2025.09.28
Jerome, Idaho to Loveland, Colorado
I wanted to make it all the way home today, so I took the higher paced interstate route. It also looked like it would be the least risky in terms of weather conditions for crossing the Continental Divide.
1930s Ford pickup
The Wasatch Range coming out of Ogden, Utah
I ended up crossing the Continental Divide twice due to how it splits for the Great Divide Basin along I-80. Once at 6,930 ft, then again at 7,000 ft just west of Rawlins, Wyoming. Right after I cleared the divide I got gas and the weather looked stormy so I checked the radar and weather report. Just rain and wind, no snow or hail, so I continued on and rode through the cold rain.
It was dark by the time I made it into Colorado, and I was treated to a beautiful view of moonlight highlighting the silhouette of the mountains.
As I rode through peaks and valleys, the temperature changed dramatically from cool to warm and back again. Finally I arrived home and closed the loop on my coast to coast trip after 37 days away and 7,616 miles on the Goose.
Though the V7 isn't the ideal touring machine, it was moderately comfortable, but more importantly there was spirited fun. As usual, my favorite thing about being involved in a motorcycle event like this and traveling with a group was the people. I enjoyed the company of old friends, and I enjoyed making new friends.
Tomorrow I'll be back to work again, and Tuesday I'll call around to see if either of the two Moto Guzzi shops that are accessible to me have confidence in taking apart the final drive and replacing the seals.
Here is an incomplete track of the route I took, exported from my Garmin Zumo XT2. Unfortunately I didn't adjust the settings to keep the whole trip so its retention configuration eventually cleared out the beginning of the trip.
I hope y'all have enjoyed my ramblings and photos. I'll end the trip report with a favorite quote of mine from Mark Twain's The Innocents Abroad.
"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime."
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