Southwest Tour - Day 2
Day 2 - Durango to Torrey UT, 384 miles
Today was supposed to be the easiest day of the whole trip. Less than 400 miles to go, gorgeous scenery, and no time constraints to push (400 miles would be easily doable in daylight hours), today would be the ride to enjoy.
And it was a great ride. I think the pictures from today will give a glimpse at just how magnificent the geography is out here. Even though today's ride had alot of duplication from my 2004 Southwest tour, I was riding it in the reverse direction as well as throwing in some new sites. Specifically, I was adding a run down to Kayenta AZ in order to make a run up through Monument Valley. There were some minor routing changes needed in order to fit Monument Valley into the plan, and I wasn't real clear on all those changes until I found myself on some of those roads ... but we'll get to that later. :)
The day started off pretty much as planned. I was up by 6:30am, although I had scrubbed my plan to try and leave at 7:00am. The new goal was to leave by 8:00am. As I was loading up the bike, I met a pair of bikers from California who were still working their way East somewhat, and planning to ride back home over the weekend. These two riders were on a pair of Ducati's; a yellow Monster and a black ST4. Apparently the ST4 rider left his parking lights on overnight, or at least for a few hours, leaving the bike with not enough juice to start the mighty v-twin in the elevated 54 degree morning. They put in a call to AMA, was told the tow truck would be there in 90 minutes, and 5 minute later it was there to jump start the bike. They headed north out of town while I headed West. As I left Durango, you could see some of the higher peaks still had snow capping the top, while the ski lifts I passed along side US160 had obviously been shut down for a few weeks at least.
This trip, my ride along US160 was significantly more positive. In 2004, I had gotten stuck behind a police officer who either intentionally or coincidently liked to drive 5mph below the posted speed limit until a suitable passing zone came up at which point he would speed up to the speed limit. Today there was no troublesome drivers to get stuck behind. I was surprised at the amount of traffic on the road. While traffic wasn't really busy, there was a noticible amount more traffic all the way down to the Four Corners monument than there had been in 2004. I did deviate from my previous trip once I got to the Four Corners monument. Having wised up to the scam (probably a bit too strong of a word, but it's not a fair price in my mind) that is the admission fee to see the Four Corners monument, this time I stopped just outside the gate and took pictures with the signage in the background. You can tell I was at the Four Corners, but I'll have to resort to using my old picture of my pasty white legs under black shorts and tucked into riding boots.
From the Four Corners monument I headed down to Kayenta in order to ride through Monument Valley from South to North. The ride was uneventful, basically following the AZ/UT border for 40 or so miles. There was one small village where Arizona DPS was operating speed enforcement, but otherwise no LEO presence was seen. At Kayenta I turned North on US163 and headed for Monument Valley. As many times as I've seen it pictured in various books, the size, scale, and just overall beauty can't be done justice ... it really is something you just have to see in person. A few of the monuments are close to the road, while others are spread out in the valley. I know my pictures won't portray just how big a sight they are, but they'll help me remember.
After going through Monument Valley, this is where my plan started to fall apart. The original route had my riding through Blanding UT which was a stop back in 2004, and I was thinking that I would be stopping there again this time. My rough plan as I headed through Kayenta, passing up both food and fuel was that I would stop in Blanding for fuel and a quick snack, while stopping later on in Hanksville for real food. Well ... Blanding wasn't on the route, not after I added Kayenta, and apparently not on the version before that change. It turned out, there was no fuel between Kayenta and Hanksville. I had gassed up in Cortez CO just before hitting the Four Corners area, but Hanksville would turn out to be 290 miles away. I made it, but not without riding over 20 miles with the onboard computer telling me I had no fuel remaining. This stint netted me the best gas mileage I've seen yet ... the trip computer reporting 49mpg, and a calculated figure of 47.3mpg. After all that, I was still only able to squeeze in 6.1 gallons of fuel, so I wasn't hurting as bad as I thought. 290 miles is still the longest stretch I've ridden one one tank of gas so far.
To make things a little more interesting, to get from Monument Vally to Hanksville, the mapping programs all added Utah 261 to the plan. A gorgeous stretch of 2 lane blacktop, for the most part, it did hold one little surprise ... a 3 mile stretch of gravel road, all 5mph switchbacks as the road carves it way up the face of mountain. There's no guard rail, no "lanes" to speak of while there is bidirectional traffic along the road. The sites were astonishing, but there was no way I could take my hands off the bars to snap a picture. I probably severely shorted the lifespan of the BMWs dry clutch on that ride. After making the climb, there were several warning signs reminding drivers that Utah is open range, and the closer I got to UT95 the more cattle were grazing roadside. Not in pastures next to the road, but on the road's shoulder. I also got introduced to Utah's tar snakes. At first I thought I had damaged a tire making that gravel climb over the mountain, but it would turn out to be just "traction events" when riding over these tar snakes. They are scary slick out here, and on some roads almost invisible against the black asphalt road surface.
Finally making it into Hanksville, I fueled up, chugged a Gatoraide and topped off my water supply, then headed the ~45 miles into Torrey. A quick shower, call home to let Cass know the cell phones and Internet connection don't work out here, then head over to the Chuckwagon for dinner and conversation. Back to the hotel early to get caught up on sleep, and plan tomorrow's recreational route. No particular destination, just taking in more of the Utah countryside, then back here for the big dinner tomorrow night. This report probably won't get posted until Sunday or Monday, but the ride continues.
Today was supposed to be the easiest day of the whole trip. Less than 400 miles to go, gorgeous scenery, and no time constraints to push (400 miles would be easily doable in daylight hours), today would be the ride to enjoy.
And it was a great ride. I think the pictures from today will give a glimpse at just how magnificent the geography is out here. Even though today's ride had alot of duplication from my 2004 Southwest tour, I was riding it in the reverse direction as well as throwing in some new sites. Specifically, I was adding a run down to Kayenta AZ in order to make a run up through Monument Valley. There were some minor routing changes needed in order to fit Monument Valley into the plan, and I wasn't real clear on all those changes until I found myself on some of those roads ... but we'll get to that later. :)
The day started off pretty much as planned. I was up by 6:30am, although I had scrubbed my plan to try and leave at 7:00am. The new goal was to leave by 8:00am. As I was loading up the bike, I met a pair of bikers from California who were still working their way East somewhat, and planning to ride back home over the weekend. These two riders were on a pair of Ducati's; a yellow Monster and a black ST4. Apparently the ST4 rider left his parking lights on overnight, or at least for a few hours, leaving the bike with not enough juice to start the mighty v-twin in the elevated 54 degree morning. They put in a call to AMA, was told the tow truck would be there in 90 minutes, and 5 minute later it was there to jump start the bike. They headed north out of town while I headed West. As I left Durango, you could see some of the higher peaks still had snow capping the top, while the ski lifts I passed along side US160 had obviously been shut down for a few weeks at least.
This trip, my ride along US160 was significantly more positive. In 2004, I had gotten stuck behind a police officer who either intentionally or coincidently liked to drive 5mph below the posted speed limit until a suitable passing zone came up at which point he would speed up to the speed limit. Today there was no troublesome drivers to get stuck behind. I was surprised at the amount of traffic on the road. While traffic wasn't really busy, there was a noticible amount more traffic all the way down to the Four Corners monument than there had been in 2004. I did deviate from my previous trip once I got to the Four Corners monument. Having wised up to the scam (probably a bit too strong of a word, but it's not a fair price in my mind) that is the admission fee to see the Four Corners monument, this time I stopped just outside the gate and took pictures with the signage in the background. You can tell I was at the Four Corners, but I'll have to resort to using my old picture of my pasty white legs under black shorts and tucked into riding boots.
From the Four Corners monument I headed down to Kayenta in order to ride through Monument Valley from South to North. The ride was uneventful, basically following the AZ/UT border for 40 or so miles. There was one small village where Arizona DPS was operating speed enforcement, but otherwise no LEO presence was seen. At Kayenta I turned North on US163 and headed for Monument Valley. As many times as I've seen it pictured in various books, the size, scale, and just overall beauty can't be done justice ... it really is something you just have to see in person. A few of the monuments are close to the road, while others are spread out in the valley. I know my pictures won't portray just how big a sight they are, but they'll help me remember.
After going through Monument Valley, this is where my plan started to fall apart. The original route had my riding through Blanding UT which was a stop back in 2004, and I was thinking that I would be stopping there again this time. My rough plan as I headed through Kayenta, passing up both food and fuel was that I would stop in Blanding for fuel and a quick snack, while stopping later on in Hanksville for real food. Well ... Blanding wasn't on the route, not after I added Kayenta, and apparently not on the version before that change. It turned out, there was no fuel between Kayenta and Hanksville. I had gassed up in Cortez CO just before hitting the Four Corners area, but Hanksville would turn out to be 290 miles away. I made it, but not without riding over 20 miles with the onboard computer telling me I had no fuel remaining. This stint netted me the best gas mileage I've seen yet ... the trip computer reporting 49mpg, and a calculated figure of 47.3mpg. After all that, I was still only able to squeeze in 6.1 gallons of fuel, so I wasn't hurting as bad as I thought. 290 miles is still the longest stretch I've ridden one one tank of gas so far.
To make things a little more interesting, to get from Monument Vally to Hanksville, the mapping programs all added Utah 261 to the plan. A gorgeous stretch of 2 lane blacktop, for the most part, it did hold one little surprise ... a 3 mile stretch of gravel road, all 5mph switchbacks as the road carves it way up the face of mountain. There's no guard rail, no "lanes" to speak of while there is bidirectional traffic along the road. The sites were astonishing, but there was no way I could take my hands off the bars to snap a picture. I probably severely shorted the lifespan of the BMWs dry clutch on that ride. After making the climb, there were several warning signs reminding drivers that Utah is open range, and the closer I got to UT95 the more cattle were grazing roadside. Not in pastures next to the road, but on the road's shoulder. I also got introduced to Utah's tar snakes. At first I thought I had damaged a tire making that gravel climb over the mountain, but it would turn out to be just "traction events" when riding over these tar snakes. They are scary slick out here, and on some roads almost invisible against the black asphalt road surface.
Finally making it into Hanksville, I fueled up, chugged a Gatoraide and topped off my water supply, then headed the ~45 miles into Torrey. A quick shower, call home to let Cass know the cell phones and Internet connection don't work out here, then head over to the Chuckwagon for dinner and conversation. Back to the hotel early to get caught up on sleep, and plan tomorrow's recreational route. No particular destination, just taking in more of the Utah countryside, then back here for the big dinner tomorrow night. This report probably won't get posted until Sunday or Monday, but the ride continues.
posted by Charlie at
9:59 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home