Motorcycle Touring: mountains, motorcycles and Motohicans
As some of the last of the Motohicans, each year we try to plot a course different for our annual pilgrimage to two wheels "Sturgis". Our itinerary touring bike for 2010 was to cover a distance of 3.055 miles over 7 days. We covered the first 1,515 miles – from Miami Beach, Florida Wichita Falls, Texas – In less than 36 hours. This should bring me my 51st Iron Butt cert, and bought us the time we needed to relax and take the pace in the landscape over the last 5 days. These last 1,540 miles took us west in stretches of old Route 66 in Texas and New Mexico, then north through the high peaks and narrow valleys of the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Colorado and finally north-east across Wyoming Sundance, our base for this year's Black Hills Classic Trailer ":
http://tinyurl.com/wichitafalls2sundance
After coffee one sunny morning on Monday and cold breakfast egg at the Quinta Wichita Falls, we headed northwest through the valley Red River at 287 where parallel course the famous river and border of Texas and Oklahoma. We made our first stop a little within the Panhandle at a crossroads named Quanah Parker, the "half-breed Indian chief and last Comanche which – given that it generated 25 children with 5 women's – may well have been its founding father. We then around 287 on the High Plains of the Panhandle in small towns lost in time reminds me of "The Last Picture Show" until we reached Amarillo. From there we headed west from the Big Texan Steakhouse on I-40 and old Route 66, stopping for lunch and lots of iced tea to coffee Midpoint Route 66 in Adrian, where the food is good and the people are just as friendly as their site offers:
http://www.midpointroute66cafe.com
A short drive west of Adrian took us cross the state line in the Mountain time zone and Mesalands New Mexico. The transition of the landscape there are endless flat prairies of the High Plains of the mounds flat-topped mesas of the High Desert is sudden, dramatic, and one of those experiences that I have no words to adequately describe. Let's just call a "must see "as Tucumcari, fades gradually Mecca old road car 66 where we stopped to spend the night with Gail in his back-to-the-Motel Safari fifties:
http://smalltown-america.com
Waking on Eastern time, and we were driving west on I-40 by 5 o'clock the next morning. The desert is wide and the road was straight, then twist the gas led us to Albuquerque just in time to enjoy their morning rush hour Tuesday. Despite this, there was a jump to I-25 to Bernalillo, where we gassed to turn northwest on U.S. 550 in the San Juan Basin Badlands "reserved" for Zia and Jicarilla Apaches. There, in mid-morning, we crossed the line division for what would be the first several times:
http://ldrlongdistancerider.com/motorcycle_photos_color/1667.jpg
At noon, we crossed the border in Colorado and mounted in the southern mountains of picturesque postcard from San Juan to our Durango. Durango High Country is a haven of 16,000 comfortable with adjectives like eclectic and eccentric, and one end of the D & SNGRR 45.4 mile (Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad). It is well worth a tour to see, but expect to pay for the privilege. We stayed at the Best Western Inn Durango … and really appreciated our liquid meal with some "responsible" he riders Grill & Bar Christina
http://www.christinasgrill.com
Wednesday morning we were packed again and rolling early, happy to be on track to what was supposed to be the highest point (double meaning) our trip, namely one night at the New Sheridan Hotel in Telluride. The distance we had to cover the western United States Durango about 160 to Cortez and then north on CO 145 to Telluride is less than 120 miles. But with all the stops for Kodak moments along the way, we had a half day to get there. And I'm embarrassed to announce that, after one of these cases, we had the chance to get there at all:
For most of the way, two way CO 145 along the rushing waters of the Dolores River (imagine the old "Taste the High Country" ads Coors, but in the green of summer). And for most of the way, the shoulder is narrow and the descent is steep. In a particularly view, however, I was persuaded to shoot where it seemed that the shoulder was both broader and more open. It was Extended … but it has not been opened. What I rubbed on some wet clay gray. And when I put my right foot down he kept going right. Fully loaded, Hidalgo began listing to the right. I was surprised a moment, but managed to jerk left and get the bike upright before reaching that point of no return dreaded. And after giving thanks to Divine Providence, we were soon be back on asphalt instead of thirty feet slip on a steep slope in the fast ice.
An hour later, after stopping Mountain Top Gas Fuel Rico and Lizard Head Pass crossing, we drove by the entrance of uber-exclusive Mountain Village (elevation 9,545 m) and then down and right on the only road leading into or out of the snow ski resort of legendary Telluride (base 8750 m, 12,570 m slope, peak 13,150 ft). A few more minutes and we were parked on Colorado Avenue and control the New Sheridan Hotel, where a janitor named Elaine biker friendly greeted us as if we were old friends.
It was not my first visit to Telluride or the New Sheridan … but it was my first visit since 1984. Return day, Telluride has been known for more than a sort of snow, and it would not be surprising to walk into the historic New Sheridan Bar and see bowls of peyote around as party favors. But as I said, it goes back in the day … Much tamer now, Telluride is a town rich tales in modern culture and "Old West" history as most of its residents trust funds are net worth. It is in many respects most enchanting and exclusive than Durango. So, as rising prices, in Telluride are even higher. However, washing with a steak Chop House a cold beer at the bar of New Sheridan must be on the list of all the bikers from the bucket:
http://www.newsheridan.com
A Night in Telluride to all our budget would then Thursday morning we were packed to leave long before the sun throughout the ridge tops surrounding us. And At dawn, we resumed our journey north along the narrow winding San Juan Skyway. Arguing with a combination of early morning fog and freezing drizzle, it took us most of an hour to ride the 16 miles from Placerville to twist and turn west on CO 62. We soon left the rain thereafter, however, and the sky cleared enough for us to see that impossible to photograph horizon covering series of peaks touching the sky – anchored by the Mount Sneffels (14,150 ft) and popularly called "the Sneffels Range" – I thought long and wrongly gave Ridgway (correct spelling) name. There we turned left at the traffic in the county of Ouray, and headed on up to 550.
We were north of the towering mountains of San Juan now, and the landscape more open and we got closer to Montrose. Being a bit claustrophobic, DP and I felt relieved to have all these valleys narrow and confining slopes behind us. And rounded hills distant, vast open valleys and arid terrain of Delta to Grand Junction so like Davis Mountains and Big Bend I felt like home. From there we turned east on I-70 rifle and 13 to monitor CO the Wyoming border. 13 CO is not designated as panoramic maps HOG manual, but it certainly should be: rugged hills … training unusual rock … rustic relics … unmarred natural beauty … CO 13, it all.
At the border of Wyoming WY CO 13 becomes 789, and just north of here we stopped for gas in Baggs (just like riding through). At an elevation of 6,245 feet, we were still "on a roll," according standards of Florida, but the ground was far from the mountains. We approached the crest of the High Plains of Wyoming and rolled on the Continental Divide twice more that we did our turns east on I-80 and Rawlins. There we checked into the clean and very affordable Motel La Belle. And as the sun was setting in the west a storm was rising in the east, the production of a sound and light show in the sky this picture could not be taken:
http://www.ldrlongdistancerider.com/motorcycle_photos_color/1704.jpg
Our internal clocks still running two hours in advance, on Friday morning we were back in place well before the sun. Unwilling missed opportunities, however, we waited 'til the day before heading north on U.S. 287, then east on WY 220 to the heart of Cowboy Country and Casper. It was then a short drive to I-25 to Exit Edgerton, turn east on WY 387 to Wright, South fast jut WY 59 WY at 450, then east back to Newcastle on a section of the HOG card manual says, is picturesque, but is not. From then until U.S. 85 to 585 and WY Sundance, however, we were in the Black Hills … and it does not get much more picturesque than that.
Find the full version related to this article posted here:
http://distanceriding.ldrlongdistancerider.com
About the Author
Bruce Arnold is one of the http://tinyurl.com/LastOfTheMotohicans … a record-holding long distance motorcycle rider … bikers’ rights activist, proud member of The 100 … political agitator targeting social injustice and piercing the veil of our two-puppet system to expose the institutionalized greed of the Kleptocracy pulling all strings Left and Right … like Thomas Jefferson, an aficionado of ethnic aesthetic and a philosophical anarchist who accepts the State as a necessary evil under which the best government is less government. Follow Bruce at: http://LdrLongDistanceRider.com
