Wednesday 7/9/14
I had made it known to the group that we would not be in any hurry to get anywhere today. I made it clear that I wanted to climb Pike's Peak early while we were still fresh and if it took us all day well, it did not matter because we had all day.
Pop was nervous. I don't understand why he gets like this but he was intimidated by that climb and those switch backs. It baffles me because I know he is a man with tremendous personal courage. I think he overthinks things. My argument is always that lots of folks who can't ride worth a damn have made it on bikes that are nowhere near the equal of his FJR. He has the right bike and the right skills.
We decided as a group that a tire pressure check was in order and it was good that we did. Everyone's tires were low. I had given Cousin GW a present the week before we left, the ultra compact Aerostich air compressor. He had wired the pigtail to his battery and we were both anxious to try it out. Wow! The little Aerostich is impressive. Best have the engine running though, it pulls more amperage than I had anticipated.
We all agreed on the need for a good breakfast and set out in search of grub. Pop's voice in my headset made my decision easy (I did what I was told) and I pulled into a Denny's. I could not resist a pic of the Denny's sign, I am assuming a double meaning.
Across the road was a WalMart. Apparently they have to fit in and not be out of place in Woodland Park CO. I snapped this pic just because I found it so different.
Our breakfast was excellent. Cousin GW told Cousin HD not to worry. He said that when the Harley overheated to just park it and wait. He would ride to the top, get his picture and then ride back to the Harley. Then Cousin HD could ride the GoldWing up and get his picture.
Cousin HD replied that he would rather walk up that mountain wearing his Harley shirt than riding that GoldWing.
The reply was, "If you can't walk faster than your Harley can run you ain't never gonna make it".
Pop and I stayed out of it.
I paid the toll for all of us. I almost got pissed when I heard Pop ask the toll booth operator how bad the road really was. I was grinning in my helmet when the reply came back, "Oh you should have no problem on this thing! People do it on all sorts of bikes all the time. This FJR will make it just fine."
We took a short bathroom break at the first rest area. Cousin GW had overheard the conversation with the booth attendant and he approached Pop. "You know you got nothing to worry about. You ride better than any of us and you got the strongest motor in the lightest bike. Stop worrying."
And then we started climbing.
Our destination:
What we looked like:
You may notice that our speeds were LOW! Pop's voice in my helmet was a constant reminder and I had to defend any acceleration move I made. I was honestly getting a bit tired of the crap. I came a long way to ride this road and I wanted to enjoy it.
Then, I noticed that our camera bike (the GoldWing) and the Harley were not following anymore. Pop and I had just made the gift shop at the brake check booth and I told him to pull over at the parking lot and Wait For Me THERE! Of course I feared the worst, another crash and my blood was pounding in my eardrums.
As I executed a perfect U-turn complete with a spinning finish I heard Pop's voice in my helmet telling me to take it easy, take it slow... I am afraid my reply was not as respectful as it should have been.
I knew they could not be far and I let the Honda act like a real Sport Tourer for the first time on the whole trip. The RPMs climbed, the footpegs came closer to the pavement, the suspension compressed... I rounded a corner and to my relief, both bikes were safely parked on the shoulder.
Of course the altitude was causing overheating issues. But as proof that Karma can really be a Bitch, it was the GoldWing! The Harley was doing fine, the big Honda was sitting with its temp gauge hovering in the red!
I could not help it, I laughed aloud. Those two bickering little bitches both got what they deserved that morning. When they asked about mine and Pop's bikes I laughed some more. My reply was not kind.
I told them I was out of range of the Scala Rider and I knew Pop was worried so I was going to return and let him know they were both fine. I was sure they could not get lost. I treated them to a low level wheelie and enjoyed the few tight turns between me and Pop.
But altitude has no loyalties and no friends. By the time they reached us, both bikes were running hot. We had to wait and shop while they cooled off.
So, we traveled slowly but steadily up the hill. Pop was astonished that his bike would get warm enough to kick on the cooling fans. The temp would drop back down instantly and it never came close to running hot but it surprised him. He asked me if he should be worried. I laughed. I told him if that Yamaha ran hot he could ride my Honda while I carried the FJR up the hill. He finally realized what I had been telling him all along. Just Ride the Bike and Enjoy the Road. Why we have to go through this every trip...
This bike ran hot:
And this bike ran hot:
But these two bikes did not!
Pop finally relaxed and enjoyed the road and the ride. He was praising the work I did on smoothing his throttle, enjoying the smooth power delivery of his FJR. I sarcastically pointed out to him that were not using much of that power... He pointed out that we were not holding up any traffic either.
Finally...
Yeah, I felt like a kid that killed a dragon with a popsicle stick. I had herded my little flock of misfits to The Top of the World. They were thrilled. We were all thrilled.
Of course, they were also dizzy and light headed.
I had been uhhh... exercising and working out in anticipation of the difficulties of altitude so I was fine. I walked around taking pics and savoring this happy time.
For those of you who choose to ride the Cog RailRoad up the mountain instead, this dinky little structure is what is supposed to stop you from going over the edge:
And then while I was shopping, I started getting dizzy. It hit me then that if I was getting affected this badly and my 3 companions had been suffering from this for the last 15 or 20 minutes... We had to get the hell down off this mountain. Right Now.
The three of them were all sitting on their bikes looking strange when I walked out to them. Pop said, "Son, I am sorry. We have to get the hell down of this Mountain. Right the Hell Now."
They all three assured me they could ride, they just could not walk very well. That did not soothe me at all. Since all 4 of us live at about 50 feet above sea level, we were literally fish out of water up there at 14,110 feet.
It all went well though. On the way down they revived quickly, I could hear the change in Pop's voice by the time we exited the second switchback.
We took a pic of this guy a little way from the top:
After all the unnecessary drama and the unnecessary bullshit, we had a really fun ride. Pop actually apologized in my headset on the way down, he said that it was all beautiful and he felt like he had really done something special. We all felt pretty wonderful after that ride.
To be continued...
