CSC Blog

Wow, today was the best day yet on this trip.  I know I’ve said that before, but today was a lot of fun.   I enjoyed it more than any day yet on this epic adventure.  And like the title says, we’re in Boise, Idaho tonight.   It was a good ride getting here.

I just came in from changing the oil (we did all of the bikes today).   Hugo and John G have group oil changes down to a science.  We serviced 10 bikes in about an hour.   Fun times. Lots of jokes, lots of kidding around, and just plain fun.  Hugo is turning into a real boss.   John G thinks he’s running the show.   Hugo does, too.   It’s pretty funny watching Hugo holding a funnel, pointing to his wrist, and telling John “quickly, quickly” (especially when you consider that Hugo doesn’t wear a watch).   Good times.

We rolled out of Twin Falls at around 8:00 a.m., picked up Highway 20, and rode it through the southern width of Idaho.   Arizona George met us along the way…he’s a Brit with an accent that everyone mistakes for Australian, and we’re really enjoying his company.

Our first stop was at the Craters of the Moon National Monument.  It’s a volcanic field in the middle of southern Idaho’s gently rolling hills, and it’s definitely other-worldly.

I grabbed a photo of Kyle, John, and Gabriel when we got there…

You know, you get to think a lot when you ride a motorcycle.   I like things simple.   I don’t have a GPS, or an intercom, or anything else like that on my bike.   I like the solitude that riding a motorcycle offers, even when I’m riding in a group.   I’m old, I guess, and I find that feeling (a preference for solitude) is more prevalent among older riders.

I sometimes like having a GPS in my car, but only sometimes.   To me, using it is like looking at a map through a straw.   I like the big picture, and I like having a paper map.  I don’t want a GPS on my bike.  Personal preference, I suppose.  When I first starting taking big rides on motorcycles, we used maps.  I still like the feel of a map.

The guys were riding much better today.  We were getting a little too bunched up yesterday, so we had another safety meeting and today things were much better.   I think a big part of it is cultural…in other countries riders ride closer together.  I like big distances with lots of space between bikes.  It gives you more time to react.   Anyway, today was a breeze.   I think my new Chinese name is SesherMe, which the guys tell me means 30 meters in Chinese.   I’m always telling the guys to keep 30 meters between bikes.

The mornings are interesting.   We usually have breakfast in the hotel and then get on the road by about 8:00.  It’s a challenge to get everybody moving at the same time, and Hugo is helping a lot with this.   We’re doing well.

Most of the guys from China have never been to the US before, and it’s sometimes hard for me to remember that the things I see all the time and don’t take much notice of are new and exciting for our guests.   My focus has been on getting everybody moving at the same time and minimizing the time at our fuel stops, because I want to get to the next spot before dark and still have enough time to take in the sightseeing stops we have scheduled.   The Chinese guys want to see it all and get photos of everything.   I was the same way when I was in China.

Today was interesting for many reasons, but what happened in Carey, Idaho, will stay with me for a long time.

We had left the Craters of the Moon and ridden another 50 miles or so (with literally nothing in between except open plains, rolling hills, and beautiful scenery) when we entered Carey.   You have to understand that Carey is basically a wide spot in the road with maybe 40 or 50 buildings along the way.   I was focused on getting there, filling the bikes, and getting back on the road.  Little did I know…

When we pulled into Carey, it was like my home town in the early afternoon on the 4th of July….you know, where everybody is sitting in lawn chairs, lining the street, waving American flags, and waiting for the parade.  That’s literally what we encounted.   The good citizens of Carey were waiting for the parade.   It was Pioneer Day here in Idaho.  I imagine everybody in town was out there on both sides of the street.

Okay, so we roll into town on our RX3s.  All 11 of us, now that Arizona George had joined the party.   You can guess where this is going…the good people of Carey thought we were the start of the parade, especially since the Chinese have large American and Chinese flag decals on their windshields.   The Carey people waved their flags at us and cheered.   What the Chinese guys were thinking I can only guess.   When we pulled in the Shell station, my good buddy Joe Gresh (who is a really fun guy to be around) pulled off his helmet and said “Boy, a lot of folks are following the blog.”  It was pretty funny.

I wanted to get gas and get going.  The Chinese guys and the Colombians wanted to stay and watch the parade.

You can guess how it went from the photos below…

We actually had a pretty good time. Our visitors were seeing a good old fashioned American parade. You can imagine the stories and photos they’ll be bringing home.

After the parade, we rode another 50 miles or so to another tiny town with two small restaurants, and we picked one. Hugo and I have this system worked out we were get in first (before all of the other guys, we review the menu, and we pick out something that is reasonably priced and order the same thing for all of the Chinese visitors).    Then I explain to the waitress what’s happening.  It’s working pretty well.

Today, we opted for bacon cheeseburgers, and they were awesome.  It’s always fun to watch the reactions when the food comes out.  The Chinese can’t believe our portion sizes.

The other thing that’s fun is to watch the reactions of the other diners in these places.  We’re eating in local restaurants, and the other patrons are local folks.   Today I walked over to the other tables and told them what was happening (you know, new motorcycle in America, visitors from China and Colombia, etc.).   The locals loved it.  They had lots of questions and it was a very enjoyable exchange.  Some of the towns we are going through are extremely small (for instance, the town of Emblem has a population of 10), and it’s a big deal for them (much as it is for us) when we stop in for a meal.   Fun times.

At our stop today for lunch, it was an extra-special treat to have Justin (aka MacGuyver) hook up with us for the ride.   Justin, you will remember, rode with us on the Baja ride.  It was another photo op.  Grand fun, all the way around, for everybody.  That’s Justin in the middle of the photo below.

From there, it was another quick 50 miles (although in much more severe heat) to the junction of Hwy 20 and I-84.   We stopped for gas, but on the way into that town, several of us noticed an M1 Abrams tank on display.  Joe Gresh wanted to take a few minutes to photograph it.   So did our guests.   It was a hoot.

We’re in Boise tonight, and when we arrived at the hotel, we had another nice surprise.  My old Triumph-riding buddy Brendan and his brother, Shelby, were waiting for us at the hotel.   They both ride RX3 motorcycles now.   They are joining the ride tomorrow, so we now have four additional RX3 riders in our group.

Today we’re headed to Hell’s Canyon in Oregon.  Yep, we’re adding another state to our list.  It’s going to be hot, but it’s going to be fun.  I washed clothes last night and they are still a bit damp.  That will keep me cool for awhile.

This evening we’ll be staying at the Super 8 on 2407 East R Avenue in LaGrande, Oregon.   Ride safe and we hope to see you there.

Yep, another state on the Western America Adventure Tour!   We crossed the border into Idaho, and we’re spending the evening in Idaho Falls tonight.

But first, allow me to back up a bit to yesterday, when we stopped for lunch at the only Chinese restaurant in Greybull, Wyoming.  It was good.  I was afraid our Chinese visitors might not find it up to their standards, but they gave it a thumbs up!   Our friends taught Baja John the finer points of chop sticking, and we had a blast.

Okay, fast forward to today.   We were on the road at 5:00 a.m. today (you read that right…we rolled out of Cody before the sun came up).   We wanted to beat the crowd into Yellowstone and we did, but wowee, was it ever cold!   The forecast was that it would be in the 30s and it sure was!

Yellowstone is surreal, with sulfur-laden steam spewing forth all over the place.   It was a first for me…I’d never been to Yellowstone before.

That’s Baja John in front of me…we were dressed for the cold, but I think our guests found it to be a little colder than the weather they are normally used to.

I was nervous about the gas situation.   My fuel light was blinking as we entered the park and I didn’t know for sure if there would be gas in Yellowstone.  John felt confident there would be, and he was right.

I was glad to see the Sinclair sign up ahead, but before we got there, we had a close encounter of the bison kind.  We were cruising along at about 30 mph, and all of a sudden I noticed this large-as-a-locomotive big dark shape next to me.  I was too slow to realize what it was until I was alongside, but our chase vehicle driver John (we have two Johns and one Juan on this ride) grabbed this photo…I passed within 10 feet of this monster!

The locomotive analogy is not a bad one.   Just as I went past my big buff buddy above, he  exhaled.   In the frigid Yellowstone air, fog came out this guy’s nostrils.   It was like riding alongside a steam locomotive.

Here’s another cool shot.   We’ve crossed the Continental Divide four or five times already on this ride.

You know, back to that fuel situation again for just a moment.   I checked my gas mileage a couple of days ago and I didn’t tell you about it because I was sure I must have had made a mistake.   I calculated 81 mpg.   Well, I checked it again today after the ride out of Yellowstone, and this time I got 80.86 mpg.   I know that the ride out of Yellowstone was mostly downhill, but still, that’s impressive fuel economy.

The big attraction at Yellowstone, of course, is Old Faithful.   Here’s a shot of the geyser in its full glory…I grabbed this one earlier today.

And if that’s not enough, I used my camera’s video feature to capture this…

After Yellowstone, we stopped for lunch and I had elk chili.   It was amazing.  It was still cold out, and I had a cup of coffee, too.   It was a grand lunch in a grand place.

What a day…we next rode through the Grand Teton National Park.

Folks, it doesn’t get much better than this…

After the Grand Tetons, we rode for another couple of hours and then we crossed into Idaho.   Wow.  California.  Arizona.   Utah.  Colorado.   Wyoming.   South Dakota.  Back into Wyoming.   And now, Idaho.   Didn’t anyone tell this bike it’s “just” a 250?

We had a couple of folks waiting for us at the hotel this evening.   The first is Arizona George, who is riding a portion of the ride with us tomorrow.   George (aka AZRider) has a red RX3.   He’s an interesting man and I’m looking forward to riding with him tomorrow.

And Lia, who showed up for a test ride…my guess is she’ll be an RX3 rider before too long.

That’s it for now…time for some shuteye.   We’re hooking up with more RX3 riders tomorrow on our way to Boise!  It’s going to be fun!

Just a quickie tonight, folks…we’re up with the sun tomorrow morning headed to Yellowstone.  It’s going to be in the 30s when we leave.

This is a quick video on Highway 14, headed west, on our way to Cody today…

I guess my helmet cam picked up a bug…as in a squished bug on the lens.   You can see it as a foggy spot in the upper right corner of the above video.  We sure are running into a lot of bugs.

My RX3 turned over 6200 miles this afternoon, and the tire still has a fair amount of meat on it.   With about 2300 miles to go on this ride, I’m wondering if I’ll be able to get all the way home on it.

We slugged it out with strong headwinds for 250 miles today.   It was an exhausting ride.   The RX3s probably handled it better than we did.   We adjusted and lubed the chains on everyone’s bike this evening, and we’re good to go tomorrow.  Everybody is tired tonight, though, and I’m getting to bed early.

Some of the bikes are parked out front (the others are out exploring Cody).

I’m glad I bought cold weather gear with me.   It’s going to be frigid!

Oh, and by the way, tomorrow night we’ll be staying at the La Quinta Inn and Suites, 2501 South 25th East, Idaho Falls, Idaho.

Yep, our expedition enters Idaho tomorrow!

Gillette, Wyoming.   Wow.

We are rolling, folks.   Yesterday and the night before were amazing.   Sleeping in the shadows of Mt. Rushmore.   South Dakota’s Black Hills.   Deadwood.   Sturgis.   Devil’s Tower.   And more amazing Wyoming scenery.   More than we expected, but I digress.   More on that later.

First, the route.   We are about 23oo miles or so into the ride, as you can see below….

Everywhere we go people are reacting positively to the RX3.   Most assume it’s a BMW.   It’s funny…I was standing outside a restaurant in Sturgis yesterday and a guy on a GS1200 pulled up to me.   “How’s the food in there?” he asked.  “I know I can trust a fellow GS rider…”

The bikes are holding up well.  We’ve had more issues with our camera gear than with the motorcycles.   One guy lost a camera (it fell off the bike), another guy had his helmet mount break, another guy broke the LCD screen on the back of his camera, and another guy’s camera just gave up the ghost.

While the Three Amigos were on safari, the rest of us walked around Keystone before dinner.

Here’s a shot of Hugo.   I always wondered what these said.   Hugo couldn’t make much sense of it, either…

The Sturgis Rally starts in another day or so.   There were already lots of bikes in town.

The four amigos….Hugo, Joe, Tony, and Zuo.

Hugo and Teddy R…

The next morning we were up early, we had the hotel continental breakfast (I’ve always wondered on what continent they eat that kind of breakfast), and we were off for a ride through the Black Hills.   Awesome stuff.

We rolled into Deadwood and stopped for photos.   I didn’t grab any.   John, Lester, and I just kicked back and had a Pepsi while the rest of the guys checked out the table where Wild Bill Hickok cashed in his chips.   After that, we were back on the road headed into Sturgis…

Everybody needs to see Sturgis once.   Preferably, not during the rally.   They are expecting over a million motorcycles to converge on this spot next week.    It’s going to be crowded.

After that, it was on to Devil’s Tower, Wyoming.   That place is special.   I heard our Colombians singing the tones from Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  We were all enjoying it.

And that’s it.  I missed a turn coming back from Devil’s Tower yesterday, so we added another 40 miles or so to our ride through the Wyoming countryside.  The guys were all too polite to mention it.

One more thing…I’ve been so pre-occupied with the bikes, the guys, keeping everybody moving, and all kinds of other things that I’m not taking too many photos or videos.  That was bothering me until I realized I’ve got some world class photographers on this ride.   Hey, I thought, I’ll just ask them if I can get copies of their outstanding work.

Baja John’s navigational skills in charting our course and his logistical support with the hotels have been incredible.   I am amazed at the job he is doing for us.

We’re headed to Cody, Wyoming, in about one hour.   Stay tuned, my friends.

Mt. Rushmore…we made it to our turnaround point!  The guys are enjoying the ride enormously!

A few hours ago, I asked my Chinese riding buddies to pose for a photo in front of Mt. Rushmore.   Kyle suddenly started talking in Chinese at about 100 mph and at first I didn’t understand what was happening.  It took me a minute until I realized Kyle was creating a Chinese version of Mt. Rushmore with Kong, Lester, Hugo, and Zuo.   Very clever, if you ask me…

I sure like the photo.   To me, it is maybe the best one of the trip.

Let’s switch gears and talk about the joining us for the ride.

The best way to hook up with us and get a test ride is to meet us at the hotels.   We’ve had some people meet us during the ride, but we really don’t know when we’ll be passing through a specific area and we are making changes to the route as we go.    You’d save yourself a lot of time and have a much better chance of seeing us if you meet us at the hotel when we arrive each evening.

If you want to ride with us for a portion of the ride, the best way is to similarly meet us at the hotel before we start.   We’ve got 12 people here speaking three or four different languages and struggling with having crossed several time zones, so getting everybody moving in the same direction at the same time is a dicey affair.  That’s a nice way of saying I have no idea when we’ll be passing through a certain area, or even if we’ll be taking a specific road.  And, as I said above, we are making changes to the route on the fly.   You’d have a much better chance of finding us at the hotel in the evening or in the morning if you want to ride with us.

Having said that, here’s where we’ll be staying for the next three nights:

• Wednesday (22 July):  Budget Inn Express, 2011 Rodgers Drive, Gillette, WY 82716
• Thursday (23 July):  Green Gables Inn, 1636 Central Avenue, Cody, WY 82414
• Friday (24 July):  La Quinta Inns & Suites, 2501 South 25th East, Idaho Falls, ID 83404

Mt. Rushmore is our turnaround point.   We’ll ride some of the more interesting areas in South Dakota’s Black Hills tomorrow, and then we’re pointing the bikes west and rolling back into Wyoming.

As always, more to follow…

Ten riders tearing across Wyoming at 75 mph.   What a day!

Ah, where to begin after one of the best riding days of my life.   A good spot, I guess, is with a video from my good buddy and fellow RX3 rider Juan Carlos from Colombia…

That was me at the front of this gang of hell raisers rolling across Wyoming.  Yep, Wyoming.   We rode all the way from LA to Wyoming on our RX3 motorcycles, and tomorrow we roll into South Dakota.

South Dakota.    Just seeing it in print is cool.   On 250cc singles.  From California.  Folks, we’re smoking.   Another quick recap:

• Joshua Tree National Park:  Check
• Grand Canyon National Park:  Check
• Zion National Park:  Check
• Bryce National Park:  Check
• Capitol Reef National Park:  Check
• California:  Check
• Arizona:  Check
• Utah:  Check
• Colorado:   Check
• Wyoming:  Check
• Deer:   Check
• Elk:  Check
• Bighorn Sheep:  Check
• Coyote:  Check
• Antelope:  Check
• Bald Eagle:   Check
• Golden Eagle:  Check

And within the next two days, we’ll be adding Mt. Rushmore National Park and bison to that checklist.   Folks, this is how we roll in the RX3 world!

What a day.  We started early and left right on schedule, thanks to Drill Sergeant Hugo.   Great job, guys!   After a super Mexican dinner last night in Steamboat Springs, Colorado (thanks, Steve and Zongshen!) we rolled out of town on Highway 40 and climbed up to over 9000 feet.   Glorious riding…a clear crisp day, and before I realized it, we had crossed the Continental Divide.   Yep, the Continental Divide.  On our RX3 motorcycles.  Wow!   I could have stopped for a picture, but truth be told, I was enjoying the ride too much.

We continued for another hour rolling across magnificent Colorado and we took a 1-hour photo break in Walden, Colorado.   Again, it was simply magnificent.  Everyone was having a grand time.   You’ll be seeing the other riders’ photos on Facebook and on the forums, and I want to share with you a few I grabbed.

This guy (he’s not real) was in somebody’s front lawn.   Joe (Joe Gresh, not Gwong Joe) got a shot of himself kissing Bullwinkle.   I know because I saw it on his Facebook page already.

Here’s a photo of Kong (quickly renamed King Kong), Kyle, and Hugo (we have a lot of new names for Hugo already) strolling along Main Street in Walden…

Here’s the obligatory post office shot.  Yep, we were really there.

A shot along Main Street.   Walden has an authentic Old West feel to it.

We were all enjoying the place.

My obligatory selfie…

Some of the stars of this show, lined up along Main Street…

Gabriel, our Colombian male model, on the Adventour 250 configured RX3…

After leaving Walden, we pointed the bikes north and rolled right on into Wyoming.

Wyoming.

I keep typing Wyoming because I like the way the word looks here on the CSC blog.

We were bound for Medicine Bow, Wyoming.

Medicine Bow.   That has a nice ring to it, too.

I didn’t know what to expect in Medicine Bow.   I was thinking maybe they had a McDonalds and we could have lunch there.   Wow, was I ever surprised.

Medicine Bow is about five buildings, and one of them is the Victorian Hotel…

The place is awesome, and it’s where we had lunch.

This next shot is of yours truly, good buddy Lester, and good buddy Zuo…

Bison.   We hope to see a few live ones in the next couple of days.

The interior of the Victorian Hotel is the real deal.

Lester came to America as a vegetarian.   That lasted about two days.   He sure enjoyed his hamburger at lunch today.   He told us he wants to be like Baja John when he grows up.

Cell service in Medicine Bow was maybe one bar.

This one might work a little better, though…

The Burger Brigade this afternoon…

The owner, who looks like someone right out of Central Casting on the old Gunsmoke show, saw our interest in photography and showed us this photograph.   He told me only six or seven copies of it exist.  Spend a minute reading the writing…it’s an amazing photo!

Oh, and one more cool thing…my good buddy Zuo (I wrote about him in the blog below) just sent this cool photo.   Someone grabbed it earlier today…

The C0ntinental Divide.  Colorado.   Antelope.   A bald eagle.  A golden eagle.   Wyoming.   Medicine Bow.  Walden.  Great riding.   Great friends.   Great motorcycles.   We crossed the Overland Trail.   And more…I can’t even remember it all.   Our visitors are seeing more of America than most Americans ever will.    We’ll be in South Dakota tomorrow.  We’ll see Mt. Rushmore the next day.

You probably can tell I’m having fun.   I think everyone else is, too.

That’s it for now.   We’ve got another 300-mile day in front of us tomorrow.  The RX3s will take it all in stride; they’re mile-munching monsters and they are performing magnificently.   Watch the blog…there’s more coming your way!