Corrections to previous post - Sorry about the confusion. If you haven't noticed, I did correct it. My eldest son wasn't driving a motorcycle. I originally had that he was driving "his dad's SUV", but some how those "gigabyte" monsters stole it, lol. It's now back in there.

After our trip he has now expressed an interest in learning to ride. If this continues, his dad has said he will enroll him in the MSF (Motorcycle Safety Foundation) beginners course. For those of you who aren't familiar with this course it's awesome. My husband & I took it before buying our motorcycles. We are soooo glad. The skills we learned are invaluable and we can't say enough good things about it.

Once again, sorry about the confusion, Betty :)

Busy Summer

This summer is going by way too fast!!! We just got back from a short family vacation that I will tell more about later. This is just to let you know I am here and getting out on my motorcycle lots!!! Too busy to get much blogging in right now. Real quick, for our vacation my husband and I drove our motorcycles and my eldest son drove his dad's SUV (added correction 7/24) with his brother as the passenger, lol. We all actually had a lot of fun. We got to see a lot in the short days we were gone. Above is some of the beautiful scenery we got to see.

Above is more of the awesome scenery we drove in and a hint as to where we were driving. I logged in 471 miles on my motorcycle when it was all said and done.

Wishing you lots of summer adventures, Betty :)

I’m Interrupting Myself for a
Very Important Announcement

A new website, The Motorcycle Group has recently been launched. It’s a forum created for motorcycle enthusiasts. Many of you know Gymi from Gymi’s Place. With his nephew’s help, he has designed this new website. There are a lot of contributors and if you have been around for a few weeks or so you will recognize some, if not most, of the names. Yours truly, included ;)

It offers many different things. There’s news and a forum. The forum at the moment is offering: General Discussion, Women Who Get Their Kicks on Two Wheels, Whatta Ya Ride, & Throw Yer Hat Into The Ring. With more topics to come in the future.

So go on over to The Motorcycle Group and check it out. Whether you ride or just have an interest in motorcycles, this is for you. Everyone is welcome to join.

It’s going to be a lot of fun,

Wishing You Adventurous Journeys,

Biker Betty :)

Part 2 - Ride with Christine

Before I report more on my ride with Christine, I wanted to let you know that I was able to ride the Pikes Peak H.O.G. 5 in 1 Run. Thank you for all your well wishes. I'm sure it was due to your good vibes that my toe healed enough for the ride. It was fun and I will tell you all about it, after this ride. Thanks again.

Continuing on with my ride: After Christine and I finished our lunch we rolled out the door and onto our bikes. We ate wayyyyy too much food, burp. The portions were huge and the food was very yummy. We got back onto our motorcycles and onto Hwy 24 West. At Buena Vista we took Hwy 24 North and not far down the road we stopped.

Christine, in the lead, knew I still needed a "National Park sign" and stopped for me to get this. Thanks Christine :)

(Note: I accidently deleted the photo that was here and Blogger at this time won't let me reload it, POUT!!! I will try to install later.)

Here's another view at the same stop. Just this last weekend I went through this area again and because of all the rain it was even greener then the above picture.

Here we stopped for yet another scavanger hunt photo "Scenic Byways Sign." Aren't those cool sunglasses Christine is wearing? She had recently bought them at a ski shop. They are actually skiing sunglasses, but work great for motorcycling. She says people are telling her she looks like a bug with them on, and actually in this photo she does look like a bug, sorry Christine, lol.

When we stopped here we scared the cows. Here's a photo of them running for the hills, lol. They didn't appreciate us stopping here, sniff.

We were so excited about getting the above photo for the scavanger hunt, only to find out later that it's the wrong fish hatchery!!! Come on Christine, you wrote the list, lol!!! What's even more hilarious is that one of the workers was leaving and telling us we have just got to go see Turquoise Lake. Well, we were in a hurry to get lots more for the scavanger hunt and didn't want to take the time to see this lake. We found out later that it WAS on the list. We were good enough to laugh at ourselves and, besides, it's a reason to have to come back later and get a photo.

Above is the National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum in Leadville. We were sooo lucky to be able to get an open space right in front. All the other spots were full and they were pretty busy that day. It's hard to tell, but the parking spot had an evil slope to it and we pulled right up onto the sidewalk to avoid it. We had to be extremely careful backing up. Like I have said before, this hunt has really helped to improve my skills in manuevering my motorcycle. Trying to get near some of this stuff to get a photo has been tricky at times.

So after getting the above shot we hop back on our bikes, carefully backing up and then head off out of town. Later we discovered there were actually a few more things in Leadville that we didn't get!! Oh well, we look forward to another ride to get them along with Turquoise Lake.

So, not realizing our error, we head out of Leadville. We're not far out of Leadville when Christine holds up her left hand and points up. Not recognizing this signal, I look up and wonder. After a while she then holds up her hand with two fingers. I'm really puzzled by now. When she holds up three fingers, all I can think of is "what have I done?" You know, "three strikes you're out." Well, she hasn't pulled over and when she gets to "five" my light bulb finally comes on, lol. She's signaling the mile markers!!! I needed a pic of "Mile Marker 6" and we pulled over when it came up. I shared with her my puzzlement of her signals and we had a good laugh.

Sadly, here I must end for now. I will continue soon. Right now I have some things I must do.

Till Later, Safe Travels, Betty :)

Part 1 - Ride with Christine

This summer is going by way too fast!! Here is a ride that Christine, at Christine's Corner, and I did on June 19, 2006. She has already posted her pictures and narration a while back. The day after the ride I went to Boy Scout camp for five days and when I got back there was just too much going on to post then.

Christine arrived at my house 9am and shortly after that we took off with Christine in the lead. It was a beautiful day for a ride. We went west on Hwy 24 and our first stop was The North Pole!! Yes, you read that correctly. Surprisingly, there was NO snow on the ground, lol. Above is a shot that we both needed for the Mountain Shadow Riders (MSR) scavanger hunt. I'm just sorry we didn't get to see Santa Claus, pout!

As it turns out the North Pole isn't far from the base of Pikes Peak, lol. So we hop on our bikes and head on up the road for another scavanger hunt photo opportunity. Above is the shot I got with Christine enjoying herself. I wonder what the folks must of thought of us!

We get back on our motorcycles and by now a plan has formed. Christine was originally thinking a moderate ride. Since I haven't ridden a whole whole lot, she didn't want to over do it on our first ride. Between the two of us we decided a mountain pass would be fun to ride over. Well, when the whole ride was said and done I forgot how many mountain passes we ended up going over, lol. I will have to go and count!

Our first mountain pass is Wilkerson Pass. We stop at the Wilkerson Pass Visitor Center in Pikes National Forest, elevation 9,502. Here was a chance for me to get another scavanger hunt pic. I needed a "National Park Sign." Christine already had that one.

Above is of me at one of the lookout points at Wilkerson Pass Visitor Center.

From the same lookout, with me not in the way. You can see the Collegiate Mountains (Princeton, Yale, Harvard) way off in the distance. And a few other 14ers (mountains higher than 14,000 ft.).

Above we stopped along the road to get some photos. This view is mostly what we were driving through for most of the day. It would vary to some degree. At times we were in flat lands and then through mountainous terrain. It was fun to hum through the twisties and just drink in the scenery, sigh.

Just before we come to Buena Vista Christine pulls over at this cantina for lunch. The Coyote Cantina is in Johnson Village. I don't see it on the map, but it's here. They are at 12985 Hwy 25 & Hwy 285. The only reason I'm giving you all this information is because the food is GOOD!! You sure get your money's worth here. I came out way too full. They do Country Breakfast and Mexican Lunch & Dinners. It's very rustic and has a wild west atmosphere. On their website they state you can see (and they have a photo to prove it) the Collegiate Peaks range from there. I was way too hungry and enjoying the atmosphere to even notice. And we ate outside!! My husband jokes that nothing gets in the way of food and me, lol.

Because we stopped and saw so many things on this trip, I am breaking it up into segments. We took loads of photos and had lots of fun. Christine is a great lady to ride with and we just had a blast. Keep posted for more on this trip later.

Safe Journeys to You, Betty :)

Cracked Toe - Uuuuggghhh!!!

I am momentarily disabled. (Just a minor setback) I had to go and walk into the leg of a metal folding chair and crack the 4th toe on my left foot (dumb, dumb, DUMB!!!).
So for a few days I have to wear the above beautiful blue shoe. As they told me at the Air Force Academy Emergency Room, they are a beautiful Air Force Blue, lol. I did this Friday with a ride pending on Saturday and another the following Saturday.

Well, the ride Saturday got rained out. The Mountain Shadow Riders had their monthly chapter meeting this last Saturday and there was to be a ride to Fairplay after the meeting. There was a Ladies Run of CO planned on that day and a bunch of us planned to go and participate in some of the activities. It rained all day that day. I never heard if it got rained out or not. We've had roads/highways washout in several places in the state due to the heavy rains.

So now I am hoping for two things. First - for my foot to get well enough to ride this Saturday in the Pikes Peak H.O.G. 5 in 1 Run. It is a 400 mile run of 5 mountain passes of 10,000 feet or higher. Second - for the weather to cooperate. We have had lots of rain in the past week. It's caused flooding, washed out roads and lots of other hovac. Christine, of Christine's Corner, is also planning on participating in this.

I had been doing a mile on my cross-trainer for the last two weeks in anticipation of this ride. The doctor said there's a chance it would be okay enough by then. So, hopefully this is so. If not, there's always next year. Luckily, this isn't going to keep me off my motorcycle for long. One of the other ladies in our riding group has hurt her leg bad enough that she's out for the rest of the summer. I wish Carolee a speedy recover.

Well, Wishing Everyone a Healthy Summer,

Betty :)

Here is a really neat project in New Mexico. I have been following the progress since about the beginning. The three ladies on the MotoFemina project (a reality video series) have been working hard. Here is footage of their solo rides. These three (Jessica, Laura, & Synth) had never been on a motorcycle before this project. At the end of the summer one of them will be chosen as the one who learned the most practical skills and personal courage needed to safely ride a motorcycle. The winner will receive a 2006 BMW F650 GS motorcycle (whooohooo!!!). They have already been working very hard and learning lots. Go on over to their website MotoFemina Cast and check it out.

Happy 4th of July to Everyone!!!

Wishing you motorcycle adventures, spectacular fireworks, fun with your family & friends on this 4th of July weekend.