Life is full of — moments. Today was no exception. The early morning began with a serene moment riding across the Rocky Mountains in the cool wind, warmed slightly by the rising sun. The day shifted to an apprehensive moment as we rode through a smoke-filled Colorado Springs. Lunch found us enjoying a nice and relaxing moment with Cindy’s boss and her husband over a meal at Panera Bread. The day’s ride ended with a scary moment: black clouds…steep grade…high wind…wet pavement…big trucks.
In between these moments there was another kind of moment. Let’s call it a moment of balanced harmony. Non-riders may not understand this, but let me explain. As you’re tooling down the highway on your motorcycle, there’s a place where the mechanical rhythm of the bike finds a “sweet spot.” It’s the perfect blend of RPMs and speed matching the riding conditions. When these align, there is a sweet hum of the motorcycle. It’s smooth, and you know it’s just right.
One of the joys of this trip has been the enabling of us as a couple to also find that moment of balanced harmony. It’s where the RPMs of our life and the context of the scenery blend into a sweet relational rhythm. From moment to moment this trip reminds us of why we are together. Not only is this really cool on the bike, but it’s definitely cool in our married life.
We hope you enjoy some scenes from those “moments” described above, as well as one additional surprising and gut-wrenching moment that, well, we are praying didn’t damage the bike.
Sunrise came early in Colorado.
Waldo Canyon Fire (from I-25). Riding in 55 mph winds reminded us of one reason for the difficulty in containing this fire. It has destroyed over 15000 acres at this writing. Many people have lost their homes.
It looked like Clifford the Big Red Dog had been digging here (ha).
Welcome to Wyoming, where the storm clouds rolled in all around us. Yet somehow we managed to ride under primarily blue patches of sky all the way to Laramie.
This is a pronghorn, not technically antelope. If you’d like to read more about these fascinating and beautiful creatures, check out this Website about pronghorn.This one was caught in a fenced in area and trying feverishly to get out. Apparently fencing is one of their threats, since they don’t jump. We’ve seen a lot of these along the road, grazing in the fields and even in the median.
As promised, the gut-wrenching moment…
Tim checked the bike, and it appears to be o.k.
Daily Stats: 360 miles today, 2 state lines.
Tomorrow we will visit the Wyoming State HOG Rally, then head up to Buffalo. Have a good day!