Monday, September 17, 2007
A Long Day to Coeur D'Alene
No wonder it took so long to get there!
So today turned out to be a very different day than yesterday. Yesterday, we were working with a tight schedule so that we'd get to Karson's parent's place in time to watch the Broncos/Raiders game. But today we had a pretty loose schedule that only included stopping at Beartooth Harley-Davidson H-D dealership in Billings and Big Sky BMW in Missoula, and riding up the 100-plus out-of-the-way scenic miles of Highway 12 to Coeur D'Alene.As it turned out, we were off to a pretty late start, leaving around 11 a.m. Our delays just snowballed from there. We had hoped to make it to Peter's by 7 p.m., but we didn't arrive until 9 - and that was without getting to ride Highway 12. We only logged 537 miles today and it took a long 11 hours to do it! I was pretty disappointed in missing Highway 12, but thought we might be able to catch it tomorrow morning instead. Turns out that won't work with Peter's plans for our ride. Oh well.
Did you catch that I mentioned our plans included stopping at a H-D dealership? Yep, you heard right! But before you get your panties all in a bunch, it was only to stop in to see a former fellow motorcross riding buddy of Karson's who owns the joint. Karson chatted for a while while I got stuck yapping with a guy who was admiring the GT. I was in a pretty grumpy mood today, so I wasn't particularly interested in shooting the shit with some stranger about all his bikes and all the rallies he's attended. Thankfully, a service guy had to talk to him right as Karson wrapped up his visit so I didn't have to say some awkward goodbye.
I have to say that I was just in awe of how picturesque Montana is. But as impressive as it is, I never stopped to take any photos to back my claim. I did, however, get to take some shots of a beautiful brand new yellow Ducati 1098 Superbike being trailered. Hours later we ended up at the same gas station with the driver and so we chatted for a bit...probably about bikes and rallies, I don't recall.
We stopped in at the BMW dealership in Missoula just to check out the shop and to see if they had any strap clips for one of Karson's bags. The shop was pretty unimpressive as was their inventory. They did have a pair of new KTM 990 Adventures that caught my eye, but other than that, it was a case of been there, done that, so we pressed on.
The sun was falling fast and we still had a good 165 miles left to go, so we scrapped plans on riding Highway 12 and just booked it up I-90. We were a bit nervous because the last words from the guys at BMW were to watch out for deer and fallen rock since this was the season. It wasn't long before it was dark out and the temperature dropped to a very chilly 34 windchill degrees. There was so much bug splatter on my helmet visor that I ended up just removing it altogether just so I could see. We were so far behind schedule and just eager to get to Peter's that we hightailed it the rest of the way. I set the cruise control at 90 mph - even through the twisties - and threw caution to the wind.
Peter's garage.
We arrived safely and now I'm blogging from Peter's computer while Karson and Peter play poker and have a few drinks.
Labels: Big Sky, Coeur D'Alene, H-D, night ride, windchill
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No pictures of Montana? Boo. Hope your ride today gets off to a better start. And take some dang pictures!!!!!
64% of all fatal motorcycle accidents could be prevented by use of a DOT approved helmet and not driving thru Montana at night at 90 mph. Be Careful!
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