Don’t Let Bill Lead
Monday, August 24th, 2020
Bill on Wilkerson Pass.
Not to put too fine a point on this but the OFMC should never let Bill lead.
OK, sure, if all we’re doing is following one highway in one direction and there is no way to go wrong, fine, he can take the lead. But if there are any turns involved someone else better be in front. And even then there can be problems.
We saw this a couple times on this last trip we took in July. On the first day we were heading south from Poncha Springs to Alamosa. There is a point along there where you need to get off U.S. 285, which veers southwest at this point, onto CO 17, which continues straight south to Alamosa.
Bill was in the lead and at this intersection he just stayed on 285. Dennis and I made the turn and pulled over to wait for him to return.
While we waited I told Dennis about the time up in Wyoming many years ago when we were coming down from Cokeville on U.S. 30, headed to Kemmerer. There is a point there where 30 bends east and if you go straight you get onto WY 89 headed into Utah. Bill blasted past the turn and so did John. I pulled over to wait. After a while John came back but then we waited longer for Bill. It seems he ran into a speed trap and was getting issued a ticket. Bill has never lived that one down.
So this time around he figured it out pretty quickly and came right back and on we rode to Alamosa.
A few days later we were headed to Durango, coming down through Ouray and Silverton. Leaving Silverton it looked like rain ahead so we were geared up, but it wasn’t long before the skies cleared and it started getting warm. Dennis did not want to be cruising slowly through Durango all rain-suited up so he turned on his right-turn signal and kept trying to attract Bill’s attention. But Bill wasn’t paying any attention. Finally Dennis and I pulled over on our own and stripped off the suits. When we encountered Bill a short way down the road he said he thought it was silly to stop when Durango was so close ahead. Later, however, he acknowledged the wisdom of shedding the suits before reaching town.
And then two days later we did it again. We were heading north out of Monticello, Utah, on U.S. 191 and needed to turn right at La Sal Junction onto UT 46. Bill was leading and once again he blasted right on by. Again Dennis and I made the turn and pulled over to wait for him to come back.
Back when John was still riding with us he often would take the lead. Queried about this once he said that he didn’t trust most of the guys to have any real sense of where we were going. He singled me out as the exception because, “Ken always has a map right in front of him on top of his tank bag.” And I prefer to bring up the rear, so that arrangement worked well.
But now it’s just the three of us and it looks like Dennis and I are going to have to more actively ensure that if the route is at all tricky, Bill is not in the lead. Sorry Bill, we love ya, but now that your brother Friggs is no longer coming on these trips you inherit his old title of Mr. Oblivious. I guess it runs in the family.
Biker Quote for Today
100 Reasons not to date a motorcyclist: You’ll have to park your new car outside because the garage is full of bikes.
