Back to Riding

 August 6, 2022

As of yesterday, I’ve completed my post-surgery recovery from the inguinal hernia repair I had 6-weeks ago.  I can now return to two of my favorite activities: running and motorcycling.  

On the day before, I got the bike out and did some maintenance on it: check the oil, aired up the tires, and then removed and cleaned the air cleaner.  The latter was not difficult but tricky, removing a side panel, a couple brackets, and then the filter itself which had to be snaked around cables and a hose.

I had help from the "shop dog."

On Friday, to kick off "the new me," I got up early and hit the trails at Zimmerman Park with my dog at 6am.  We did the run to the west, a loop that is about 3-miles.  The weather was perfect and the morning sunrise was beautiful.

He's a great trail running partner, staying just ahead of me and checking in to make sure I'm not lagging too far behind.

The photo ops were great.

We finished up our run and I dropped him at home and then went to the gym and did 500 yards in the pool.  It's a great way to get the day started.

After breakfast, I geared up and met Bill, who rides a Victory, at his place at 9am.  He'd suggested that we ride up to Red Lodge and then see how things were and maybe continue on after that.  

We skirted the west end of Billings (MT) and took the backroad to Laurel where we picked up Hwy 212 that took us to Red Lodge. When we left Billings it was 73 degrees and in Red Lodge it was bit cooler at 61 degrees so we stopped in Red Lodge to layer up. I put my rain liner in my mesh jacket and that was good enough with the grip heaters on. Here we are at that stop:

On our way out of town we saw lots of evidence of the recent flooding they had: rough roads, buildings damaged, and a bridge off a side road still out. On the Beartooth Hwy we also saw the results of the road construction they’ve done over the past month and it was amazing how much damage Rock Creek had done but equally amazing how quickly they finished the repairs. There was lots of earth moving involved in that operation.

Traffic was very light and it’s easy to say that 75% of the other vehicles were also motorcycles, dominated, of course, by Harleys. This is Montana after all and that brand has the market. After heading up the first set of switchbacks, we stopped at Vista Point which has a “Do Not Miss” panoramic of the Beartooth Mountains. We parked off to the side with a couple Goldwings in what appeared to be the non-Harley section. While I joke about that brand and the stereotypes, one of those riders came up and started a friendly conversation with us. He and another guy had ridden their bikes down from Canada and were taking in this ride before heading over to Sturgis which is opening in a few days. Here are the bikes parked there:

This Vista Point is 90-miles from my driveway so it is a regular day ride for me. After that we headed on up and pulled out a few times for more photos:

We continued on and stopped for the obligatory photo-op at the high point of Beartooth Pass before turning around and heading back to Red Lodge. It was 51 degrees on top.

After passing Vista Point and descending the switchbacks, we were following a couple Harleys through the curves when the lead bike braked hard into a curve, causing the rest of us to do the same. As we closed up ranks we saw what it was: a medium-sized cinnamon black bear crossing the road. It headed up the embankment to our right, keeping its eye on us and us on it. This was the first time I’ve encountered a bear in the Beartooths.

After Red Lodge we headed back a different way and went through Absorokee before stopping for lunch in Columbus at the 307. Bill gladly accepted the bacon that I had served on the side from my BLT.

That was washed down with a couple of Angry Hank's Street Fights.

It was a stop for gas for Bill and then the backroads to Billings. One last photo-op on a curved road above the Yellowstone River.

A great day. 229 miles total.