Dinner in the Next Town

Hello to all - I got back from dinner a little bit ago and what a fun time it was. The Mountain Shadow Riders had their monthly family dinner night tonight. I logged almost 60 miles just getting there and back. It was great seeing those who were able to make it. I've missed quite a few of their family dinner nights lately and really wanted to make this. It was partly selfish on my part, as we went to Casa Grande Mexican Restaurant up in Woodland Park. A few of you may have read in past posts how much I love riding up Highway 24 to Woodland Park (and beyond to Buena Vista - where the famous Collegiate Peaks are). Plus I loovvve this restaurant!!

So tonight it was to Woodland Park, CO and to one of my favorite restaurants there. The food was marvelous, as usual, and the place was packed. They recently relocated to a new location they had built and I understand they have been very busy since. We had eight people reserve for the dinner from our group, our organizer reserved ten at the restaurant and twelve showed up, lol. We kept playing musical chairs trying to fit everyone in, as they all din't show up at the same time. It all worked out and we had an enjoyable dinner. The people at Casa Grande were superb!!

At this dinner I was reminded that I hadn't posted since January and would I please post something. I will try and post more often, as I miss everyone and hearing from you. So Don, this post is dedicated to you. He reminds me when I have been delinquent in posting, lol. Don rides a motorcycle and has recently started his own blog. He is also very involved with ABATE in Colorado. As soon as I can I will put a link to him. He told me at the dinner, but I didn't have anything to write on and I tried to commit it to memory - but alas my retched memory has failed me :(

I must close for now.

Wishing you adventurous travels to wonderful restaurants,

Biker Betty

PS: The Mountain Shadow Riders has started our ride contest for this year. In a few days I will tell you all about it. It should be lots of fun!!

Round Robin Challenge: Railroad

Many of you know me and photo challenges, I Love THEM!!! I found this one thru a link over at Nekked Lizard Adventures. This person is a Coloradian like myself. From there was the link to the Round Robin. Thought I'd have to try this. It's new to me. Gina at Gina’s Spacecame up with the idea for this challenge. Great idea Gina :)

Who doesn't like trains? I don't have any recent photos, but this was was taken two summers ago (2006) when I was doing the Mountain Shadow Riders motorcycle scavenger hunt. I didn't win this contest, but I was one of the upper four people. It was so much fun. The above photo was taken on the road between Cripple Creek and Victor. Talk about a beautiful drive. That train looks like Thomas the Tank Engine (which I loved to watch when my eldest was 4 years old). It's actually the Victor Narrow Gage Line. I have not had a chance to ride it, but it sure looks like fun.

The above is a sample of the views in store with the Victor train. Far out on the horizon is a bunch of the famous Colorado 14ers.

For the same scaventer hunt I also got a photo of the diner car of the train that goes to another famous Colorado tourist location: The Royal Gorge. As a family we went there in our car many years ago and really enjoyed ourselves.

So hop on the train and visit others participating in this challenge.

Biker Betty :)

Mountain Shadow Riders 1st Ride 2008

Admittedly, it wasn't a long ride. We seem to be between snow storms at the moment. It was a beautiful day and pretty warm when we started off, but the wind was outrageous. A high wind warning was issued for our city and surrounding areas. We met at a designated spot and at noon rode to Chili's for lunch.

Here's one of our bloggers - Jovi who was on the ride. You can see by her hair how windy it is. Another fellow blogger, that many of you know, Christine was also there, but I didn't get her pic.

I never get my picture (ha!!)

It was a great afternoon with friends and good food. We had a pretty large crowd and lots of laughs. We had four new ladies come out on their motorcycles to see what the Mountain Shadow Riders was about and they told me they had lots of fun. As many regulars know, the Mountain Shadow Riders is a chapter of Women On Wheels. After lunch there was a plan to ride to Penrose, but there was no interest with the high winds. It was noticably colder going home. The wind was bad, but manageable. I have been in worse winds. It was another good day of riding, even if it was short. In this case it was quality, not quantity.

Wishing You Winter Adventures,

Biker Betty :)

Introducing......

(drum roll please...)

Winky, Blinky, & Nod!!!

(from Left to Right)

Here are three of our many fine support members in the Mountain Shadow Riders. They, like our other support members, are quite the characters, lol. Of course, we love them all.

Blinky, bless his heart, was the first to get his nickname. I'm betting you can guess how. A couple of weeks ago he and his wife (one of our members) went on a group ride to New Mexico for lunch. (I would have loved to go on this ride, but I had obligations that day that I couldn't get out of. But I'm crying in public here and need to get back to why I'm writing this.) They all had a good ride and a few came home with nicknames, Blinky being one of them. He kept (you guessed it!) forgetting to turn off his turn signals. He'd go for miles with his blinker on and, as I hear, did it most of the day.

Then there is Nod. He has actually been wanting a nickname for a while. He actually had a "plan" to get his nickname, bless his heart. People would pay to suggest a nickname and "he" would choose the one he liked best, hehe. The first part of his plan wasn't bad. All money raised for this fine endeavor would be donated to our annual breast cancer awareness run in October. (We raised a record breaking $5,700 to donate to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation at our run last October '06). So...

The members of the Mountain Shadow Riders were happy to oblige. But he wasn't going to get to pick his nickname and first we needed to be on a few rides with him to see what fit best, lol. I wasn't on the ride that finally sealed (errr.. chose) his fate. It's not all bad. They came by "Nod," because it's an anagram of his name - Don. Not so bad, ehhh?!?

Then there is my husband, Unsupported. Seems he sealed his fate (err... got chosen his nickname) on our last ride to Bent's Old Fort two weekend's back. (I will report on this ride soon). He got caught quite a few times by other members (and Blinky's wife - specifically) leaving one of his blinkers on, LOL!!! He'd go for miles, & miles, & miles . . . with that darn blinker on, bless his fun loving heart. Well "Blinky" was already recently taken. So Blinky's wife came up with "Winky." Partly because it went so well with Blinky and Nod. So Unsupported now has two nicknames.

Many members of our fine group either already had their nicknames from earlier days or they are acquiring them from things they say or do on our group rides. One of the ladies just recently was christened "McSpeedy" on the same New Mexico journey that Blinky took. Maybe I'm glad I didn't take that ride *chuckle*.

The Mountain Shadow Riders is a fun-loving, caring group of people and I'm honored to be a member of this group. I always look forward to future rides with them and we have many planned this summer, not to mention the riding contest we started in April.

Wishing you fun adventures,

Biker Betty :)

~ The Mountain Shadow Riders Have Been Very Busy ~

The Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Museum and Hall Of Fame celebrated their 17th Anniversary and 2nd Annual Open House this weekend. Many motorcycle groups/clubs were invited to set up tables and let the public know what they are about. As you can see by the above photo, we accepted the invitation with gusto.

The above photo is also one of my first photos taken for the annual Mountain Shadow Riders yearly riding competition that kicked off the first part of April. Last year we had the wonderful scavanger hunt with over 350 items to search out. This year is a scavanger hunt with a totally different twist. I will post the rules later this week. In the above photo I just earned 5,000 points!!! (WooooHoooo!!!) To earn those coveted points I needed to get a pic of me, my bike with our large banner and a minimum of three Women On Wheels (R) full or support members, including me (mandatory). Poor Blinky (far left and affectionately named by MSR members) was complaining I was covering his face with my hand (See Blinky, I didn't, lol).

The Pikes Peak Harley Davidson was having their own special activities all day Saturday, too. Can you say "free food?" They were offering free hotdogs, popcorn, and canned soda all day long. The museum is in their parking lot.

Much to my husband's distress (didn't I say that a few posts ago, lol?) I have picked out a 2007 FLSTN Softail Deluxe. A girl can window shop can't she? Of course, I have no idea how it actually rides or even costs, but I sat on the motorcycle and it fit real nice. I didn't stand it up, as no sales person was around (can you believe it?!?). But I can tell the height was most likely right on. The seat was much nicer then my V-Star.

We are actually looking at replacing the stock V-Star 650 seat with a mustang seat. My husband has one on his Suzuki Intruder and loves it. After an hour on my bike, even at the end of a summer of riding, and my legs/hips (NO COMMENTS!!) hurt. We should at least be able to afford the new seat as it looks like I got a part-time job for the month of June as a librarian for summer school. I wasn't even looking and that job just fell into my lap, yea!!! Money is tight when you're putting a youngster thru college. I about had to rush my hubby to the ER when we got the first bill. Holy Cow it's expensive.

I helped all day Saturday at the Mountain Shadow Riders table, escaping occasionally to look around. It was lots of fun getting to meet so many people and getting to know fellow MSR members better. We have a great group of people. Walking around I bumped into a few people I haven't seen for a while. We had great weather all day and it was just a fun way to spend a Saturday.

Wishing you great adventures in your part of the world,

Biker Betty :)

PS: Want to learn how Binky got his name AND want to meet Winky & Nod? That's my next post. Be watching for it soon.

Mountain Shadow Riders Family Dinner Night

Please note: I will be posting my Saturday Photo Hunt tomorrow evening. The theme is "rare" and I will be taking it tomorrow and won't be able to post it till tomorrow evening.

The above is not the best picture, as the sun was shining in the wrong direction. The Mountain Shadow Rider's went to Casa Grande Mexican Restaurant and Cantina in Woodland Park for our monthly family dinner. This is the second time since I joined that they have left the city for one of the dinners. It was a very nice drive up thru the mountain pass. We sure were lucky, as we just got hit with a strong spring snow storm just a few days ago and some are still without power tonight.

How about this view from the restuarant? Woodland Park is a beautiful town and always fun to visit. We had the usual good natured teasing, talking and, of course, eating. Casa Grande Mexican Restaurant and Cantina has really good food and is a definite repeat for my husband & I. We had never eaten here before. The food was great, people there are very nice and it's decorated nicely inside.

How about this group of characters greeting you as you come in?

After we'd had our fill, it was time to head back home. Our group of six made it back without incident. You can't help but be a little nervous driving the mountain pass at night. You always hope the deer and other wildlife keep off the road after dark. Hwy 24 has lots of twisties between Woodland Park and Manitou Springs. It's lots of fun in the daylight, but at night a person needs to heed to the side of caution. I did put one extra layer of clothing on for the ride home and didn't get very chilly, yea!! It was a great 52 miles chalked up tonight.

Added 4/28: I should have noted that we had about 20 people show up for our dinner. A few came by cars, some live in the area and the rest of us straggled up the mountain to meet at the restaurant.

Wishing you many food adventures,

Biker Betty :)

~ And There Were Drinks All Around ~

Theme: Drink ** Become a Photo Hunter ** View Blogroll

A small group of the Mountain Shadow Rider's (MSR) took a ride this last Saturday after our monthly meeting. I wrote about it just before this post. We took off about 11:15am and I got back at 3pm. It was a nice long ride. While down in Canon City, we stopped at Coyote's Coffee Den for a quick bite to eat. We had rain threatening to dump on us in the distance.

The main reason for stopping at the Coyote's Coffee Den is that they were one of our sponsors for our very successful 2006 Breast Cancer Awareness Ride. I know I will stop there again the next time in Canon City. They have cozy southwestern decor and it was very pleasant to sit there and have a lunch. I can highly recommend their food. I got half a sandwich with the "works" and I wasn't one bit disappointed. It was very healthy and yummy.

Thanks to the Coyote's Coffee Den and all our other sponsors, the Mountain Shadow Riders broke all previous records by earning over $5,700. All of which went to the local affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. This was MSR's sixth year with this fundraiser. Over 230 people registered for the run and over 100 businesses and merchants donated over $3,000 in prizes. We owe a huge "Thank You" to everyone who helped.

We will be doing the 2007 Breast Cancer Awareness Ride again in October. Anyone who lives in Colorado Springs be on the lookout for the flyers all over town in late summer.

The group was very willing to help me with this week's theme. So everyone grabbed their drinks - soda's & coffee's - and gathered around so I could get a pic. Aren't they great? Thanks everyone for helping me out.

And because I was holding the camera, here I am with my drink of soda. As I mentioned in my previous post, we did manage to get back without getting rained on. It downpoured an hour after I got home, whew!! I hope everyone else got home before it rained on them. I know a few had errands to do before heading to their homes. One of the ladies had a bike that kept cutting out on her and she wanted to get it in the shop pronto.

Wishing everyone a great weekend,

Biker Betty :)

~ Nice Long Ride This Last Saturday ~

This last Saturday the Mountain Shadow Riders (a chapter of Women on Wheels) had our monthly chapter meeting. It was fun seeing everyone. We've got a lot of runs/activities lined up for the summer and I can't wait!!! The details have to be finalized, but our summer scavanger hunt has been decided on. Starting April 1st and going thru October 31st, we are to find businesses with either the words "Mountain" and/or Shadow in their title. We are to get a picture of our motorcycle with their sign. This will be a lot more difficult and some serious searching to find. But I'm up to the challenge!!

After the meeting those of us who could, gathered at 11am for a "Saddle Time Ride." We started off with, I believe, 11 motorcycles and 12 people. Added 4/7/07 - I can't believe I forgot two people, but I did. We had two of our members following in their car as back up, if anyone were to pull out and need assistance. Well, at a couple of time we did have some ladies pull out and off to the side of the road. Paula and Don stopped to offer any needed assistance. Paula and Don live up in the mountains and couldn't ride their bikes into town due to ice. But they came on the road trip and were very helpful a couple of times. Thanks Paula and Don, your help was appreciated by all.

We lost one before getting out of town. She was having problems with her contacts. The sky was overcast and threatening to rain. It was pretty windy all the way to Penrose down Hwy 115. Passing Penrose we stayed on Hwy 115 and somewhere we got on another hwy. I wasn't sure where we were going. Good thing I wasn't leading this group, lol. After a while we emerge on the main drive thru Canon City. As soon as we got on the main drive (Hwy 50), I recognized where we were.

We headed out of the city on Hwy 50, going west. A couple of miles out of town we took a right onto the famous Skyline Drive. I had never been on this road and I will never forget it. It's an extremely narrow paved road that rises 800 feet above Canon City. It's a one way road, thank goodness!! It is very steep going up and I kept hoping no one in front of me had any reason to stop before we got on level ground. I found out that this road was built in the early 1900's by convict labor chain gangs. I'm sure back then it was a dirt road.

Here we are at the top. We pulled off into a gravel pull-out and this is when one of our group had an oopsy-daisy. Her brand new Harley fell down. She's not sure what happened, but with gravel things can get squirrely. I've seen an experienced biker accidently drop a bike in gravel. It just happens sometimes. Many jumped to her aid and got her righted up. She was okay and there were only a few scratches on her Harley.



We took a little time to enjoy the view. It dropped for a long ways down. As you can see in the above photo. The above is a view to our right.

Here is the same view looking straight down!!!

Here is the view on our left side. It a great view of Canon City.

Here I am, helmet hair and all, lol. After we had a chance to look around, it was time to get going. It was raining off in the distance and we hoped to get home dry. We did stop on the way home at a coffee shop for a quick bite to eat. This particular shop was one of our awesome sponsors for our breast cancer run last year. Come back tomorrow night and I have a special post about that stop. I had my fellow comrade riders help me with the Saturday Photo Hunt.

It was soooo fun to have a nice long ride. It had been a while since I have been on my motorcycle for that long a ride. We left at 11:15am and I got home at 3pm. When it was all said and done, I had 131 more miles on my Star. An hour after I got home it downpoured. What great timing.

Wishing you travel adventures in your part of the world,

Biker Betty :)