I woke up this morning and kicked the relay off by riding the token out to Raton, New Mexico, to meet Casper.
Here's the token; he's a crocodile. My daughter picked him out, named him and insisted I call him Petey.
Petey and I started the trip with a fill up. Our adventure would take us 225 miles, from Denver, CO, to Raton, NM, where we'd meet Casper. Petey was excited; he rode on the back of the seat, holding on with his tail.
We'd planned to take the scenic route to Raton, via US 285, through Sedalia and down south. But I woke up two hours late and so we opted for interstate travel instead, hoping to make up time and keep our deadline. By Castle Rock, Petey was thirsty and so we stopped on got some Iced Coffee. The gals working at Starbucks loved Petey and thought the idea of a relay was a good one. Petey got attention wherever he went. Here we are, enjoying breakfast:
As soon as I finished my coffee, we were gone again. Petey resumed riding on back. We stopped near Colorado Springs to see Pikes Peak. Petey thought it'd be bigger. He was underwhelmed.
On we went. By Pueblo, CO, Petey was hungry and I was thirsty. We found a Chipotle and shared a burrito. Petey thought the carnitas was choice and I enjoyed it too.
We stayed only a short while. I wetted down my jacket and shirt and we rode over to the gas station to top off the tank. We had 110 miles of isolated prairie riding in front of us and it was supposed to be triple digits.
By Walsenburg, I had dried out and was beginning to feel the effects of the heat. We pulled off at a shady local truck-stop and bought some water. Petey was glad to have a drink too.
We were running about 30 minutes behind and decided to make up some time. The XJ ran great and didn't seem to mind the heat. We arrived at the Sonic in Raton, NM, around 2:30. Petey noticed it was happy hour and tried to score an Ocean Water Slushie.
I ordered a big soda and sat in the shade, enjoying the break from riding.
About 15 minutes later, Casper rode up on his SV650N. He parked and joined us. Petey went over to say hi.
I finished my soda and Casper had some tang in his Nalgene. I decided to go check out his bike:
Petey climbed aboard; ready for the next adventure. Casper had just fitted a new headlamp on his SV650. I thought it looked great:
I also took the opportunity to shoot a picture of the '97. In the 220 miles, we only had one hiccup; the clutch shaft retainer bolt loosened up a bit and she leaked some oil onto my right foot.
I tightened it up and wiped up the oil. Casper and I chatted for about an hour and parted ways. I decided to backtrack up I25 as I wanted to be home before dark. Just north of Trinidad, I rode into a major summer downpour. It came on hard and it came on wet. I rode through, for about 15 miles. By the end, I was soaked through and through. It fealt great, actually, in the 100 degree heat.
After riding through the storm, I pulled off to dump the water out of my boots and dry out a bit. I dried my cell phone and camera and took some photos. I noticed that the right-hand muffler guard had lost a bolt and borrowed one from the front fender to get me home. Time to start using threadlocker on this puppy!
The rain and storms followed me and I was rained on for most of the ride from Trinidad home. By Colorado Springs, I was tired, wet, cold and low on gas, so I stopped, fueled up and hid out, trying to avoid the storm.
All in all, it was a great day and a fun ride. I logged just over 450 miles and the XJ did great, minus a few loosening bolts. Stay tuned for more adventures with Petey. I'm sure Casper will post up his continued saga shortly.