Before I bought my NT, I rode a couple of '99 Kawasaki Concours for 165,000 miles. I joined the Concours Owners Group right after I bought the bike and went to most of the National Rallies (including the 2010 Rally in Tomah, WI, which I attended on my NT).
The first COG Rally I attended was also attended by a Swedish Air Force colonel, Hans-Ove Goertz. Hans shipped his bike to LA on a freighter and then he and his wife flew over, picked it up, rode up the California coast before crossing the Sierras and joining the Rally at Brian Head, UT. That rally had three sites: Brian Head; Mt. Home, AR; and Natural Bridge, VA. I rode with Hans and a couple from VA from Brian Head to Las Vegas and on to Mt. Home. Hans had such a great time that he came up with the idea of "Over-The-Pond" Travelers. On odd-numbered years, a European would come to the US Rally, and on even-numbered ones, someone from North America would attend the GCE Rally (GCE stands for "GTR Club Europe" and GTR is the European name for the Concours.
Members of COG and GCE would pledge money (or lodging or gas or whatever) to alleviate the cost of the trip for the Traveler.
I almost was the traveler in 2004 and again in 2008. Both times I had one vote less than the winner. In 2008, a friend was the winner and he and I had talked about how much fun it would be for both of us to go. Dave covered my gas expenses, an Irishman living in Germany loaned me his GTR, and my wife encouraged me to go ("You might never get another chance," she said. "Don't miss it!")
So I went. I rode about 3800 miles in Europe, a bit more than half of it by myself. It was a great trip and, coincidentally, Sean (the guy who loaned me his bike) took me to a Honda dealer in Mannheim after he picked me up in Frankfurt. That's where I saw and sat on my first NT700V, a red 2008 model.
This year to Germans, Walter and Richard (both of whom I'd met in 2008) were the travelers. They flew from Germany to Lincoln, NE, where Kawasaki presented them with two brand-new bikes, a 2014 Concours 1400 and a 2014 Versys. They'll ride them for nearly a month before returning them to the Kawasaki factory in Lincoln and flying home.
For some reason, probably because I wasn't an "official" OTP Traveler, I'm the only person who's ridden many miles without a guide. I've been a guide to five of the European Travelers over the years.
Because of our upcoming move and the fact that Joanne's and my 15th wedding anniversary came up while Walter and Richard were riding the Colorado mountains, I didn't get to ride with them until they started back to Lincoln to ride to the COG Rally in Johnson City, TN, with their host, a COG member from Lincoln.
We met at Hudson (60 miles towards Denver from Ft. Morgan) on Friday morning and then headed east. It would have been a bit quicker to have traveled I-76 and I-80 to get to Lincoln, but I-80 is the worst ride in all of Nebraska.
I took them east on US-34, turning onto it 10 miles east of Fort Morgan. We rode through Nebraska on 34 until it doglegged north and then stayed on US-6 and NE-33. It's a pretty ride, but yesterday, the wind was blowing at 30-40mph from the SSE. It played hob with my gas mileage. By the time we'd ridden 195 miles, I was very glad we were at Benkleman, NE (the home of Ward Bond, the wagonmaster on Wagon Train). The next gas stop came at Sutton, NE, and that time the two Kaws were both running on fumes. I, on the other hand, still had a bit over a gallon left.
We ate lunch at McCook, NE, at a Mexican food place. They both ordered hamburgers, but finally worked up their nerve to try chips and salsa. They ended up putting salsa on their hamburgers and their fries. I enjoyed my tacos al carbon a lot more than the enchiladas I got at a hotel in Frankfurt!
We got to Lincoln just before dark. I visited my friend Chris Baum, his wife Stephanie, and their kids Jacob and Avery. I've watched those kids grow up. Jacob is 8 and Avery is 5 now and I met them both when they were under a year old. There were going to be six people getting ready this morning at the Baum household, so I decide to go back down the road a ways and simplify things for the travelers.
I spent the night in Crete, NE, had a good breakfast, and headed west on Nebraska back-roads (you can check my Spot Track) to see my route...just click on the link in my signature and look at my 2014 rides for the last couple of days).
I rode through more beautiful country that most Nebraska travelers don't see until I got past Red Cloud (author Willa Cather's hometown) and Alma. Then I headed SW on KS 381 to Norton, where I shared McD's with a bus-load of student athletes (nice kids, BTW). From Norton, I followed 381 until just north of Colby, and then went to Sharon Springs, KS, on US-40. Sharon Springs is about 7 or 8 miles from Mt. Sunflower, the highest point in Kansas, but I passed on it and went south to Tribune, and then headed west towards Eads, CO.
By then the wind had shifted twice. It was blowing out of the SW at velocities high enough to reduce visibility in some spots to less than 100 yards. I'd guess it was blowing 45-50 with higher gusts. There was a lot of dirt in the air and I could see dust devils in all quadrants, some probably 1,000 feet high.
All in all, it was interesting ride in both directions. According to S&T, it was 1016 miles, according to my GPS, it was 1042. I forgot to notice the odometer reading before leaving home, so I don't know which is more accurate.
Tomorrow after church, I get to ride my 178 mile jaunt back to Fort Morgan for the last time. I'll be at Annual Conference, the United Methodist annual regional meeting in Pueblo next Sunday and then I'll drive down on the 29th for my last Sunday as an Intentional Interim Pastor here in Rocky Ford.
Last Wednesday I got a call from our District Superintendent in Wyoming. She wanted me to be an Intentional Interim in Worland (junglejim and I bought gas there on our trip to Alaska last summer) and Tensleep, a little town in the mountains east of Worland. Tensleep supposedly got its name from the Indians who said that it was ten sleeps from anywhere else. It's not quite that isolated these days. But I told her that since Joanne has finally retired and since we've bought a new house and since we'll be moving and since we'd like to spend some time together and since I have some traveling I want to do that I had to turn her down for this one. I don't think I'll take another long-term interim so far from home. This has been very satisfying, but I'm really ready to not be so tied down all the time.
The first COG Rally I attended was also attended by a Swedish Air Force colonel, Hans-Ove Goertz. Hans shipped his bike to LA on a freighter and then he and his wife flew over, picked it up, rode up the California coast before crossing the Sierras and joining the Rally at Brian Head, UT. That rally had three sites: Brian Head; Mt. Home, AR; and Natural Bridge, VA. I rode with Hans and a couple from VA from Brian Head to Las Vegas and on to Mt. Home. Hans had such a great time that he came up with the idea of "Over-The-Pond" Travelers. On odd-numbered years, a European would come to the US Rally, and on even-numbered ones, someone from North America would attend the GCE Rally (GCE stands for "GTR Club Europe" and GTR is the European name for the Concours.
Members of COG and GCE would pledge money (or lodging or gas or whatever) to alleviate the cost of the trip for the Traveler.
I almost was the traveler in 2004 and again in 2008. Both times I had one vote less than the winner. In 2008, a friend was the winner and he and I had talked about how much fun it would be for both of us to go. Dave covered my gas expenses, an Irishman living in Germany loaned me his GTR, and my wife encouraged me to go ("You might never get another chance," she said. "Don't miss it!")
So I went. I rode about 3800 miles in Europe, a bit more than half of it by myself. It was a great trip and, coincidentally, Sean (the guy who loaned me his bike) took me to a Honda dealer in Mannheim after he picked me up in Frankfurt. That's where I saw and sat on my first NT700V, a red 2008 model.
This year to Germans, Walter and Richard (both of whom I'd met in 2008) were the travelers. They flew from Germany to Lincoln, NE, where Kawasaki presented them with two brand-new bikes, a 2014 Concours 1400 and a 2014 Versys. They'll ride them for nearly a month before returning them to the Kawasaki factory in Lincoln and flying home.
For some reason, probably because I wasn't an "official" OTP Traveler, I'm the only person who's ridden many miles without a guide. I've been a guide to five of the European Travelers over the years.
Because of our upcoming move and the fact that Joanne's and my 15th wedding anniversary came up while Walter and Richard were riding the Colorado mountains, I didn't get to ride with them until they started back to Lincoln to ride to the COG Rally in Johnson City, TN, with their host, a COG member from Lincoln.
We met at Hudson (60 miles towards Denver from Ft. Morgan) on Friday morning and then headed east. It would have been a bit quicker to have traveled I-76 and I-80 to get to Lincoln, but I-80 is the worst ride in all of Nebraska.
I took them east on US-34, turning onto it 10 miles east of Fort Morgan. We rode through Nebraska on 34 until it doglegged north and then stayed on US-6 and NE-33. It's a pretty ride, but yesterday, the wind was blowing at 30-40mph from the SSE. It played hob with my gas mileage. By the time we'd ridden 195 miles, I was very glad we were at Benkleman, NE (the home of Ward Bond, the wagonmaster on Wagon Train). The next gas stop came at Sutton, NE, and that time the two Kaws were both running on fumes. I, on the other hand, still had a bit over a gallon left.
We ate lunch at McCook, NE, at a Mexican food place. They both ordered hamburgers, but finally worked up their nerve to try chips and salsa. They ended up putting salsa on their hamburgers and their fries. I enjoyed my tacos al carbon a lot more than the enchiladas I got at a hotel in Frankfurt!
We got to Lincoln just before dark. I visited my friend Chris Baum, his wife Stephanie, and their kids Jacob and Avery. I've watched those kids grow up. Jacob is 8 and Avery is 5 now and I met them both when they were under a year old. There were going to be six people getting ready this morning at the Baum household, so I decide to go back down the road a ways and simplify things for the travelers.
I spent the night in Crete, NE, had a good breakfast, and headed west on Nebraska back-roads (you can check my Spot Track) to see my route...just click on the link in my signature and look at my 2014 rides for the last couple of days).
I rode through more beautiful country that most Nebraska travelers don't see until I got past Red Cloud (author Willa Cather's hometown) and Alma. Then I headed SW on KS 381 to Norton, where I shared McD's with a bus-load of student athletes (nice kids, BTW). From Norton, I followed 381 until just north of Colby, and then went to Sharon Springs, KS, on US-40. Sharon Springs is about 7 or 8 miles from Mt. Sunflower, the highest point in Kansas, but I passed on it and went south to Tribune, and then headed west towards Eads, CO.
By then the wind had shifted twice. It was blowing out of the SW at velocities high enough to reduce visibility in some spots to less than 100 yards. I'd guess it was blowing 45-50 with higher gusts. There was a lot of dirt in the air and I could see dust devils in all quadrants, some probably 1,000 feet high.
All in all, it was interesting ride in both directions. According to S&T, it was 1016 miles, according to my GPS, it was 1042. I forgot to notice the odometer reading before leaving home, so I don't know which is more accurate.
Tomorrow after church, I get to ride my 178 mile jaunt back to Fort Morgan for the last time. I'll be at Annual Conference, the United Methodist annual regional meeting in Pueblo next Sunday and then I'll drive down on the 29th for my last Sunday as an Intentional Interim Pastor here in Rocky Ford.
Last Wednesday I got a call from our District Superintendent in Wyoming. She wanted me to be an Intentional Interim in Worland (junglejim and I bought gas there on our trip to Alaska last summer) and Tensleep, a little town in the mountains east of Worland. Tensleep supposedly got its name from the Indians who said that it was ten sleeps from anywhere else. It's not quite that isolated these days. But I told her that since Joanne has finally retired and since we've bought a new house and since we'll be moving and since we'd like to spend some time together and since I have some traveling I want to do that I had to turn her down for this one. I don't think I'll take another long-term interim so far from home. This has been very satisfying, but I'm really ready to not be so tied down all the time.
