Pic Heavy 2016 Ride Report - 40 Days Following the Front Wheel

[DK Custom Products]

Thank you. Mary & I very much appreciate your prayers.

No report tonight, will resume tomorrow.

Kevin

[Harleytrikes3]

Thank you. Mary & I very much appreciate your prayers.

No report tonight, will resume tomorrow.

Kevin

I recently lost my girlfriend Ours is not to understand but trust in the Lord Bless you both in these times Terry

[TGCarol]

I'm so sorry about Mary's Dad. My heart is breaking for you guys.

[Catfish]

On a somber note, Mary's dad has taken a turn for the worse and probably will not make it thru next week. I'll be taking her to the airport tomorrow so she can fly home to see him before he goes. He has already hung on years past when doctors said he would, but he is at peace and ready to go now.

Kevin

In my awe of your posts I failed to see this bad news. So very sorry to hear and know the sadness it brings to a family all too well as many here I am sure do. Theresa and I only have one surviving parent remaining and she is 88. When she passes it will be nearly intolerable without the binding faith we share. Our condolences and prayers sent your way. Having a parent near his or her final days delivers devastating sadness.

[DK Custom Products]

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. He is at peace with his maker, and I am glad Mary is home and able to see him.

Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

Day 25-


We had a great time in Missoula visiting with Craig, playing with Lydia, and meeting missedem!


Time to roll again. We're headed for Red Lodge, MT, home of Bone Daddys, and more importantly, at the base of Beartooth Pass!


Just a few miles outside of Missoula it looks like this...











...winding road, mountains...











...Big Sky, and, of course Marys' cloud pics!













Between Missoula & Butte we saw...













...several old-timey cars. There must have been some sort of get together happening. It was really something else to be sharing the road with these antiques!













Climbing out of Butte...













...there is a short, but Very Fun stretch of road...











...that crests at the Continental Divide.













Going down the other side is just as much fun!













A combination of perfect weather, great road, and great scenery!









More in next post.

[DK Custom Products]

Day 25 to Red Lodge, MT continued-


The speed limit is 80 mph, and that's what we're rolling at...













...coming out of the pass we have a lot of desert to cover, so it's nice to be able to eat up some miles quickly.













In the pic above, you saw how far away the next set of mountains was??? Well, we're there now, in another little Pass.











Mary in the mirror, getting a different perspective at 80+ mph as we come out of the Pass.











We are going to Yellowstone, but not via this route. We will be dropping into the park at the NE entrance after riding Beartooth Pass and going thru Cooke City.













Time to stop for some sandwiches. We saw this picnic table, next to the Tepee. Mary had to check it out!













View of the Tri-Glide from the picnic table at the Crazy Mountain Museum.













After turning off the 90 to get to Red Lodge, the road is quite a bit of fun, along with great views! The first bit we played cat and mouse with some rain, but only got a few drops on us.


Mary got this great shot of the sun peeking thru right at the Red Lodge sign.













After that is got sunny and you can see from this pic what a great road it is!


There's about 30 miles of this kind of road before hitting Red Lodge.











A look back-







That is the last picture for today. Batteries wore out right before getting to town. We stayed at the Red Lodge Inn. Very nice room, and the owners had smoked chicken & potato salad in the lobby for the guests. It was good!


Tomorrow is Beartooth Pass & a bit of Yellowstone National Park.


Kevin

[Gorilla]

Bear tooth a great ride its going to be cool at the top. ENJOY we did.

[DK Custom Products]

I was just getting ready to post a ride report tonight when I got a call from a friend.

Horrible news about a fellow biker, read the post at the link below.

My hearts just not in doing a report tonite.

http://www.triketalk.com/forum/threa...y-bike-thieves



Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

I told Mary about Larry. We talked about it, we decided to dedicate this years trip to his memory.


We started the trip in the Ozarks, meeting up with Larry and the crew that we have ridden with for many years.


If you look back earlier in this thread you will see pics from Day 2 & Day 3. Here are a few more pics of Larry from those days-




Always a smile!











Relaxing & enjoying the camaraderie and ride.













Candid shot-













Pit stop-













Larry enjoyed riding, & was...











...a kid at heart.











He always had a smile, time to talk, and strong but gentle spirit.













More in next post.

[DK Custom Products]

I can't remember the first year we met and rode together, but I've never seen him anything but happy, and was a friend from day one. We are still in shock.











Larry, John, & Gene-













At age 66 Larry had manage to preserve the child-like joy that comes from the simple things in life, and he loved to ride & wasn't inhibited about showing it!









Day 4-




The above pics were from Day 2 & 3. Day 4 it was John, Gene, Larry, myself & Mary that went for a ride. The following pics & video are from that ride.




Leaving the Hub. John is on his FJR, Gene his Gold Wing, Larry his Street Glide, and Mary & I are on our Tri-Glide.











We did not know it would be our last ride with Larry. He generally liked to ride drag, but today we told him we wanted to ride sweep so that we could take pics & video of him.













One of the roads we rode that day was AR123. Here is a short video of just a small bit of that road.


Click HERE to watch it.








Here are a few pics of a perfect day of riding with friends on a perfect road-
















More in next post

[DK Custom Products]

Day 4 Continued-


As I look at these pics it breaks my heart that he'll never get to ride this road again...











...I hope you can tell from the photos that he thoroughly enjoyed riding a challenging road, and was good at it.











This was our last ride with him...













...it is sad beyond words, but I am happy for the time we had with him.































Headed back to The Hub.











Larry, we'll always see you on the road.









If you pray, please be praying for his family during this tragic time.




*************************


Larry's wife has asked us to do a Memorial Ride for him in the Smokeys, his favorite place to ride. We are planning on doing that next spring, and making an album for her. Anyone is welcome to ride with us, in his memory. As we get closer, more details will be posted in the thread at this LINK.




Kevin

[ol' school]

Kevin, sorry for the lose of a good friend. It is such a tragic lose. Your last few posts are a good tribute to him. It is obvious looking at the pics and video he loved to ride. You said it breaks your heart he will never ride that road again. He will... he will always ride roads like that with you everywhere you go.

Again, sorry for your lose. Our thoughts and prayers are lifted up for his soul, his family, you and Mary and all his friends.

Ride safe!

[DK Custom Products]

Day 26- Part I


I don't know how many parts this day will take. Beartooth Pass is Marys' favorite road, and then after that we went into Yellowstone Park...so there are a ton of pics!




We stayed in the Red Lodge Inn, right across the street from a stream...











...Red Lodge, MT is one of the many towns we have visited...looks like a great place to live, til you think about how cold and how much snow there is so many months of the year!


But is sure is nice in the summer.













We stopped by Bone Daddys Cycle Shop.













Time for the road we've been looking forward to riding for months now!











It's a mere 63 miles to Cooke City, but some of the best 63 miles to be ridden & viewed!











We have always ridden Beartooth coming From Cooke City To Red Lodge, so this is the first time riding it this direction...













...it is a perfect riding day...













...the road is great & the views, mind-boggling. How fortunate we are to ride this asphalt ribbon thru such beauty.













This curve is so big & long...













...it would not fit into even two photo's (but it sure is fun to ride!).









More in next post.

[DK Custom Products]

Day 26- Part I continued




There was some work being done on the side of the mountain above one section of the road. If you look closely, there are 6 people at various points on the side, hanging netting to keep rocks from falling onto the road.











This pic gives a tiny bit of an idea of what it is like...there are 3 different levels of the road in this pic-













Mary caught Two Sharp turn signs for the same curve in this one pic...one for each direction.













A look back...













...Mary is a bit crazy sometimes...this was taken as we were riding, she leaned/reached out over the edge of the road for this pic. eek!













...besides the obvious beauty, this road is a blast to ride!













We are taking it a bit slower than we have in the past, really soaking in all the views...but when there is road like this...













...it is just begging me to ride it! I don't know what it is about seeing 4 curves at one time, but it makes my right wrist twitch!













Sooner than I expected we are at the scenic overlook.











Just one of the views.









More in next post.

[DK Custom Products]

Day 26- Part I Continued




Mary got some really close-up pics of the chipmunks this year-









This one actually put it's paws on the camera...









...between clicks...but these were taken just inches away.











You can see just a small portion of the road, working its' way up to where we are...Oh, and there's the mountains, snow & woods too.













Headed back to the TG, from this distance it does not seem as dirty and bug covered as it really is. lol













Before leaving I put the video camera in picture mode and got a few pics of Mary & I together...here's one-











Back on the road, headed toward the summit.











In this pic, on the right side, about midway down, you can see the parking lot we were just in.













Climbing above tree level...it is quite a bit more windy and cold, turned the electric jackets up a bit more.













We leave Montana, crossing into Wyoming until right before we hit Cooke City, which is where we cross back into Montana for a while.









More in next post.

[DK Custom Products]

Day 26- Part I Continued.






The road is just as fun...













...and the views just as spectacular in Wyoming as in Montana!











What a great day to be riding on one of the most scenic and fun roads in the USA!













Still climbing toward the summit, enjoying every minute of the ride!













We stopped at the summit of Beartooth Pass for a photo. at 10,947', we've climbed almost another 2000 feet in elevation since we left the parking lot at the scenic overlook.















On this side of the pass there are a lot of lakes & ponds as we head down.















Headed down, the way we normally come up, it is a whole different set of views we're seeing.













A fellow traveler.













We pulled off the road for this pic. Amazing!











Back riding, there is just view after view.







More on Day 26, Beartooth Pass & Yellowstone, coming soon.


Kevin

[consitter]

Amazing...breath taking...

Thanks Kevin and Mary.

[FuzzyWuzHe]

Amazing...breath taking...

Thanks Kevin and Mary.

+1 ... and through your ride posts we get to share it .... thanks for taking us along.

[ol' school]

The beauty of Montana and Wyoming is absolutely breathtaking. One of the most scenic places on earth IMHO. Thanks for sharing your ride with us all.

Ride safe!