Back from D.C. Sunset Ride

We're back in the Great State of Colorado after a week in our nation's capital: Washington, D.C.  Yep, a whole week without riding a motorcycle, though I must admit, I was too tired at the end of each day to even think of riding!  Hot and muggy and crowded were the conditions mostly.  Still, the boys had wanted to go and I hope they got something out of it.

We got back shortly before Noon today, flying in from Grand Rapids, MI where we had a stopover in the flight from Ronald Reagan National Airport.  I had work to do and so I didn't get a real chance to go riding until sometime after 6:30 PM.

I rode Brigitta, my '87 Airhead Beemer R80.  She started right up and we were soon meandering about the neighborhoods near my home enjoying the cooling evening.  The setting sun was mostly masked by a big cloud formation to the west but there was a brief period where the clouds caused the sun to appear to shoot rays through the clouds:

 Shot near the Ireland Street Overpass, the sun was bathing

downtown Denver with warm rays of sunshine.

 The evening was also very clear of the usual haze and "brown cloud" that sometimes

hangs over Denver, permitting the above and below view of nearby mountains

It appears darker than it was, was shooting in "Sunset" mode.

After the above pictures, I rode around a bit more as I waited for the sunset to happen near 8:30PM.  I must have ridden perhaps two hours or so, just enjoying being able to cover distance without depending on mass transit or my tired feet!

Near sunset time, I spotted some nice looking cloud formations forming to the South and headed towards the Aurora Race Track and Reservoir hoping for some good angles.  The big cloud formation I'd mentioned before precluded any sunset silhouette pictures but it did paint the southern clouds interestingly:

At the Aurora Race Track, looking South.

The horse trailers in the background kind of ruined this shot but.....

Seeking a better angle on the above cloud formation, I left the race track and headed towards the entrance of the Aurora Reservoir.  I spotted a dirt track leading towards the entrance of the reservoir and positioned Brigitta thus:

I like this shot the best from this evening's ride.

My family and I are so glad to be back in Colorado.  The D.C. area is just too hot and humid and crowded for us.  Traffic was more horrendous than we remembered from our days of living there in Northern Virginia and I doubt the riders that I did see wearing gear were very comfortable.  Did I mention humid?  And, it's not even summer yet!