Date: Thursday, September 2, 2010
Start: 1100 (0900 wake-up)
Finish: 1800
Travel Time: 8 hrs
Distance: 220 miles
Total Distance: 4631 miles
It felt like there was a big load off our backs now that the trail was over and the rest of the trip was a vacation in a vacation as we made our way to Vegas to celebrate. It all started with us sleeping in till 0900 this morning. 0900 you say...I KNOW...0900!!!!! Today was a light day on the road to Scottsdale, AZ where we planned to stay with one of our best friends Timmy Turner. We've all known each other since 6th grade and have remained the closest of friends since. We enjoyed the free hotel breakfast and then took advantage of the business center PC for some proper blog updates from the past two days.
We were loaded up and ready to go before noon, but the one thing we noticed was that we were breaking more of a sweat than usual. This was our first taste of some true AZ heat. But like everyone says..."it's a dry heat." Well try on storm trooper power ranger moto gear and see how dry the heat is. We just wanted to get moving so we could take advantage of the vents in our jackets and pants because it makes a huge difference. It could be worse though. If it had been raining we would have had to endure our rain liners which were basically sweat suits. Not too far into the ride, Yobo noticed that his fairing was making some noise, so we pulled off the highway into a rest station for a quick fix with some zip ties.
As we approached Tucson we were in the peak of the early afternoon sun and temps rose to 110F. It was the hottest conditions either of us had ever ridden in. At these temps, 70 mph of hot air blowing on you doesn't really provide a whole lot of relief. We needed gas, but totally picked the wrong exit. We passed strip mall after strip mall with no signs of fuel or place for a quick snack. We weren't too impressed with what Tucson had to offer. We finally found a Mini-Mart and enjoyed some snacks in the comfort of a shady curb and did some good old fashion people watching. We reluctantly geared up again and returned to that radiant furnace they called a highway. Soon after we exited for a gas station. At the same time, a decked out 1200GS pulled up and we chatted for a bit. He was headed cross country and on his way to San Diego.
We pushed forward on our last stretch to Scottsdale. About 10 miles away from our destination, my temperature light came on. It was nearing rush hour and traffic wasn't moving to quickly to help cool the engines. I ran into a similar problem on my trip to Bonnaroo a few years back and it jacked up my spark plug. I didn't want to take any chances, so we exited and found a shady spot in a parking lot and chilled for a bit to give the bikes a rest. By this point we just wanted to get to Tim's place. We got back on the bikes after about 20 minutes and soon found ourselves at Timmy's. He wasn't home from work yet, but he left a key and we unloaded our gear.
We cleaned up and headed out for a light and refreshing sushi dinner and followed up at another bar for a night cap. It quiet, but I guess that's what you get on a Wednesday night. On the way out we were getting into Tim's car when some high school kids went driving by pretending like they were shooting us. I reacted immediately and started chasing them in Terminator 2 mode with arms in full stride. -----I'll set the stage before I go any further. I am a pretty fit guy, but have been basically been sitting on my bummy for 2 weeks straight...and I had a few drinks in me.----- I was sprinting as fast as I could and got to the point where I could actually see there facial expressions say "Holy fucking shit. This guy is actually trying to catch us and he's gaining ground." They were slowed a bit by having to navigate around a sea of strip mall curbs, but eventually got to a straight section and pulled away. I remained in full stride because I thought I could cut them off when they had to exit the parking lot. Remember when I set the stage before? Well, this is where zero exercise for two weeks and alcohol came in to play. My legs started cramping and I basically tripped over a curb because my coordination at this point in the evening was a few notches lower then normal. I got up and spun around in circles just like that classic scene at the end of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre with Leatherface . I had a hole in my jeans and was sad because they got away.
Needless to say we were pretty amped up heading back to Timmy's and for some reason started singing "Heaven" by Warrant in the car. When we arrived I went straight for his computer and pulled up the video on YouTube. Tim came in with a bottle of Jack that was basically 2/3 full. Mike crashed on the couch as Tim and I continued wailing at the top of our lungs in two-part-harmony for the next three hours. We covered every major 80's power ballad known to man. We would open one screen with the lyrics and one screen with the video. By the end of the night the bottle of Jack and a 2 liter of coke were empty. The best part about it was that every video was added on my wall in Facebook, so the night will live on forever. Mike and I had the luxury of sleeping in, but Timmy was supposed to be in work at 0900 the next day, which by this point was only a few hours away. Would he make it??? Stay tuned tomorrow and find out.
/s/ Goda
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