Most of the ride was great. Thursday, I rode out to Parker to camp. Lin Davis was already there and Werner von Hartmann had just pulled in. There was a group of girl scouts camped on the river, so Lin camped away from there. Bad decision IMO because there was a nice spot on the river with a lot of shade (left of where we stayed last March). As it turns out, the girl scouts were quiet and went to bed early. I didn't want to be rude, so I shared Lin's spot as did Werner.

The next day we left about the same time, but rode individually. Instead of riding through Prescott , I took 60 into Phoenix and then rode a bootiful road (still 60) from Globe to Show Low. Absolutely gorgeous. I pulled into the campsite about 4 pm . I camped next to Lin and Art Zamarripa in a quiet spot right behind the showers. Ideal location, IMO.

There were several SouthCoasters in attendance and lots of bikes to ogle at (according to one P.I.T.S. member, there were 383 registrants). Saturday, Werner and I rode an underwhelming route to Roosevelt Lake , had a snack and rode back. We got back in time for Werner to take a demo ride on a Ducati 620 Monster. Since I had no other plans, I decided to sign up for a demo ride too, even though I had no interested in any other bike. There was a Kawasaki Z1000 available, which was just like my old Z1, but a LOT more modern. Great hooligan bike. Got it up to a quick pace for a bit. It actually had a better riding position than the K12RS because the wheel base is shorter and not as long of a reach to the bars.

After dinner (which was O.K., but nothing to get excited about), my AZ friend Jeff Bliss asked me to ride his K11RS. He said there was a significant handlebar buzz that put a tingle in his hands. We rode East nearly to Show Low. I didn't feel anything and thought the bike had a great feel to it. I think he misses his Boxer.

We got back too late for prizes, hung out at the hospitality area until about 9:30 then went to bed. Actually, I did some packing, hoping to get on the road as early as I could.

I got up the next morning at 5 and was on the road by 6. Had breakfast in Payson and was home a little after 4 pm . The ride back (on I-10) was hot (~95 degrees F) and boring. I don't want to do too many more rides like that. A total of 1,483 miles.

The Route