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The Magnificent Seven Ride the Trans America Trail

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Well, I'm finally starting my long trip write-up from August 2008, 5704 miles in 31 days.

I got an e-mail from a friend (met him on the 6 Days of Northern California dualsport ride in 1999, we've been friends ever since) who lives in Northern California, he and 2 other friends were going to do the Trans America Trail from eastern Colorado to the Oregon Coast in August, and they were inviting me. As time approached, I asked them if I could invite 2 other friends whom I've ridden with on many adventure rides, and my friend Kevin who I met on my Alaska Adventure Ride in 2006.........and they said "sure, no problem".

Ron (Spiceman or DualBMW) and I left San Diego on August 11, 2008 at 9:00pm. We headed out Interstate 8 for the long haul east. The desert was still hot at night, but not too bad.....we made good time and got to Gila Bend, Arizona at 1:10am and got a room for the night after 273 miles of freeway night riding.

DAY 1

Next morning we left Gila Bend at 9:30am.

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We bypassed Phoenix and then headed north on Interstate 17, and stopped for lunch in a small town called New River at a place I knew called the Roadrunner Saloon.

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Getting ready to hop back on the bikes, Ron looked like he was seriously contemplating the ride ahead, or he was just admiring my bitchin' KTM :)

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Heading north, we decided to take the scenic route through Sedona, which ended up being costly timewise due to all the tourist traffic in the small town.....at least the scenery was nice.

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Sittin' on my 950 at a scenic stop....

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Ron on his Airhead BMW R100GS.

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We enjoyed blasting up the twisties thru Oak Creek Canyon on 89A towards Flagstaff.

At a usual gas stop when passing thru this neck of the woods in Kayenta on the Navajo Indian Reservation, these 3 dogs came up to see me. Since I just bought some beef jerky for the road, I thru the dogs each a piece of jerky. Funny, last time I stopped at this same station for gas a few years ago, some other dogs came up to see me also......guess they like to visit with all the people stopping at the gas station.

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As the sun started dropping on the horizon, Ron and I were having a blast on the scenic twisties in northeastern Arizona on the way towards 4 corners. I stopped for a few pix on the side of the road.

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Nice sunset

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We were hoping to see the 4 Corners Monument, the only place in the U.S. where 4 state borders meet together.....but it was dark, and the park closed at 8pm, so we only got to see the sign.

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Posers :)

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While we were taking a break at the 4 corners, some crazy germans pulled up and really, really wanted to see the actual monument, so they jumped the fence to go check it out. Ron and I weren't that desperate/brave......we'll see it again sometime.

Shortly after leaving 4 Corners, we crossed into Colorado and it was getting late, so we decided to spend the night in Cortez, and stopped here for a much needed brewski and grub.

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Our friendly bartender who made us feel welcome, even though they were about to close.

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This photo of a sign, in the bar window, summed it all up.......it was true, most beers were cheaper than a gallon of gas, since we took our trip during the height of the gas prices.

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After some mighty fine tasting beverages and grub, we got a room at the Budget Host Motel on the east side of Cortez.....a motel I would recommend to anyone.

485 Miles total for the day.

To be continued............

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YAY! MORE!

BTW... the four corners monument is basically a brass plaque on a cement rectangle, surrounded by TJ style strip malls... and the last two times I've been there, they had a dog with porcupine quills in his face... NOT the same dog.

Let's say that Bell Rock is worth about 20 Four Corners Monuments

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DAY 2

We slept in the next morning and took our time, since 2 nights ago we didn't get much sleep, and yesterday was a long day. I went to the motel office for continental breakfast and saw Ron there, with a tray loaded full of cereal, fruit, juice, etc. He said he was going to bring me my breakfast at the room, I said "what a sweetheart" :)

After chatting with the nice lady at the motel desk during breakfast, we started loading up for the ride east into Colorado. Ron read the paper while I loaded up.

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Finally loaded up and ready to roll....

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We got a leisurely start at 12:30 and hit the road. We took the 145 north from Dolores and were treated to some awesome twisty riding for a few hours.

Stopped next to a mountain stream for a beverage, since it was hot.

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Ron mentioned we should take our first dirt mountain pass of the trip from Ophir. He told me roughly where it was, but I passed it since I was in a groove and jammin' thru the twisties. Ron had to haul ass to catch up to me to wave me down that I passed the turnoff for Ophir. We went back and soon hit the dirt thru the little town of Ophir and across the mountain pass.

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Looking down towards Ophir....

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Ophir Pass was a little rocky, but no big deal......steep dropoffs in spots, with awesome scenery made it a welcome addition to today's ride which was mostly pavement.

Once back on pavement, we rode towards Ouray for lunch. On the way, there was a backup of Stopped vehicles for a few miles due to road construction, with one way traffic due to one lane being closed. I thought, "great, now we're going to have to ride behind a mile of cars going thru the twisties on the way to Ouray". So, the oncoming traffic hadn't started in our direction yet, so I slowly rode about 10mph on the double yellow line passed all the stopped cars. When the oncoming traffic started, I cut in and rode on the shoulder slowly, to get as far as I could towards the front of the pack. Once our lane of traffic opened up and was allowed to proceed, I continued on down towards Ouray, and as soon as I got into town, I looked in my mirror and heard a siren. I pulled over and the Ouray cop said someone reported I had passed on the shoulder. I said, "he must've been mistaken, it wasn't me".

He said, "well, you fit the description and they'll be pulling up any minute". I guess I pissed someone off when I rode by them, even though I was going very slowly.

So I said to the cop, "well, tell you the truth, yes, I did pass slowly on the shoulder, just to get as far ahead as I could".

He said, "You know, that's illegal".

I said, "yeah, but what's the big deal........it was not dangerous, and the people are sitting in their air conditioned cars, while I gotta sit on my bike in the sun when it's really hot out".

He said. "It's still illegal".

He walked back to his truck and sat waiting for the snitch to arrive. A white SUV pulled up, the officer never got out of his vehicle, and sat there, looking like he was writing me a ticket. I proceeded to walk back towards the snitch in the SUV to say what was on my mind, and the officer rolled down his window and said, "Don't go back there". I asked, "why not". He said, "because I told you not to", in a stern voice. I thought, OK, I better do as he says, I don't want to get thrown in the cooler in a small town while on my trip. The guys in the SUV never even got out and then they pulled away. The officer got out of his truck and said, "Sometimes cell phones are a good thing, sometimes not so good. These guys called in their complaint, and I had to make it appear that I was going to give you a ticket. I told you not to go back to talk to them, because I knew it would only cause trouble. You think I don't have better things to do then sit here and write you a stupid ticket ? Just don't do it again, and have a nice trip". I was psyched, shook his hand and said, "thanks a lot, that was very cool of you and I appreciate it". (And that's all I have to say about that).

Then we had a good lunch and continued on.

We arrived in Salida at 7:30pm and got a motel room at the Great Western/Colorado Lodge. Went out for a great dinner and had fun with the young waitress who was real friendly.

Total riding for the day 270 miles.

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DAY 3

Packing up at the motel.

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We were getting just a little excited about the days to come..............

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Day 3 was pretty much uneventful as far as photos or much of a story. We left Salida at 11:00am after a delicious breakfast at the same restaurant we had dinner the night before. Our waitress was there the next morning, and we continued to joke with her as she enjoyed hearing about the adventure we were heading into.

We headed towards West Pueblo in Colorado, where I had a rear TKC80 tire waiting, as well as spare shift & brake levers, just in case. Always gotta have the critical spare parts in case you break out on the trail.

On the way to Pueblo, we hit heavy rain for awhile and arrived at Hymark Motorsports in our rainsuits, all dripping wet.

We both pulled our bikes into the service shop for new rear tires. We hit the VFW Hall next door for a refreshment, while they changed our tires. I told the guy in the shop to check my chain and let me know if it was OK, but NOT to adjust it (chain and sprockets were brand new). We then hung out in their shop for awhile, and the service guy would NOT let me in the shop, due to insurance regulations, to check my chain tension before he rolled it off the stand. Well, once the bikes were outside, I checked the chain and was pissed that he overtightened it. They said, "well, roll it back in and we'll re-adjust it." I thought to myself, why would I let them re-adjust it when they didn't do it right in the first place ? So we got on our bikes in the rain and rode back to Cotopoxi where we would meet the rest of the Magnificent Seven and depart the next day on the first phase of our TAT Trip. We stayed in a cabin at the KOA in Cotopoxi, and Maddog Mike showed up on his BMW R1200GS about 1:00am from San Diego and stayed with us for the night.

More to come..............

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I will follow this thread with great interest. I plan to do the TAT from Utah west in September. Great report and pictures so far. I have been agonizing on tire selection, but your photos have put a bit of ease into my worries thanks.

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great stuff so far. Loved the "ticket" story. Weather in the last photos looked a little dramatic.

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Randy, I love reading TAT write ups hoping some day I may get a chance to ride some of it. Now that you have teased us some are you going to make us suffer much waiting for the next chapter. How about a hint, 1 or 2 days or else I will be checking computer every time I walk by. What a great story already.

Kelly

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I'm writing this as I go thru the 1400 photos I have of my own, and at least a couple hundred more from the other guys. This will take me at least a week to finish, I'll be adding a little bit each day.

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Before I start DAY 4, some more background info......Terry and Dennis drove a rental van from Northern California, loaded with 2 Suzuki DR650's, and 2 Honda XR 650L's for Mark, and my friend Kevin (I met on my Alaska Ride in 2006). They had rear tires for all 7 of us, and on their way across they dropped them at a bike shop in Ely, Nevada.....which was about half way thru the ride and we'd change tires when we passed thru on the TAT. Mark and Kevin flew out to Pueblo, Colorado, and they all met when Terry & Dennis got there, to unload their bikes and gear to get ready for the great adventure ahead.

Here's a pic of the bikes and tires inside the van.

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L to R, Mark, Terry and Kevin

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L to R, Mark, Terry and Dennis

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The night before in Salida, Ron and I were discussing if we really wanted to carry all our camping gear on the TAT. After doing Ophir Pass and realizing how heavy the bikes felt and it would be abuse on the bikes (and us, since we had no plans of bypassing any difficult sections), for over 2000 miles with all that weight, we decided to call Terry and Dennis to let them know we thought everyone should bail on the camping idea. They agreed, so Ron and I packed up our camping stuff and unnecessary items and sent them to his ex-wife's house in Port Orford, Oregon......where the TAT ends. I saved about 28 pounds, Ron saved about 60 pounds.......I think Ron was a little overpacked :lol:

On to DAY 4............

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DAY 4 (Actual First Day of the TAT for all of us).

Spiceman, Maddog and I started packing up our gear and loading the bikes, waiting for Terry, Dennis, Mark and Kevin to arrive on their bikes from Pueblo.

The 4 of them showed up somewhere around 10am, and we stood around talking about how everyone's trip was so far, and what lie ahead......the group was complete..........The Magnificent Seven were now ready for the Adventure to Begin !! :lol:

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We left the Cotopoxi KOA at 11am and hit the dirt out of town within a few minutes. We quickly started climbing in elevation towards Marshall Pass and part of the Continental Divide Trail.

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All of a sudden we were riding through awesome scenery.

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Dennis on his yellow DR650 gettin' ready to take off......

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After awhile in the saddle, we stopped to check for parakeets and admire the view.

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Terry, Dennis and Mark and Kevin still had their camping gear with them, as you can see their bikes are loaded to the max, but that would change later on....

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It rained some, on and off while in the mountains.

As we were standing around on the side of the trail, a pickup came driving up and he stopped, so I had to walk over to talk with him. Doug Walker, a good ol' boy from a local ranch called Everett Cow Camp, said every summer he sees many 4x4's, motorcycles and bicycles from all over the world, doing this part of the Continental Divide Trail. He cracked me up when he told us......."Last summer I saw 2 girls on bicycles from Canada......TOPLESS.......it's the best thing I ever saw" :o:lol:

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We continued on down into Salida for lunch and gas, and we ended up at the same restaurant Ron and I ate dinner and breakfast 2 days ago.

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Lunch was a good time to catch up with old friends, and some of us made new ones. We all got to know each other a bit while eating Elk burgers and other good country fixin's. A local woman overheard us talking, and she warned us of the "infamous" mud bog on Tomichi Pass........we laughed, thinking "can't wait to get into that" :lol:

After lunch, it was time to decide if we were all going to go for Hancock and Tomichi Passes, which the map said "Not for big Adventure Bikes". The 4 on the smaller bikes wanted to, and the 3 of us on the bigger bikes wanted to also.........let the fun begin !!

To be continued................

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DAY 4 - Continued

The gang rode together through beautiful, lush pine forests on the way to Hancock Pass.

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We stopped to regroup before heading up towards Hancock Pass.

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We ran into another group, working on a flat, who had just come down Hancock.

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The feeling of anticipation mounted, mixed with a bit of anxiousness.........not knowing what we'd be getting into. We heard this pass might be challenging or tough....Actually, I was looking forward to whatever the mountain would throw at us.

Starting to climb in elevation, the trail turned into a sea of rocks......

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I only stalled it once, as Maddog went riding by me without stopping, because you don't want to lose your momentum in the rocky terrain, that's when you stall it and/or tip over. I watched him muscle and maneuver that GS1200 pig thru the rocks.......Mikey was impressive riding that beast as always. I got going again and we both made it up towards the top and stopped in a flat section to catch our breath and wait for the others.

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After Mike and I stopped, Kevin came pulling up we heard Ron starting up this section of steep grade, then we saw Ron get loose, hit a rock and go careening off the trail. We thought ROH ROH, time to hike down the hill and make sure Ron's OK. By the time we got down to him, we saw he was OK and had all his stuff off the bike so we could help him get it out. When he went off the trail, his bike did a 180 and was facing the opposite direction......cool ! :lol: :lol:

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We helped Ron get his bike up, then we walked ahead of him to find a clear path for him to ride his bike down to the trail below. After this, Ron had enough of this trail........and the other's were nowhere to be seen yet.

We learned later, that Terry, Dennis and Mark were having a little trouble on the rocky sections below....

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They never did make it up to where we were now, so Kevin, Mike and I walked back up to our bikes and Ron turned around to go back.

Here's a closer look of just a few little rocks, as we walked back up to our bikes.

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Kevin mentioned going back, but Mike and I wanted to continue. Kevin figured since it was getting later in the day, he didn't want to ride into the night in case something happened on the rest of Hancock and Tomichi, so he headed back down with Ron to meet the others. Mike and I did our usual, continuing on and not worrying about how late it was, since we tend to do that a lot on most trips.

We rounded the next corner and the worst part of the pass was just about over, another 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile and we were at the top.

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The map said the toughest part of this section was Tomichi Pass, but we went over Tomichi and thought "that was tough ??" Then we realized, the toughest part was actually Hancock, and we were in the clear and the rest of Tomichi was a breeze.

Finally got to the infamous mudbog, the woman at lunch told us about earlier......this nasty mudbog was not much at all.....we rode thru with no problem.

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Maddog crossing the bog on his boat

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Bikes were a tad muddy, just to prove we were there

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The Tomichi Pass Trail was narrow and fun, and when we saw this, we had to stop. I was trying to imagine what it was like for these folks during the time they lived up in the area long ago........

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Deeper into the woods, we ran across this blocking the trail.......he was working on some stream drainage with his backhowe......I had to walk up to the machine and yell " Yo,....can you let us by ?"

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He turned and saw us, then moved the machine out of the way so we could get by. He was a real friendly fellow, and we talked to him for about 10 minutes..

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We continued down the mountain having a blast on the trails, and reached our destination for the night.......Tomichi Creek Trading Post. As Mike and I sat there waiting, it was time for a beer at the bar. We waited....and waited, and waited.......the rest of the gang was nowhere to be seen. We were going to get a big cabin there for the 7 of us, but decided to wait in case they didn't show up. Eventually, I was able to reach Mark on his cell phone, using the pay phone there. Well, Terry had a bit of a problem on Hancock Pass, and he would have to see a doctor the next morning to have his arm checked out. So, Mike and I would be the only ones from the gang staying there tonight.

As we sat drinking beers in the bar, we saw these 2 guys pull up on bicycles. I had to go talk to them, since I had a childhood dream of riding cross country on a bicycle.....but now, I prefer a motor with the wheels.

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We started talking with Isaac and Dave, both 21 years young, they were from Philadelphia.......damn, long ways on a bike. We invited them to hang out with us at the bar, had dinner and talked for hours. They said so far on their trip, they had not spent one dime on lodging. Since Mike and I had to get a tiny cabin that sleeps 4 anyway, we decided to let them share the cabin with us and we didn't charge them a dime either :o They really appreciated that.

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It was time to hit the hay after about 150 miles in the saddle, mostly off-road, some of it on challenging terrain....we would sleep good tonight. :lol:

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DAY 2

Looking down towards Ophir....

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Brings back memories of my Alpine Loop last Sept.......I think we only missed each other by a couple of weeks......

Glad you're getting the reports/pics so I can enjoy the ride once again through your eyes/camera lens.....keep the updates coming.....

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DAY 5 - Actual DAY 2 on the TAT.

The next morning, I called Mark again, they had spent the night in Salida. In the morning, they realized Terry's arm had bled all night due to a puncture wound. He thought he was going to be able to ride today.......but not. If I'm not mistaken, he saw a local doctor in Salida and the doc said Terry was going to have to go back to Pueblo to a real hospital to have his arm checked out, possible surgery due to a fracture in the elbow. Dennis and Mark were going to ride with him, while they told Ron and Kevin to go ahead and meet us at Tomichi Creek later in the morning.

As the 3 of them (Terry, Dennis and Mark) rode east from Salida to Pueblo, they hit heavy rain again. Terry pulled over to the side of the road and said no reason Dennis and Mark needed to ruin their day of riding, and Terry felt OK and assured them he was fine to get to the hospital alone, so Mark and Dennis turned west and would ride pavement the rest of the day to try and catch up with us. Terry's TAT trip was done........that was a real bummer, we were all disappointed he would not be riding with us. :lol:

Terry with his arm bandaged up.

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Mike and I had breakfast with Isaac and Dave and waited for Ron and Kevin to arrive. There was a constant light rain outside all morning. Soon Ron and Kevin showed up, they were happy to meet the 2 bicyclists from Philly. We all said goodbye to them and wished them a safe ride out to California on their bicycles :lol: :lol:

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At 10:20am, it was time for us to hit the road also.

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After a few miles of pavement, we turned off and hit the dirt for most of the rest of the day.

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Break time on the trail

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The scenery just kept getting better and better......

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A nice, tranquil lake........good place for a quick stop.

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Kevin with his XR650L.

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We passed this old ranch, and these old cabins were where the ranch hands used to live. The ranch was still active, but few ranch hands are needed nowadays.

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We pulled into the town of Lake City sometime in the afternoon for lunch......

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What a coincidence, we ran into a couple....Sonete and Herman from South Africa.

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She was on a F650GS, he on a R1200GS. They were on the TAT also, and they had started from the beginning in Tennessee. We talked for a bit and it was great to see a couple doing the TAT together.

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We wished them a great ride on the rest of their trip. Then we enjoyed our lunch and had to make a decision whether to stay in Lake City for the night and wait for Dennis and Mark to show up, or continue on further..........

Downtown Lake City.

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Stay tuned for more...............

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Kevin with his XR650L.

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Thanks for the report/pics......

And hey, I recognize that Lake...I recognize that City........that "Lake City" :rolleyes::)

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Seems only appropriate that "Lake City" would have a large fish at the gas pump :lol:

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Here's some action shots of Maddog Mike crossing the mudbog on Tomichi Pass.........

He's thinkin' "should I go now ?"

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Continued........DAY 5 - Actual Day 2 of the TAT

Since it was too late in the day to try to make the next town, we decided to check some cabins in town. I also got a message from Mark on the cell, saying he and Dennis would catch up to us in Lake City, so we stopped in the office at Westwood Cabins. The owner, Keith was really cool, said he didn't plan on renting any cabins until next spring.....we were going to get 2 cabins that slept 6, but he said that would be a little tight, so he offered to give us 3 cabins for $200......What a Deal !!

We unloaded and waited for Dennis and Mark to show up awhile later.

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Here's Mikey talkin' with Keith while he worked on the office cabin.

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Dennis and Mark finally showed up and we were no longer the Magnificent 7......down to 6 riders now......

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Kevin standing with his trusty steed (XR650L)

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It was good to see Mark and Dennis again........so it was time to enjoy some cold brewskis and hear the story about Terry, who unfortunately had to drive the rental truck back to Northern Cali with his bike in the back.

Left to Right.....Me, Ron, Kevin and Mark.

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While we were hangin' around talking, Keith the owner of the cabins said there was a concert in town tonight and it was $30 for tickets and dinner, but if we told them we were staying at his place, we'd get in for $20 including dinner (price for the locals) and he would be tending bar, so all of us, except Kevin, decided to go to the concert.

First band was a teenage girl who was Colorado State Yodeling Champion, Carin Mari and the Pony Express........

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I'm sitting here at home, typing up this write-up listening to her CD called "Follow the Trail", which I bought while there.....we were all impressed by her talent, music, and her YODELING !! Listening to the music right now is making me feel like I'm there that night, it was quite an intimate setting and the crowd was totally quiet during the performance, except for the applause between songs :clapping: :clapping:

There were probably 200 people there, set against a rock wall, side of a mountain backdrop.......totally cool !!

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The gang enjoying the show.....L to R, Mike, Ron, Dennis and Mark. We met a bunch of really friendly people, many locals, but also some tourists.

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Next up on stage was Michael Martin Murphey, who's biggest hit was the song "Wildfire", about a wild pony that got lost during a stormy night.......he's not a country singer, but sings Cowboy Songs. We really enjoyed his show also :clapping: , and I took some video with sound.

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After the show, I had to go meet all of them, bought a CD from each performer, and also told them I would e-mail them a link when I did my write-up......so I will be doing that after posting this.

Carin Mari and her partners......

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Keith the bartender on the right, and his friend

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Me and Michael Martin Murphey......they were all such down to earth folks.

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After the concert, we went back to the room for refreshments.....

Mmmmmmmm, liked the name of this....

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Here's one for all you FF's

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I think Maddog Mike was enjoyin' himself.

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Maybe Mark and Dennis were too......... :clapping:

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Kevin was done......crispy, for the night.

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After a good day of riding, and a spectacular evening of entertainment, it was time to call it a night and get ready for a long day tomorrow.

Stay Tuned for More...............

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Some more action shots.......Day 6 (third day of the TAT)

Here I'm ridin' the mighty 950 across a rocky crossing......nothing gnarly, just some action shots........

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