Who Is Rich!!??

I've always wanted to go to Alaska and noticed that the Iron Butt Association sanctions an "extreme" ride from Key West Florida to Prudhoe Bay Alaska, to be completed within a thirty day time period. As an established member of the Iron Butt Association (IBA), I found my excuse to go to Alaska and get a Certificate for the feat. I had planned to do it on my own, (which didn't make my wife Kay too happy!) and then Kurt heard me talk about it. He wanted in. He even went out and bought the same Triumph Tiger I had and we started planning. That was about a year ago. 1 May we started from Key West and are well into making the trip happen.

The ride from Key West to Colorado Strings was pretty straight forward, Key West to Orlando, final load out, and then to Little Rock. Had to stop short of our destination due to hazardous weather, in the form of tornados and lightening storms. Discresion being the better part of valor, we lost about 5 hours and a free nights lodging at Kurt's brother's house in Little Rock. We stopped in for lunch the next day and continued on. Route 40 across Oklahoma and Texas was flat, straight and boring but a constant 30 MPH cross wind kept the ride challenging. We took some back roads through New Mexico to hook up to Route 25. Lot's of cattle, interesting rocks, and more flatness. Colorado and the mountains are a welcome respite.

Today (5 May) we took a planned rest day on the trip. We planned on Colorado Springs as the place since we both know it and really like some of the resturants here. After a good night sleep and some maintenance and reorganization of our equipment, we headed out to Pike's Peak for a relaxing little tour to the top. Figured it would be a good way to see some sights and work on some dirt road riding skills. Simply stated the scenery is breath-taking and the ride was a hoot. The Triumph Tigers ran up the mountain without hesitation and the performance at altitude, (14000 feet) was excellent, never missing a beat. Attached are some of the pictures. Weather was a "Brisk" 30 Degrees at the summit, and the wind non-stop. It is a great ride not to be missed.

Tomorrow we are off to the Little Big Horn and Montana. The next day we will be in Calgary for another maintenence day and to get some new tires at Blackfoot Triumph. Hope to have some new adventures to talk about then.

Rich