We took our time both heading up there and returning. Wizard, Early Bird and I left Wednesday morning, spent a couple of pleasant days on the road, ending up in Canyon, TX on Thursday evening, ready for a quick trip to Palo Duro Canyon State Park on Friday morning. For a flat-lander such as myself, it's always a bit of a surprise to see the canyon and its many colors.
Leaving the canyon, we headed west to Tucumcari, taking time to stop and render aid along the way. First unplanned stop was to assist a woman whose rear tire had blown out, throwing her car across the (unbarricaded) median and into the path of oncoming traffic. No one was injured, we helped direct traffic and got the woman and her two kids off the freeway and out of danger while we waited for the police to arrive. Then we were on our merry way.
Some while later, we came across a couple of Harleys on the side of the road, one with a flat tire. We offered our assistance, Bandit, Motomama and Valkhound stopped as well, tried to arrange a trailer to help them out, but they decided they would rather wait for a trailer sent by the HOG group some 90 miles away. Recognizing that you "can't fix stupid" we continued on.
I had decided to take my trike again this year as several folks wanted to see the new paint work. It was Tuesday afternoon when we picked her up from the shop, ready for the trip.
As usual, we had a great time in Tucumcari, seeing old friends and meeting new ones. I surely am glad that Des and Kendall decided to throw a little party a few years ago, and keep on throwing one each year.
Like any gathering of Valkyrie riders and friends, we had good folks, good food, great bikes, and great times. There was even a water fight .....
Somewhere along the way, my gas mileage began to really suck, and I lost my rear brakes. Annoying but not enough to stop the trip. I could get rear brakes if I pumped them up.
Stopped by the shop on the way to the house to let them know we were back. They asked how the trike did, and I told them about the brakes. Before I could blink, she was inside and they were checking out the problem.
Seems that a spring broke. Sounds like such a little thing, a broken spring. But it was a broken spring that caused Wizard's bike to be totalled in September, and it was this broken spring that both cost me my brakes AND my fuel economy .... seems that with that spring gone, the brakes dragged the whole way (total trip was 1600 miles).
All's fixed now, they even replaced the broken cable on the emergency brake. So now she's ready to roll in style, and stop and stay put when necessary.
