Cheese Weasels Get Dirty In Utah

[Stichill_imp]

Well, the Northern Kentucky Cheese Weasels "Got Rocky Mountain High" in 2020, but a severe and extended family illness pulled me away before I could finish the [url=http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=15761]ride report (maybe I will get back to it at some point).

Thankfully, the illness situation has resolved / stabilized now, and I was able to join the crew for a 2021, 4-man ride in Utah. Here's our ride shirt:





Note that the rider silhouettes on the front were taken from this pic of our [url=http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=12371]2018 ride through Big Bend National Park in Texas:


That's me on the far left in red. Still can't believe I rode that behemoth over 1300 miles without dropping it!

Ok, so here's the Utah load-out on a 12' x 6'5" Big Tex 35SA ramped trailer purchased specifically for this trip. $1400 used in great condition and equipped with a wheeled tongue jack and a spare tire. We checked the play in the bearings, installed Bearing Buddies, and added Pit Bull chocks to the trailer floor. Doors on the F-150 slammed at 6:00 am sharp on "D-Day", Sunday 06 June 2021. Most of our luggage and gear was stowed in the truck bed under a tonneau cover. We had loaded bikes and gear the day before, so all we had to do Sunday morning was hook the trailer to my buddy's truck and roll out.


Some of you may recall my posts in "What did you do with your other bike?" where I gave my CBR250R a [url=http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=13663&pid=293914#pid293914]Mad Max makeover, complete with Shinko Trail Master 50/50 tires and belly fairing removal. This will be my Utah ride. It's my only bike now, so "ya ride what ya got".


We took I-71 to Louisville and crossed over into Indiana, picking up I-64 to St. Louis, where we took I-70 across Missouri to Kansas City and on to our overnight in Salina, Kansas.


We stopped at a diner in Wentzville, Missouri (far western outskirts of St. Louis) for a late brunch. That's me on the right in the ferret-inspired HONDA vintage cap, and my son-in-law on the left. I have definitely put on the Covid 15 (or 20)...jeesh! Oh well, that didn't stop me from ordering steak and eggs! The diner was hopping busy and the atmosphere, service, staff, and food were fantastic. We loved everything about it.




Eastern Kansas really surprised us. We were expecting flat cornfields, but what we found were beautiful rolling, grassy pastures for mile after mile. Incredibly attractive landscape with few man-made structures to mar the view. Rider magazine did an [url=https://ridermagazine.com/2019/03/28/bluestem-pastures-exploring-the-flint-hills-of-kansas/]article on riding in the Flint Hills of Kansas...now I'm intrigued.




Sunday night we stayed at an Airbnb house in Salina, which turned out to be located "on the wrong side of the tracks" but was really pleasant with two acres completely fenced in. These Airbnb's are a pretty low-cost way to travel and offer a nice break from the monotony of the chain motels. Word to the wise: bring mosquito repellent!


We ate in downtown Salina, which was very fresh-looking, clean, and vibrant although there were some homeless around. We had a little trouble with restaurants and bars being closed on Sunday night, but we did manage to find a trendy pizza place with a large selection of craft beers (sorry we all forgot to take pics...wiped out after the long day's ride in the truck).

Next installment: across the Kansas / Colorado plains and the Rockies to Palisade, Colorado.