Earache

Old gold mine ore loading area. The ore went down the chute and into horse drawn wagons for transport to the stamping mills in town...

But I shouldn't bitch too much as I wasn't working today, so it could have been worse...

I was only on the next mountain west of our house, so not far away at all...

But the dirt (ok, they're more rock roads than dirt) roads were empty and I had a good time railing alon g, sliding the corners etc. Not a lot of run off room if you get it wrong though...

My pics all have a yellowish tint to them from the sun filtering through the smoke...

Got out for a bit today but didn't really get too far from home as the wild fire smoke stung my eyes. Hard to see the next hill over from where I stood...

The beach shot with the cliffs is cool as Hell. Where is it? The wasp sting sounds painful as shit!

Eggs aside, the calamari looks good!

I have no service at my home, no service at my shop in Denver - dunno why i even have a phone. Should cancel it and go without as I rarely even use it. About 3 calls per month and maybe 10-15 texts is about all I do.

Pretty much sums it up. Never understood why someone would want to pay for a "tour" when it's just as easy to set out on your own and wander around....and lots cheaper, too.

Dark Tourism is a big thing here as well. Loads of supposedly "haunted" places that the geeks tour. Dunno if I'd wanna take them along on a bike trip though. I'd love to do a regular touring business on bikes though - would be fun and I know all the good places to go.

I'd assume they do. But in the dark, in an unfamiliar place and also assume they don't train - they're not much of a threat. Handguns are really hard to shoot accurately and hit something more than 10-20 feet away unless you practice a lot. Most thieves have no idea how to properly shoot and handle a gun. Can they reload it in the dark? CLear a jam quickly in the dark? Do they have night sights installed? Probably not. And if the home owner has a long gun or better yet, a shotgun, then the theif is in serious trouble.

Basically, my home is my castle - if you come into my castle uninvited, I can shoot and kill you without fear of prosecution. Cops show up and say "nice shot". I've oversimplified it, of course. Read more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_doctrine It's the reason we don;t have a lot of break-ins, bikes aren't stolen from homes, etc. Thieves know they will most likely get shot.

I did hit mid 80's a few times yesterday, will have to try harder next time to get 112.?

The posted speed limit here was 35 mph, but I didn't do much less than 60mph and never really passed anyone. There aren't any cops out here as there are no towns for miles. Pretty much do whatever you want to. No cell service so it's not like someone is going to call the police on you, ( and not like they'd come if someone did). Speed and route chart added - from my GPS; averaged 41 mph overall with stops included - but I only stopped for fuel and to take pics, so no long stops. But my moving speeds look to be in the 60-80 mph range. Speed Touring at it's finest.? I like the Arai and have never had any buffeting issues on the Super Tenere or the GS - both have stock windscreens. Buffeting just has never been an issue for me. I know some are constantly changing helmets, screen sizes etc but it's just not a problem for me.

They are old miner's homes, so probably only 1-2 people lived there. Some aren't much bigger than a garden shed. Doesn't look like they get broken into as they are pretty remote and I can promise that everyone that lives there has guns - lots of them. Break in and die. Colorado does have a Castle Law. My home is at 9,300' feet or so and yesterday's high temp was like 75F / 24C. So This was around 70F / 21C - perfect for riding. Denver (5300') was around 97F/31C yesterday -it's the warmest time of year here.

All in all, a great day of riding - around 300 miles....

After this traffic jam subsided, it was smooth sailing the rest ifteh way home...

Taylor Dam - which creates the Resevoir...

The creek alongside the road wasn't too dry...

Passed Taylor Resevoir on the way out - water levels are really low but it makes for a nice campsite....

Headed back home along the dirt roads...

A food truck was in town to feed all of the off roaders. Pretty cool...`

Town Hall / Church still looks good...

Of course, I could use some fuel and as usual; none available..