From: Mark Hughes
Date: Thu, 19 Aug 2010 22:06:44 -0500
Subject: [BARGE] The Ride to Paradise - BARGE 2010. (Part 1 of 3)

WARNING: No Poker or Gambling Content Next 2000 words.
 
Plans for BARGE 2010 began with a series of e-mail exchanges between
Grizz and myself several months ago...back in the winter and spring.
I was interested in riding my bike to BARGE and Grizz extressed an
interest in riding his bike, a BMW 1200. My bike at the time was a
Honda Valkyrie F6 (See my Facebook page for pics). It was a big
cruiser with lots of chrome, about 764 pounds wet (loaded with
gasoline, oil, grease, etc). Built in 1997, it was powered by a
hard-mounted Honda Goldwing engine from that year. The Goldwings
had rubber engine mounts but this bike didn't. No matter, the bike
was a thrill to ride and pretty smooth in spite of a lack of breeding
for the finer points. It made getting to 100 MPH an exhilirating
and short timed event. It was not as fast as one of those screaming
10000 RPM crotch rockets but then it was not eant to be. I took it
to Cape Canaveral, Florida in the spring on a 1300+ trip and was
quite comfortable with the idea of riding the Valkyrie to Las Vegas.
However, in June I did some wheeling and dealing and managed to
sell my Valkyrie for what I wanted enabling me to buy a 2010 Honda
Goldwing. This was my ultimate goal. I was set. +EV in my book! I
still regret selling the Valkyrie a bit..maybe one day after a huge
BARGE tournament cash I can buy it back :).

About a week before BARGE, I drove to Nashville for a conference
(25 July) but returned to Picayune, MS on 29 July to get ready for
the BARGE motorcycle odessy. I didn't get much sleep on the 29th..too
damned excited about taking an across country bike ride. At 55, I
figured it was now or never... I ain't gettin any younger.

At 4AM on the 30th, I got up and took a shower and packed my new
bike like a borax 20 mule team mule. I was set to leave about
5AM...the bike was loaded... I had stuff in all the luggage
compartments and three containers/bags tied down with bungie cords
in the passenger seat. I felt a shiver of excitement and unmitigated
freedom as I took off in the early morning darkness. It was cool,
comfortable, and the radio was blaring as I rode down the interstate.
weeehaaa!!

Mississippi was left behind in just a few short minutes and Louisiana
lay in front of me. I had driven to Shreveport many times back in
the late 90s...piece of cake. There's nothing much to see in Louisiana
and Texas except the Dairy Queens and most of those are in Texas.
Did I tell you how much I like DQs? I finally hit Dallas-Ft Worth
around 1 PM. The bypass has turned into a giant parking lot which
took about 2 hours to navigate. In the near 100 degree heat I got
a touch of heat stress and stopped at a sevice station/zippy mart
in Denton, Tx about 12 miles north.  The clerk turned a fan on me
and 45 minutes later after a quart of gatorade, I was ready to head
to Norman, OK for my reservation at the La Quinta. I finally soaked
my special sleeveless riding jacket (has beads that absorb water
and slowly release it while cooling the rider) and put it on along
with a wide blue neck tie thing with special pouches for freezing
and keeping your neck cool in hot weather. $50 for both of these
items..well worth the cost after I finally started using them.

Somewhere between Dallas-Ft Worth and Okalhoma City I passed a
hellaciously large casino. http://500nations.com/casinos/okWinStar.asp
I may have to stop here on a later trip. I did stop at a roadstop
casino for gas and some more gatorade. I got to playing the goofy
slots and lost my necktie between two of them. It took 15 minutes
to finally snag it with a broom handle and drag it out.

I finally hit Norman, OK about 9PM almost 15 hours after I started.
734 miles. I had pancakes at the IHOP next door after a shower and
I was ready to sleep. After a 4 AM wake up call, I got on the road
early to Castle Rock, Co...my destination for Day Two, another 710
miles.  Riding across Kansas was a real pleasure...temps hovered
in the high 80s to low 90s...beautiful countryside abounded. I saw
huge fields of corn, barley? (Not sure), and large fields of
sunflowers staring up at the sun. I saw a giant farm of windmills
(Smokey Hills Wind Farm) in large groups across hundreds and perhaps
thousands of acres...many spinning in the wind. These giant beasts
looked to be about 300 feet tall with blades about 125 feet long.
I later saw trucks carrying some blades...gargantuan!!
http://www.kansastravel.org/smokeyhillwindfarm.htm

The miles clipped by and I found myself in Castle Rock late in the
afternoon. I pulled up to Joe Long's house and was warmly greeted
by him and later by his lovely wife Kat when she finally got home.
I thoroughly enjoyed their warm hospitality and good conversation.
His house sits on about 32 acres with a mountain rising up in the
back. Kat has some honey bees in addition to a horse in the pasture.
At the time they were temporarily keeping a nephew's son? and a big
black good-natured dog who slobbered a bit...Goodness that dog loved
to chase a rubber ball thrown downhill into a pasture. I watched
hummingbirds dance in the air in their front yeard hitting the
feeder and seeking out the flowers on several blooming plants Kat
had out front. Several types of sparrows and other small birds
pecked at the other seed based bird feeders. It was gorgeous. Grizz
didn't arrive until after 8 PM. It was good to see him make it. Kat
stayed home with the boy and Joe took us to a great mexican restaurant
and even picked up the tab...DING!! +EV Thank you again Joe...the
food and hospitality were matchless.

By 9 AM Grizz and I had finally gotten our lazy butts up and were
ready for the trip to Las Vegas, leg three by my calculations, about
780 miles. The JoeKat Hotel provided a nice breakfast.  Damn Joe
and Kat...Thank you again.  Joe suggested a more scenic route telling
us, take a right out of the driveway, a right about 3.5 miles down
where the road T's and a right when you hit highway 67. That will
take you back up to I70 he said. Wellll it sounded good, so we
decided to see a bit of Colorado...little did we know just how much
we were about to see, whether we wanted to or not.

We took a right out of the driveway...we took a right where the
road T'd. But, there was a small accident at the Highway 67
intersection and we ended up taking a left...big mistake...almost.
About 15 miles later we found a place called Sprucewood (I've got
a picture). Grizz's GPS said the road went through so we followed
it...the asphalt ended suddenly and we found ourselves on a dirt
road in the middle of the wild Colorado countryside. We hadn't gone
a mile when we saw a sign that said "15% Grade"...hmmm sounds
ominous...but we kept going. There was a couple of cars behind us
by this point. We couldn't go fast, these big bikes don't run well
on a dirt road. The BMW weigh over 750 lbs plus Grizz and luggage
and the Goldwing is 924 lbs plus Odbear and luggage. For sure we
were out of our element.

What does a 15% grade look like? When we hit the top of the grade
and finally saw what lay below we got the shock of the trip. "Holy
mother of God that's steep!!!" We put our bikes into first gear,
we dragged our feet and tapped out brakes (At least I did)....nowhere
to turn around..it was too steep, anyway. Nowhere to get off the
dirt road...there were no guardrails, only a hairpin turn at the
bottom of this first alpine ski jump. Slowly we navigated this
treacherous stretch for about a quarter mile. We finally hit the
Platte River Basin and things flattened out. The cars were able to
press on around us.

Grizz and I both looked at each other and grinned ... you know, the
sickly "I can't believe I did something that stupid grin" . We
looked at the trails sign and decided to continue along the Platte
River to an outlet about 18 miles down. Still no pavement..just a
washboard dirt road...and a few cars...with the passengers in hip
waders holding nets and flyrods while casting in the river for
trout. It was very picturesque. Grizz and I tok numerous photos and
videos....What a gorgeous place. We had no regrets taking this
detour.

Eventually we worked our way back to pavement and eventually the
interstate. We had wasted at least two hours so it was close to 11
AM...Not going to make Las Vegas in one day like this. Near Vail,
Co we ran into a thunderstorm...had to get out the rain gear...temp
dropped from 86-56 in about 200 yards...I actually got to use my
heated seats and heated hand grips on the Goldwing...sweet!!

We continued on our journey and stopped for lunch in a nice little
restaurant in a decent sized town, I don't remember the name. The
Rockies rose up outside the window...neat place to eat. A bicycle
race was underway and we passed numerous slow riding bicyclists
along the steep incline by the interstate and restaurant. Looked
like a nice place to live...

Hours of riding went by and we made it to a rest stop in southern
Utah where the restroom looked like a steamboat on the Mississippi
River. The pipes from the two giant porta pottys inside the building
stuck about 30 feet in the air. I had to get a picture of that. The
mountains had given away to rugged hills with countless colors.
This place looked absolutely inhospitable...rugged, a few stragly
trees and bushes...lots of rocks and heat. As I walked near an
overhang, a small ground squirrel skittered around below me when
he saw me appear. Poor bastard, this place sucked....wonder how he
manged to stay alive. I bet it put a dent in his social life, too.

On the road again, we finally made it to Richfield, UT (over 500
miles from Castle Rock, CO with all the backroads) for a hotel...a
Super 8 to be exact...was offered the room for $80...turned them
down..offered the room for somewhere in the 60s I think...turned
then down again. Told them we had seen a sign for $39/night for
another hotel...got their rock bottom price of $54 (before taxes
of course) and decided to stay there. Too damned tired to get a
better deal. This place was hot but the A/C in the room finally
cooled the room down...not sure how the desk clerk managed to stay
alive in such heat. Continental breakfast was just that...only one
continent...selection sucked. I stuck with a stale English muffin...no
butter or cream cheese in sight, sigh...and some watered down
juice...maybe Grizz and I should have held out ofr $39/night.

We finally got back on the road about 8 AM, I think. Only 280 miles
or so to go. We crossed through some rugged terrain on I15 and
finally made it to Mesquite, NV after clipping a corner of Arizona.
I really like the tunnels through the mountains. Themountains are
a blast to drive on a big bike.

The visitor's center in Mesquite was a welcome sight. We prepared
for a final push across the 90 or so miles between Mesquite and Las
Vegas...mostly desert and the temps were hovering from the high 90s
to above 100.

Vegas at last!!! As we ride into town, Grizz takes us directly to
the Venetian..our hotel for Monday and Tuesday nights. It seems
like Grizz is riding in circles but he finally finds the entrance
to the garage...We lug our tired selves past the casino's front
desk area and head for the Grazie club....I have two free nights
in their suites...not sure how I got the invite but hey...it's free.
I finally get my player's card and go back and register at the front
desk. This place is gorgeous...I go looking for Grizz in the poker
room to give him a room key but he has already sat down in their
Noon? tournament. I see Da Pickle and Schmengie later...More to
follow.

Disclaimer: This is the best my old memory can do..Grizz may have
better and more correct information. I'll defer to his recollection.

Oldbear