Nick's Long Journey

Nick travels around Los Angeles on his motorcycle. It is convenient and speedy, and he really enjoys it. He is part of an online forum for owners of BMW bikes similar to his, and every year they have a get-together. It will usually switch coasts every year. This year, it was in Colorado, and Nick headed there (yes, by himself) to enjoy a week-long vacation from work, and a nice, long week of riding.

He left on Saturday morning, and returned the following Saturday morning.  All-in-all, he did 3,070 miles of riding in 8 days, seeing some family and friends along the way.  Of those 3,070 miles, only 300 were on interstate. He took some pictures, and I thought I'd post some highlights.

Getting his gear together:

Gus and I are sad to see him go:

This always makes the wife nervous:

Ready to ride!

The first day, he drove basically across the Mojave Desert. He said it was between 105 and 115 degrees on the thermometer all day. He kept well-hydrated, but it was still warm!

Crossing into the Arizona border just outside Needles. He proceeded along route 66 stopping in Flagstaff for the night.

This place was straight out of the movie, Cars. It was right along Route 66. The building had been blown up in a movie at one time during the late 90s. Nick chatted with the owner for a while while drinking an ice cold orange soda and a refrigerated snickers bar before getting back on the road.

Dinnertime in Flagstaff, Yelp made a great recommendation!

He stopped at the Four Corners...which he learned isn't really located on the actual four corners. He said it was super hot.

Into Colorado!

This was a little resort town off of the highway. There were hot springs nearby that drew the tourists.

He stayed at his college roommate, Collin's house for the night.

There was a group ride when all the riders got together in Colorado. They rode up to Independence Pass, just east of Aspen at 12,095 ft. Nick said they went through a pretty big elevation change, and the temperatures ranged from 90 degrees in the lower elevations to the mid-40s in the higher elevations. All-in-all, there were about 80 riders or so.

Another reason I feel better about Nick's riding is that he is an ATGATT rider (All The Gear, All The Time). This keeps him pretty protected on the road.

While in Colorado, Nick stayed with his namesake, Uncle Nick and Aunt Judy.

 

Uncle Nick's backyard

While headed out of Colorado, Nick stopped by one of his high school friend's houses. He said they were able to pick right back up where they left off in high school.

Back home through Utah:

Nick was incredibly impressed with Utah. We had driven through the state North-South while on the trip out to CA, but this time he drove East-West. He was amazed at the different kinds of topography--the massive canyons and the beautiful rock.

Bug-splatter on the face shield is quite uncommon in So Cal, but not in No-Nevada:

The mountain range to the right is the Sierra Nevada range.