Zubb

I'll probably work out a route for Sat morning 9:30 start with lunch at the Hideout. Big Bike, pavement only for anyone wanting to join.

Tell us how to get them.

Always a good time. Alas I'll be adventuring somewhere far north and won't be able to attend. Have fun fellas.

I hate that deep soft dirt/sand behind the dozers and graders. Stuff will throw yer big-bike-arse right down. And I concur, that picking up big bikes a couple times is no big deal. But by the third or fourth drop I am finding out quickly if I really have any friends or not!! I'm starting to learn I'm not 'young enough' to go off roading 600 lb bikes alone. Cool bike, nice pics and video.

Plugging the Dragon and the Devil both into such a short trip was really ambitious if I may say so. I do have considerable experience though with 800 - 1,000 mile days and I knew it could be done without burning out. Riding the Devil did not do a darn thing to quench my thirst. It just made me aware of how epic the road and the White Mountains are! I feel even more need than ever to go back and do it again. Add some camping. Exploring. Adding in a loop back on New Mex 180. Dang .... there's gold in them thar hills!

True statement. However I will say this, as a working stiff, I gotta take it when and where I can find it. Being a mortgage banker, in the heat of home buying and refinance season I was buried to my eyeballs with work. It was a random moment when I suddenly realized all banking would come to a grinding halt for almost 5 days so the impact of time away would be minimal. So I bought the flight and jumped on the plane 6am the next morning, knowing it's easy enough to figure it out as you go. You just gotta go. I can't wait to 'slow down' abit in the years ahead and take some real time away for trips like Alaska for example. But for now I'll continue to hunt for scraps on my calendar where I can stick a half day, overnighter, 3 or 4 day trip in. Thank God in heaven I have an understanding wife. She really dislikes moto's but knows it a big part of who I am. God bless her, I'm a lucky man.

.............. dang ............. you guys definitely have it figured out. Kudo's and thanks for sharing!

Thanks guys. Total planning time for the trip itself was about an hour. I believe the best trips have almost no planning.

I can think of no better place to ride with your son. And I didn’t give the camera any real time to try to capture more of it. Enjoy! And thanks for the compliment.

The Devil made me do it. I’ve been wanting to ride this next stretch of road for three years since I first heard about it. The Devils highway! Seems that many years ago this road was Arizona 666 until eventually someone in government decided that was a bad name and rebadged it as Highway 191. To be honest, I was far more excited about riding this road then I was about the dragon. The dragon is epic. It is historic. And it is well known as a fantastic sports car and motorcycle road. Hell you can even buy stickers there! And I did. But the Devils highway is different. Instead of 11 miles, it’s closer to 150 miles. And instead of 318 curves, I’m sure there’s well over 1000. I pulled into Springerville for fuel, food, and planned my attack. I wouldn’t say that rain plagued my trip. But I did have to deal with it every day. Thus the importance of having proper riding gear. Looking behind the bike in this photo you can see that I’m not going to be tearing it up through the corners. I’m going to be riding conservatively because, rain rain and more rain. And that’s fine, because I am really more in an exploratory frame of mind than anything else. I didn’t know there was a special present for Apaches! I thought that stuff was way behind us. This was a picture hanging in the window of a gas station that was taken in August, I believe two years ago. Maybe these Harley riders decided to go home and buy adventure bikes after that. The roads were wet and void of all traffic. The route over and through the White Mountains is remote, desolate, and an endless string of 2nd gear corners. The views are spectacular. The pavement in good shape and clean. The emptiness of all things human (except for pavement) is therapeutic and rejuvenating. Cattle and deer were everywhere The cows in particular had no interest in leaving the road. They were quite content to lick the puddles of rain water off the surface. My honking and revving having little to no effect. Eventually I just slowly rode through them. I wasn’t in much of a photo taking mood, I just wanted to absorb the time, place and joy of the half day long moment. What’s interesting to me is that two days before this I had ridden the most famous Road in America. Yet this road, was 100 times more to my liking. The late afternoon rain and lightning storms were forming up. So I decided to hole up in a little nowhere spot about 100 miles north east of Tucson for the night. Later, having fish and chips with a good beer at a local bar, a middle-age guy and his wife pulled up stools next to me and of course the guy started jabbering away about motorcycles and trips he done in the past. His poor wife just kept rolling her eyes and eventually got steaming mad. She had imagined a little date night with her man at the bar but instead was relegated to the corner having to endure Moto talk for about an hour. Poor woman. I actually felt pretty bad for her. So eventually I turned the conversation to her. What does she do, does she like living here, etc. She got a little happier and him less so. The next morning I got held up with some urgent business calls and email. I hung out at the motel until the Housekeeper finally kicked me out. So I clicked off about 75 miles until I found cell signal again and stopped to make a client phone call. It was hotter than heck already but at least I had a good surface to write on and take some notes of my conversation. The rest of that day was pretty uneventful save for enduring the horrendous Arizona heat. Eventually I would see 109° on that screen. I managed my water intake and my rest stops. It takes a little longer when it’s this hot. In fact I doddled a bit trying to kill time while waiting for the sun to get low in the sky. Might not want to lay down and take a nap at this rest stop. I blew through Yuma, El Centro, and was in familiar territory now. I couldn’t wait to hit Ocotillo and top the grade. Desert View Tower always reaffirms the heat is behind me, cooler temps ahead. As I rode the long long descent toward San Diego temps fell to 54 degrees and I was freezing by comparison. But there was no way I was going to stop and put a layer on. And then, home sweet home. And I’d do it again tomorrow if I had the time. Thanks for allowing me to share.

If you are a 38” waist these should fit perfect. I’ve whittled myself down a bit and wear 36’s now. These cinch up well enough using the Velcro wait tabs but are just a bit baggier than I prefer. For reference I’m 6’2” and 220. They do not say Dakar anywhere on the pant. But these match the Dakar description to a T. Huge zippered vents i added D30 hip armor.

I was galloping toward Gallup New Mexico when I came across Chief Yellowknife’s attempt at humor and capitalism. There was a massive cavern eroded into the cliff where he’d set up a cool mock camp for us Tourons to see and enjoy. In the back, up the cliff were several ruins of cliff dwellers from a century or more ago. Petrified wood, cool remnants, not sure though how to get up close and get a better look. I imagine one pays an entrance fee to the Chief. But I didn’t have time for that. I liked his sign ‘Make Chief Yellowknife Great again’. While I appreciate the irony, and complicated humor, it reminds me of what my dad taught me that in essence people don’t make you great. You make you great.

Ouch. I resemble that remark.

Day 3 would be around 850 miles. West, west and more west. New Mexico is pretty cool. Tucumcari was a gas stop, but once inside there’s a huge restaurant and museum. You never know what you’ll stumble into on the road. Moving on toward Bard NM for more remnants of the Mother roads past The goal was to overnight in Albuquerque. And as I ride down ou of the mountains toward town it started to storm again. By the time I hit town it was coming down hard. I rode across a bridge to my hotel and noticed the normally dry concrete river had enough fast moving water in it to cover the whole bottom of the river. It was a flash flood from the mountains 20 or 30 miles away. I checked in and walked out front,headed to bar across the street. But noticed, holy cow the river had risen to near the bridge height. And I’ve never in my life seen a river running at such a violent speed. anyone getting in there was not gonna get out. Then, I finally found. A great bar with great beer. And the bike and her new owner slept high and dry and like the dead all night

Weird rider and I are out. Next time.