Steve Kyle in front of his bike. Photo Submitted.
We turned north and headed towards Glacier National Park with stop-overs in Jackson’s Hole, Wyoming and Yellowstone. Unfortunately, when we got past Livingston, Montana, the forest fires in northern Montana forced a route change.
But I’m happy. Really happy. The bike is running better than ever and we’ve peeled off almost a thousand miles. Aspen and Vernal, Utah to Jackson Hole, Wyoming; then Yellowstone and Bozeman, Montana, and now, Salmon, Idaho. The trip is a good one and we’ve really enjoyed the adventure. We had planned to head up towards the Canadian border but Montana is basically on fire, which makes sightseeing (and breathing) a bit of a challenge. So, we decided to head west over the mountains and drop down into the Salmon River range of Idaho. Good ride, but borders mean nothing to smoke so all these beautiful mountains are little more than ghostly apparitions.
Tomorrow we leave the bikes at the hotel and do a one-day fly-fishing float trip down the Salmon River. If it’s good, we’ll do a second day. If not, we’ll move down to Stanley and Sun Valley and fish those areas.
With the Sturgis Harley Rally taking place nearby, there are nearly 700,000 motorcyclists on the road. While they seem to have the Sturgis Rally on the agenda, it’s difficult to really tell as we see them going away from us, towards us and every other direction of the compass. They seem to be a happy lot for the most part. When encountered at the various coffee shops or the ubiquitous Harley dealerships that dot the major highways, you can always strike up a conversation, most of which run a little like this:
“Hey man, nice rig.”
“Yeah man, thanks… got 125 horsepower to the rear wheel. I mean… I can smoke that rear tire!”
“Whoa dude, got it. I’m hot, too. Got a F-16 fighter jet engine mounted on a bronze swing arm and talk about ‘lightin’ it up’, when I touch the after burner, paint me gone!”
“Cool. Check the scooter trash over in the women’s wear department. She must be a jet engine herself….Hot? I mean HELLO!”
We meet fellow riders from New York to Florida, Washington to California, and everywhere in between.
Bikers are really into waving to their ‘bro’s.’ It’s a simple game: winner waves last. Being cool requires that you wait until the last minute before you give them the official HD (Harley Davidson) wave. This wave is not a, “Hi Fellas! How ARE you?” kind of wave. No. The official HD wave is done with a minimum of effort and facial expression. You simply rotate your left forearm out and flash a quick ‘peace’ sign. It has to seem casual, the very essence of cool. If you smile, it doesn’t count.
After nearly tipping the bike over a bunch of times with all the junk I thought I just had to have, I found a UPS store in Jackson and off-loaded 27 pounds of stuff. My bike feels like a graduate of Jenny Craig. I wish I could say the same, as the Chicken Fried steaks, Chicken Fried fries, and Chicken Fried Caesar salads are beginning to get me down. If there is a fresh head of Romaine lettuce in these parts, damned if I can find it.
Being a biker dude is all about being a dude. Or, for the gentler sex…a dudette. Leather is king, the more weathered the better. While there is a practical side to wearing this stuff, you can’t dismiss the fashion possibilities it offers. There is no end to the number, size and styles of patches you can sew onto your jacket or vest. My gear is fairly plain, and I am greatly tempted to go on a minor spending spree and “patch-up.” Compared to competition, my look is definitely much too clean.
Steve D. and I make great riding buddies. It only took three days of riding to figure out that he needs glasses and can’t read a map worth a damn. He admits that he needs glasses but refuses to wear them because they don’t look ‘cool’. He complains that I can’t hear worth a damn. Together, we’re two-thirds of the “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” monkeys.
How did you spend your summer vacation? Visit sonomasun.com and click on the Summer Vacation link located under the Sonoma Now logo. Submit your summer vacation story for use on our daily blog. Stories submitted may be run in upcoming editions of the Sonoma Valley Sun.
