Easy Ridin'

The moment finally came to prepare for my first motorcycle ride of the trip. I had ordered an aftermarket cruise control (really just a throttle lock) so I could relax the grip of my right hand during long rides. I grabbed some tools and went to work installing it on my bike. I had also ordered a windshield before we left home to make longer rides more comfortable. Unfortunately, the order didn't arrive in time, but that's another story.

It took a little creative work to get the "cruise control" installed
but I got it. I was really looking forward to the next days ride.

Larie has a bike called a "Dual Sport". Essentially it is designed to ride on paved as well as unsurfaced dirt roads. My bike is called a "Cruiser" and it's designed for paved highways. Larie's Dual Sport is more powerful and turns much more easily, while mine likes the gentle curves of a highway. Because of this, Larie shot out ahead shortly after we departed the camp ground. Not that my bike won't turn, it just takes a little more effort, and is less powerful. Primarily, I like to make sure Kim is comfortable with our speed and maneuvering. 

Heading up the highway you can see the cruise control on the left handle bar if
you look real close. Also, check Kim out taking the picture in the mirror!

We cruised back into Stanley and stopped for a cup of coffee. It was a beautiful day. Our objective was Sun Valley-Ketchum, two small resort towns that have grown together over time. Kim and I had spent a little time in Sun Valley at the ski resort years ago, so the scenery brought back fond memories! We pulled out at a vista point high above a beautiful valley as we climbed up over a mountain range that separated us from Sun Valley. It was a great photo op, and place to stretch our legs and restore circulation.

There was a great view from this roadside vista point. After
a few minutes, we roared off toward Sun Valley.

As we entered Sun Valley it was about 10 minutes until 12:00. Time for lunch. I noticed a "Rotary Club of Sun Valley" sign and pulled over to investigate. It was a noon club and the meeting was just getting underway at the local pizzeria. We quickly looked up the address and walked a block and a half to the meeting. As usual, it was fun dropping in as a visiting Rotarian. We listened as they discussed their recent successful fundraiser, and other community projects. It was nice to do a makeup meeting with Larie, and Kim. We all kept our attendance records intact.

President John (on the right) was just getting started in his term.
Turned out it was his second time through the mill. It seemed like
a fun and productive group'

Sun Valley Rotarians welcomed us to lunch with them!

 After lunch we wandered around town for a bit before returning to the bikes and "leathering up" for the ride back to camp. I followed Larie as he threaded his way through town looking for the ski area. Finally' I saw him pulled over after we had crossed one road two or three times. We jointly decided to just get on the highway, point the bikes toward Stanley, and open the throttles.

Speaking of opening the throttle, as I did so about ten miles out of Sun Valley the engine started to sputter due to lack of fuel. I had run out of gas in my main tank, and had to switch to reserve. I rarely have to go more than a few miles to fill up after I hit reserve (there is no fuel gage) so I immediately began to estimate my endurance, and knew that it was going to be close getting back to Stanley for more go-juice. I figured I could make it if I slowed down to get maximum mileage. As I slowed, Larie's lead increased until I could barely see him. Eventually he noticed and slowed down to check on me. I pulled over and explained the situation. Neither of us could remember seeing any gas stations between where we were and Stanley, so the plan to proceed at maximum endurance speed was ratified.

When it rains, it pours as they say. As I was riding along behind Larie, I noticed that a small screw was loosening up on my newly acquired cruise control. I started fiddling with it and holding it with the tip of the ring finger of my left hand. I thought I could just keep it from falling out, but was a little worried. It wouldn't have caused any trouble, but it would have been difficult to replace. Finally, after attempting to tighten it using thumb pressure, it almost fell out. I slowed and pulled over to the side of the road.

Once again Larie did a 180 to see what had gone wrong this time. He probably thought I had run out of gas. I explained the situation and Larie dug down into the bottom of his saddle bags and pulled out an emergency tool kit. Just so happened he had an allen wrench that fit the screw, and we tightened it up. He is really into being prepared, and I started calling him professor gadget after he showed me all of the tools and devices he has on hand to cover almost any emergency or need while out in the countryside on a ride.

Professor Gadget looks through his tool kit for the right wrench
to fix the problem.

 We continued towards Stanley, and I was starting to get pretty worried. My odometer was not reading correctly so I was only estimating my remaining range. It wasn't looking good. However, as we approached a small "town" I was hopeful that I had overlooked the presence of a refueling station there on our way out that morning. I had! The price was horrible (nearly $5.00 per gallon) but when you only have a 4 gallon capacity tank it still wasn't a big bill. Besides, it beat walking!

With a full tank we proceeded on to Stanley where we stopped for about an hour and nursed a beer. The world cup soccer match was on and Germany was annihilating Brazil I think. It was a nice relaxing pause in an eventful day. After the break, it was another 40 minutes or so to the campground. We needed to load up the bikes as we would be leaving for our next camp in White Bird on the next day. Larie had loaded both bikes at his house in Reno, and had unloaded both when he and Katie arrived at Bonneville CG, so it was my first experience in loading the toy hauler. All in all it was pretty easy. I let Larie ride my bike into the garage while I "spotted" by holding on to the "sissy bar" and walking along as he went up the ramp. It was a pretty easy process, but I am glad Larie was in the saddle, I probably would have driven through the sliding glass door into the kitchen.

Back at the campground, I maneuvered the Vulcan over to the toy
 hauler, but let Larie drive up the ramp!

I spotted to make sure there weren't any problems if the
engine cut out mid stream.

All loaded up and ready to head for White Bird!

We relaxed the rest of the evening, and I was thinking of not setting the alarm for the morning take-off the Trippets had planned. I figured I would probably wake up in time. Turned out I was wrong, but I was glad to catch up on some sleep, and It turned out that we had an interesting visit to the hot-springs that morning. More on that in another post.

That's All!