*Ride Report* Summer Running 2006

[Martin Barrett]

 

That Galloping goose would make a nice avtar

[Keith Foster]

>From Dolores we travelled up Hwy 145, which follows the old RGS rail line over Lizard Head Pass to Telluride and Placerville.

 

What a small world - barely two weeks ago I was on the same stretch of highway, going from Telluride to Placerville, through the same construction and such. I was on a dual sport (Honda CRF450X), nursing along a KTM LC4 with a broken clutch cable. At Placerville we stopped at (I love the name) a shop named "To-Hell-You Ride" Motorsports in search of a replacement cable.

 

The vistas out west are beautiful

[rocker59]

Day 9. Tuesday, 26 September.

 

 

Well, we decided to spend two nights in Moab. Partly to rest. Party to work on Joe's Ducati ST2. His bike had been making a troubling rattling noise in the lower part of the engine and it was getting worse. About 0730 he loaded up and headed to Grand Junction to search out a rear tire and try to find Competition Cycles, the Ducati dealer.

 

 

Well, he was able to get a tire at a Grand Junction dealer. Problem was, the Ducati dealer was out of business. A quick call to Mario at LetKo in Kansas City diagnosed the problem as a carrier bearing behind the stator. He went to a Walmart TLE and dropped the oil. Yep. Pieces of bearing in the oil. Not good. A call to us down in Moab and Jason and Andy decided to ride up and lend a hand. Andy ran beer, Jason ran parts, and Joe worked on his bike in an Autozone parking lot. They were able to source a bearing at a local bearing shop with the numbers provided by LetKo and after a few hours, the Ducati was back on the road!

 

 

Jason 'supervising' Joe. The ST fairing had to come off. As you can see, it comes off in about a million pieces:

 

 

There is a lot of crap crammed behind the fairing of the ST2!:

 

 

So much for a day visiting Moab! Joe, Jason, and Andy didn't get home until supper time. The one sideline benefit to trip was that they got to ride the killer hwy 128 from Moab up to I-70 along the Colorado River. Twice. They say the trip home in the dark was a blast. Andy nailed a big jack rabbit. Sorry, no pix of the carnage...

 

 

Meanwhile, back in Moab...

 

 

Donna, Ed, and I decided to make the best of the day. We headed up to Arches National Park and to Dead Horse Point. There is so much to see and do in Moab, one day just doesn't do it justice.

 

 

A view from the main drag in Moab:

 

 

Mountains surround the town:

 

 

While the A-team was away spinning wrenches, the B-team ate lunch at Zak's. They had a cool fireplace on the dining patio:

 

 

Not a bad view from downtown Moab. Those are the La Sal mountains. Very prominent in the background when looking East from Moab:

 

 

Our first stop was Arches:

 

 

Sitting in the North Window Arch. It's beautiful up here:

 

 

 

 

 

North Window Arch:

 

 

South Window Arch:

 

 

The B-team is having more fun than the A-team ;D

 

 

Turret Arch:

 

 

La Sal Mountains seem to be in every shot:

 

 

Delicate Arch waaay up on that ridge:

 

 

After Delicate Arch, we decided to head out to Dead Horse Point. We left at least half of Arches for our next visit:

 

 

 

 

 

Ed at Balance Rock:

 

 

Donna on her Monster:

 

 

The Nero at Arches:

 

 

Nice, curvy road into/out of Arches. It was late in the afternoon, so not much traffic:

 

 

Heading back down the switchbacks to the entance:

 

 

Fun! Fun!

 

 

On to Dead Horse!

[rocker59]

Dead Horse Point overlooks the Colorado River, the White Rim Trail and provides beautiful vistas:

 

 

That's the White Rim Trail waaay down there. If only I'd been on the Quota this year...

 

 

I can't wipe the smile off my face:

 

 

Red Rock everywhere!

 

 

I wanna camp up here, but it's time to return to Moab...

 

 

Some deer crossed the road in front of us on the way back to US-191:

 

 

It's a good thang we were enjoying the scenery and not travelling our usual pace. They didn't seem to mind me stopping to take some pix:

 

 

The shadows are getting long:

 

 

We all met back at Zak's to trade stories of the day. We were all glad that Joe was able to get his Ducati back on the road:

 

 

After dinner, it was on to the Rio Bar for pool, beer, and some local flavor:

 

 

Joe getting after it:

 

 

When Jason gets to drinking, he becomes facinated with animal sculpture:

 

 

Stay tuned. More to come...

 

 

 

Day 10. Wednesday, 27 September.

 

We had wanted to ride CO-141, but since half of our group had ridden UT-128 the day before to run to Grand Junction, and because time was growing short with our two day stay in Moab, we decided to retrace part of our route back into Colorado. Jason had always wanted to ride US-550, so we didn't disappoint him!

 

UT-46 and CO-90 are great roads! I especially liked Norwood Hill on CO-145:

 

 

Our route to US-550 took us over 8970-foot Dallas Divide on CO-62, but first I hit the Slickrock Cafe...

 

 

...for my usual (for this trip) breakfast burrito. Man, it was the best ever!!!

 

 

Up at Dallas, we had some company. 14,150-foot Mt. Sneffels is in the background:

 

 

The Nero Corsa has been running great at these altitudes. Returning 40+ mpg, even with spirited riding:

 

 

Donna is fast on her Monster!

 

 

Fall color in the Rockies:

 

 

Beautiful country:

 

 

 

 

Our lunch stop today is in Ouray:

 

 

Mmmm, quesadilla !!!

 

 

What a great place for patio dining! Ouray is a great little town, especially if you like off-roading. Where's that Quota when you need it ???

 

 

Main Street, Ouray. I spent a couple of nights here last year. Great little town!

 

 

From Ouray, it's South on US-550 over Red Mountain Pass and Coal Bank Pass to Silverton, Durango and then US-160 back to Pagosa Springs:

 

 

Looking North down the main drag:

 

 

Looking down on Ouray from US-550:

 

 

Joe is ready to ride!

 

The Aspens were turning. It was kind of spotty. They were great in some places. Not so great in others:

 

 

US-550 is a wonderful, curvy, winding road!

 

 

Everyone's seen photos from this spot. Here, our crew is winding it's way up the hill:

 

 

11,018-foot Red Mountain Pass:

 

 

Down the hill, we made a quick loop through Silverton:

 

 

We had just eaten, or I'd have switched our food theme to BBQ and stopped at the Smokehouse where I ate last year. Mmm, it smelled good!

 

 

 

Traffic was light leaving Silverton, so we didn't stop for any photos. We put 'er in SPORT-touring mode and had a blast running over 10,910-foot Molas Pass.

 

 

The Aspens were looking great as we neared Durango:

 

 

We made our way back to the Best Western in Pagosa Springs. A near 300 mile day of spectacular riding and spectacular scenery. We ate dinner, again, at Tequila's. Then, it was off to bed. No one was up for the Pagosa Bar this time...

 

 

6888 miles now on the Nero's odometer. 2778 miles into my trip.

 

 

 

 

Day 11. Thursday, 28 September.

 

 

A continental breakfast in the hotel and we're off for some more great riding!

 

 

We departed Pagosa about 0900 with 300+ miles of mountain roads in front of us.

 

 

East on US-160 and the first hill is Wolf Creek Pass:

 

 

Looking back West at the top of 10,850-foot Wolf Creek Pass:

 

 

Still some snow up here from that storm last week:

 

 

Tunnels and snowsheds heading down towards South Fork:

 

 

The fall colors are looking good on the East side of the pass:

 

 

From South Fork, it's North on CO-149. This is one heck of a road! There are two big passes, 10,901-foot Spring Creek and 11,530-foot Slumgullion. It's a great ride all the way from US-160 North to US-50:

 

 

A glimpse South from Slumgullion:

 

 

A look North from Slumgullion:

 

 

Slumgullion is one heck of a ride down into Lake City with several thousand feet of drop in just a few miles! What an awesome piece of road! We stopped for fuel and a little break in Lake City:

 

 

 

 

 

He hasn't been drinking this time, but Jason sure likes those big critters!

 

 

At Lake City, we met Eric. He was returning from SE Arizona and a ride on US-191. We followed him up to the US-50 intersection. Man what a ride! At the end of CO-149, we stopped to chat. He's got about 120,000 on his GS Adventure!

 

 

Jason with the bikes on CO-149 at US-50:

 

 

Ed had had enough of Mexican, so at Gunnison we switched themes. Mmmm BBQ !!!

 

 

More patio dining. We couldn't have asked for better weather this week!

 

Jason sporting his new MOAB sticker:

 

 

The herd is hitched outside the Quarter Circle BBQ joint:

 

 

From lunch in Gunnison, it's on to conquer our last high pass of the trip. 11,312-foot Monarch.

 

 

It was a great ride up! Light traffic and two lanes up all the way! It had been in the 70's down in Gunnison. It was in the 40's up on Monarch. Brrr...

 

 

Did I mention the wind was blowing, too ?

 

 

From Monarch, it was on to Canon City, then Colorado Springs for the night. Nothing too exiciting. We were all getting road weary. A room at the Econolodge and some Mexican food at the Irish pub next door (really).

 

 

It was about 335 miles today. The Nero is showing 7240 on its odometer. Just over 3100 miles into my trip...

 

 

Stay tuned... Friday is an exciting day. Well, for Jason anyway...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 12. Friday, 29 September.'

 

 

On the way in to Colorado Springs, I noticed my bike was developing quite an exhaust leak. I assumed it was the dreaded crossover gaskets that seem to go bad. Upon arriving at our fuel stop, I looked down at the left cylinder to see the header clamp had lost both its acorn nuts and had slid down the head pipe. There was nothing holding the header to the cylinder! Holy crap! I wondered just how long that been going on.

 

 

After a quick continental breakfast at the Econolodge, Joe and I headed down to the autoparts store to get some 8mm nuts and washers. A few minutes in the parking lot and I had replaced all four NBW sets and used lockwashers and some locktite to make sure I didn't have to address that problem again soon. Funny, but the bike seemed to run a lot better without the exhuast leak, and an annoying vibration I'd picked up went away once I'd replaced those nuts. Just a small annoyance.

 

 

The real fun started when we went to South Colorado BMW/Ducati. Jason had been talking about a Multistrada for the past couple of years. Sure enough, they had a red 1000S ds Multistrada on the floor. And clearance priced, no less!!!

 

 

He'd grown tired of tinkering with his 46,000 mile Monster and wanted something with a little bit of a fairing. The extra suspension travel would be nice, too...

 

 

Everyone had been proding him for a while about doing something. The nice folks at Southern Colorado BMW/Ducati made him a good trade and put him on the road. Wow! A new bike to ride home from the trip! Lucky guy!

 

 

This is where I parted ways with Jason, Donna, Andy, Joe, and Ed. I'd decided to meet Brian in Italy, Texas for the Guzzi rally. I turned South on I-25 and headed for Texas. I'll be stopping in to see these guys again. I love a shop full of enthusiasts!

 

 

 

The ride South is fun. Prairie to the left. Mountains to the right. Spanish Peaks are off in the distance:

 

 

5th gear, 4500 rpm, 80mph. The Nero Corsa is in its element:

 

 

The climb up 7834-foot Raton Pass:

 

 

The old Santa Fe Trail originally ran through here. The railroad put the trail out of business for wagon traffic:

 

 

I picked fuel stops about 160 miles apart for my trip to Italy, Texas. I would stop in Raton, New Mexico; Dumas, Texas; Childress, Texas; and Alvord Texas on my way to the rally. It's a long day, but by myself I'd rather be riding than sitting in a hotel room somewhere in West Texas.

 

 

Pronghorn Antelope just East of Raton:

 

 

This herd's buck is in the back left of the photo:

 

 

I saw literally hundreds of Pronghorn between Raton and Clayton. Always in small groups. The buck always standing over his herd just to the rear of the rest of the antelope. There were more antelope than cows through here. The T.O. Ranch needs to get some hunters in there to thin them out a little!

 

 

Ahhh. Texas! It's good to be home in The South!

 

 

Racing trains through Comanche country. US-287 between Amarillo and Childress:

 

 

I kept it moving on through Fort Worth and on to Italy. I thought I'd check out the Italy Inn. They had rooms, but is basically a truckstop with some rooms on I-35E. No internet, either. Not good. I headed back North to Waxahachie and found a decent room.

 

 

I left Colorado Springs about 11am Mountain Time, Noon Central. I arrived finally at my hotel about 230am Central. 14.5 hours on the road. 8008 miles showing on my odometer. 768 miles for the day! 3898 miles into the trip...

 

 

I'm sitting in my room right now waiting on Brian to arrive from Fayetteville. He's meeting me here to attend the "Annual Pilgrimage to Italy", a one-day Moto Guzzi rally held in Italy, Texas first weekend in October each year.

 

More to come. Stay tuned...

 

Day 13, 14, 15.

 

 

Saturday, 30 September.

 

 

I got in my room about 0230. I was beat after running those 765 miles down from Colorado Springs. I think I was suffering a bit of cumulative fatigue from being on the road for nearly two weeks so I spent the day in the hotel room waiting on Brian to arrive and spend some time catching up on the ride report.

 

 

Brian arrived about 430pm. We went to grab a bite to eat then decided to run out to Navarre Lake to the campground where some rally attendees were staying. Well, it was dark. The roads weren't marked well. I didn't have a detailed map. Needless to say, Brian and I ended up on a 60 mile Wild Goose Chase through Texas Hill Country after making a wrong turn. We never made the campground/cookout...

 

 

Sunday, 1 October.

 

 

Brian and I headed out from the hotel about 0830 for Italy, about 15 miles away.

 

 

 

 

The crowd was already forming in downtown Italy when we got there:

 

 

Ken and the dealers in attendance had a few surprises for us:

 

 

MPH had this beauty on display:

 

 

I think I want a Norge!

 

 

This beauty was also on display:

 

 

Brian likes the Greaso-O

 

 

Very cool machine!

 

 

Lots of cool Guzzis at the rally:

 

 

Lined up on Main Street:

 

 

A few Ducatis were there, too:

 

 

The "Patented Pasta Run" took us by the Superconducting Super Collider. Well, it's remnants, anyway...

 

 

It was easy to find once we sorted out the directions.

 

 

 

 

 

The route took us over some fine East Texas Byways:

 

 

Ken awarded Brian "youngest rider". At 28, he was the youngest Guzzi rider by more than a decade!!!

 

 

 

 

Sundried Armadillo was given out as a doorprize. Mmm!!!

 

 

All in all, a very good time was had in Italy, Texas on Sunday!

 

 

Monday, 2 October.

 

 

Brian and I left the hotel about 0530, headed for Fayetteville. The early rush gauntlett through Dallas on I-35E and I-30 wasn't too bad this morning. Sunrise was near Paris Texas:

 

 

Our route. 400 miles before lunch. My kinda ride!:

 

 

Crossing the Red River into Oklahoma on TX-37, headed for US-259, a nice curvy road in Eastern Oklahoma:

 

 

Back home in Arkansas. We crossed the border from Indian Territory near Fort Smith:

 

 

Then crossed the Arkansas River from Fort Smith into Van Buren. Fayetteville is growing closer!

 

 

Through the tunnel on I-540 into The Hills of NW Arkansas:

 

 

Back on Dickson Street in Fayetteville, to finish the ride with a margarita and chips & salsa!

 

 

Afterwards, we went to Brian's place to watch the weekend's superbike racing on TiVo, then I headed to the house to crash! This is where my two-week moto adventure ends...

 

 

4474 miles added to the Nero Corsa's odometer since leaving Virginia two weeks ago.

 

 

Another memorable September motorcycle trip is done. I'm tired, but wish I was still out there...

 

 

 

 

I guess I'll break down and wash the poor Nero this week. It's been rode hard and put away wet.

 

[jihem]

great report ! thanx !

[antonio carroccio]

Yeah, I like kind of reports. I wish I will have such great travelling too once.

You foul. you were in the mountain with snow, that's tricky.

I still working and working and working, again and again etc.

If I have some time, I have to spend it with my family, or have some fun with my hobby (cycling).

Jee, I would love to have some nice time to travel around Europe.

Well maybe sometimes…..

[Orson]

holy moley!

 

those are some great pictures!

 

I can't wait to get back to the western U.S. someday.

 

Thanks for posting!