2015 Year in Review, Post Up Your Favorites!

[puppychow]

I will play also..

The new year started with helping my buddy Al (feeger) on his first Big Money Rally ride.

Sierra Foothills..

Alberto at his Blacksmith BMR bonus.

There was local riding to be enjoyed... Ice House Road..

A new lens to look through..

Raised money to save abandoned horses..

Made new friends.. to hike and shoot with..

Met machines as old as my parents, if not older.

1950s Hudson Hornet.

1932 Packard 8.

Rode some local passes.. Monitor Pass.

Monitor Pass.

Rode some more with Festar, Tyler, Alberto, and Doug (who managed to escape the lens, sneaky fella!).

Mosquito Ridge Road.

Went through a dark period in my life and came out the tunnel on the other side.

Camped as close to heaven as you can get.. and still be alive.. Yosemite.

Rambled and wandered through the South West. Fought, argued, tussled, with my best friend, learnt a lot about each other, and eventually made our friendship stronger.

Kolob Canyon.

Zion National Park.

Bryce Canyon.

Capitol Reef

Chimney Rock

Bridge over River Colorado.

San Juan Mountains took my breath away..

Rocky Mountain high....seriously! Million Dollar Highway.

Molas Pass. Million Dollar Highway.

Start of the IBR and the awesomest member of the IBA (in my personal opinion) looking pretty in pink.

Met HotRodZilla for the second time. Great guy, give the shirt off his back for a friend kind of guy, a friend for life, who like Doug also hid from the camera.. here are some of his 'buddies'..

Got lost in the New Mexico Rockies.

Couldn't wait to and found my way to the San Juan Mountains again. Slumgullion Pass and Uncompahgre peak.

Almost got washed away in a storm cell in Nevada.

As I do every year, but for the first time on my birthday. Enjoyed one of my favorite mystical places in this world.

Chased some brides... managed to catch none..

Had better luck with some bad medicine instead..

All in all a year with some very high highs, and some very low lows, but in the end the ones closest to me got closer, and the darkness gave way to light, all in all it was quite the year to say the least..

 

[Cav47]

^^^. Simply amazing pictures!!!

 

[hppants]

Damm P/C - you've had a lifetime of experiences in 1 year. I didn't realize that we've rolled over some of the same roads in 2015. Where's Chimney Rock, again?

I want to go to Yosemite on a motorcycle. Like real bad....

 

[puppychow]

Thanks Pants!

Remember you were asking me about routing info before your strike out west? Yes, we rode some of the same roads last year.

Chimney Rock is in Capitol Reef National Park.

You would love camping in Yosemite, plan well in advance if you want to camp in the valley.

 

[Uncle Hud]

Nice photos. VERY nice photos. Thanks for sharing, and for boosting my resolve to hit NAFO this year.

 

[Redfish Hunter]

I am impressed with all of the photos posted so far. I appreciate all of them and appreciate you folks taking the time to post them. I get so many of my trip ideas and destinations from this forum that I cannot imagine what I would do without it.

Please folks, let's hear from a few more of you.

And 'pants, this has been a great thread. Thanks for posting it.

 

[dcarver]

All I gotta say is from now on I ride with the Chow. His scenery is ALWAYS better than mine!

 

[wheatonFJR]

Awesome photos Mr. Chow. Thanks for the commentary as well...gives meaning and depth to the photos. Great post.

 

[yamafitter]

Back of the start of the year Don Stanley was going to join a group of us for a Dual Sport Ride in Mexico. Unfortunately Don didn't make that trip due to a big crash two weeks before the trip. The rest of the group still went for what turned into quite an adventure. I did a short video with a montage from that trip...

https://vimeo.com/123251664

After getting back from Mexico it was time to get the FJR out of storage and make a CBA certification ride over to what us locals call the Kirby Ski Bump.....

and then over to Rice Lake to see if there was still enough ice to go ice racing.....

There was not.
Next we went over to Owosso for the Spring Tech Day.
One of the Michigan State vehicles was parked at the visitor center just past Port Huron....

Bust was as eloquent as ever...

https://vimeo.com/152000291

and we checked out BikerGeek's new ride....

I put on a new CalSci windscreen...

Lots of folks showed up....

and I didn't fall off the ladder.
Next up was the SE Ohio Ramble which because KJ organized it was not in SE Ohio but West Virginia........ go figure.

Highlight of the trip was the ride over to Hillbilly Hotdogs....

KJ demonstrating the finer points of fine dining....

The next big trip was a trip down to FODS and then over to South Dakota for the FJR Roundup.
On the Friday some of us took a long loop up to the north...

for some cake...

The next day I watched Tom fall off into the puddle...

https://vimeo.com/131311404

This just never gets old

if I get a chance I'll post up more. I have to go meet up with Ray now.

 

[gixxerjasen]

Been a crazy year. I turned 41 years old this year and managed to complete a whole bunch of FIRSTS while having a good time all around.

I took my son to his FIRST Hockey game on my birthday to see my team beat the home team with excellent seats. He's now a Lightning fan and Bishop is his favorite.

Took my FIRST run at being a soccer coach. These kids had such amazing skills that we cleaned up all season long and they really made me look good.

I showed my son that the world of bicycling extended beyond our cul de sac, and he even hit the local mountain bike trails for the FIRST time.

This part was twofold, spent time with the kiddo doing his FIRST clutch change, and got the FJR fixed.

Things in our life finally got all aligned for us to buy our FIRST house.

I ate a delicious lunch for the FIRST time at one of those touristy places I said I'd never set foot in.

I heard something about how it's now legal to get high in Colorado, so for the FIRST time in my life I did.

I was really there to see the Aspens turning for the FIRST time in my life. Mission accomplished. That's my FJR at the end of the road there.

And more...

Looking forward to more FIRSTS in 2016!!!

 

[puppychow]

Thanks for sharing and congrats on the first house!

 

[PhilJet09]

I found a single picture from my trip out west. This is somewhere in Wyoming, on my way home.