Back to Colorado...NOT back home

Phil Tarman

Phil Tarman

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Joined
Dec 12, 2010
Messages
9,372
Age
81
Location
Greeley, CO
Bike
2010 Silver NT700VA (ABS)
After my ex-mother-in-law's funeral on Saturday, we (ex-wife, her partner, and my daughter in ex's car and me on Dudley) left Mt Pleasant, TX, at about 9AM and went 400 miles northward to the south edge of Wichita, where we checked into a Comfort Inn to watch the Super Bowl. It was a good game, but I sat there through most of it about the way I'd been the whole weekend. My nose running and coughing pretty nearly continuously. And sadly, my daughter and ex- started coughing during the game.

When I woke up this morning I felt pretty good and we were on the road again by 9. It was 32F in Wichita, but the sun was shining and the wind was relatively calm. It was the first time I saw my instant mpg reading above 50 on the whole trip. West of Salina, the wind started blowing about 25-30mph out of the south and the temperature gradually crept up to 42F. We stopped for lunch at Russell. By the time we left, I was dripping and coughing and hacking again. Road reports made it sound as if all the roads in Colorado were dry, but that changed. About 20 miles east of Limon, the wind shifted to the north, the temperature dropped to 14F and snow started blowing across the road and was beginning to stick. By the time we got into Limon, it wsa snowing. CO-71 runs about 70 miles north of Limon to Brush, and there is nothing between the two towns. 11 miles north of Limon there's a 3-4 mile "correction line" that very often drifts closed with high winds. I decided I didn't wand to get out there and get stuck. Typically, if it's snowing in Limon, it's snowing more in Denver. So, I parked for the night and for some of tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll get home in time for a 6:00 PM meeting. But if I don't, I don't.

I suspect that if I'd gone north on US-385 from Burlington to Wray, I'd have gotten home OK on US-34. Oh, well.....
 
Phil,
You might as well hole up in a Motel and take care of the cold. Not much point risking your neck riding in snow. I did it a few times when I was younger. I'm, maybe too careful now.
 
There are old riders and there are bold riders. There are few old and bold riders. Ask the front desk for another blanket and relax. Unless that is a life or death meeting, no sense turning it into one.
 
There is no such thing as a life-or-death meeting. I'll make it tomorrow or not.
 
The weather is suppose to go junk tomorrow in Denver. Up to an inch of snow. Highs in the mid 20's. Don't know what Fort Morgan is going to be. Sure won't be better than Denver. Pay attention to the hourly forecast and spend another day in Lovely Limon. No sense in getting pneumonia or worse dropping your bike again.
 
Or consider calling U-Haul and "truck" your NT home... Their smallest van should haul your NT especially if you pop off the busted windshield. A safer, especially with your cold, and cheaper alternative than holing up several days waiting for the weather, and you, to clear up...
 
That's an idea...Don't know if there's U-Haul here in Limon.
 
I can just see me trying to get the NT loaded and tied down and dropping it off the ramp.
 
You've come this far, don't chance it!

There's always an option!

The U-Haul is a good idea, maybe a rental vehicle with a hitch, a u-haul trailer, a short trip to home depot to get straps, and away you go ........... in a safe (heated) vehicle!!
 
FRIENDS are even better than U-Haul. A call this morning to a Concours-riding buddy in Parker, CO, has him on the way with his motorcycle trailer, tie-downs, a Suburban, and, best of all, good company. Tim is one of those guys who always feels privileged to help friends, and I'm privileged to let him!
 
Phil Tarman said:
Tim is one of those guys who always feels privileged to help friends, and I'm privileged to let him!
Click to expand...

I am partial to guys named Tim. We are all good guys!!!
Other motorcycle riders are usually the first ones to come to another rider's aid.
Glad to see you are getting the help you need.
Thanks go out to Tim for coming out when you needed him the most.
 
Way to go Phil. That Suburban will pull anything and is a super comfortable ride. I love mine--call her the "Queen Mary" It's a 3/4 Ton with a diesel. Your NT should also be safe.
 
Glad to hear you got a lift Phil. Read this same kind of story on the Two Wheeled Texan forum and it involved a sidecar. A good group for sure. Gotta join up with 'em and do some of their pie runs.
 
Last edited:
HMMM NT named, DUDLY ridining in trailer, Phil, did you happen to let Dudley get parked next to a Harley chance ?! Harleys and hound dogs have one thing in comon, They both like to ride arround in back of P/U trucks or trailers, ( SMILE ).

Eldon
 
Phil Tarman said:
FRIENDS are even better than U-Haul. A call this morning to a Concours-riding buddy in Parker, CO, has him on the way with his motorcycle trailer, tie-downs, a Suburban, and, best of all, good company. Tim is one of those guys who always feels privileged to help friends, and I'm privileged to let him!
Click to expand...

A true friend is worth more than you could ever offer them
 
My friend Tim has 100% disability from the USAF. A back injury at some time during his military service sometimes causes almost paralyzing migraines. These can be triggered by bright light or lots of other issues. Tim's wife, a lovely Filipino he met while in Saudi, is a surgical nurse in Denver. Tim is "Mr. Mom" to two of the most beautiful and nicest kids I've met in ages.

All that said, he does sometimes have a few eccentricities. Number one among those is that he's always later than he says he'll be. Much later than he says he'll be! When he agreed to come get me yesterday, he told me at 8:30AM that he'd be rolling in ten minutes. That got pushed back to 10:30, then noon, then finally close to 1PM. He'd had to dig out his trailer, then he'd decided that the short ramp that came with the trailer would create clearance problems (and I'm reasonably sure he was right about that). So he'd gone and bought a new longer ramp, grabbed about 50 different tie-down straps, and then was on his way.

We got everything set up, pulled off the tipover wing covers, and were ready to walk it up the ramp using engine power. Just before the rear wheel went up the ramp, a big man (and I'm talking big...probably 6'6" and 250#) walked up and said, "Would you like any help?" He was a retired Marine and a BMW 76/6 rider. He was a God-send, since Tim is short, and I have defective legs. I think this guy could have just lifted the bike onto the trailer! Once it was on the trailer, we tied it down through the tip-over bars, pulling forward, strapped down the front and rear tires, and headed north.

Just as I thought, CO-71 was clear of snow and ice, except for the 3-5 mile stretch of east/west "correction line" 11 miles north of Limon. It probably would have been OK to have ridden, but the window between frozen, wet (the condition when we went over that stretch at about 4:30-4:45) back to frozen again would have been very narrow. I was glad to have Dudley on a trailer and am relieved that not many people saw him there.

To add to my good fortune, the 6PM meeting I was scheduled to have needed to be canceled because of illness among the members of the committee!

We got home at about 6:20 and managed to roll the bike down the ramp without dropping it!

It's good to be home; it's good to have friends; and I'm glad I rode to Texas instead of driving. The 1764 miles I rode would have really had my right knee hurting if I'd done them in a car.

Interestingly, I saw about six other motorcycles the whole trip. Four were Harleys with very heavily dressed riders in OK south of Tulsa and two were guys on Goldwing trikes north of Wichita.
 
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