Cyclerides.com Weekly Update

Cyclerides.com Weekly Update
7/26/17

Greetings Riders,

If you missed the letter last week with my review of Riding in North Carolina and Tennessee on the Tail of the Dragon, Click Here to Read and to view photos. If you have missed the previous newsletters of this trip, each letter will have a link to the previous letter that you can navigate to.

Sorry for the delay in getting the newsletter out this week. We went back to our hometown, Lansing, Kansas for Mrs. C's 40th high school reunion and then on up to Oshkosh, Wisconsin for the first 2 days of the big EAA Airventure Show in Oshkosh. For those of you that haven't heard of the Oshkosh Air Show, it is the equivalent of Sturgis only for aviation. Even if you are not a huge fan of aviation, I would highly recommend taking in this event at some point. Over 10,000 small aircraft fly into Oshkosh for the event where most camp out under their wings. Over 500,000 people also attend the event. It was amazing for us to see for the first time. Much like it was seeing Sturgis for the first time.

The reason that the newsletter is delayed, is that we encountered a little problem with our own plane flying back yesterday morning. We stopped in Pueblo, CO for fuel, took off and headed SW to climb over the mountains toward Phoenix. When we got to about 8500 feet in elevation on our climb out, which was only about 3000 feet off the ground, we lost all power on the motor. Oil pressure dropped to almost nothing and we were now for all purposes, a Cessna glider.

We were about 30 miles SW of Pueblo where there weren't many options to land. I was in contact with Denver approach for flight following and let them know that I had lost power and if they could vector me to an airport to land. They said that the closest airport was 14 miles away. That was going to do me no good because by this point I was only about 2000 feet off the ground and going down fast. I told ATC that there was 2 private strips showing up behind me that I couldn't make and one abandoned strip on my left that I could make. I told them that I was either going to take the abandoned strip or land on I-25 which I was keeping in sight below me. I-25 could have worked, but I didn't want to be a story on the nightly news.

We chose to head for the abandoned strip as it looked pretty good from a couple of miles away. But to make it I had to put my gear and flaps down to slow the plane to land on this very short strip. Everything was going pretty good until we got right at the beginning of the runway and saw about 8 cars blocking the end of the strip, as it was no longer an active runway. We were going too fast at this point to try to land there and stop before wiping out all the cars and us for sure. By this point we were only about 30 feet in the air, so I quickly turned 20 degrees left, flew over a fence and landed in a field full of weeds, prairie dogs, clumps of grass and loose dirt.

It was one bumpy ride and we were hoping that there were no ravines, holes, logs, or anything else that could have damaged the gears or flip over the plane. After I got it stopped, we took a deep breath, realized we were safe, gave a big Amen for the help and got out. We checked over the plane and could not find anything wrong with it at all. After about 10 minutes I tried to start the plane and it started right up and ran full power. After several full power tests, it seemed to be running alright, so we decided to fly it out. We walked a path about 1/2 mile checking the terrain for obstructions, picked a sight line down the way and started the roll to fly it out.

We were full fuel, there were many clumps of grass, and the dirt was so soft that it was extremely hard for the plane to get up enough speed to get up. But we finally did and slowly pulled out over the power lines to get out of there. We went back to Puelblo to have a mechanic check it out and he said that he could not find anything wrong with it. So we decided to go ahead and fly it home and got back last evening after dodging thunderstorms most of the way.

As a pilot, you train for this type of scenario, hoping you never have to use it. But in this case we were blessed to be able to find a suitable place to set it down without hurting ourselves or anyone else. The good news for us is that we lived to tell the story. I told Mrs. C. that I was just holding on to the yoke, someone else was flying the plane. When the plane came to a stop, we gave a big Amen and thanks to God for getting us through this one safely. While the whole ordeal of getting the plane down was pretty tense, taking it back off from that field was not much better.

So this is why the newsltter is late this week. I will be back next week with the continuation of our riding back East.

Have a good weekend and Ride Safe,
Barry

This Week

Friday, July 28th
Arrowhead Harley-Davidson Ink & Iron Car and Bike Show.
Presented by: Arrowhead Harley-Davidson and Top Rocker Tattoo, Friday, July 28th 2017 6pm – 9pm (registration begins at 5pm). Bike show categories: Best Vintage / Best Custom / Best Club Style / Best Softail / Best Bagger /Best Sportster (Plaques and gift cards for winner of each category).
Car show: All makes and models welcome. $300 tattoo to first place winner & $150 tattoo to runner-up.
*Bikini Bike Wash *Live Band *Free BBQ *Free Ice Cream * Raffles. Raffle proceeds benefit the Lupus Foundation of America. Blowout Specials on all pre-owned 2017 Motorcycles
After Hour Harley Markdowns:
$100 off all regular priced leather jackets
$25 off all regular priced boots
15% off all regular priced H-D helmets
Arrowhead HD is located at 16130 N. Arrowhead Fountain Center Dr. in Peoria, AZ. 623-247-5542. www.arrowheadharley.com

Saturday, July 29th
Chandler Harley-Davidson Burgers, Babes and Blood. Burgers, Babes and Blood Blood Drive Event: Join Chandler Harley-Davidson and the American Red Cross on July 29th for our burgers, babes and blood drive event. American Red Cross will be here to host blood donations, we’ll be serving FREE burgers for lunch and we’ll have the Chandler Harley babes here for a free bikini bike wash! Chandler Harley-Davidson is located at 6895 W. Chandler Blvd. in Chandler, AZ. 480-496-6800. www.chandlerharley.com

Saturday, July 29th
Buddy Stubbs Arizona Harley Davidson Hogs & Dogs. Buddy Stubbs Arizona Harley-Davidson is your home of the Lifetime Powertrain Warranty! Come by on Saturday, July 29th from 11am-2pm and take part in our FREE “Prepare to Tour Workshop!” We’ll cover all the recommended gear for traveling long distance! In addition, enjoy FREE food and live music during our monthly Hogs & Dogs customer appreciation party as well as a bikini bike wash. Be sure to stop in and talked to our friendly staff about Warranty Forever, Arizona’s exclusive Harley-Davidson Lifetime Powertrain Warranty! For as long as you own your motorcycle we’ve got you covered. Why would you ever want to purchase a Harley without a that? Check our website for all the details at www.buddystubbshd.com/warranty-forever. For more information about Buddy Stubbs H-D check them out online at buddystubbshd.com and be sure to follow them on Facebook and Instagram. Buddy Stubbs Harley-Davidson is located at 13850 N. Cave Creek Rd. Phoenix, AZ 85022.

Saturday, July 29th
Desert Wind Harley-Davidson Used Bike Scratch and Dent Tent Event. All Day Event 9a.m. - 5p.m. Used Bike Scratch & Dent Tent Event. Bring your trade-in, we take all makes and models. Over 30 Financial Lenders to choose from. On ALL New 2017 Models, ZERO Cash Down. NO Payment for 90 Days!* thru July 31st. Call Sales at (480) 894-0404 for details and to schedule an appointment. www.desertwindhd.com *With Approved Credit. Desert Wind Harley-Davidson is located at 922 S. Country Club Dr. in Mesa, AZ. 480-894-0404.

Extras

Mid Week Updates will be made on the Cyclerides.com Facebook. New Easy to remember Facebook address. Go to www.facebook.com/cycleridescom. Over 6500 LIKES! Take a look at all the new photos posted on the wall. If you are not on Facebook, you can still view the page, but you will not be able to post. There will be a link there for you to sign up for Facebook if you are inclined. Click the LIKE button!

Video of the Week
Here is an excellent video from Human Planet. Click Here. Click on the Video of the Week graphic to view.

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Until Next Week,
Blessings and Safe Riding To All,

Barry Caraway
"The Road Is Yours - Take The Ride"
www.cyclerides.com