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Co, Nm, Az, Ut Ride - April 07


REDDOG

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TWO NEW VIDEOS

My good friends Tim and Gary planned to spend a few days in the Ozarks and then head West to ride NM, AZ, and UT.

Weather could be a factor out West, so our plan was to meet in Taos, NM, and then plan the rest from there.

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video preview

:media:Devils Highway video - highway 191 Arizona, 20 min 65 mb mvw format, dmb and Nirvana do the sound.

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:media:Highway 152 New Mexico - the best road in USA in my opionion a wonderful surprize.

Miguel (VFRD CEO) and I have been riding together for years around Colorado, so I sent him a typical two sentence email

inviting him to ride along. Hey Miguel, lets ride for a few days down south. Meet at the World Arena in Colorado Springs (10am Sunday),

spend the night in Taos and figure out the rest after that.

Miguel emails back that he will be there. Thats it, we are all set. I love simple plans!

Rather than slab from the "Springs" to New Mexico we decided to take mostly backroads. So on to the pics......

Leaving Woodland Park Sunday morning, Pikes Peak in the background.

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Breakfast in Colorado Springs. You would never guess by the quality of the sign, but the food and service are always good.

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Popular with bikers as well.

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I arrived early at the World Arena to meet up with Miguel and had time to watch the SCCA folks racing around their little road course.

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Miguel shows up right on time and we take the backroads to Westcliff, CO. The San De Christo mountain range is snow capped and spectacular.

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These buffalo almost caused a crash. Miguel was leading in the left side of the lane with me in trail.

I saw his hand go up and thought he was telling me to look the buffalo, so I did.

I looked strait again and see Miguel hard on the brakes and moving quickly to the right.

Not enough time to stop behind him, or go left around him. I decided to let up on the

brakes and try and squeeze between him the guardrail. He saw my head light at last second

and moved a little left. We missed each other by a few inches.

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He actually signaled that he was going to stop and take a picture of the buffalo...oops......

We wrote it off as being rusty after a long winter and agreed that if we did crash this trip it

would not be into each other.

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Lunch in La Veta, CO.

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Private parking right outside our rooms in Taos.

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There are some big ass trees in Taos! Hung my hat in there for comparison.

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Gary (left) and Tim at breakfast. Gary came in from Texas, Tim from Ohio.

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Miguel suggested lunch in the "Plaza", downtown Santa Fe. Great choice and really neat town.

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From Santa Fe we take back roads down to Al-bu-kurky. This is on top of Sandia peak, which overlooks the town.

It was cold until we got to the top, at which point the radio transmissions from all these towers seemed to

have a warming sort of microwave effect on the body. It also raised my battery voltage by two volts

when we passed the towers. Not to mention setting off my radar detector, resetting my mileage, and shorting

out my electric vest. No wonder people think weird alien stuff happens in New Mexico.

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Forum CEO...attention on the deck!

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Albukurky down there in the haze.

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Hotel in Silver City, NM. Amazing how much crap goes on the bike.

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In Arizona now, heading for "Devils Highway".

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Devils Highway, 83 miles of curves. Give this road the utmost respect we agreed at the half way point. You name it, it was there.

Elevation changes, tight unpredictable curves, very little signage, random gravel, steep cliffs with no guardrails, and plenty of things

to hit if you screwed up. Either the valley a 1000 feet below, the trees, or rocks. Not to mention you are

literally out in the middle of nowhere. Miguel will be posting some good video of 152 in NM and Devils Highway (191).

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Lots of slab in AZ after Devils Highway. We were heading north to Mexican Hat in UT.

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The door lock to my room at the Mexican Hat Lodge.

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Guess the crib might be handy if you brougt little ones along.

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No bar of soap or shampoo in the room, but they did have a nice Gojo soap dispenser mounted inside the shower stall.

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Here are our steaks, on a grill that swings above the fire as they are cooked.

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Don't think the Mormons are pleased with this beer label. It does seem popular with the locals though.

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Get up, ride 500 miles, find a hotel, eat dinner, and party. The daily routine never got old.

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More rocks in Utah.

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Heading home. This was a bike shop in Gunnison, CO. Tim's tire was wearing down faster than expected

and he was not going to make it back to Ohio. Ended up getting a tire a tire in Colorado Springs

before heading home.

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The total trip was 1800 miles in four days. Great time and great company.

12 Comments


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  • Member Contributer

Is anyone else having trouble getting the pics to show up? I relly wanted to see these.

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  • Member Contributer
Is anyone else having trouble getting the pics to show up? I relly wanted to see these.

Are you getting any of the pics?

I see them fine when logged in as a member. Just have to wait a few for them to load before starting to scroll down.

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  • Member Contributer
Is anyone else having trouble getting the pics to show up? I relly wanted to see these.

Are you getting any of the pics?

I see them fine when logged in as a member. Just have to wait a few for them to load before starting to scroll down.

There are a few more this AM than I got to open last night. I waited until the "Done" message came up, but still can't see all of them. Love the ones I CAN see. (Says he with an envious look!).

Ernie

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  • Member Contributer
Is anyone else having trouble getting the pics to show up? I relly wanted to see these.

Are you getting any of the pics?

I see them fine when logged in as a member. Just have to wait a few for them to load before starting to scroll down.

There are a few more this AM than I got to open last night. I waited until the "Done" message came up, but still can't see all of them. Love the ones I CAN see. (Says he with an envious look!).

Ernie

Ernie,

My photo server was blocking hotlinks. I am fixing it now and it should work fine in the next hour or two.

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  • Member Contributer

Had a great ride, thanks guys!

Got back home at 10:30 Ohio time. 1295 miles, 22:15; includes a 2 hour picnic table nap and a 45 minute breakfast.

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  • Member Contributer

I believe the FoodTV series, Feasting On Asphalt, feature those swinging grills on their trip, IIRC.

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Guest sfarson

Posted

Nice report. Just excellent. Six of us are making this same ride in three weeks. Great preview.

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  • Forum CEO

NEW VIDEOS HERE!!

1177287299-devil__13__0001.jpg

video preview

:media:Devils Highway video - highway 191 Arizona, 20 min 65 mb mvw format, dmb and Nirvana do the sound.

1177027233-152__1__0001.jpg

:media:Highway 152 New Mexico - the best road in USA in my opionion a wonderful surprize.

Reddog calls me up, says his two buds are meeting him in New Mexico for a trip somwhere in the 4 corners area. He asks me if I am game? Of COURSE! I know Gary and Tim from last year, we tooled around Colorado Together for a few days and had some fun. Like Bill said above it was all up in the air as to where we would go exactly - I have been jonzing to do this Devils highway after reading Sebspeeds accounts here from last season, the picture looked so great and its in my corner of the US so why not?

Reddog says meet him at the World Arena and then we would take off, we both dread slabbing the interstates so we took a detour of the wet mountains and headed into Westcliff and down to Lavita to ride over the Cumbres Pass "Highway of Ledgends" we took off asap.

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Sangre De Cristo Mountains Bill and I freezing a bit at 8700 feet near Westclif on our round about way to New Mexico

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Buffalo Farm Near Gardner Colorado

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Buffalos below Mount Blanca 9600 feet, Blanca is one of the 52 14k' peaks in Colorado

We met the other two guys in Taos who slabbed it an incredible 800 or so miles from Arkansas, they did some touring in Mora and up into Taos and actually beat us there. Bill and I we were doing so outback riding on hwy 64 up Cimmaron canyon and just had some fun, the road was rather questionable with tar snakes and red gravel. Reddog was riding so fast he had a plumbe of red dust behind him like a road runner cartoon. I was riding a bit uncomfy at that speed but I could plainly see he was sticking - we have the same tires PPowers so I just sucked it up and rolled on the throttle.

Taos must close at 10pm cause I woke up around midnight from my nap and found the place was virtually abandoned, no ice no drinks just a TV with a burned in red spot on the bottom. There was a group of touring german exhange students in the lobby the next morning - nice looking bunch, but I couldnt understand a lick of what they were saying - they left me a danish and that was about it! So off we went down the road along the Rio Grande River for some fast sweepers. I was still hungry so when we arrived in Santa Fe I stopped for some cash at the ATM and procedded to campain the guys to have breakfast with me at Tia Sophias in Santa Fe. I cant pass on Tia Sophias and thankfully the guys agreed, I am pretty sure they enjoyed the place its a landmark on the Plaza. Then off down hwy 14 a scenic byway that takes you into the back side of Albaquerque and up Sandia Peak - normally its like a race track in the summer but we found red gravel dumped everywhere and melting snow all over the top of the switchbacks.

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Reddog climbing the last steps to the top of Sandia Peak in New Mexico, Albuquerque lies below

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Gary enjoys the view

We rolled up some backroads into the indian country - where it was pretty much just us and a few straglers all they way to Soccoro where we had to slab it down I-25 the wind was brutal through there but it all payed off when we turned off at Cabello at highway 152. It starts out strait for miles then you get into the foothills for some cool sweepers - it seemed it was going to get cold so we stopped in Kingston New Mexico

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Gearing up for the assault on hwy 152 NM Stopped in Kingston little did we know that this would be one of the best roads in the USA

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Kingston New Mexico Gateway to sportbike nirvana

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Nope the workout warmed us up more than the gear

we soon found that we were on one of the twistiest roads in the USA it just went on and on and on so much so I was getting arm pump, along with Tim (chillidown) so we stopped and I checked my video recorder to see what I had so far - nothing I screwed it up so I restarted it right there and caught the second half, the first half was much tighter though! There were a lot of copper mines in the area we stopped in Silver City for the night, and turned into a few motels till we found the super 8, which had the best price. Sombody tried to cook a pizza for an hour in the microwave and it set off the smoke detectors so we just popped open the wisky and slept it off - dinner at the "red barn" wasnt bad but nothing to rave about it was only a block away - I enjoyed my steak but the other guys were not so impressed with the chicken fried stake. The next morning we were up early into the cold morning a bit stiff and not so loose on the turns, Mule Creek road was great but we were not so great, we stopped at the top for some pictures.

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Stopped for a picture on Mule Creek Road hwy 78 on the Arizona New Mexico boarder

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Mule Creek Road has a great pass up the canyon this is a section called the Needles Eye

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The road hugs the canyon wall

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Clifton Arizona Breakfast here since it was only 8am there, we left at 8am an hour earlier from New Mexico - Cant remember the name of cafe but its the only one. Good food

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Pumping up the tires Slime compressor comes in handy

In Arizona there is a time change so we gained an hour for the rest of the day, had breakfast in Clifton at a nice little diner there in the main street. It was nice and cozy then we started in on the Devils Highway, it took what seemed like an eternity to ride, the road was pretty but the surface was unpredictable, asphalt, loose chipseal in the corners and good chipseals in places, it was tight and unpredictable but exciting to ride. The views were awsome.

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Sardine Saddle the rest stop veiw to the east

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Highway Tank the map says so anyways - we called it lonely - no other vehicles for the last 40 minutes.

After the village of Alpine it gets slabby for the rest of the day, we headed north into the vast Navajo indian nation on our way to Utah, there was a lot of traffic for what seemed like a rual area, it was like that all the way to I-40. I find indian women to be attractive but not on this day, it seemed they must have been hiding. There was a feller on a Triumph 675 riding across country - it was a nice ride for him, we talked about bikes for a good while and wished him good travels as he rode off down to New Mexico, the bike sounded great when he got on the throttle.

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Rock Point somwhere on the Navajo Indian Nation

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Beautiful place if you ingnore the power lines, and the fences, and the prefabed houses

We passed what looked like the same dead dog on the highway about 5 times, when the country started to get very pretty - where it looks like a scene strait out of a John Ford film, I kept expecting the Duke to show up on a hill side riding a calvery horse.

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Mexican Hat Utah

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Utah this place looks like John Wayne is gonna come riding over the ridge

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Moki Dugway unfortuantely its all gravel we could not see the road till we were actually all the way up to it.

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Valley of the Gods

Mexican Hat is a great place to relax and unplug the swinging grill of the Mexican Hat Lodge has a lot of flavor to offer! Again we spent the evening drinking and having a good time talking about our travels. Gary peeled off at Mexican Hat to go see his son in Las Vegas and the three of us left headed to Colorado, I did not take pictures but to take note the Maverick Cafe in Norwood is a great place for lunch, and the sherrif deputy is very pretty! If I had to get pulled over I dont think I would mind so much! Dallas Divide is just striking in beauty - having been there a number of times it never seems to dissapoint, as much beauty as we saw this trip I sometimes forget how awstruck I get at my own corner of the US. Monarch pass was also a highlight for me, I couldnt believe how clean the road was on the west side I was just railing it the whole way up!

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Moki Dugway from afar can you see the road?

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Riding in the Valley Of The Gods

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Riding in the Valley Of The Gods

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More Valley of the Gods

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Hwy 163

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Lime Creek to the left

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Comb Wash

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Bluff Utah

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Calf Canyon Utah

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Calf Canyon

map.png Streets and Trips file of 4 corners route

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  • Member Contributer

Poor Tim on the FJR. Blows one corner the whole trip and Miguel is right there to catch it on vid... :goofy:

I checked the map again and still can't find the road he was signaling with his right blinker. There was a campground about 20 miles up the road, maybe just giving us advanced notice.. :blink:

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  • Forum CEO
Poor Tim on the FJR. Blows one corner the whole trip and Miguel is right there to catch it on vid... :goofy:

I checked the map again and still can't find the road he was signaling with his right blinker. There was a campground about 20 miles up the road, maybe just giving us advanced notice.. :blink:

Ole Tim was just looking further down the road than the rest of us and saw the right turn up somwhere near Mexican Hat! LOL One memorable thing Tim said was "What a country we live in" when we were stopped at that overlook at 8am Monday Morning. Yes Indeed what a country!

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Tim gets Poetic here

PS BTW anybody heard from Gary yet? How did he fare the rest of his ride?

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  • Member Contributer
Poor Tim on the FJR. Blows one corner the whole trip and Miguel is right there to catch it on vid... :goofy:

I checked the map again and still can't find the road he was signaling with his right blinker. There was a campground about 20 miles up the road, maybe just giving us advanced notice.. :blink:

How could I have imagined that HS would be kind enough to edit something like that out. Haven't seen the video, but after my body-slam tuck the front end last year, all I could see was loose sand and slippery yellow paint.

While you guys were pumping up your tires, I topped off my blinker fluid. Guess I put a little bit too much in.

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  • Member Contributer

Web won't open videos............ however, stills are excellent... Good Job, Sweet Tour

I'm freekin' jealous ! ! !

:+1: :+1:

:beer:

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