Don’t you hate that feeling when it all goes to custard and all you can do is slide and watch it unfold.

I was really looking forward to today’s ride up the Beartooth pass as it is one of US’s iconic roads climbing to 11,000 feet with an ongoing series of corners all the way up and over the mountain.

This is a riding holiday and the one thing that concerned me with riding the Harley is that it is so different to my bike in every way. Over the last week I have tried to adapt my riding style to suit the Electra Glide but it is a big wallowy bike that has limits. I thought I had adapted enough. Unfortunately coming into this sweet winding road I found the limit and it bit me. Well us.

The morning started out well. We were in the foothills of the Beartooth on a glorious day. We had a nice rythmn and we certainly weren’t going fast – just cruising along really. I was following a couple of other bikes coming into a 25mph left hander and the floorboard just touched down and then I think we hit a bump mid corner and something dug in lifting the rear wheel. At this point we were passengers sliding out into the scenery. Bugger.! Apparently it did look graceful…

We were helped at the scene by a few people there (as it was a vista point – just not what they were expecting) and some of our tour group who were following. We came out of it pretty well with just a couple of bruises and scrapes. Our gear certainly did its job. The bike didn’t come up too bad and has a few scrapes around the place and a broken screen.

Here’s a couple of photos of my gear. The jacket and helmet didn’t have any marks on them.

Deb was holding the camera at the time and it also copped a beating but is still working. I guess it lives up to it’s name!

After assessing the damage to us and the bike, we jumped back on and continued up to our meeting point to look at the views and take more photos.

Other than being a bit embarrassed about dropping the bike, the worst part is knowing that you hurt your partner. It’s certainly a responsibility that I don’t take lightly. I’m very proud of Deb for brushing herself off and jumping straight back on. Even though it was a slow speed step off they can still be scary.!

Beartooth Pass is a great road but honestly for me, on this bike, it was not that enjoyable. The scenery was certainly spectacular but I had no interest in riding over it again as it was tedious on this bike. On a sports tourer I would have turned around to do the whole thing again. In a heartbeat.

A couple of action shots

Enough of that. The scenery was spectacular up and over the pass with amazing views from every vantage point.

We pulled into the Buffalo Bill town of Cody Wyoming a real cowboy town at about 2pm for lunch and a wander around town before heading to our accommodation.

Here are some other photos from today.

Leaving Red Lodge

---

Tomorrow is a day-off and we are planing a white water rafting trip for a couple of hours – depending on how we feel and then check out some of the museums here.