The first full day back in Fort Collins was Thanksgiving and we were kindly invited to Jill’s family dinner and spent a very pleasant afternoon drinking beer, wine 
and eating lots of food and enjoying many pies before heading over to Kent and Carols to eat more pies and to drink beer 
before ‘beaching‘ up on our beds late on Thursday evening.
The next day we were up early as my bike was going into BMW Ducati for a service and the panniers fitted and Mike needed parts to complete a service on his bike.
Arriving at BMW fairly early, expecting to see big boxes from the UK with our new bigger panniers and my new pannier frame We arrived in a good frame of mind, even thought the drinks were with us from the previous day.
On arrival there were no boxes. There was a problem as BMW Ducati didn’t know how to handle the customs so left it. (Actually they threw the contact details in the bin). I had called them a few days before and asked if there were any problems let me know….So there was one very stroppy Englishman… standing over them until they sorted out the contact number issue and paperwork. By this time, it was too late for the shipping company, which were now closed until Monday.
Mike faired better on the day and completed his service as planned.
The next day back to BMW Ducati as Mike’s bike was going in to have the valve clearances checked. Mike also had an oil leak, which turned out to be bigger than first thought so his bike wasn’t coming back as planned.
The following evening we had arranged to take Jill, Garry, Kent, Carol, Sierra & Rachel out to dinner as a thank you for their hospitality. We had a great evening and still had room for pie after all we had consumed at Thanksgiving!!!
On the Monday I confirmed that the shipping company had the fax from BMW Ducati and was told by them the panniers should be there on Tuesday or Thursday at the latest.
As there was nothing else we could do until the parts arrived we decided to change plans and head off to Breckenridge for some skiing as Jill and Garry had kindly offered us a loan of a car. Well it would have been rude not too…So late on Tuesday we set off to the mountains with a weather forecast of a lot of snow.
We arrived in Breckenridge late as it was snowing quite hard on the way up. Also I was pressing what I thought was the screen wash but nothing was coming out so visibility was further impaired with poor road conditions. When we finally found a petrol station only a few miles from Breckenridge and Mike found the right button! So Mike, who was taking over the driving for the last bit as my concentration was shredded by then, had just the snow covered roads to contend with.
We arrived in Breckenridge about 09:30 and the scene of Breckenridge with all the lights in the trees and the snow covered road was just how you see ski resorts in films. We found the hotel just in time as the owner was locking up reception. Apparently our booking hadn’t come through.
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Breckenridge by night
The next morning we were up early and headed for the slopes. I hadn’t slept too well the previous night as I kept waking up gasping for air as the altitude of the village is 9000 feet!
Seeing all the snow on the mountain and not many people about, the tiredness was forgotten and a good day was had skiing in shin high powder snow. The only downside was it kept on snowing all day and it was very very cold.
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Breckenridge Main Street
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The slopes...
We had a quiet evening as we were exhausted and both slept much better as our bodies were adapting to the altitude.
The next morning we woke up to find it hadn’t stopped snowing all night, so back up the slopes again for another great day. None of the slopes were pisted overnight so the snow was just deeper and we were able to ski all the black runs that were open.
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The icicles on the Hotel
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Mike on the slopes
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Me very cold (Some may say one of my better photos)
The next day was back to reality…Well for us anyway… As we headed back to Fort Collins. We tried to keep the snow on the roof for Jill and Gary but it all finally disappeared just outside Denver. As we approached Denver the whole city was completely encompassed in a big brown smog cloud. Goodness knows what the air was like in the city!!!
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The snowy road back
The panniers were due for delivery today so we headed straight for BMW Ducati to check on progress. The boxes weren’t there. So on the phone again to the shipping company and the boxes were still in LA and were coming over ground and would be there Tuesday. Both BMW Ducati and I complained to them and they were now going to fly the boxes and they would arrive on Sunday and shipped Monday. BMW arranged for a mechanic to be in on the Monday as they are usually closed. Whilst we were they we had a look at the bikes. We were both told the bikes were ready apart from the panniers. Looking at the bikes a lot of the work requested still wasn’t done. More complaints from us and promises the work would be done.
Given the further delays we focused on clearing a lot of admin that had built up including the web updates that we were further behind on than usual. I picked my bike up from BMW Ducati last thing that evening as I had some work to do on it and planned to return it first thing Monday. The weather in Fort Collins had turned to snow and I had a cold and interesting ride back to Garry’s and Jill’s in the snow. All that kept popping into my head was a question from my bike training course… How would you ride a bike in the snow…Answer: You don`t. I got back OK although a little cold!!!
In the evening Kent had got all of us tickets to watch the local Ice Hockey team, Colorado Eagles (definitely not to be confused with Crystal Palace) play Tennessee. It was a great evening with Colorado winning easily although it was a bit surprising to watch players fighting all the time. The referees just let them get on with it and when they are tired send them to a sin bin for 5 or 10 mins only, before rejoining the game!!!
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The game
The following day it was completing the maintenance work on my bike and back on the admin for me as I was down to design some graphics we had planned since the UK and Mike was on dinner duty as treat the Americans to a proper English roast. The graphics went well, but not as well as Mikes roast, with a little help from Jamie Oliver, which went down very well with everyone.
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Dinner is served...(By everyones eyes, eyeballs were on the menu
)
Monday came and all hope for the panniers was quickly dashed as we were told that they hadn’t arrived and were on a truck just outside LA. More complaints and promised for Thursday delivery. We tried to fill our time with more admin and bits and trying to work out a route across the Rockies for our forward journey as the cold snap was still with us and a lot of the roads were closed with snow. Time was also ticking away on our visa; we only had 15 days left on them and we still had about 1700 miles to do.
On the Wednesday Mike rode my bike back to BMW Ducati in the snow and cold. His legs are longer than mine so both of his feet reach the floor easily should the bike start to slide. Given the conditions this seemed the wisest move.
The panniers finally arrived on the Thursday and BMW started fitting them and it was Friday afternoon before the bike was ready. We were able to have lunch with Kent before heading off.
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Bikes with the new panniers
It was great staying with Jill and Garry and we spent many an evening playing cards and fighting our way through the left over pies from Thanksgiving. It was though in a way to leave as it really felt like home but the world awaits......
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View of the foothills from Garry`s and Jill`s balcony
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Alex and Jax (Jill & Garry`s dogs)
John
and eating lots of food and enjoying many pies before heading over to Kent and Carols to eat more pies and to drink beer before ‘beaching‘ up on our beds late on Thursday evening.The next day we were up early as my bike was going into BMW Ducati for a service and the panniers fitted and Mike needed parts to complete a service on his bike.
Arriving at BMW fairly early, expecting to see big boxes from the UK with our new bigger panniers and my new pannier frame We arrived in a good frame of mind, even thought the drinks were with us from the previous day.
On arrival there were no boxes. There was a problem as BMW Ducati didn’t know how to handle the customs so left it. (Actually they threw the contact details in the bin). I had called them a few days before and asked if there were any problems let me know….So there was one very stroppy Englishman… standing over them until they sorted out the contact number issue and paperwork. By this time, it was too late for the shipping company, which were now closed until Monday.
Mike faired better on the day and completed his service as planned.
The next day back to BMW Ducati as Mike’s bike was going in to have the valve clearances checked. Mike also had an oil leak, which turned out to be bigger than first thought so his bike wasn’t coming back as planned.
The following evening we had arranged to take Jill, Garry, Kent, Carol, Sierra & Rachel out to dinner as a thank you for their hospitality. We had a great evening and still had room for pie after all we had consumed at Thanksgiving!!!
On the Monday I confirmed that the shipping company had the fax from BMW Ducati and was told by them the panniers should be there on Tuesday or Thursday at the latest.
As there was nothing else we could do until the parts arrived we decided to change plans and head off to Breckenridge for some skiing as Jill and Garry had kindly offered us a loan of a car. Well it would have been rude not too…So late on Tuesday we set off to the mountains with a weather forecast of a lot of snow.
We arrived in Breckenridge late as it was snowing quite hard on the way up. Also I was pressing what I thought was the screen wash but nothing was coming out so visibility was further impaired with poor road conditions. When we finally found a petrol station only a few miles from Breckenridge and Mike found the right button! So Mike, who was taking over the driving for the last bit as my concentration was shredded by then, had just the snow covered roads to contend with.
We arrived in Breckenridge about 09:30 and the scene of Breckenridge with all the lights in the trees and the snow covered road was just how you see ski resorts in films. We found the hotel just in time as the owner was locking up reception. Apparently our booking hadn’t come through.
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Breckenridge by night
The next morning we were up early and headed for the slopes. I hadn’t slept too well the previous night as I kept waking up gasping for air as the altitude of the village is 9000 feet!
Seeing all the snow on the mountain and not many people about, the tiredness was forgotten and a good day was had skiing in shin high powder snow. The only downside was it kept on snowing all day and it was very very cold.
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Breckenridge Main Street
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The slopes...
We had a quiet evening as we were exhausted and both slept much better as our bodies were adapting to the altitude.
The next morning we woke up to find it hadn’t stopped snowing all night, so back up the slopes again for another great day. None of the slopes were pisted overnight so the snow was just deeper and we were able to ski all the black runs that were open.
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The icicles on the Hotel
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Mike on the slopes
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Me very cold (Some may say one of my better photos)
The next day was back to reality…Well for us anyway… As we headed back to Fort Collins. We tried to keep the snow on the roof for Jill and Gary but it all finally disappeared just outside Denver. As we approached Denver the whole city was completely encompassed in a big brown smog cloud. Goodness knows what the air was like in the city!!!
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The snowy road back
The panniers were due for delivery today so we headed straight for BMW Ducati to check on progress. The boxes weren’t there. So on the phone again to the shipping company and the boxes were still in LA and were coming over ground and would be there Tuesday. Both BMW Ducati and I complained to them and they were now going to fly the boxes and they would arrive on Sunday and shipped Monday. BMW arranged for a mechanic to be in on the Monday as they are usually closed. Whilst we were they we had a look at the bikes. We were both told the bikes were ready apart from the panniers. Looking at the bikes a lot of the work requested still wasn’t done. More complaints from us and promises the work would be done.
Given the further delays we focused on clearing a lot of admin that had built up including the web updates that we were further behind on than usual. I picked my bike up from BMW Ducati last thing that evening as I had some work to do on it and planned to return it first thing Monday. The weather in Fort Collins had turned to snow and I had a cold and interesting ride back to Garry’s and Jill’s in the snow. All that kept popping into my head was a question from my bike training course… How would you ride a bike in the snow…Answer: You don`t. I got back OK although a little cold!!!
In the evening Kent had got all of us tickets to watch the local Ice Hockey team, Colorado Eagles (definitely not to be confused with Crystal Palace) play Tennessee. It was a great evening with Colorado winning easily although it was a bit surprising to watch players fighting all the time. The referees just let them get on with it and when they are tired send them to a sin bin for 5 or 10 mins only, before rejoining the game!!!
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The game
The following day it was completing the maintenance work on my bike and back on the admin for me as I was down to design some graphics we had planned since the UK and Mike was on dinner duty as treat the Americans to a proper English roast. The graphics went well, but not as well as Mikes roast, with a little help from Jamie Oliver, which went down very well with everyone.
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Dinner is served...(By everyones eyes, eyeballs were on the menu
)Monday came and all hope for the panniers was quickly dashed as we were told that they hadn’t arrived and were on a truck just outside LA. More complaints and promised for Thursday delivery. We tried to fill our time with more admin and bits and trying to work out a route across the Rockies for our forward journey as the cold snap was still with us and a lot of the roads were closed with snow. Time was also ticking away on our visa; we only had 15 days left on them and we still had about 1700 miles to do.
On the Wednesday Mike rode my bike back to BMW Ducati in the snow and cold. His legs are longer than mine so both of his feet reach the floor easily should the bike start to slide. Given the conditions this seemed the wisest move.
The panniers finally arrived on the Thursday and BMW started fitting them and it was Friday afternoon before the bike was ready. We were able to have lunch with Kent before heading off.
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Bikes with the new panniers
It was great staying with Jill and Garry and we spent many an evening playing cards and fighting our way through the left over pies from Thanksgiving. It was though in a way to leave as it really felt like home but the world awaits......
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View of the foothills from Garry`s and Jill`s balcony
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Alex and Jax (Jill & Garry`s dogs)
John
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