Day 2 - Don't like the weather? Just wait a couple hours....

We Kansans are fond of that cliche when people complain about the weather, but it was the weather theme for Day 2 here in Colorado. We started out in the sun, and it alternated between rain and blue sky just about every two hours.

We started the day with a trip to Outpost Harley-Davidson in Pueblo, about 40 minutes south of Colorado Springs on I-25. They are open on Mondays (fortunately) and had a stock clutch lever in stock. Forty dollars and an hour in the parking lot later, we had the bent lever replaced with the new one. Special thanks to Bruce for having the right tools for the job!

Oh yeah, the bent brake lever story. Sunday night, after riding nearly 600 miles for about 10 hours, we stopped in Limon, Colorado for gas. As we were preparing to depart for the final leg of the trip to meet up with Mike and Steve at the hotel in Colorado Springs, I was sitting on the bike with the kickstand up. Then I suddenly realized that I needed to check the notes Mike P. gave me about how to find the hotel. So, I leaned the bike over on the kickstand so I could get off and dig my notes out of the saddlebag. Unfortunately, the kickstand was NOT DOWN and the bike fell right over. Just a basic mental lapse. Too tired and trying to think about too many things at the same time.

The clutch lever took the brunt of the weight, bending into the shape of a ram's horn. Fortunately, it was still operable and we made it to the hotel. Oh well. It's been replaced and the clutch works great. I saved the bent lever as a souvenir. Maybe I'll make a coat hook out of it. I'll post a picture of it sometime this week.

But here's a pic of us hard at work in the parking lot of the Harley dealer. I'm working to loosen the clutch adjustment nut. See the bent lever in Steve's right hand?



After getting the bike back in service, we all took off for Royal Gorge in Canon City, Colorado. We chose the cost-free photo ops:







We then headed for Salida, Colorado for lunch at the Boathouse Cantina. En route, we stopped at a little general store in Cotopaxi for a snack and a photo op:








The Boathouse Cantina is cool bar/restaurant that allows diners to overlook kayakers in the Arkansas River. Great big burgers and a nice break from the rain.

Below, Mike checks with weather on his iPhone while Steve wonders if our waitress is planning on coming back to take our order.



Unlike us motorcyclists, kayakers don't seem to mind the rain.



After lunch, we headed back toward Colorado Springs on US 24 and stopped at the ranger station at Wilkerson Pass Visitor's Center in Pike's National Forest. The center was closed, but the restrooms were open. And free photo ops were plentiful.



That's Pike's Peak off in the distance. The big Colorado news story of the day was snow on Pike's Peak. Golf ball-sized hail, too. We had a much nicer perspective!



We were able to keep ahead of the storm all the way back to Colorado Springs.



And here's proof that Steve wore a helmet.



We mounted up and continued on US 24 east through Manitou Springs.

Today's mileage: 250.1 miles. (The Google map shot below is not correct.)