Saturday, June 18, 2011

Father and sons ride 2011

Every year I host a "Fathers and sons" ride, leaving the Friday before Fathers day, and riding back home on Saturday. You don't have to be a father, but you do need to be a son to go on this ride. Having said that we are happy to make exceptions!

Seven bikes gather at my house. We do like to have a chase vehicle as in the years past we've had one accident and... ahem... a few breakdowns. Jacob wants to bring his two year old son, Ryker so he drives the sag wagon this year.

The bikes;
My Nomad and Will's Strom.
Jake's Yamaha.

Tito's Victory.

Brent's Harley Davidson.

Kenny's Harley Davidson.

Code's Victory.



The Utah group. We will meet four riders from Idaho who will ride to Freedom Wyoming where we will meet them.


We make a rest stop on the way.

What's this? Is there a beauty pagent going on? Nope, but there is a Ragnar Relay going on nearby. What is a Ragnar? In the 9th century Ragnar was one of the greatest Viking Heros to live. He made a very good fortune and name for himself by attacking and raiding anyone who had money, which they would usually pay him to ward off the attack.


The adventurous spirit of Ragnar lives on today in the Ragnar Relay. 12 runners team up to run the relay, usually around 200 miles and lasts a couple of days. Individual members run around 18 miles each....WOW! These gorgeous ladies were part of the "Lava Girls" team, and they were at the same gas station we were at. I thought since their team name was "Lava Girls" and we were riding to Lava Hot Springs, it would be fun to get their picture in front of our bikes. I asked and they agreed!

The line up. Good luck Lava Girls! Thanks to Kenny for providing some HD attire! :)

And we're off again. We are riding on US 89 just north of Ogden, this part of 89 is called "Fruit way"...why? Because of the numerous fruit stands along these few miles. In season they have fresh fruits and veggies, it's a great place to go for a nice ride and buy fresh produce. But we are still too early in the season for them to be open.











It's been a record precipitation year in Utah, you can tell by the bright colors everywhere.

Another Ragnar team van driving to Logan.

But it's not the Lava Girls so we leave them behind.

More evidence of the heavy water year we've had. This is called Sardine Pass, and is usually being farmed on both sides of the road. But this year it is too flooded to farm.




Will. A car had just turned left in front of me and I had been able to avoid hitting it when Will pulled up beside and did this, I thought he was congratulating me for doing a fine job of defensive riding, turns out he just wanted a new picture for his profile.....



Entering Logan. We will turn here and go up Logan Canyon.

There was an arts festival going on at the Tabernacle grounds.Hmmm....

Still in Logan. Suddenly I'm nervous and not hungry...


In Logan Canyon now, the water levels are VERY high!







Rest stop at the scenic lookout above Bear Lake.





Ryker the biker is having fun! Back on the bikes and 10 minutes later we are in Garden City on the shores of Bear Lake. We stop for lunch.








Riding through Afton, Wyoming.

A closer view. We never found out why the flags were at half staff. Some quick 'Bird' watching...




We've met up with the Idaho riders and are going from Freedom, Wyoming to Soda Springs, Idaho when we hit some road construction.



Finally on our way, they let us go first. The new pavement is amazingly smooooooooth!


We wait for a train in Soda Springs, we're all thinking...nice doggie, nice doggie.... Crappy pic at dinner. That's Brad at the end of the table with his "son" "Joe"...hmmmmmm. I've heard alot about "Joe" so I was happy to finally meet her...I mean HIM!


The chase truck and our lodging for the night..the "Blue house."





The group. L to R. Me, Brad, Valerie (Joe), Ryker, Jacob, Will, Code, Jake, Tito, Brent, Bruce, Kenny, Tobin. Good times!

After breakfast we head home.

It was fun, I'm already looking forward to next year! Thanks to everyone who came along.

We will be making some changes for next year by bringing along a BBQer and having dinner in the park. That will make the visiting, bench racing, and BSing a lot easier. Hope to see you then!