Rico2wheels

On 6/3/2021 at 8:22 PM, PhotoAl said:

I'll turn 67 this year and am itching to go out on another long ride.  My brother-in-law passed away a couple of weeks ago at the age of 67, made my wife and I stop and realize how blessed we are.    My wife will not ride with me but is ok (but worries) with me taking long solo trips.  LOL I was in Duboise WY a couple of years ago eating dinner at Cowboy Cafe.  My phone rang, it was my wife making sure I wasn't where she saw my on Find My Friends which was a building away in shed.  LOL it was amusing but comforting to know she was tracking me.  I've met some great folks on my rides including one fella in Duboise WY.  He was o a HD and I was on a BMW F800GT.  We were camped next to each other and ate dinner together.  Next day we rode together to Arco Idaho where we waved goodby and went out separate ways.  I'll always remember the time we rode together.  Different folks, different bikes but a love of riding that brought us together.  Heard the President of MV Augusta USA describe it as Moto Love.  The love of motorcycles riding that transcends so many things and brings us together.  On my solo rides I take a Garmin inReach Mini and a SPOT.  The SPOT allows me to press a button and send an I'm OK message and location to my wife.  LOL she will take it and look it up on Google Maps and send the family, including me, a picture of where I am.  inReach Mini allows me to send txt messages from my phone even if I'm out of cell service.  They also have SOS capabilities.  Plotting my next ride and trying to figure out how to go west without going thru Memphis TN (and traffic due to bridge failure). 

Last trip to Topeka KS 1st day and last day were between Birmingham and Springfield MO.  It's 560 miles and I did it on the way back with 3 stops.  Not bragging but after some work have a good seat situation and windscreen and was able to just roll up the miles.  It's partially figuring out what works for me and what I enjoy.  Not every day is a long day in the saddle but sometimes a long day is needed to set up the next day.  It's all about enjoying the ride.  If a day gets too long stop early and change plans.  Last year after buying the Tracer GT in the middle of a trip I broke up the Springfield Mo to Birmingham ride into 2 days due to being tired from the 500 mile day before.  Buffeting from OEM windscreen took more out of me than I realized so decided to stop early and rest.  

I like to set my own pace and not be rushed or slowed and riding with others means constantly keeping up with a bike in front and behind and not being able to choose which side of the lane to use.  I always plan where I'm going to stay (usually a KOA) but don't plan the route very far ahead.  I'll plan things to see but it's and adventure and a long ride.  IMO the years after retirement are a wonderful time to take the long motorcycle rides and enjoy life.  We haven't done it yet put plan to have my wife fly out and meet me where we can spend a few days together at a great spot.  Another problem with getting older is older parents.  My mother-in-law is 92 and still lives by herself but takes a lot of looking after and my wife is her primary caregiver.  That limits her ability to take long trips.

When in Arco I usually eat at Pickles...

I (age 78) have a 2017 Versys 1000 and a 2021 9GT, both are hoot to ride good comfortable bikes, but the Yamaha is much lighter, better fuel economy, easy off saddle bags, but hard to use center stand compared to Versys but I find the 9GT a bit more versatile...FYI