Three Flags Classic 2005

September 1-12, 2005

� 2005, Bill Allen

We finally get our business done and dogs safely secured at the pet lodge. I had asked Nancy to be ready by noon . She was. I wasn�t. We got away about 1:30 and made it to the border in a little over an hour. I had a map to the hotel. As it turns out, it was a pretty lame map. Nancy was to say later that it appeared that the map was made by a local, someone who didn�t need the map. I agreed. Anyway, we got a grand tour of Tijuana as a result. It�s not as bad as I had thought, especially when we got away from the Tijuana River and the border itself. The interior of the city is really pretty nice. Once we finally got to the hotel, the Grand Hotel, it was even nicer. The parking structure was full of bikes. The hotel is very, very nice. Our room was great. There�s a nice view of the hills and we had a king sized bed. The hotel even backs up to a golf course. Who woulda thunk it? I wouldn�t mind staying there again. We check in at registration and have a great time people watching. I would generalize that the profile of the typical participant is older white male. There were a blacks and I saw one Asian. There were more couples than I was expecting and several single female riders. There was a long line to check in and pick up an extra tee shirt and banquet ticket for Nancy . Nancy remarked �The banquet ought to be good for $55!� I nodded, hoping she wouldn�t be disappointed. Based on my experience, that�s a high bar to achieve. We were treated to a complimentary buffet. Afterwards, we spent some time touring the shops in the adjacent mall.

The advice was: "It's better to leave closer to 3am than 6am ." Incredibly, Nancy was "game" for this plan. I set the alarm on my mobile phone for 1:30 . Instead, my phone decides to wake me up at 12:30 to tell me that the battery was going dead so it was shutting off. O.K., so I'm up. I try to shower quietly, but do a poor job of it; Nancy �s awake. Even with the extra time, we manage to barely make the rider's meeting at 2:50 . We're loaded and rolling out of the parking structure at 3:03 . Yes, that's 3am ! I ride out in a group who, hopefully, know how to find the border better than I did finding the hotel the day before. A few of them pull out in front of an oncoming truck. I'm rethinking my choice of riding partners, but decide to take my chances, but become more aware of my surroundings. We make good time to the bridge where we come to a dead stop. The bikes start to accumulate. There are five lanes of bikes as far in front and behind. The problem is that no one is moving. We sit and we sit. Finally, we start inching towards the border crossing. Five lanes become three which become two which become one. "American". Nancy : "Me, too.". We're through. Thank God! It's 3:50 am . I've got eight bars on my temperature gauge (out of eight before red) and I can finally catch some clean air. Our riding companions, all 450 of them (it seems like they all left at the same time, anyway) veered off to I-805 while Nancy and I continued north on I-5 towards the airport where we dropped off a car for Nancy . We arrive at the parking structure at 4:15 and we both leave, going our separate directions, by 4:30 .


The parking structure at the Grand Hotel Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico	The border crossing at Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico
click on images for larger view

I crossed the mountains going east on I-8 in the dark and I'm halfway to Yuma before the sun rises. Amazingly, I make it to Yuma before stopping. I can't think of another time when I've gone so long between stops. I've got friends who ride "tank to tank", but I'm certainly not one of them. I guess it's all the "rabbits" I'm catching along the way. Maybe it's the desire to cross the desert as expeditiously as possible. When I take on fuel it confirms what my fuel light has been telling me a long time. It takes 6.57 gallons. The published capacity of the tank is 6.6 gallons. After filling up, I replenish the Camelbak, and have a snack. I'm back on the road, on I-8 East towards Gila Bend. Apparently my stop in Yuma was longer than I thought because it takes me nearly 100 miles to catch up to them. The gas is cheaper in Arizona . It also doesn't (I believe) M.T.B.E. which sucks about 10% from the gas mileage. Of course, these features are compensated by the 75 MPH speed limit which takes away from my fuel mileage. Sigh...

One other thing I noticed about the Three Flags Classic participants. I never expected the number of Harleys entered in the event. There are lots (and lots) of Hondas, most notably Gold Wings, but I expected that. But the number of Harleys was hard to ignore. When I first saw them, I immediately started looking around for the trailers. Actually, Nancy noticed the lack of trailers even before I did. What was more amazing is that, once on road, I actually saw a couple with fuel cells! I guess I'm going to have to edit my opinion of the typical Harley rider and believe that the disproportionate number of RUBs is city bound, but I guess that's where the "U" comes from.

I turn north on Hwy 89 towards I-10 and Phoenix . Going through Phoenix , I'm following one of the few bikes I don't pass. I'm hoping he knows how to get to Hwy 87 to Payson. I've been through there before, but it's been a couple of years and the details have faded. Of course, my detailed map is packed away. I follow the rider as he pulls off the I-10 onto the 202 but then he takes 51 North. This doesn't seem right me, so I stay on 202. I get through Phoenix with the help of light traffic and stop for gas in Tempe . I confirm that I'm going in the right direction and find my way to Payson and, eventually, Heber for lunch.

Right before lunch, I achieve a milestone I've never reached before and I doubt I will ever achieve again. Since my return to motorcycling a little over 7 years ago, I have a little less than a dozen occasions where I rode 300 miles before noon . For the first time, last year I was able to get in 400 miles before noon on my way to the 49'er Rally in Auburn . Today�s ride even eclipsed those events. For the first time, I was able to get in 500 miles before noon . Of course, it took an extraordinary set of circumstances to do this including leaving at a ridiculous time of day and to basically ride flat out (on super slabs) stopping only twice for gas. None of these circumstances are the kinds of things I look for in a ride, so I seriously doubt if I will ever duplicate this. Of course, thinking about this, if I just turned around and went home, I could get another 500 miles in by 9 pm and qualify for a really cool license plate frame. Hmmmm... Never say never.

I stop for lunch in Heber at the Red Onion restaurant, famous for their burgers. Unfortunately, it takes about 45 minutes to get the burger served. I'm not sure if any burger is worth that. I finish my meal and I'm back on the road where I have to catch those whom I've already passed but who apparently did not make as long of a lunch stop as I did. Riding through the Rim Country is beautiful. The road is great and the scenery is magnificent. These are conditions that just beg the bike to roll. And roll it does. I arrive in Holbrook and fall behind a group of bikes I hope know where the checkpoint is. Of course, they don't and actually show me where I will be staying for the evening. After the brief tour of Holbrook, we find the checkpoint. As soon as I take my gear off, one of those thunder clouds above us open up and we're deluged by some of the biggest raindrops I've seen in a long time. In almost no time, I'm soaked and get to ride the two miles back to the motel using my index finger as a squeegee on my face shield.

I check in by 3 pm , take a shower and take a 3 hour nap. After grabbing something to eat, I try to dry out my clothes, mark my map and repack for another day.

Once again I do not need the alarm clock (yes, I recharged my phone. I have a connection running to the inside of my tank bag for my phone and PDA). I'm up by 5 and on the road by 6. Unfortunately, because of the rain storm last night, I put off going to the gas station and saved that task for this morning. Fortunately, there are no lines at the pumps at 6 am in Holbrook. I have to say, I was ready to leave Holbrook. It's a run down town, I guess typical of those on Route 66 (but I-40 runs right by, so this shouldn't be an excuse). It seems like a run down Indian town sorry to say.

I'm quickly on I-40 east, fortunately for not too long. But every mile on the super slab diminishes any adventure. O.K., rant off. I find Hwy 191 about fifty miles east of Holbrook, just past the Petrified National Forest . No, I don't stop. Hwy 191, I believe, cuts right through the Navajo Indian Reservation. There are small communities all along the road with just about every residence consisting of that familiar octagonal structure I've seen so often on the other reservations I've been through. The road is nice and the traffic is fairly light. I do have to watch oncoming traffic who decides to pass even though I'm sure they see me. After all, I've got four headlight bulbs lit and three of them are PIAAs. On a couple of occasions I have to ride the white stripe indicating the edge of pavement on my lane.

I ride north on 191 to nearly the Utah border when I turn right at Hwy 160 stopping for gas and breakfast in Mexican Water. Really, that's the name of the town. I catch up with about a dozen 3FC participants who are doing the same thing as I. I find out that several of them are taking Hwy 191 directly to the next checkpoint north of Vernal, Utah which is a serious shortcut. I was wondering how folks were getting ahead of me when I was riding (not going to incriminate myself here, officer) xx mph and only stopping to get gas! No wonder! Leaving Mexican Water, I start thinking about a detour myself, but not as a shortcut. I'm thinking that I would rather go to the Four Corners Monument rather than see Shiprock or Farmington , New Mexico . I take Hwy 160 at Neec Nos Pos, find the turnoff to the monument, pay my three dollars entry fee and go to the monument. I ask a Harley rider if he would take my photograph at the monument and he's glad to accommodate. I thank him, pack my camera away and decide to go north on 160 to Cortez then to Durango .

After struggling to get through the slow roads through Cortez, I turn east towards Durango when I see a sign for a turnoff to Telluride. I look at my map and discover the road to Telluride is a thin gray line whereas the original route through Durango is a fat red line. In my book, a thin gray line is a better road than a fat red line. I think "what the heck" and turn north on Hwy 145. What a great choice that turned out to be. Finally, some twisties! No longer setting the throttle on xx mph and locking it down. No, there's some serious back and forth motion on the throttle with some simultaneous leaning left and right; left and right; left and right. This is fun!

Along the way, I'm noticing the skies getting darker as the cloud cover accumulates. I reluctantly decide to pull over and don the rain gear. I don't do this a mile too soon as I start to see sprinkles on my face shield. There are Harley riders coming the other way apparently heading towards a rally in the Four Corners area. Unfortunately, it appears that several of them (most?) are not only not wearing helmets (after all, it's not mandatory in CO or AZ), but they don't appear to be wearing any rain gear either. The road gets a little slick, but it's not too bad and doesn't slow me down too much. It's still a great ride. I ride over Lizard Head Pass at 10,322 feet and I can see snow from last season still remaining on a few of the higher peaks.

At the turnoff to Telluride, I turn west and stop for gas at Norwood . I continue west on Hwy 145 until I reach the cutoff to Hwy 141. You would never tell from looking at the map, but Hwy 141 is incredible! It is a ride through a canyon cut by a river. The canyon consists of red bluffs probably as much as a couple of thousand feet high, maybe more. The pavement is clean and the road is twisty. And the scenery is incredible. This is a pure joy until I reach Hwy 50 and ride the few final miles into Grand Junction . I find my motel O.K., get settled in and fire up my Internet connection to get caught up. The added bonus: My beloved USC Trojans are on the tube and I'm able to watch entire game.

I get away bright and early, but start the day by riding an hour on the super slab, I-70. I get gas in Rifle before turning north on Hwy 13. Even though I've already skipped the Hwy 65 loop from my itinerary, I also ponder turning east at Meeker on Hwy 64 (another thin gray line) and skip the trip out to Craig. Even though this saves about 137 miles, it's still a 550 mile ride today. I stop at Meeker to change my face shield from clear to tint. There�s two other participants already there topping off their gas tanks. Another pair enters the parking lot. They are a young couple from Alberta . They are camping along the way. The woman is riding an un-faired Kawasaki . The young couple departs taking the short cut I had pondered. This was convincing enough for me; I follow suit. I wave as I pass them and do not realize at the time that this will happen a few more times along the route.

Highway 64 proves to justify the route adjustment. It�s a very nice road and does not allow me to drift off into beta waves. I shortly arrive in Dinosaur, Colorado , turn west on Hwy 40 into Utah and ride through the Dinosaur National Monument with no incidences of dinosaur impact on the pavement. I arrive in Vernal and get a signature for my second checkpoint. I query some of the officials there regarding available gas stops along the way. It appears the next gas stop is about 73 miles north. That�s right at my limit and, after my Yuma experience, I decide to backtrack into town and get gas in Vernal. One cool thing about this area is that there are signs along the way which indicate the composition of the geology. Some say �dinosaur fossils�, others say �petrified forests� while still others say �oil found here�. These signs make the ride even more interesting for me. But then again, I always enjoyed my geology lectures.

Leaving Vernal, I take Hwy 191 north to 44 West around the Flaming Gorge Reservoir. Once again, the geology is striking. I make my way into southern Wyoming , cross Interstate 80 and arrive in Diamondville for lunch. A few other participants pull in for either lunch or gas or both. I leave Diamondville and ride through Kemmerer and notice the very first J C Penney store. I make a u-turn and take a photo for Nancy (who is an �All Star� in their Custom Decorating department).

I proceed north, just east of the Idaho border and pull into Jackson late afternoon. The town is busy with tourists. I cruise around town and eventually find my rest stop, the world famous �El Rancho Motel�. I check in and, as soon as I walk in the front door, I realize that if Nancy were with me, she probably would suggest� Let�s keep riding�. It�s a very small room and not very modern. It�s good enough for me because I�m pretty tired. I walk into town for a bite to eat, return and seize the opportunity to wash the bike. It has turned from silver to bug-color. Solid bug-color. The helmet is solid bug-color. My jacket is, well, you get the idea. Even with the less than stellar accommodations, I have no trouble getting to sleep.

I�m up early and pack the bike in the dark. No, there is no parking lot lighting. I try to be quite as not to wake my neighbors, but I�m on the road by 5:30 . I think about stopping for breakfast in town, but decide to get some miles under me before I do. I have modified my route so that I can ride through the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Park . The only problem with my plan is that it is still early. I ride through the Grand Tetons in the dark and see absolutely nothing except what is my headlight. I know there are some magnificent mountains around me, but they appear as a dark shadow in the pre-dawn light. The sun starts to come up as I approach Yellowstone . Unfortunately, I start rising in elevation and the temperature starts to drop. By the time I enter the park, it�s downright cold and the heated grips aren�t doing anything for me now. I�m thinking I really should have packed my electric liner. On top of everything else, I keep telling myself �Deer, deer, deer� just so I don�t forget. I end up seeing about a dozen by the roadside, none of which try to play tag with me.

To make matters worse, I catch up to a park ranger who has decided to drive at the speed limit. My hands are hurting and now my thighs are starting to hurt. I rub my left hand on my left thigh to bring back some circulation and consider passing the park ranger. After all, how much could that ticket cost? I even pull out into the other lane (using my turn signal of course). When I do, the ranger speeds up a couple miles per hour. I reconsider and pull back in behind him. I get to the lodge and find out the restaurants haven�t opened yet. I�m back on the road after donning my rain gear to block the cold air. I�m grateful I�m not behind the ranger any longer. I reach the lodge at Old Faithful and decide not to stop there. The parking is too far from the restaurant and I�m not up for a � mile walk this morning. I pass a few bison on the side of the road and stop to take the requisite photos. Further down the road, traffic is stopped by a pair of bison who takes their time crossing the road. We all wait, of course. These are pretty large animals. Shortly I reach the west park entrance and find a great restaurant for breakfast. I finally thaw out.


Geysers in Yellowstone National Park click on images for larger view

Bison in Yellowstone National Park click on images for larger view

After breakfast, I ride north on Hwy 287 where I rejoin the original route and see a few participants along the way. I take the cutoff to I-90 west towards Butte and stop in Deer Lodge for lunch. I call Nancy to let her know that I�m about an hour and a half from the airport in Missoula , but she has already turned off her phone and ready to board the aircraft.

I arrive in Missoula mid-afternoon. I check into the motel and unpack. I get caught up with e-mail and go to the airport to pick up Nancy . Her flight arrives earlier than expected, but I�m there waiting for her. We load her gear onto the bike and ride to checkpoint number 3. We then ride south to the motel. We relax after a day of tension for both of us and have no difficulty getting to sleep.

We leave early and ride north towards Kalispell on Highway 93. I�m concerned because of the low temps predicted (a low of 37^oF in Kalispell!) and my experience in Yellowstone . It turns out the temperature is not that bad and we have a nice ride to the Canadian border. We cross the border at Roosville. The line is a little quicker than at Tijuana , but then again there are only about twenty vehicles in line. We turn east towards Elko on Hwy 3. As soon as we cross into Alberta , we start looking for a place for lunch. Either the roadside restaurants are well disguised in

Canada

or everyone eats at home. We do some backtracking and finally find a good restaurant in Blairmore. We also get gas because I don�t see many opportunities until we are nearly in Calgary .

We continue east on Hwy 3 until we reach Hwy 22. Hwy 22 is a small two lane road but the traffic runs quick despite the conservative Canadian speed limits. We make great time and reach the turnoff at Longview . I�m watching my rear view mirror since there are some participants behind me while also trying to spot a good place to stop. I almost ignore the fact that there�s a crosswalk coming closer with flashing lights. There�s a mother with her young daughter waiting to enter the crosswalk and a LEO parked on the shoulder to observe. I put all the relevant facts in order just in time to make a normal stop before the crosswalk. I�m thinking that, of all the things I�ve done the past four days, it would be amazing to get a ticket for a crosswalk violation. It would be like Al Capone getting arrested for tax evasion. We stop and stretch. We talk to some other Beemerphiles about the ride. A few moments later, we are ready to go.

It�s four pm and Checkpoint 4 closes in an hour. In my planning, I was always concerned about reaching this checkpoint in time. I believe most participants stopped further north than we did in Missoula . We take Hwy 541 to Hwy 40 which provides a spectacular ride parallel to the Canadian Rockies and the Continental Divide. The view is spectacular. Along the way, Nancy taps my shoulder and says �Bear�. I turn around and find a Brown bear grazing along the road. I stop to get my camera out but, by the time I do, the bear is gone. I make another u-turn and stop. I start to get off the bike and Nancy shouts �No!� We later joke about the event about how ridiculous it would be to get off the bike and chase down the bear. We think that I could have distracted him with a blueberry muffin. I fantasize that Nancy is having a conversation with the police and says: �The last thing I said to him was: Bill, drop the muffin!�

We continue on and find many mountain goats grazing by the road. In fact there are several in the roadway licking minerals (salt?) off the road surface. They are not shy and do not run from the thunderous roar of the powerful BMW Boxer (tongue-in-cheek here). They have large strange looking eyes with a red tint to them.

We reach Checkpoint 4 about twenty minutes before closing. We check out the bikes in the lot, stretch our legs and get ready for our last leg into Calgary and the finish. We leave before a group of bikes but they soon catch up to us. There are a few Iron Butt license plate frames in the group and they are moving at a pretty good clip. In fact, I believe this is the first group of bikes that pass me for reasons other than traffic. Traffic ahead of them brings them back to me as we get on

Canada

1, aka the Trans Canada Highway . For the rest of the way, I stay with the group even though one of them, the number 3 rider, has no concept of staggered riding. The four of us behind him keep shifting back and forth. We separate in town as I find a place to check the map and get fuel. We turn down Centre Street towards downtown.

After crossing the Bow River , the view of downtown is spectacular and we arrive at the Hyatt Regency. Two floors of the parking garage are reserved for us. We check in at the Three Flags desk, receive my well deserved belt buckle and tee shirt. We have a free beverage and then check into the hotel. The room is great and we take our time unpacking. This is the longest we have ridden two-up, but you wouldn�t know it by talking to us. After all, this was Nancy �s first day out and still fresh. Me? I�m numb. After all, it�s been five days and over 2,600 miles riding through all kinds of terrain and roads. I�m still processing and I probably will be for months.

Total Three Flags Classic: 2,670 miles, 534 miles per day average, 11 states and provinces, 3 countries, 5 days.

Today is tourist day. We ride out to Nancy �s cousin�s place in Canmore, about an hour west of Calgary near Banff . They have a beautiful �cabin� on the golf course with a great view of the Canadian Rockies, particularly the Three Sisters formation. We spend a couple of hours visiting with them and ride back into town where we get ready for a bus tour of Calgary . It turns out the three most significant aspects of Calgary are oil, rodeo and the 1988 Olympics. Calgary really boomed after oil was discovered in the region. The city is

Canada

�s equivalent of our Houston . The Calgary Stampede is held annually here and there are about 300k visitors in town when it does. The Olympic Village is still a popular ski area (and mountain bike area in the summer) where teams still come here to train, particularly in sled events.


Nancy (left) and Nancy's cousin Judy (right) click on image for larger view	Judy's husband Dave and Judy click on image for larger view

Nancy at the Ice House in the Calgary Olympic Village click on image for larger view	A view of Calgary from the ski lift click on image for larger view

Nancy in front of the mural at Calgary's Olympic Village click on image for larger view	Bill and Nancy in front of the mural at Calgary's Olympic Village click on image for larger view

The banquet is at 6 and we are ready. The line is HUGE. It takes about as long to get through the line as it did to register on Friday. We get through and have our two Diet Cokes during cocktail hour. The banquet facility finally opens and we find a table. It�s fortunate we were near the front of the line because some at the end had difficulty finding a seat. Apparently, the original 475 had ballooned to over 550 for the banquet. I�m sure the organizers had no regrets since the additional banquet tickets were $55 (American). The dinner was good (not great), the skit was �hokey� and, by the time it was over, we were ready to leave.

It was slow getting out of the hotel. I guess the intensity level had dropped. No longer was I waking up at sunrise with a full burst of energy. I was more relaxed now, getting ready for a casual ride back to Southern California . I go into town to find a place to get my oil changed while Nancy makes a final tourist stop at the Calgary Tower . The first place I go is not open yet. The second place, Blackhawk Motorsports, services many marquees, but they speak �BMW�. I don�t even have to loan them my oil filter wrench. The oil and filter are changed. They even wash the bike. I get back to the hotel about 11:30 . We pack up and are out of the hotel, but Centre Street is busy with lunchtime traffic. We stop for gas, adjust our packing and are finally on the road about 12:30 heading south.

We stop for lunch in Black Diamond, about 50 miles outside of Calgary . I�m having a little bit of an upset stomach, but believe lunch will be the cure. We�re back on the road and ride through Longview once again, essentially backtracking a portion of the ride including Hwy 22 and Hwy3. At least I know where to stop for gas in Blairmore. After leaving Blairmore, my stomach hasn�t quite settled and I�m now thinking I might have a case of food poisoning. It�s not serious though and we continue west on Hwy 3. As we go through Cranbrook and turn south on Hwy 95, I start to feel worse. As we cross the Canadian border at Eastport , Idaho , I�m feeling pretty weak. My goal is to make it to Coeur D�Alene so that I can stick one end or the other (doesn�t matter to me) in the toilet.

We don�t make Coeur D�Alene . By the time we reach Sandpoint, about an hour north of Coeur D�Alene , I�m too weak to continue. I find a Quality Inn and we check in. As soon as we check in and unpack some of our gear, I find I have no desire to throw up nor do I have diarrhea. The pain in my abdomen, just below my ribcage and just to the right of center, is increasing and comes in waves. Nancy prepares an Alka Seltzer for me. She starts to worry when I don�t object. I hate that stuff. I start to worry when it has no effect. Nancy soon calls 911 and an ambulance arrives within a few minutes. In fact, I think I can hear the siren just as Nancy is hanging up the phone. Sandpoint is not a very large town. I rush to put my walking shoes on. The paramedic arrives, asks some questions and performs some tests. He decides that I need to go to the emergency room which is just a few blocks away. After all, Sandpoint is a small town.

The attending physician performs some examinations and concludes that my problem is gall stones, but, since heart problem symptoms are similar, she decides to run a few tests including an EKG. In fact, I believe they ran three EKGs. The doctor there saw enough abnormalities to be concerned even though she doesn�t think this is the cause of my discomfort. The nearest cardiac unit is in Coeur d�Alene and the doctor is concerned enough to order a helicopter which can deliver me in 15 minutes rather than the ambulance which would take over an hour. We arrive quickly and the drugs I was given at the emergency room are taking effect, so the details following this part may or may not be very accurate. All I know is that I was poked and prodded even more. I got shaved �down there� by a pretty nurse and couldn�t even get excited about it. Damn! I got a serious IV with stuff that burned and a big frickin� tube stuck in a hole that didn�t exist 5 minutes before right where my right leg joins the torso. I guess this is that angiogram I had heard so much about. I also had a CAT scan which had a good look at my gall bladder.

The angiogram found an artery that was blocked 95% in two places. I nodded my head to the questions the cardiologist kept asking me. I then initialed some forms. I was off to the operating room just �like that� where the angioplasty was performed. The good news is that the cardiologist found little remaining blockage and, if I returned to the regimen I was developing before our trip to Europe , I shouldn�t have any more cardiovascular problems.

The CAT scan indicated that I had a large stone (and maybe as many as three stones) in the gall bladder which now should be removed. The problem now is that I�m going to be on a blood thinner for three to six months while the stents assimilates to my arteries and everyone wants to avoid surgery while on blood thinner. I could go off the blood thinner for five days or so in order to remove the gall bladder, but that would risk having a heart attack because the body wants to reject the stents by having the thicker blood clot right at them. Anyway, that�s the rationale both the cardiologist and the surgeon agreed on. Right now, the plan is to eat right and give the stents time to heal while having the gall bladder performed as an �elective� procedure rather than as an emergency operation. Did you know that the gall bladder removal is now performed arthroscopically in most cases? Amazing!

So, The Plan� right now is to have the gall bladder surgery in about six months. I�m sure the medication available would get me through an episode, but I think Nancy would worry too much if I did a multi-day motorcycle event while I�ve got that �time bomb� sitting in my digestive system. So, it�s going to be �day rides only� for a while. Sigh�

While I�m recovering, Nancy rents a 14 foot truck with a ramp. She also went to the local motorcycle shop (Ponderay Yamaha in Sandpoint) and bought a couple of tie downs. She also asked if anyone was available to help her put my bike in the truck and two gentlemen, Leo Shea and Tim Loosmore volunteered. Neither would take any money for their efforts. After returning home, I bought two gift certificates at a local high end restaurant so that they and their guests could realize how much I appreciated their efforts.

My condition improves, the white blood cell count returns to normal and I get caught up with e-mail. It turns out the hospitals� WIFI is not detected by my laptop. Fortunately, I have brought along my Edge card so that I can connect to the Internet wherever I have a cell signal (yet, I do not pack my electric liner). The hospital staff is very good to me and we all expect my discharge to come tomorrow morning.

As expected, I am discharged and get final instructions from the cardiologist, Dr. Ron Jenkins. I thank him for the work he did and asked him to convey my gratitude to the attending physician in the emergency room back in Sandpoint, Dr. Tricia Dickens.

We follow I-5 South into California . As we ride through Yreka, I point out the fairgrounds where Jon Taylor and I stayed when we participated in a Range of Light Gypsy Tour a few years ago. We drive past Mt. Shasta and Shasta Lake . It�s beautiful country up here. As we go through Redding , we agree that, under other circumstances, this would have been a perfect opportunity to stop in at Russell and had a custom seat made.

We make it all the way to Modesto to a Comfort Inn, which turns out not to be as nice as a ComfortSuites Inn. But it�s adequate and we�re tired. The drive today is aided by the fact that I can take a couple of turns at the wheel and the anxiety level has dropped off.

It�s a short ride home and we make the most of it. Nancy decides that Hwy 99 is too big for a motorcycle and too small for trucks even though it is filled with them. She almost insists that I find a route for her to cut over to I-5, but the road finally clears out after Fresno . We stop for lunch just North of the I-5 junction. I take over the wheel for the ride over the Grapevine and through Los Angeles . Even though we are rolling through town at 3 pm , traffic is already pretty bad. I finally make it over to the I-110 south (aka the Harbor Fwy) where all six lanes are jammed up. Traffic finally appears to clear and I get some speed when it stops again. I failed to realize that, not only am I not on my Beemer with incredible brakes, but I�m not even in a car with conventional brakes. I apply as much brake as I can but the truck is sliding towards the stopped car in front of me. Considering the relative velocity, I see that there is no way impact can be avoided. Amazingly, the truck does stop in time and my cardiovascular exercise for the day has been concluded. I allow more room in front of me for the rest of the trip.

We arrive in San Juan about 4:30 . I unpack our gear from the back of the truck and solicit volunteers to help me get my bike out of the truck. Mike Davis and Jim Budimlya as well as my good neighbor Mike, a motocross enthusiast, volunteer. They meet at the truck at 8 pm and unload the bike with little fanfare. I apologize for not removing the bugs before putting the bike in the truck.

We�re home safe and sound. This is the first time in 30+ years and over 225k miles of riding that either my bike or my body let me down. Nancy and I are grateful that I had gall stones. If my discomfort was cardiovascular in nature, I doubt if I would have stopped until it was too late. The future is bright (in fact brighter than the family history has previously dictated) for much more riding and many more adventures. I just have to take a few months off (from multi-day adventures only) until I can have the gall stones removed. Fortunately winter is approaching and the riding season is waning. I hope to be �camp ready� in time for Death Valley in mid-February.

The Three Flags Classic was a great experience. I�m not sure I�ll do it again (Nancy thinks I�m going next year, Tijuana, Baja California to Penticton, British Columbia), but I had a good time. Now that I realize that the key to the route is hitting all the check points but following the precise route is not required, next time I may customize the route to more of my liking. A lot of the roads appeared to be �too straight� for me. I�m not being critical. After all, there were over 200 Hondas in the group and I can�t envision a Gold Wing (aka the �HondaPotamus�) riding the kinds of roads I enjoy. One of the things I miscalculated was the distance. I had originally thought when it went to a five day event, as it does every five years; I thought that the same distance would be covered in five days instead of four. Silly me; they added five hundred miles to the route! As it turns out, over the past few years, my endurance has increased so that I am now capable of such distances. I still prefer 350-400 miles with more twisties, however. But, who knows? When the deadline for submitting my application rolls around; I just might be up for it, particularly since next year�s route is close to the coast.


Four Corners National Monument click on images for larger view


Checkpoint Number 2 in Vernal, UT click on images for larger view


Edelweiss Bikes at the Doubletree Hotel, Missoula, MT click on images for larger view

Checkpoint Number 3, Missoula, MT click on images for larger view