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Wbrisett
| | Posted on Monday, August 29, 2011 - 10:58 pm: | 
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*** warning very long ***
Well, I'm finally back home!
After leaving Durango, headed to Phoenix to visit my sister and brother. Rode by four-corner's, but ultimately decided to skip looking at the site, after debating whether to stop or not. I rode through the Navaho reservation to get to Phoenix and while planning the trip and route, I was concerned that I might run into issues finding fuel along the way. However, n the reservation there are a bunch of mini-mart stores with gas that aren't on the GPS. I pulled into one such station, filled up and then pulled over to grab a drink. Then like in a movie, here comes this Navaho guy who rides over on a horse and ties it up outside the store. I had a nice time chatting with him. He was on some loop riding from town-to-town. I didn't quite understand why he was doing it, but he had no money and no water or food for either himself and his horse. After giving him some water I left.
I have to spend some more time in the Coconino and Tonto National Forest areas, they were gorgeous and riding through them did them no justice. It was also nice and cool in the mountain areas, and after riding through the desert areas, it was nice to ride in some cooler areas. However, the minute I started dropping out of Tonto and into the Phoenix area, the 112+ degree heat was very evident. I spent two days at my sister's house and had a great time visiting with both my sister and brother. I also got to catch up with an old high school buddy of mine who now lives in the Phoenix area. That was a very nice treat.
I left my sister's house in Phoenix on Wednesday the 24th and rode to St. George Utah. On Tuesday I got a call from the folks at Snow mountain state park where I had reservations to camp. Turns out they were redoing the pavement inside the park (re-slurring it), and were not having any folks camping. However, since I had made reservations they were going to make an exception for me and I would be the only person in the park! You don't realize how alone you are until you camp inside a park alone without anybody else around.
On my way up to St. George, I stopped by the northern rim of the Grand Canyon. It's not as at exciting to see as the Southern Rim. Ironically, I was stationed in Yuma, AZ for 3 years and never made it up to the Grand Canyon. Go figure.
Got into St. George around what I thought was 4:30 (it was actually 5:30 since I lost an hour leaving AZ), it was a cool 106. I rode through the barriers of the deserted park to find my reservation taped to the ranger's station. They put me in the back area of the park. Not sure why, but maybe it was so you couldn't see me from the main road that goes by the park. All I know is I was expecting it to be warm, but there wasn't a breeze and I don't think it cooled down to the 89 deg mark the forecast predicted for the night.
The next morning while I was enjoying my morning coffee, one of the park rangers stopped by and told me I was suppose to be in a different spot. I then showed him the note that had the spot he thought I was at crossed out with a note to camp where I was camping for the night. He laughed and said, "they never tell me anything." He also told me to hurry up and get out because they had already started working on the road. I had heard the equipment, about 30 minute prior, and so after a quick bagel and another cup of coffee, I packed the Uly and parked the bike outside the park, so I could grab a quick shower.
I was initially going to skip Zion and head directly to Bryce Canyon, however I did want to see Zion and thought I could ride by Zion and see something. However, the road I took went directly through the park and since I had to pay the entrance fee ($12 per person, per bike) I decided to stop visit the park. Glad I did. I took the shuttle and had a great time hiking on some of the small trails. Just after lunch I hopped back on the Uly and headed out to my final destination for the night, a campground in the Dixie National Forest. I have two GPS units, my handheld which has a lot of the off-road trails marked and my Garmin Quest which has some of those trails, but mainly has streets. However, the maps haven't been updated since 2009 and a lot of roads have changed, so having both units helps in areas where things have changed or when I'm hiking. It's also interesting to see how they route different ways. I told them to take me there via the shortest route, the Garmin had me going some round-about way, so I opted for the route the DeLorme set. Later I would regret this...
As I left Hatch UT on the other side of Zion National Park, I headed down the road the GPS told me and none too soon, a huge rain storm was heading my way and it looked like the road would take me around the storm. About 1/2 mile down the road, it turned into a dirt road and I thought, no problem, the Ulysses was after all 90% road, 10% off-road. The Scorpion Sync tires are OK on hard dirt, not great, but not bad. After a couple of miles, the dirt got a bit more loose and I was really working the nearly 800 lbs of weight. Up the mountain I headed... This was NOT the place to make a mistake, the narrow dirt road I was on had a great view of the landscape below, but it was a long way down. Going up was fairly easy, but once I reached the summit, the downside got a bit more tricky. I could tell ATVs used the trails a lot because every corner was loose from the power slides they love to do. On one of the steeper turns, the Uly front tire dug deep into the loose dirt and decided it had had enough and wanted a nap. I had to unload one of the side cases and my attached bags and other things I had strapped on the bike to get it back up-right. After putting things back on, the only real damage was a broken handguard and bent front brake lever (and a broken GPS quest tab). I came to the bottom of the mountain and it opened to a gorgeous open meadow. I thought about camping there for the night, be decided to head to the actual campground which was about a mile up the road according to my GPS. I finally found the campsite, paid my $12 and talked with the "host". I asked him how far it was to the blacktop. Just about six miles. I told him I just went nearly 15 miles on the dirt and asked about the road. He asked where I came from, which should have been my first clue that my route wasn't the normal way into the campground (the RVs should have been my other clue). Turns out he heard there was a route from Hatch, but he had never been way, nor could he find the entrance when He tried looking for it last month. Oh well, it's suppose to be an adventure right?
That night, I discovered that my tent wasn't as waterproof as it should have been as the storms rolled in and I got soaked. I was planning on heading to either to Santa Fe area or back to CO to camp, but after spending the night in a leaky tent, I decided I should pack it in and head home a day early. So I called my wife to let her know I was going to head out to Roswell, then onward home. I had her book me a room in a hotel since I knew I wouldn't get in early enough to setup a tent, nor did I want a repeat of the 100+ night I spent a couple of days earlier.
While stopped for gas in northern AZ, I ran into a couple of guys on Harley's. I had parked next to them and headed inside for a bio-break. When I got back, one of them asked, what sort of bike it was I was riding. When I said a it was a Buell, he said, I never heard of them, his buddy who was at least 10 years older than he was said, "Didn't Harley use to make those?" I went through the story while the first guy went over and looked at the bike. He was smitten with the bike and couldn't believe how much it looked like a BMW, which is what he thought it was. Funny how HD people aren't interested in the bike until they find out HD had something to do with the bike.
Now, I think I mentioned that going down through AZ, I went through the Navaho reservation. I opted to do the same thing leaving (kind of hard not to really). I let the Garmin GPS pick my route since the DeLorme put me on dirt "roads" last time. I saw it picked a couple of "Indian roads". They aren't state highways and I suspect don't have much in the way of state or federal funding. I wasn't too worried since I had taken a couple of them on the way to Phoenix. However, this time it would prove to be quite different. When I got to the road, it started off fine, it was paved and I had about 23 miles to go on it before I hooked up with US 160. About two miles in, the fun began. The hardtop turned to dirt. Initially I wasn't concerned because it was pretty firm and I had gotten my sea legs going up and over the mountain in Utah the day before. My luck ran out about 8 miles in when the firm-ish dirt turned into one big sand dune (or so it seemed). I was literally walking with the bike to keep it upright and the bike was swimming all over the road. I decided that I couldn't do that for another 10+ miles and turned the bike around. Almost immediately a car came barreling down the road and the guy asked me if I was lost. I told him, I was trying to hook up with US 160 and knew I could do it from that road. He told me I was heading the wrong way, because it was the other way. I told him I knew that but that the sand was a bit too much for me and so I was turning around. He then said it's right around the corner. Hmmm... what is right around the corner I thought? I told him that the sand was a bit too much, but both he and his passenger said, the road was around the corner. I thanked them and decided to give it a shot. About 2000 yards in front of me was a corner I couldn't see around. I "swam" with the Uly to the corner and I'll be, there was black top again. WTF? They pave part of the road, leave over 7 miles unpaved, then pave it again? Yep. Not sure what the story was there, but I was able to get back onto asphalt and continue my journey.
I hit Albuquerque late in the evening when the sun had set. I had about 230 miles to go to Roswell. I turned onto US 285 and headed down to Roswell. A few years back I rode my BMW RT to San Jose, CA and hit the high desert of CA at night and remember how desolate it was at night. The ride into Roswell wasn't much better. A few cars and semi's here and there, but not tons of traffic. I was about 12 miles outside of Roswell, I could see the city skyline, when suddenly I felt my backend of the bike go all wobbly. I pulled over to the "shoulder" and knew instantly it was a flat. I'm not sure what I hit, but it put a huge hole in the rear tire. I tried plugging the tire with multiple "ropes" from the repair kit. I got the hole down to a small hiss when I filled it and thought maybe I could make it a few miles, add more air and make it to the motel for the night. I was wrong. I made it maybe 100 feet. After three calls to 411, I ended up with on towing service no longer in business, one who only did big rigs, and one who obviously only works 8-5. Reluctantly I called 911 and they gave me a 24-hour towing service. however, they told me it would be at least an hour and a half before they could arrive. Since it was past midnight now, I really didn't want to wait and asked them if there was another 24-hour towing service. They gave me another number and I talked to them. The guy picked me and the Uly up in about 20 minutes and dropped me off at the hotel. He was a great guy and highly recommended Champion Motorsports in town. He said that if they wouldn't come by and pick up the bike that he would do a flat-rate for me.
The next day, I got my first good look at the puncture and realized how crazy it was that I was trying to patch it the night before. I called the shop they had a tire in stock that fit. It wouldn't have been my first choice for a tire, but it fit. They came by picked up the bike and myself and went to work on changing out the tire. The Bridgestone Battlax bt016 was what they had in stock and they had it ready around lunch complete with a washing.
Honestly, the rest of the trip was fairly boring compared to what I had seen up to that point. My only complaint was that the new tire combination of Scorpion Sync on the front and BT-106 on the rear sucks. I had zero confidence in the corners and could feel the rear sliding out from under me several times in the corners even after 500 miles. Time for two new tires on the Uly!
So, thanks to everybody for the great time in Durango, thanks to my wife for letting me go on a solo ten day trip (actually nine days), and thanks to the Man upstairs for letting me do it all safely.
Wayne |
F_skinner
| | Posted on Monday, August 29, 2011 - 11:17 pm: |
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Wayne, it was could to meet you and chat a bit. I am glad you had a safe and exciting trip. Hopefully we will see you next year.
Frank |
Buellhusker
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 30, 2011 - 10:56 am: |
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Wayne,
Great to hear you made it home in good shape. And it sounds like you did indeed have an adventure see you next year. |
Ghostrider
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 30, 2011 - 02:09 pm: |
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Wow, Wayne! That's a great story! Glad you made it home safe. Remember, if you're ever stuck in NM, you should try to call one of us. Our people know people. We'll take care of you.
Hope to see you next time!
CJ |
Agfish18
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 30, 2011 - 10:02 pm: |
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Wayne, Nice Story... sounds like you had quite a trip. Glad you made it back safe and sound!
I am finally uploading all of my pictures to flickr (save for a few that werent all that great). Hope to have them up tonight or tomorrow morning. |
Agfish18
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 30, 2011 - 10:23 pm: |
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/61510331@N02/
here they are... finally. |
Wbrisett
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 31, 2011 - 06:53 am: |
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A few of my stitched panoramic images... More standard pictures to follow.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/82683679@N00/sets/72157627560845122/
(Message edited by wbrisett on August 31, 2011) |
Wbrisett
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 31, 2011 - 09:10 am: |
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The rest of my images from the trip.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/82683679@N00/sets/72157627561010676/
(Message edited by wbrisett on August 31, 2011) |
Ghostrider
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 31, 2011 - 11:06 am: |
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Wow... great photos! |
Sekalilgai
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 06, 2011 - 08:40 am: |
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great recount of your adventure Wayne! |
Wbrisett
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 20, 2011 - 10:27 am: |
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OK I have to ask. I know the folks who were cited were going to fight the citations. What was the outcome? |
Ghostrider
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 20, 2011 - 03:37 pm: |
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In talking to Ed, they apparently determined that the points were not going to transfer back to NM, so they just paid it. |
F_skinner
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 20, 2011 - 03:59 pm: |
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quote:This is akin to being an officer versus being enlisted. If you're enlisted, you don't need to worry about the details. If you're an officer, the details are your problem.
And your drawing that conclusion based on your experience as an officer or as an enlisted man? |
Ghostrider
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 20, 2011 - 10:56 pm: |
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Well, Chief, my experience is purely academic. Except in management. Then it's as painful as it gets. |
F_skinner
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 21, 2011 - 07:15 am: |
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Academia at it's best. |
Ghostrider
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 21, 2011 - 05:03 pm: |
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So, you don't agree with my analogy? |
F_skinner
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 21, 2011 - 09:12 pm: |
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quote:my experience is purely academic
I would define "experience" as practical knowledge vice academics. I was unsure what you were basing your analogy on. Guess your not going to tell me "Chief."
I found your analogy incorrect based on my experience. Actually I find the reverse to be true, again, based on my experience.
No matter CJ, we can discuss it next time we see each other over a soda pop. I'll buy. |
Ghostrider
| | Posted on Thursday, September 22, 2011 - 11:51 am: |
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You're right that experience and academics are not the same, so poor choice of words on my part.
I referred to you as Chief as a nod to your experience as a retired Chief Master Sergeant. I know you have a lifetime of experience.
I look forward to that soda pop. I hear there's a place in Colorado Springs that brews their own root beer. |
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