Last weekend a bunch of riders came down from Phoenix to ride with the Tucson crew. On Saturday they did Charouleau Gap, a ride I hope to do at some point this year, but I’m still pretty intimidated by.
I mean look at it:
Chiva Falling
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Category Archives: USA
Sibley Mansion re-ride
I had been wanting to re-ride Sibley Mansion ever since my first attempt ended with a bang. Riding old trails you once found very challenging, can really put in perspective how far you’ve come. My “Death in the Desert” re-ride was a great example, but while I hoped it would be laughably easy this time around, Sibley was still putting butterflies in my stomach.
James and I met Allyn at a gas station in Tucson, with plans to meet a new to the area rider, Jay, up in Mammoth.
We got on the bikes to head North, Allyn kicked it into first and his bike made a terrible grinding sound and the chain flopped right off! He was trying to figure out why he wasn’t going anywhere, so I tapped his shoulder and pointed at the bike of his bike.
Somehow the sprocket had sheared all but one bolt and mostly removed itself from the bike. Luckily the chain was unbroken, so Allyn borrowed the Zeb to get new bolts and get us on our merry way. Continue reading
The Pacific Coast Highway, Salton Sea and the Final Leg Home
I don’t know what to say about the PCH that hasn’t already been said. The road winds along the cliff edge so perfectly. The views are so entrancing it’s hard to make yourself stop and take pictures, most of the time you just ride along with your mouth dropped open, mystified by the sheer beauty of it all.
The Zeb with the ocean and a field of wildflowers
Continue reading
Alice’s Restaurant, MotoGP and more of San Francisco
I got up the next morning and used the gps on my new phone to find Alice’s Restaurant. I was suspicious when it said it was only 15 minutes away, but somehow decided to blindly follow technology. 15 minutes later I arrived at Alice’s -Cafe- in the middle of San Francisco. I googled Alice’s Restaurant on my phone to get the real address…which was another 45 minutes away. I called Dwayne to let him know what happened and hit the highway South to the correct destination.
I while later I felt moisture on my leg and smelled fuel. I pulled over.
DAMMIT. I thought I just paid to get this fixed?! Continue reading
San Francisco
The coast proved to be much cooler…too cool really and quite wet, but the fog was gorgeous.
Washington, Oregon and the California Redwoods
I headed inland through Portland, which seemed to me an overwhelming network of highways, interstates and horrendous traffic. The interstate was backed up for miles. I patiently sat in traffic and duck walked the bike along inch by inch while contemplating the risks and benefits of lane splitting in a state where it was illegal. A group of guys in a truck with a dirt bike in the back and Fox logo decals on the windows gave me a thumbs up as they inched by.
Then my bike began to overheat.
I pulled off the road and let it sit for a few minutes, but it was scorching hot and the traffic still wasn’t moving. As I was debating my next move, an older couple on a Goldwing rolled up next to me. I explained my dilemma and they convinced me to follow them up the side around traffic. “Don’t worry.” the man said “If we get pulled over, I’ll talk our way out of it!” and off we went, passing the cars inching along the tarmac. The previously friendly truck people all gave me the finger as we chugged past. “But it was overheating!” I pleaded apologetically. Oh well.
Eventually we were freed from the jam and I made a beeline for Eugene, Oregon where an old friend had moved for grad school. He kindly let me crash his couch for a couple nights and took me out around the town.
They have an amazing bakery there called Voodoo Donut, where they make all kinds of crazy confections.
It would have been cool to go this whole trip without crashing…
I rolled into the lovely town of Bellingham in Washington and stayed with Ian, another Adventure Motorcyclist who had done some impressive trips of his own. We chatted about bikes and he recommended I ride the lakeside road out in the morning.
The lake was indeed gorgeous and the road twisted around in tight curves marked 25 miles an hour. I was going about 35, jamming to my iPod and grinning with every turn.
Then I hit one marked 15mph…but there wasn’t time to really slow down. I leaned the bike over as hard as I could, I swear I felt completely horizontal and was just waiting to hear scraping, but the bike kept leaning. I should have just kept going for it, I may have made it, but foolishly I began to wonder what would happen if I slid out. I glanced to the side of the road at the muddy rut that awaited me and next thing I knew the bike bolted up and started heading right at it. Since I wasn’t leaned over, I thought I could hit it dead on and ride it back out onto the road again, but the grass was slippery and the bike spun sideways, hitting the embankment and bucking into the air.
I was suddenly splayed out face down in the mud, with my bike upside-down, backwards, on top of my head. I reached up and blindly pushed the bike off of me, grabbing onto some searing hot piece of engine which promptly melted through my glove and the first few layers of skin.
I stood up and checked my body all over. Aside from neck soreness, hand burn and a killer headache, I was alright.
“Holy shit!” A young guy driving by had seen my crash and thought I was toast. He kindly helped me drag my bike out of the muddy ditch, asking me about a hundred times if I was really okay before he continued on down the road.
The bike is facing the opposite way of my original direction, you can see the pile of dirt where we hauled the bike out of the muddy ditch. I had some nice grassy handlebar fringe for a while too… Continue reading
Chief Joseph’s Highway & Beartooth Pass
I got so caught up photographing and exploring Yellowstone, that I was running out of daylight by the time I left the park.
Here are a few more shots leaving the park.
I risked life and limb for this shot. Crawled over the barrier, reasoning that my motorcycle gear would protect me if I fell to my doom.
This place is truly breathtaking…
Continue reading
Howlin’ at the Moon
Please excuse this interruption to my summer storytelling. I hope I don’t confuse anyone with this post, but I just had an awesome weekend in Prescott and wanted to post about it before continuing my summer trip report…
So a few months ago my friend Allyn started hounding me to register for a dual sport ride up in Prescott called Howlin’ at the Moon he insisted last year was the most fun he ever had riding and I -had- to make it to this year’s event. I begged the time off work and registered well in advance. The event totally sold out at 200 riders.
I had a minor panic moment when my bike decided to freak out and fall apart. The starter switch failed, so I was kick starting it all the time. The exhaust was falling off -again- and the subrame nuts that the seat bolts into broke off. Joy. Continue reading
Yellowstone
As I entered the South entrance of the park I noticed an expanse of dead trees. Apparently there had been a large forest fire and the landscape is still recovering.
Kinda creepy really…
