 82875

The big show day 2

Off to the Honda motorsports dealer for a get together. Later on back to Bully's for some more surprises. Supposed to e a huge turnout today.....later

About a hundred bikes or so headed out to Fredericksburg powersports. Everyone in the group got a 25% discount on parts and accessories, not too shabby

I picked up a pair of shades and my long missing side cover grommet

 After a police escort back to Bully's, there had been a huge surprise in the making for the last few months

 After the usual "thanks for coming " speech, Cyberhick grabbed the mike and let Bully know what was going on the last few months with his bike ( which he thought was hidden so he would'nt mess up his recent surgery from dumping the bike). A lot of lying and stalling was finally at an end.

A little backround... The bike was taken to an airplane hanger, stripped down.Brian of BD's cycle  had started the project by offering to paint the bike for free to give back to Bully for all he put out over the years putting the Gatherings together. Hick arranged for a new Woody's fairing, which was also supplied free and ahead of schedule. The great people of the VTXOA were donating funds for a project unseen and had no idea what was being done

A lot of other vendors pitched in with reduced price goodies and VTXOA members pitched in supplying missing parts

 So getting back to the story, after the bike was finally done it was time for some pics

So, now was the day to deliver and I won't mention what happened along the way. The bike was given to an emotional and speechless Bully with a warning not to do any electrical on it (another story)

 Lunch was served and more  door prizes handed out

 I did't want to do any chain BBQ, but it's a little slim around here

Red, Hot and Blue- oops! out of business
VA BBQ- oops! out of business
Allmans- Ok, so I go bacb and get myself the pulled pork sandwich

 Buried it in Allmans sauce,... Mmmm

And of course the friendly staff


Taste- A+
Value- A+
Appearance- A
Atmosphere= A+

Back to Bully's for some more giveaways

and one more surprise


 LEDS were added to the bike during the rebuild. A custom paint job, chrome wheel exchange and 6* trees were given away as the grand prize. All in all a great time!

Tomorrow travel day to Lexington Kentucky enroute to the Coloradical


 Mileage 82417

The Big Show

Another toasty day. Think I'll take a ride and find the river
.Took a spirited ride this morning. Found some nice back roads and just kept finding more. A GPS makes riding much more enjoyable, when you don't have to remember how to get home again

The tarps went up at Bully's today

JR forgot it was a biker party




And Dave Mack does the first pole dance

Allmans BBQ-We have a winner!

Bully turned me onto this place. Just seeing the outside I knew it was gonna be good

 The inside is just as funky

 Faded formica, funky stools. Notice the original malt blenders













And a friendly staff

 And I find out Ted Nugent was in there 6 hrs. earlier....Damn!


Appearance- A+
Taste- A+
Atmosphere -A+
Value-A+

Definitely deserves a return trip

Bully's meet and greet 

Nobody did a count, but I estimate at least 80 bikes

 And plenty of door prizes. The generosity of the VTXOA and others is really something.

Mileage- 82350

Made it to the Burg

B

  

Pulled into Bully's around 2:15 I can sum up the ride up in one word HOT! The heat coming off the asphalt after noon was ike a blast furnace. Anyway, Bully's yard is all dressed up for the hordes of bikes headed his way. Dave Mack and Tiny were there already. Stayed for a bit, dropped off an HID kit for a door prize, grabbed my Burg shirt and went to find the pool at the EconoLodge





BULLY"S BBQ 
 I dropped by Bully's again for some ribs. After last nights sampling, it could only go up.

 Slow cooked to perfection,moist, slightly grilled, fall off the bone with either Carolina and KC style sauce Served with Corn on the cob, slaw and Brussel sprouts with sweet tea

Appearance -A 
Presentation- A
Taste- A 
Value- A+ (hey it was free!)

Tomorrow the big show starts.............

Mileage= 82272 

On the Road

KSU at 0730. The only practical way out of Florida is I-95 but once into Georgia, I ran up US17 for a bit when the interstate got a little boring. Rolled into Santee SC around 315, just a little bit after passing KevinK( the trailer queen) on the highway
A short nap and I'm ready to chow down on some BBQ




MAURICE'S BBQ

 First impression- OK, it looks like a fast food joint, not much traffic for being right off the interstate. No smoker pouring out whiffs of smoke, but it got good reviews so I'll try it

I got the large rib dinner ($14.95). Comes with 5 large ribs, hash with rice, 2 hushpuppies, slaw and a roll

 Not much for presentation. The ribs have a mustard based sauce, not fresh from a smoker for sure. A little dry. I added some hot sauce to spice it a little..\ The hash was a shredded pork over rice, actually not too bad. Hush puppies rather standard type fare and the roll out of a bag

Presentation- C
Food- B-
Price - B

 Good Q should always be right from a smoker. The lack of a visible smoker says these were probably cooked off site and kept in a steamer
The verdict This place looks like fast food and it is
Just goes to show you can;t believe everything you read Supposedly, these are supposed to be state champs, not in my humble opinion PASS ON THIS ONE

OK KSU at 730 after breakfast 375 miles to the Burg

Ending mileage 81843

Time to pack!

So...what do you need for 20 days on the road?
A little bit of everything. You got your clothes, tire kit and compressor, gatorade and granola bars, netbook and cameras with all the chargers, yada.. yada.. yada.


Does it all fit?

Yep. Packed to the gills

Bob's gotta ride in the back this trip







Kickstand's up at 0730

Almost there!

2003 VTX 1800 Retro  Mileage: 81,300

Changed the oil and filter, mounted the cam, check air pressures, coolant, knocked off some more items from the list.

My shock bushings are supposed to arrive on Tues, that's cutting it kind of close. I'll see if I can pick them up at the Fedex facility on Tues morning. About a 45 minute job, but want them in before I pack the bike. Still undecided which helmet to wear

The Zeus modular flip up is nice, but noisy. The new AFX I bought seems to have an issue with buffeting over 70, but it's quiet and has the inner solar shield. Maybe I'll just try and do the speed limit (yeah right)

Execute the Plan!

2003 VTX Retro 1800     Mileage 81,300
What's on the Bucket List? I always wanted to ride the Colorado mountains on a bike. So, I'm off to the Coloradical . A get together for like minded riders                                                       
(http://www.coloradovtxrangeriders.com/rideinjuly/rideinjuly.htm)          
But  there's a couple of other get togethers for like minded riders.
So I added 2 more destinations to THE TRIP.
First stop on THE TRIP is the 2010 eastcoast vtx gathering in the burg with bulldog in Fredericksburg Virginia. Nothing like starting out your trip with a little party with a couple of hundred of your friends, old and new.
Next, it's on to the Coloradical for some killer riding(see above)
And finish it off with another little party in Forkland, Alabama called the BamaFest
http://www.bamabikefest.com/
All total, 4,731 miles not including day trips.
Here's how it looks on paper

June 23, 2010-

Leave Stuart, FL- June 23^rd 8am

Arrive Santee, SC- June 23^rd  5pm 9hrs -492m  

   

June 24, 2010

Leave Santee, SC- June 24^th 8am

Arrive Frederk,VA- June 24 3pm 7hrs-420m  

June 25 & 26, 2010

Frederk, VA

June 27, 2010

Leave Frederk, VA- June 27th- 8am

Arrive Lexington, KY- June 27th-5pm 9hrs-496m  

June 28, 2010

Leave Lexington, KY- June 28^th - 8am

Arrive Columbia, MO-June 28^th  – 4pm 8 hrs-467m  

June 29, 2010

Leave Columbia, MO- June 29th- 8am

Arrive Great Bend, KS- June 29th- 3pm 7hrs-379m  

June 30, 2010

Leave Great Bend, KS- June 30th- 8am

Arrive Lakewood, CO- June 30th-2pm 7hrs-408m  

July 1, 2, 3, 4, 2010

Lakewood, CO – Coloradical

July 5, 2010

Leave Lakewood, CO - July 5th-8am

Arrive Salina, KS - July 5^th  4pm 8hrs-463m  

July 6, 2010

Leave Salina, KS- July 6th- 8am

Arrive Ft Smith, AR July 6th- 3pm 7hrs-364m  

July 7, 2010

Leave Ft Smith, AR July 7th- 8am

Arrive Memphis Tn July 7th- 1pm 5hrs-286m  

July 8, 2010

Leave Memphis, TN July 8th-8am

Arrive Forkland, AL July 8^th  -2pm 6hrs-251m Bama Fest 

July 9 & 10, 2010

Bama Fest – Forkland, AL

July 11, 2010

Leave Forkland AL July 11th- 8am

ArriArrive Valdosta, GA July 11th- 4pm 8hrs-363m  

July 12, 2010

Leave Valdosta, GA July 12th- 8am

Arrive Stuart, FL July 12th- 2pm 6hrs-343m

=================================================================================

20 days 4,731m +day trips

$995 Accommodations   

$394 Fuel   

$400 Food    

Ok, less than a week away, time to start working on my list

Motorcycle
x	Microfibre cloths
x	Xtra sunglasses and clear				Misc
x	Insurance,Roadside assist card				x	Back-up Map
x	Pledge				x	Hotel Reservations
x	Large and small ziplock				x	SD Cards
x	grocery bag				x	Ethernet cable
x	Xtra headphones				x	Camera(Still, Video,Helmet)
x	Tent, sleeping bag				x	Batteries AA
x	Charger converters
x	Plugs
x	Bungee cords
Personal
x	Vitamins
x	Tylenol
x	Toothpaste, brush
x	Sunscreen
x	Deodorant
x	Brush,scissors,nail clipper
x	Tums
x	Udder Butter
x	Gov't ID
x	Soap,shampoo,conditioner
x	Shaving stuff
x	Visine
x	Doo-rag
x	Vest
x	Bathing Suit
x	Heavy Sweatshirt
x	Hats
x	Xtra cash
x	Wipes

Got everything, except for the batteries. I'll get them this weekend.
Will also need to charge the camcorder batteries