A small town Labor Day Parade? No. We knew the roads in the Black Hills would be busy with traffic for the holiday weekend, but after this last week, we were in dire need of some scooter time.
A delightfully cool day today (high of 75º in Rapid City) and lots of sunshine. No destination, just looking to ride. A bit of frustration before we took off: the new helmet communicator for my Schuberth wouldn't sync up with Joan's helmet. I spent a couple hours messing with this yesterday (during the rain), and finally got them to connect... wouldn't do it today. Plus, all the fussing made it so my other helmet communicator wouldn't connect with Joan's. Heck with it, we decided to ride "old school," with no communicators... we just wanna ride!
I didn't go too old school: I did hook a 360 camera to the Vespa; this time off the back of the bike, so I'd have more footage of Joan riding. Early on in the ride, I heard a honk from Joan's horn - she rode up beside me and said, "Your camera is slipping off to the side - you're going to lose it!"
Sure enough. I pulled over and set it at a different angle. Yes, before it splattered on the asphalt. Back to the ride. We found ourselves on Iron Mountain Road (of course), and the traffic was as expected - plenty of it, but everyone was moving along at a decent pace.
We stopped at our usual pull-out... I had an idea: let's turn off bluetooth on our phones to see if that is interfering with the helmet communicators. No difference. While we were stopped, I switched the camera back to its usual place on the handlebar (well, mirror stalk). You'll notice the change of perspective in the video.
While we were at that pull-out, a couple on Harleys pulled in by us. I knew he was going to ask: "Are those scooters?"
"Yes, they are."
"Did you ride them from Texas?" (We get that a lot.)
"No."
"How fast will they go?"
Joan pointed at mine and said, "That one will do 85, this one (hers) tops out around 90."
There is always a moment of disbelief when we answer that question. Usually followed with: "Really?" And then more questions. Joan told him, "On roads like this, we can out handle most big bikes - but, you'll catch us on the straight parts." (There aren't many straight parts on Iron Mountain Road.) We wished them safe riding and took off again.
Not long before we caught up with a truck in front of us, but he soon pulled off to let us get around. More traffic ahead of that. By that point, we could see 3 more Harleys coming up behind us. We slowed way down as we came to the first split, to let the traffic in front of us get ahead... then, we can get on the throttle and enjoy the single lane curves.
I saw the look of despair as the guys on the Harleys got close to us - you could tell they were thinking that we were planning to drive slow. Surprise... we caught up to traffic ahead faster than the Harleys could catch up to us. Yes, I enjoy that part of the ride. ;-)
More of the same, then through Keystone and back to the curvy roads so we could get to a gas station for the Vespa. 89 miles per gallon, but I wish the tank was a bit bigger. By the time I get to 125 miles on the trip odometer, it's time to be looking for gas.
A nice afternoon of riding. When we got back, I pulled the helmet communicator out of the new helmet - it is going back to Amazon; don't need the frustration. I'll wear my Nolan helmet when Joan and I ride together, and the Schuberth when I'm riding solo. If I decide to switch over to the Schuberth full-time, I'll take the communicator out of the Nolan and put it in the Schuberth. Options. Joan messed with the communicators while I put the scoots away - we think we have things back to where we were before getting the 3rd communicator.
I'll work on the video this evening; it will be nice to make something that isn't hail damage related.
Before settling in for the evening, while sitting out on the patio, Joan asked if I'd make some music... "Yes, Ma'am." She enjoys the private concerts and I appreciate the appreciative audience. Rufus likes the music, too.
A few stills...
And, the video...
No comments:
Post a Comment