The Idaho, Um, Reconnoiter?

Yep, the Idaho Invasion 2006 was HUGE…

Unfortunately, Hell’s Canyon was closed due to fires, so on Saturday we ran down to Boise instead.

Updated: My total miles for the Idaho trip is right around 1400 (2300 total for the two weekends). It was 610 miles from my house to the motel in Cambridge, via Coeur D’Alene. I found very little about Idaho I didn’t like. I’d consider moving if they didn’t have a sales tax. Mostly what I liked about it over Montana was a more temperate climate; Montana is so arrid.

I, Da Ho

Off to Cambridge, Idaho, tomorrow morning by way of Coeur D’Alene. My friends are promising that it’s a beautiful scenery and twisty roads, but I’m skeptical (that is, once we’re down there – I know much of the way down is nice). I missed the gathering last year due to my broken drive belt (and other personal factors). I hope to swing by Cascade, Idaho, the location of last year’s meeting.

Back from BC

The Kootenay Rider’s Association of Triumph (RAT) “Raid” for ’06 is over and was a smashing success. Attendance was up to 140 people from 115 last year. However, there are three major issues for me that will be addressed in the future:

• While the Hume is a very classy, old school hotel with a great free breakfast, THERE IS NO AIR CONDITIONING IN THE ROOMS. And worse, our room had one window approximately 1′ by 2′. The room never cooled down. Needless to say I didn’t get a lot of sleep Friday and Saturday nights. If we had stayed Sunday night as originally planned (see below), we were planning on moving to the Best Western where we’ve stayed the past two years, and will be staying in the future.
• We need to go up on Thursday, not Friday. We decided to leave Sunday morning because everyone else was. No one left to play with. People are typically showing up a day or two early. On Saturday John and I were rarin’ to go riding, but half the people we knew seemed to want to go to the beach or Ainsworth hot springs instead, having done the majority of their recreational riding before we got there. The few we found compatible to go riding with were only up for a short loop.
• I HAVE TO stop bringing home a certain kind of souvenir: infections. Last year I brought back an infected sebaceous cyst on my back that required surgery. This year I managed to get some sort of infected lump on my left thumb. So after getting very little sleep in Nelson due to our hot room, I got very little sleep in Seeley Lake Sunday night because my thumb was waking me up every five minutes (I’ve visited Urgent Care and they’ve got me on antibiotics and soaking it in epsom salts).

Aside from those issues, it was a good trip. It would have been a great trip, a damned near perfect trip, if the temperature was about 10-15 degrees cooler (okay, okay, a perfect trip would have included me nailing that cute pharmacist gal. Right…). Next year I’ll try and remember to bring/buy a camera. Sorry.

Stupid Tax

“Passed three separate vehicles (including an off-duty East Helena Policeman) on double yellow line.” On the bike, 07/17/06, Canyon Ferry Road, Lewis and Clark County, Montana. Montana Code Annotated: 61-8-326: $85.

Shit.

YABU: Yet Another Bike Update (Updated 7/10)

I still have yet to do the valve adjustment as my shipment from Ma’s Cycles including the gaskets and special tools and such has yet to arrive. I’ll probably be doing the valve adjustment next weekend rather than going to Red Lodge.

I’ve been riding my bike since the test ride home from Great Falls last weekend when I ran out of gas due to really crappy gas mileage. The bike runs great but I’ve got to make some additional adjustments to the carbs. Plus I’ve been riding a lot less aggressively, just to see how my mileage is under normal conditions.

This weekend, in addition to the jetting changes, I’ll be removing the wheels Sunday evening (finally) to get the skins replaced. They still have a bit of tread left but I’ve only got a couple weeks until the British Columbia trip and I’m not riding those twisty roads with worn tires.

Lastly, hopefully, I can get Gene to paint my right saddlebag so I can put it back together and put the new locks into both bags. I’ve been tempted to buy new bags just because he has just been too busy to paint it, but I don’t want to spend the money if I don’t absolutely have to.

Update, 7/10: The new jets made a huge difference on the trip to Great Falls Sunday. I had nearly the same top end power, much more bottom end power, a much smoother powerband overall and much better (but not great) gas mileage. As a bonus, Gene painted my saddlebag so I can put the new locks in my bags this weekend and mount them up.

Moving Day

Well, my mom is all moved to Great Falls. Other than being super tired and super sore there is little of significance to report. A few interesting bike-related things happened that I documented over on BonnevilleAmerica.com here and here (no registration required just for reading, copied below).