Back to the present

I've just finished posting my trip through the southwest from 2004. I would recommend that you scroll all the way back to the first post ("Day 1") and start from there. The sequence of events and my reflections on them build as you go - if you jumped into the fray with the following epilogue things might not make sense.

Regarding my ruminations to ride to the north rim of the Grand Canyon: That trip did not happen. Instead we rode to Northern California, "we" being Ray, Ron, Ken and I. It started out great. We rode south through the Cascades, taking our time with no particular schedule, agenda or route other than to get to Northern California.



By "Northern California" I mean the north quarter of the state, not San Francisco or even Napa Valley. Imagine the pictured road below, with hundreds of miles of that. Perfect pavement, perfect weather.


Not a perfect ride, though. Once in a while I hear the comment that "every ride is a good ride". That is not the case. While I was waiting for the the rest of the gang to ride up the very road pictured, they were five miles back trying to save Ken's life.

It turned into the worst ride I have ever had.

Ken is a childhood friend of Ron and was riding the Superhawk pictured above (it's the red one on the right). While faster than all of us, he had less experience and we were afraid that he was riding beyond his abilities. This proved to be true. Typically he will get several miles ahead of us, turn around to enjoy the road again, passing us in the opposite direction. Then he'll turn around, catch up, and pass us. There was no doubt he was enjoying the trip. It was his third time through this particular section of rode when he failed to negotiate the corner.



That helicopter took Ken to Redding. Unfortunately he was not revived before it took off.

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My blog about my trip may seem excessively pessimistic, but looking back I have fond memories of it. It is something I will always remember, and every trip is different. The place may be the same, but subsequent visits are done at different times, with different mindsets, and different levels of maturity. The next time I am in the southwest, I may enjoy the scenery rather than tire of it. By far, most of our trips are positive and we come home excited for the next. That is the mood I am in now .. in several days Chuck and I will leave for FriendSTOC 2009. We will meet Paul in St. Louis, then ride east with other motorcyclists through Kentucky, West Virginia and Virginia. We will visit with family etc.

And I'll tell you all about it!