Saturday, September 9
Day 9: Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska

We got up in the morning and Paul made some waffles and cappuccino. We all hung out for a while, Sandy washed her bike and I had to tighten the chain on mine, it was kind of loose. At noon Deb and Paul escorted us out toward Limon, CO on their bikes. It was a beautify day, mid to high 60’s and sunny. The road to Limon was all straight. It’s amazing how on the east side of the Rockies the earth is so flat and boring. Paul and Deb only rode a short distance and then turned around, Sandy and I continued to Limon where we stopped for gas.

When we pulled out of the gas stations she went around one way and I went another way. When I turned on to the street I saw the red ST4s waiting, then it pulled in behind me. Then a few feet later I saw another red ST4s. What? Was I seeing double? If Sandy was behind me then there was another rider riding a red ST4s. The 3 Ducs got on I-70 heading east. This would be the only other Duc ST that we would see on this trip. When Sandy and I took the exit ramp he kept going but gave us a thumbs up.

We were going to do plenty of interstate tomorrow so today we were going to take some back roads to get to I-80 for the final day of riding tomorrow. The clear skies of Colorado started to cloud up in Kansas and by the time we got in to Nebraska the drizzle started, then the rain came and then the down pour and fog. We kept going and going even though it was getting dark already. I was very determined to get to I-80 before nigh fall so I didn’t want to stop anywhere. When I reached Lexington, NE it was already dark and I was having trouble figuring out how to get to the Holiday Inn Express parking lot. Finally I was there and parked under the awning where there were two other bikes parked with Illinois plates, a VFR and a ST1100. It was still pouring and I realized that Sandy had pulled in to the gas station on the corner, apparently she couldn’t see much with her tinted shield, so she wanted to change it out for the clear one. She though we would still be riding for a bit but I was done and I was soaked. I didn’t want to pull over when the rain started to get heavy to put in my rain liner, so I was pretty wet and cold. It didn’t look like the rain was going to stop any time soon either.

There was nothing good to eat within walking distance so we ordered a pizza from Pizza Hut. They were short on drivers and the pizza was going to take one hour, it actually took 45 minutes. The plan was to head out early tomorrow to ride all the way home.

Sunday, September 10
Day 10: Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois

My alarm was supposed to go off at 5:30AM, it apparently did but when I snoozed it I turned the alarm off. When I woke up it was 7AM already. We had some complimentary breakfast, which was again really good with many different things to choose from. By the time we packed up and left the motel, it was 8:30AM and then we still needed gas. We ran in to the other two riders downstairs, they were heading west. We all gassed up and got on the road, it was close to 9AM now. It was wet but not raining when we left but the forecast was calling for rain all the way from here to home. It started raining down the road, there was also some fog too, at times it would stop raining, which was nice but then it would pour again, off and on rain and cold.

I was messing with my ipod some more this morning, it stopped playing yesterday afternoon and I still couldn’t figure out why. It was bad enough we had to ride some 700 miles of interstate today in the rain though the flat and boring Midwest but now with out any music? This was going to be a rough day for sure.

We kept a brisk pace and only stopped for gas every 130-150 miles, so we were making good time all day. Soon we would be home. Then out of no where my back wheel lost traction and slid to the left, then right, the front of the bike was also shaking violently. I kept the throttle steady and when the back tire regained traction, the bike resumed its course as if nothing had even happened. The only thing that was different is my heart was pounding a million times a minute and all the blood had drained out of my head. I’ve never slid out going straight before. I think I figured out what had happened. I was following a semi in the left lane which was passing a semi in the right lane. The semi on the left was traveling about 10 mph faster then the semi on the right. As I closed in behind the semi in front of me, the two trucks were just about next to each other. I encountered some really turbulent air then, there was a vortex of air spinning between the two trucks and it wanted to suck me in. As my bike started shaking the rear wheel maybe encountered a tar snake, or maybe hydroplaned, it was raining hard at the moment and the road was all wet. It was pretty scary. I guess I should keep more distance on the bike when following semis in the rain.

A few more stops, we finally arrived at I-88, then closer to Chicago Sandy went toward the northern suburbs and I continued home, arriving just after 8PM. It wasn’t raining in Chicago but it was still wet. I was tired, but not from the trip, just from riding the intestate in the rain all day.

The trip was a lot of fun, great roads, great company. Another great motorcycle adventure. We did approx. 4000 miles in 10 days and tomorrow I was going back to work.

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Day 1 | Day 2-4 | Day 5-6 | Day 7-8 | Day 9-10