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Blast across the Southwest
 4 guys, 4 Harleys, and nearly a thousand miles of desert between ourstarting point in San Diego County and our destination in SouthwesternColorado. But just because we had 6 days on our hands doesn't mean we took itslow or easy. No sir.... read on for the adventures of John (SoftailCustom), Paul (Road King), Don (Softail) and Keith (Fat Boy). Day 1 Encinitas to Flagstaff (about 475 miles) Highway 5 North to 76 East to 15 North Nothing exciting about this - just getting out of town and through traffic. Just deal with it - it'll be over soon. Highway 15 North to Hwy 79. Starting to taste the open road, but still on a major freeway - lot's of traffic. Just crank the throttle and go. Hwy 79 North (Temecula to I-10) Blah - this is a shortcut, but flat and boring. I-10 East (Beaumont to Palm Springs) Back on the Interstate again. Fast, but lots of trucks, can bereally windy on this highway some days. Guess that's why all thosewindmills are along the highway just east of Palm Springs. The I-10 isprobably my least favorite bike road on the planet, but we attacked itferociously. When in pain, best to get it over with quick and move on. Hwy 62 North, then East (Palm Springs to Vidal Junction) This is the desert boys and girls - lots of cactus, sand, and thosecurious looking Joshua trees. Had been some serious thunderstorms acouple of days before and there was still a bunch of sand on the road,though you could see where big trucks with plows on the front hadcleared most of it away. Keep your hand close to your face or you getsandblasted when a car goes by (or wear a full face helmet). Hey - it'sbetter than snow! Highway 95 North (Vidal Junction to Needles) Note - there are two Highway 95's, both running North/South, one oneach side of the Arizona California border. So if you ever arrange tomeet up with someone along the 95, make sure you're specific. Note- Iprefer the ride on the Arizona 95, especially south of Lake Havasu City(but that's another story). The California version of the 95 takes youthrough desert, and more desert, and more desert - get the picture?Occasional nice mountain vistas (which change dramatically with thelight). We saw monstrous thunderheads moving along on both sides of us,with huge lightening bolts hitting every few seconds. If you haven'texperienced this in the desert, where you can see for 50 miles or morein each direction - it's something to see - a very humbling experience!
Highway 40 East (Needles, CA to Flagstaff, AZ) Yeah, there are plenty of signs to tell you this is part of historicRoute 66, but when you are blasting along at 80 mph dodgingthunderstorms and lightening bolts, it just doesn't seem thatimportant. Paul and Don both had cheapo rain suits, which shredded inthe wind in about 10 minutes. Paul didn't even realize till he stoppedand all he had left was his collar and one piece around an ankle. My$40 Tourmaster rain suit did the job. Hey - if you are going to go tothe trouble of bringing along and wearing a rain suit - might as wellmake it one that works. One good thing about this road - if you're in a hurry (we were) youcan crank along between 90 and 100 mph and nobody seem to mind (we did- no cops, no tickets). By the time we got to Flagstaff, we were dryagain. Overnight - Motel 6 on E. Butler Ave. They didn'tmind 4 guys on noisy bikes who asked for a room where we could park thebikes close by. So we liked them. (Despite their questionable standardsin accepting us as guests!) Dinner and beers - Flagstaff Brewing Company, 16 E. Route 66 . www.flagbrew.com Good grub, good beers, and oh-so-lovely waitresses! Day 2 Flagstaff, AZ to Durango, CO (about 360 miles) Hwy 89 North (Flagstaff to Hwy 160) I have mixed feelings about this road, and have been on it many times. Asyou leave Flagstaff and go past pine trees with mountains on one sideand the hint of a mysterious desert adventure ahead - it's enticing andexhilarating. Then the landscape changes and you get into a high desert are that just doesn't do much for me. Kind of flat, not much vegetation, all with a gravel-like texture behind it. Maybeit's just me? Maybe I have a problem.... maybe I should be intherapy.... hey, wake up! Who needs therapy when you have a bike - duh! Hwy 160 East (through Navajo territory from Tuba City to Kayenta) Landscape starts to get a lot more interesting - hints of scenes from old western movies. Great riding, no traffic along here. Aswe're getting gas in Kayenta, a lady steps off an RV, walks over andwith a thick French accent, says: "This looks like a lot more fun onmotorcycles than in this RV, wonder if I can convince my husband to dothis trip on a bike next time." We get out of there before the husband shows up - just in case he's armed (it's Arizona, isn't everyone?). Hwy 163 North and East (Kayenta, AZ to Bluff, UT)
This is it - the real thing. There's not much that compares with riding through Great highway too - nobody else out here but us - just awesome!!
Hwy 162 East (turns into Hwy 41 in CO) (Bluff, UT to the 160 just Four Corners - borders of AZ, CO, UT, NM) More beautiful road, but after we're kind of spoiled aftercoming out of the Monument Valley area, with all those cool rockformations. Highway 160 East (from Four Corners into Durango) Meet up with Larry in Cortez, CO on his brand new Ultra-Glide coming out to meet us from his place in Durango. Larryjust moved here a couple of years ago and built an awesome place in themountains - where we'll be spending the next 3 nights. Thanks Larry!! As we're chatting with Larry in Cortez, someone says there should be about 5,000 bikers in town for the rally. Rally, what rally, I thought we were just out on a road trip? "Duh - Keith, how could you not know we were coming here for Ignacio Bike Week?" Visionsof beer, flashy bikes, lots of chrome, flashing tits, black leather,and tattoos dance before my eyes. Haven't been to one of these in years. "Oh well, we're here - let's do this thing up right!" Overnight for the next couple of nights - Larry's place. Nice digs!!
Day 3 - Durango to Pagosa South Fork (about 160 miles round trip) Larry decides to take us for a tour on one of his favorite "Cool Roads" - along Hwy 160 in Southwest Colorado, to Pagosa Springs and then on to South Fork.
We're at 8,000 to 10,000 feet all the way, and my carbureted Fat Boy is spitting and farting in protest. The scenery is gorgeous. Larry points to a small stream down in a valley and tells us this is the headwater of the Rio Grande. (Turns out he's right).
Day 4 Ignacio Bike Week (aka Four Corners Rally) What can I say - the pictures tell the story. Everybody should do this once. I think the first time I went to one of these was more than 25 years ago. It was a thrill to see young cuties flash their tits. But here we are 25 years later - I think it's the same ladies still flashing. Not as exciting as when you were 25 years younger! But I keep looking anyway. Go figure!
Day 5 Durango to Flagstaff (about 350 miles) Back in the saddle again
Hwy 491 South ( to Gallup, NM) Nice road, but Gallup is nothing like what I expected. (All I saw was a truck stop - maybe there's more?) Hwy 40 West (Gallup, NM to Flagstaff) My wrist and Mr. Fat Boy are itchy today - so we cruise along at 90 mph most of the day. Overnight at the Travelodge in Flagstaff. We take over a small interior courtyard and put all the bikes in there - even get to lock a gate so they are secure. Turned out to be a major pain to get them out the next morning, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. Day 6 Flagstaff to Encinitas (about 475 miles) Hwy 89 South (Flagstaff to Sedona)
The day started so innocently - with nothing to foreshadow the evil that was to come. The ride down the 89 from Flagstaff to Sedona on a bike, especially early in the morning - is breathtaking. The road follows Oak Creek for miles inside deep canyons, with lush pine forest and incredible forest smells. Ah - wake up and smell the pines! Stopped for coffee in Sedona with my old buddy Joel - who is stillhurting from taking that corner too fast on the Ducati in the mountainsoutside Barcelona (get back on the horse soon Joel). Highway 89, then 71, then 60 (Jermoe, AZ to Vicksburg Junction, AZ)
I love this place. However, I got excited for a few miles coming outof Jerome toward Prescott, and had the old Fat Boy cranked wide open,scraping the floorboards in showers of sparks. The guys were way behind me, no doubt cursing my idiocy once again. This time they were right - boom! Something popped in my engine, and power just disappeared. Pulled over right away and didn't see any visible damage or oil pouring out (used to own Brit bikes). Gave it a couple of minutes and tried to start it back up. It caught, and ran, but really roughly and made lots of noise (top end and bottom end, it sounded like). Shit!! By the time the guys caught up I knew I was in deep shit. They went on ahead and sent back a tow truck, which showed up an hour later. Foundthe boys waiting patiently for me when the tow truck (Tar Heels Towing- nice guy!) deposited me at a Uhaul shop, where they had line up atruck for me. Could have been worse!! Loadedup the wounded soldier and off we went - the guys up ahead enjoying themountain ride, and me driving a truck behind them. Highway 10 West I stopped envying the guys when we met up at a truck stop along the 10. It was 107 F and baking in the desert - at least 10 degrees hotter on the asphalt on a motorcycle. I offered to throw another bike or 2 in the back of the truck but these are hardcore riders. No way are they going to wimp out on the way home! Go team! A couple of days and $1,200 later, I had a new cam, new lifters, new oil pump and a smooth running Fat Boy once again. All's well that ends well. |
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