Day 34

The Dragon & the lightning

Big sigh...

Leg one of my trip is finished. There are so many thoughts jumbled in my little brain about this whole trip so far. Mainly...I really can't believe I was on the road for 34 days. I feel like in some ways that I missed out on a whole month of summer, its weird to me that its starting to be fall already. But I also feel like I've done SO much in the past month and met so many cool people and seen so many cool places.

The Dragon...That's what I call my ride through the mtns of colorado. Riding up into Telluride (which is a huge ski resort town) was simply amazing, as well as the ride back south out of it. The roads were all twists and bends, most that you had to do at 25 mph, some even posted speeds of only 10mph. Tunnels through rocks, mining towns that are all deserted now. This section of my road trip had it all. Was an amazing ride. and also at an elevation of about 12,000 feet. Simply amazing. the air was so crisp and clean, yet breathing was actually a chore.

THEN came the lightning....

I got into Durango, Colorado, and ahead of me were dark black clouds and lightning shooting off every few seconds. Hmmm.... do I ride on? That seems like an easy question to answer. But I really wanted to NOT spend another night in a hotel room, especially since I was only about 180 miles from Ashleys house. I could do it. Hell I've road thru more rain on this trip then anyone should ever have to. Im going for it.

Well... I did OK, till I crossed into the New Mexico border line, and the winds were kicking up so bad that I could barely keep the bike on the road. I pulled over to put on my rain gear, just KNOWING there was no way I was going to finish this trip dry, and as I did, the wind literally blew my bike gloves off the bike, and I had to chase them into the desert with only socks on. A funny sight to passers by I'm sure.

I did manage to get a video of some of the lightning that I was about to ride into. But of course it doesnt look no wear NEAR as menacing as it was in real life.

Well, I rode on, and the rains came, and they came HARD! too hard to ride through. The streets were flooding now, and the sky was so black, You couldnt see 2 feet in front of you. People in cars were actually pulling over...so, I pulled over to seek shelter at a gas station and wait it out.

The waiting it out was a b****. The rain was coming sideways (of course) and didnt keep me TOO dry. Then came the looks....from people in their cars. You can almost read their minds like "what on Gods earth is that man doing on a bike in THIS weather?" They look at you with sympathy and with shock, and also with a "glad IM not HIM" kind of look, But...like all storms, this one ended, and I was able to finish my trip...through the pitch black now mind you to Ashley's house in Albuquerque.

I arrived at about 9:30PM. an hour later then I had planned, and a bit wetter from the rain, but that's all behind me now.

I took a photograph of the front door with my iphone and sent it to Ashley, who moments later came rushing out of the house to give me the best & longest hug ever. A few moments later I saw a tiny figure by the door going "Porge!" "Porge!" (That's what 2 year old Lilly calls me) and then of course the rest of the Bonal family.

It's great to be home in a ways, and rest and relax and figure out my next plan of action.

So, blogger readers, It was great bringing you all along in some way on this trip...We'll see what happens next...right now, I just want to chill

...though, I did mention that today was great weather for a motorbike ride :)

486 miles today

9,263 total miles for leg one

PS: I'm going to clean the bike SOOOO good this week, and fix her all up! She deserves it!