How was your summer?

[dantama]

I rode the least of any summer in the last 10 years for various reasons.

My high points were two rides. The first was the solo ride out to the Western Rally in Mesquite. I took a scenic two day route and met up with Lone Juan and his wife for the second days ride.

The rally ride was fun as documented in the Zions video I posted on youtube. The ride home was memorable for another off road adventure in the desert.

I also went on a ride to Durango with Audio, Ells, and Wolfman, using Ells' 800 classic, while mine was in the shop. I had a great time on that ride and it stands out as a major highlight of my summer.

Other than that, I haven't been too far from home at all.

I wish that I had been able to get out more. I've ridden about 10,000 miles a year till this year. This year I only had about 4,000. But the two rides I did get were fantastic.

How was your summer?

Sounds a lot like mine dan....I did those two rides and also rode down to Laughlin on a 3 day trip with my wife. I could put 60 miles a day on my bike, but commuting in the dark is just not enjoyable to me. I usually save the bike for times when I don't have to think about work. In all I only put 4-5,000 miles on the bike this year too... The Laughlin trip was fun. The sig pic of Candy and I riding, was at a casino parking lot next to Hoover Dam. Chris (my friend) rode down with us with a girlfriend of his. The other sig pic of us standing was taken at the CasaBlanca Casino in Mequite (I know I'm wearing the same shirt).....Good times!

Next year for sure I'll be in Custer for the rally and I'm at least going to ride Idaho and Montana. I would also like to meet up with Ells and the gang again for another durango ride and bring my wife.

[cactusjack]

I've put 6,000 on my bike since early June (when I replaced the tires), 2,100 of them were the Mesquite Rally/Utah trip. I was going on a 200-300 mile ride every weekend for most of the year until the rally. Since then, I haven't ridden more than one or two of those. I find the heat takes a lot of fun out of it. Those of you who attended the Mesquite Rally can imagine 4 straight months of that kind of heat. Now that it's cooled down some, my riding will pick up. I've got 6 months of really nice riding weather to look forward to before it starts getting really hot again.

[Idaho]

I wore out a new rear tire on the Nomad. So far this year I've put on around 14,000 miles. Old man winter is sneaking up though so that is going to come to a screaming halt. My other passion is fly fishing and have not done any this summer. Finally got out yesterday with my kickboat, it was raining and not mc weather, and I had a great time. Caught lots of nice fat, fiesty rainbows. That is how I will spend my winter.

[fish]

For the 1st. full year back in the saddle ridding was great except for the heat. Good day rides with Ole Dawg, heater-guy, beezer. Now is my time of year, cool. So far 6600 miles. Every year the years go by faster and faster so live it up now, infact as soon as the roads dry off we are leaving for 3 or 4 day on the bike.

[ringadingh]

Ive put on more miles this year than any other year since Ive been riding, (close to 40 years) Im about 11,000 miles so far this season and will probably at least put another 1000 on before I park it for the winter. I ride to work and back everyday until the snow flies or the roads get salted. Most summers I only put around 5000 miles on, but a couple long trips this year really rang up the mileage.

[MarkG]

Guess I have done fairly well with my Nomad the 1st year. A little over 9,000 miles with a couple of months to go. The Mesquite run at 1,100 miles was the first one of the summer. Definitely hotter than most of us expected. Did some short local riding during July and August. As CJ said, riding in 110 plus isn't much fun. Topped off the summer with my little 4,100 mile trip in September. The Bridgestones will need to be replaced in the next few weeks. I have definitely had a good time and have been much more relaxed.

[rflnomad]

Well, hate to be the downer here but we rode the LEAST this year! Money was VERY tight and we have been restructuring to make things better.
( we are NOT stupid spenders or living beyond our means, but we are trying to eliminate ALL debt in 5 years including the house & property in Tennessee. We have been doing this for about year now and it is GREAT!)
So we will do some small, day rides this winter and look forward to 09.

[audiogooroo]

The Western Rally in Mesquite and the Hwy 550 run were the definite highlights for me. I also made several trips up Ute Pass to Buena Vista and rode to work every day I didn't have to take my SMAART kit to tune an audio system. Made a couple of site visits on the bike for work (Grand Junction and Fort Collins). Still didn't put in that many miles, around 5000.
I'm thinking about Durango for a location for the 2010 Southwestern Regional Rally, but I'll post something in that forum to see what everyone thinks.
Still riding as much as I can, but already counting the days until next summer and the Custer Rally.

[pirate]

My first summer with a Nomad was fantastic. Since purchasing my 08 in May, I've put on 7700 miles. The highlight of the summer was a trip to the Black Hills of SD in late June, where my wife and I had a blast cruising around the Hills, and even into Custer. We also took a July trip to Theodore Roosevelt National Park, which is in SW North Dakota. I attended a couple of conferences for school this summer, and I rode the bike to both of those as well.
Before we found out that we're expecting our first child in March 09, I was definitely planning on attending the National Rally in Custer next summer, especially since it's so close to home. I'm not sure if I'll still make it or not, since I'll be babysitting all summer. Hopefully I can make some arrangements so I can still make it to Custer and meet some of you great folks.
A dream that a friend and I have is to have about 2-3 weeks in the summer and just ride an unplanned, unmapped vacation. I'd love to fill in a lot more states on my map, and we think it would be a blast to just ride and not have any route or agenda planned ahead of time. We'll see what next summer brings.
They are talking about potential snow falling here next weekend, so the riding days for this year are definitely numbered!

[ells]

Noooooo, please don't tell me summer is over. Great riding still to be done.

[dantama]

Originally Posted by Ells

Noooooo, please don't tell me summer is over. Great riding still to be done.

Hate to be the bearer of bad news Ells, but those great rides are going to be Fall rides :)

[waterman]

My summer was SHORT. Work was hectic this year. Family issues were numerous. I still road almost 6000 miles. Did a trip to Custer for work and the VROC Aztec rally. Also did a run to Cortez, CO this summer for work. Ain't it grand when work pays for the miles. Fall work (research data collection) is going on right now and generally that means dawn to dusk in the field for more days than I care to count. Also did a nice day run with Ells. Note to myself - Need to do more of that.

[ells]

Dan,

I don't like "fall" and "ride" used together. Late-summer, early-winter or..... oh yes, "autumn", We are going to have some great autumn rides.

BTW, the aspens were peaked this past week, I hope some others got a peek at the peak, I was up the past two weekends.

The last several months have been good, to get back to the thread topic, Trips to Black Hills, the San Juans, and up the Frying Pan were highlights. Also, have met a total of 8 Kawanow members in person over the same time, yes it was a good riding season year. Even crossed paths with two members separately, MTN1600 and Prairie Cruiser, by chance.

Plan on riding as much as practical through the winter but will be limited to local rides.

[abbo]

:) My first year with my Nomad was excellent!! Have 8200 miles on as of late this afternoon and would like to get another few hundred. Turning off cold here this week and then they are predicting a warm-up! Highlight of the trips was to Colorado in late July for a few days. The Nomad ran flawlessly and averaged 40mpg. Plus it was drop dead beautiful scenery. In fact, I am trying to find employment in the Loveland/Greeley area. If anyone from that area knows of anything pm me. Thanks and continue to ride(safe)