It's not my ride.

[vince]

So Sunday I went on a ride with some others. Not my ride but 9 showed up. We left in 2 groups. One was longer than the other. Both going to the same place to meet up for lunch. I choose to go on the longer one. I showed up with a tire that couldn't make the shorter ride. But I like a good challenge. And this tire was a race only tire I used that last time I entered a race. Dam those tires are expensive. Off we go.

One guy stepped up to lead. I had heard on the WS roads he goes kind of slow. This will be good for tire management for sure. I was thinking that at lunch I would have to straight line it home because there would be no tire left at all. Also I remember that race tire was a medium race. So I pumped it up to 42 lbs so it would be on the cool running side of things.

So anyway 5 were with me. We go all over the place. When we stop for gas. We were all thinking that by the time we get to lunch the others will have eaten and left. I look at my tire. Hey I can still tell what it is. I'm feeling pretty good. Better not let it go to my head. One full throttle hit and the tire is toast. You know fueling up with real gas and throttle management I'm getting some good gas mileage. 40+.

We are at the 2nd gas stop now. Tanking up and cleaning face shields. We are talking that the other group now for sure had eaten and probably left. It was only 140 mile them to get there and we have gone 200 miles and we still have maybe 40 to 50 yet to go.

Wait a group of bikes are going by. I think I know them. Yep it's them the other group. WTH. If we are going that fast I'm afraid to look at my rear tire. Well I open my eyes and. Oh look it is just down to the wear bars. Hey I'm good. We all decide to have chicken and call ahead. We all leave together.

Now some how we get lost. I went to STAR. And this is the exact spot we got out the map to see where the hell we are and where we need to go. Off we go again. We end up in a town and we were not suppose to be there. Yep you guessed it. Lost again.  And this was the same town at the STAR event we had to get out the map. We get out the map. We sure over shot that town again. We decide to eat in this town.

After lunch 4 decide to ride straight up 35. Not good for me and tire management. The center of my tire would be gone. So I went with the slow guy and go to P. Lets ride it both ways we say. Hmm. Not sure I can even do it one way. Anyway we get to the front door of it and we didn't take it. We still rode a lot of great roads.

We stop in Arcadia for gas and to cool off. As we are BSing I think out loud. You know were going to run the hill. You know that takes all of the 175 hp my bike makes to get to the top. Our leader says we can take C and go around to Alma. Boy that was close. I feel better now.

We finally get on 35 but turn off North of Alma and we loose one rider. At Pepin we do a quick stop to clean face shields. We turn off here and loose another one. We are down to just the 3 of us now. We ride some more great roads. We get back on to 35 and I don't want to look at my tire. Can only be bad. This is some of the better part of 35 so I could say to hell with tire management. No matter what I can get any tire 50 more miles to home.

Now the ride really was getting boring. But with about 5 miles to Prescott the best part of 35 was about to come. You guest it. Time to put some power down and rip up that tire. WTH there is a truck in the way. A hill is just up ahead. Double yellow line won't stop us from passing. As soon as we can see power on.

Why is there a SUV down in the ditch facing us. You know we were going fast before we started to pass the truck. So you know we were going just a we bit faster now. You know I didn't even get back in my lane before he turned on his lights. He was so for in the ditch he had to four wheel it to get out and onto the road. Now the funny part about this. There is a funny part. The car we caught up to in the pass. Thought they were speeding and pulled over. So the car and the 3 of us pulled over. Well wait who is the one he is after here. Maybe it's the car. So as everyone was pulling over and I was the last one I passed everyone. The rest stopped. I kept going. But then the cop passed everyone and came after me. Yep damit. So I stopped and got off the bike. He starts talking to me and I can't hear him. He keeps repeating himself. He finally says take your helmet off. OK. I go back to my bike and I see trouble. I have a slick on the rear. Not good at all. Then he starts talking to me again and he has to keep repeating himself. I say just wait I have ear plugs in. He starts to laugh. This is a good sign. Then all the usual talk like. Do you know how fast you were going. No I was passing. He's laughing still. Tells me how fast and I say but I wanted to get back in my lane as soon as possible. I know you did but you still can't go that fast. Yea I know. Well stay here while I check you out. This is going to be awhile so I said I have to pee. Can I go in the trees. Sure and laugh and says I am going to go get your buddies. Oh no now they are going to get into trouble. That didn't like I thought it would.
I went into the trees and waited for a time. When I came back our the other 2 were by my bike. All of us got a talk about speed. But our leader says and it was a good one. I'm going to keep this to myself. Because it was good and I want to us it the next time this happens. Lets just say the truck driver was drunk. Well the cop says it doesn't matter you were still speeding. He check our records and said to slow down and be careful. I shook his hand and off we went. While we were there backup showed up. Good thing we were finished. Backup might have changed his mind. 

Back to the Freedom Station and the end of the ride. 490+ miles door to door. Thanks to the organizer for posting. Thanks to the leaders for leading the way.

No cords were showing on that tire. Now that it is a perfect slick. I'm going to the track. Always wanted to try a slick.

Vince

[Deplorable, thank you!]

hey, I went on this ride too....

yeah that volunteer to lead all these rides, I heard he is really slow in WI too......better not follow him anymore.... But damn he sure picks the best roads. I always end up in his group somehow- usually right there at the front,  with plenty of followers...... funny how that happens!

 I remember seeing that other group(you know the group that was going to not go the scenic way, just get tothe  Nelson route sheet start) pull in to our 2nd fuel stop and thinking .........  wow they got there (Rockton BBQ), ate and are already this far back.... Man I knew we were going slow and all those "extra" miles but this is ridiculous... only to find out they were behind us, boy they must have had some issue somewhere.. nope no issues- they sat around shooting the shit waiting on my group to show up to a place I never intended to go and would have had to of backtracked atleast 10 miles to get there......  and even had sent a text saying so from the first fuel stop......... but the reply (from leader of group 2) came much after I was back on the road, so I did not even know there was a reply til that other group leader told me so, then I turn on my phone.... yup 4 text messages from him blast in.... I was needed in Arcadia apparently

oh well .......... WE ALL GET ON THE ROAD AGAIN (that damn "slow" leader leading the way with everyone in tow)
so the route sheet looks like 55 miles to Rockton still, so off we go (apparently leader of Group A didn't have the same route sheet as leader of group B, so there was some discrepencies back in the followers ranks when the group was headed a direction they did not understand....
 So yep, I was following that route sheet to a T since picking up the route at the T/D intersection south of Arcadia
So traveling along and the designated road simply ends- now it has another name and two choices to go- I pause at the stop and a bike come zipping on by half way through the intersection with a few choice words for me. or maybe he was coming up to thank me for leading?
Yep- well I am just following the route sheet, not sure if we go left or straight the name changed??? much got lost in the translation and it was HOT, so damn hot and humid the sweat was in my eyes and I can hardly see, and hearing is out of the question at this point...... you know- new ear plugs and all, got to protect that hearing too, oh wait no rocket girl, I could have ridden without ear plugs this day........................... got to get moving again and have some wind evaporate that sweat away so I can see again......... you know Visual skills and safety....... Have to have that safety!!!

 I was thinking to myself how good everyone has been all day thus far with their following distances, well mostly anyways..... whew- what a relief they are finally listening!

 So supposedly another 1.8 miles I am supposed to find this road to turn on and head over to the covetted P
1.5 miles better slow down, don't want to pass it, 2.0 miles- man there is nothing in sight resembling any roads, 4 miles- Screw this, wick it up and lets find something/anything...... I am starving by now and still too hot---you know we were going too damn slow to cool off

So we come to another "T" We all pull over, someone pulls out a paper map- someone else a phone and someone makes a decision we are to go ^that way and points, then we will meet xyz and turn left and that takes us right there........

 So I jump on the bike and go ^ that way (the way I was told), planning on then turning left on xyz and it will take us right into LaFarge......... slowly at first trying to have everyone catch up, first one bike, a mile later another, a couple miles later I occassionally see more headlights......... Screw this- too damn hot to go this slow, wick it up and lets get that wind tunnel blowing through these leathers......(perhaps it was how windy the road was and the followers were actually using good judgement in their spacing......lol)
 So, I do not know maybe 10 miles later we come to some totally different road than what they said we would come to...... I pull into town and pull into the kwik trip..........you know about 50 miles from where we are supposed to be by now and people (probably not everyone)  agrees Rockton BBQ is just grilled chicken with some sauce, it isn't really BBQ at all and not worth the effort to get there at this point........ food anywhere is as good or better

 We start to discuss further lunch options.... I walk across the street to the ice cream shop under the guise of seeing if they serve food too.... nope but they were nicely air-conditioned inside and that mint bon bon cone sure felt good going down....
okay so I walk back across the hiway......looked both ways and didn't make the traffic stop you know......NOT...too damn hot out, pedestrians have the right of way this day
 Ice cream guy told me the bar 2 blocks down was really good, off we go.......apparently the last one there was supposed to buy for everyone.... twasn't me......
I wonder who was as they did not pay for everyone, and some reimbursement is order .... damn vamboozled again...

So yep- several decided to run straight up 35....OMG I would not do that from south of LaCrosse even if you paid me! Hell I was unwilling to do that to even get to Nelson... NOWAY NOHOW am I doing that

 We are getting ready to depart Vince is over there wringing his hands over the condition of his tire.... I had to take a peak at it,,,,,,,oh that is bad, real bad
25 miles in to heading to P and I am thinking no way no how can he make the 57 mile round trip down and back on P, hell he probably can't even get to home most likely.... off north we go, picking the route sheet back up and following that past Arcadia, then off course again (you know how I like my deviations to better roads!!!)
Losing riders like Vince says, dropping off like flies....... really we likely were not far behind either even with our extra miles

But as we pull up north on 35 to 63 intersection...........county sherriff is racing us to that stop sign- I hit my brakes even harder and let him win, but just by .08 seconds...... he wins, so I wave him on by- he heads off east while we head off north......

 Up ahead several hundred yards is a white diesel truck, he is going pretty good because we are barely catching him (Vince tire conservation mode and all)  but he keeps dipping two wheels into the gravel and we have to keep riding through his dust cloud, then it is all de-regulated and rolling coal several times- like everytime he touched the throttle
 So about 15 miles later we are right on him, time to go........ I can see the passing lane and all clear- hit it, truck jumps to the throttle too, too slow sucker. We are going by....
 Oh damn it, that is a squad SUV right there in the dip in the road, well too late now, already going well above the speed limit and ahead of the truck just a touch..... have to complete the pass and roll back in line, leaving room for Dave and Vince......... then rolling off the gas
Damn he has his lights on already and that damn diesel truck must have fantastic brakes, he is stopped before he even reached the squad.... I see him whip the U turn and I am already sub 20 and on the shoulder, Dave right behind me and that white car (yes we were going to do a twofer) is stopping ahead of me............. As I put down my sidestand Vince goes rolling by ahead of the car WTF.....
I see the hood of the SUV stop next to me but then he peels out and takes off before I even turn my head, whew dodged a bullet thanks Vince you can eat this one.........

 So from our vantage point we cannot see what is going on ahead of the SUV but did suddenly see Vince bee-lining it down the hill into the woods.....
 I look at Dave and am like WTF.... ,maybe we should just go------ Dave is like......"no he said for us to wait here, was that Vince?"............ replied- yep
Then we are both in the WTF stage..........

Sherriff Suv whips another u turn shooting gravel all over and rolls up slowly powering down the window, I am thinking/hoping he is just going to send us on our way...... NOPE
Pull up there behind your buddy and stop...... ugh- this can't be good.. WTH did Vince say and why isn't this guy chasing him down into the woods..... (Did he throw us under the bus?)

 He comes out and asks if we knew what the speed limit is,,,,,,, someDAVEone plays dumb- no......... I am just like yes, it is 55
Officer is like, and how fast were you going?
me, no idea but we were passing that truck when you got us, he was throwing rocks and blowing smoke all over us
"blowing smoke?" the officer looks puzzled
Yeah, rolling coal, when they deregulate a diesel and everytime you touch the throttle black stinky smoke comes belching out the pipe

the officer smiles, yep I wouldn't like that either nor like having to dodge rocks
Nope, I exclaim, I just needed to get by and move on for safety
"well you cannot go that fast on this road" (It started with a 7 since some of you are dying to know) the speed limit is 55
Yes, well I am not going to linger out in the oncoming traffic lane and being behind him was unsafe so we had to pass, so as soon as we got to the passing lane and it was clear I did

about then Vince finally returns from his 10th time peeing today..... damn maybe you have a bladder infection or something, or maybe you are just too old..... (funny follow up to this later)

 So we are standing around waiting on our ID's to be returned and officer two shows up "back up"............. you remember that officer I waved on by at 63/35 and let him WIN the stopping race..........damn good that I was so nice, he didn't change officer #1's mind on letting us go............ See niceness occassionally does pay off.
 We get back our info and I am set to go, damn, parked too close up under Vinces bike and he is slow to get a move on....... can't sit here all day, we got to go.....
 Vince finally pulls away, I thought he ran out of fuel he was going so slow
So I did the courteous thing and blasted on by and blazed a path into Prescott guaranteeing them free reign to ride as wanted (which apparently was about 40mph judging by how far back they were.... that tire must be worse than I thought)
I make it across just before the bridge goes up because........... yep- Vince pulls into freedom to pee yet again, seriously dude, get that checked out......lol (keep staying tuned in for that funny follow up on this)

 They get stranded in Prescott for this tiny little boat long enough for me to get to the gas station near home, fill up and get the bike parked at home just in time to receive his text with  a pic of the tiny boat they opened the bridge for...... lol


And that is my story and I am sticking to it............. lol (revised slightly for language and a little more clarity)

Vince now has a Pirelli Rosso Corsa in 200 size that has 6/32" tread depth..........lets see if he can make more than 2 rides with this one before it too is toasted and can be sold to some wannabe racer as a slick..........
  edited for language and clarity-- I guess I was a ltitle scattered with a few points and a certain someone mentioned the language...... ruhroh

So the follow up funny story.............
 Vince did go to the doctor the next moring and has a kidney stone------- Hopefully next ride he does not need as many potty breaks........

There now we are complete..........

[Greg]

Interesting reads. Proof positive that "alternative facts" really do exist.     
Also: Just to be clear, I've heard there was some grumbling somewhere about not hearing about the ride. I went through my friends list at the FB and invited all the riders I know. Didn't mean to willfully exclude anyone, so by definition it wasn't a "posted" ride.

Avoiding the po po is always more impressive. 

Until next time mates,
Greg not STeve

[naustin]

I couldn't get away for the whole day, but I did get out for a couple hours Sunday afternoon and rode from cornfield to cornfield, hitting all seven corners that exist within a 50 mile radius of my house.  At least I had Pandora to keep me entertained.

I passed an immaculate `96 Buick in the ethanol wastelands out of the exit for one of those rare sweepers - pretty sure he couldn't tell you the color of my bike....  Probably called in to report a UFO. 

2,700 miles on the PR4s I had mounted by No-Mar at STAR, and the rear is about 2/32 from the wear bars.      These boring, straight, rural MN roads must be made of a mixture of shark teeth and obsidian.  Of Course the same tire gave me almost double the miles on the old ST1300....   I could be abusing the go handle a bit, I guess.  Loving the FJR. 

I have a 1,000 mile 3 day trip planned for a work conference in Chicago in September, spending an extra night in Madison so I can wander home though the good stuff...   Going to have to try and "Vince" these tires in the next couple weeks so I don't let what is left go to waste before fresh rubber goes on in time for the trip!   

[vince]

So at the end of a 500 mile day this is what it ended up looking like.

[Elk]

So yep- several decided to run straight up 35....OMG I would not do that from south of LaCrosse even if you paid me!

I started out with my bad rear tire thinking this would be the best plan to get home, but got bored quickly.  I stopped at the first gas station, put 45psi in the rear, and got back on better roads.  I stopped every half hour just to make sure the tire was fine (it was).

As it turned out, most of the rear was just at the wear bars, but there was a foot plus strip where the cords were just below the worn rubber.  Everything looked fine until I saw the heavy wear section.

[Greg]

A crazy thing happened to me on HWY 52 as I was heading home from this ride. Just south of the Koch refinery a beautiful red Mercedes S 560(?) coupe came up behind me at a fast clip. I merged over to the right and not only was this Mercedes behind me, but a long string of at least a dozen super high-end cars zipped passed me at 80+mph. Mercedes, Bentley, Nissan GT-R, Porsche, BMW 7 series, etc .... .   Within a mile I came up behind them as they had slowed down to posted speeds. Beneath the overpass on the shoulder were 2(!) State Patrol waiting. Everyone's radar detectors had gone off. My guess is they had been running these speeds all afternoon and LEO had received calls from motorists and/or other squads had seen them but not been able to lock them on radar. I wonder if these cars were part of those "elite speeders" the local press has talked about recently. Given there was a large group of these high-end cars, they clearly were organized in some way. 

[naustin]

I don't have a radar detector -- But, I have started using the Waze App for GPS in my car.   It has a social media aspect that allows other users to report locations of police/speed traps and other hazards.   If you are alerted to an upcoming hazard/speed trap, you can Thumbs-up or Thumbs-down to indicate whether it is still there.     The alerts I have gotten have all been very accurate around the Cities with 100s of other Wazers roaming around all the time...    And, even if a trooper is not actively painting radar/laser - the Waze app still alerts you that he was seen in the area by other drivers.

[vince]

I wonder if these cars were part of those "elite speeders" the local press has talked about recently. Given there was a large group of these high-end cars, they clearly were organized in some way. 

I take it that they were pace driving and keeping a safe distance between cars. They were driving their own drive right.

[Greg]

I wonder if these cars were part of those "elite speeders" the local press has talked about recently. Given there was a large group of these high-end cars, they clearly were organized in some way. 

I take it that they were pace driving and keeping a safe distance between cars. They were driving their own drive right.

You're being way too cryptic for my tired brain this evening. What does that mean and how does it relate to the exotic high-end speeders?

[vince]

What do we do when we group ride.
Pace
Safe following distance
Ride your on ride.
You know.

[Greg]

What do we do when we group ride.
Pace
Safe following distance
Ride your on ride.
You know.

Ahhh. Well, they were driving mostly in a straight line so the rules that apply to us don't to them I guess. They were pretty close to each other.

[Deplorable, thank you!]

2 second following distance always applies IMO
if not for your own safety and the safety of those around you................... think of the vehicle, who wants unnecessary rock chips in their paint??

I have gone on a few of the Mustang group drives, they aren't enamoured with me lingering out of rock ding range, so I just ride at the back and follow with nobody behind me now...... Then nobody says boo about my being a few hundred yards back
 I have done a car trackday at RA, much more like our weekend rides, and it is hard to not end up right on someones ass multiple times everylap.......... I had the entire front of my car covered in duct tape just for this reason........ While a few made fun of it, when I peeled it off and didn't have a ding anywhere and they looked at their cars and had multiple, some then understood.............


Just some mmore worthless information sparking more conversation.............

[vince]

They make bras you know.

[Elk]

Following a car wearing race tires throws an incredible amount of rubber chunks and rocks into the front of the car.  My Z06 has a good number of rock chips in the paint as well as a fairly chewed windscreen.

I have yet to attend a track day where one could leave a bra on the front of a car.