Southwest Tour: 10 days, 10 states, 2 Ducs

[VIVID1]

This was going to be a girl’s ride, just my friend Sandy (mostrogirl) and I. Sandy just started riding this Spring, bought herself a Ducati Monster 750, took a long trip on it and decided she liked touring so much that she wanted a sport-touring bike, so in July she bought a 2003 Ducati ST4s for touring. I’ve been on a few rides with Sandy this summer and all I can say is she is a natural. It took me at least a couple of years of riding to get to the lever she is at now. I wrote the ride report last month, but I just finished processing the hundreds of pictures we took a few days ago.

Thursday, August 31
Day 0: Preparing for departure

Sandy rode up to my house Thursday night so we could leave from my house together in the morning. When she pulled in to my drive way she looked shaken up but she was laughing. Then she told me that she just dropped her ST4s down the street from my house. This was the first time she had the bike all loaded up with luggage and the top case filled up to capacity, more like overfilled and overloaded, the bike was super top heavy. So when she rode past my house and missed it and had to make a u-turn to come back, the bike fell over on its side. There was not that much damage though, just some scratches.

The top case was definitely too heavy, there is a weight capacity on those things, if you overload a top case not only will your bike not handle well, but you have more chances of dropping it. When we started to look at re-distributing the weight a little better on her bike we noticed that all her camping stuff was in the top case and I though she brought way too many clothes. Also she brought a big camping book to my house, like the size of a Chicago phone book, the thing weighed as much as a brick.

Sandy went ahead and repacked, and took some clothes out to leave behind at my house. Then we got busy with the last minute trip stuff. There is ALWAYS last minute stuff before a big trip, isn’t there? I was still loading the maps on to my GPS, it’s a new GPS so I had to read the instruction and stuff, that always takes forever. Then I had to write down the exact route for the next 10 days, I like to have a hard copy to look at. Sandy was writing down some camp site information for the areas we were planning to stay at. Needless to say that all took hours and we went to bed late.

Friday, September 1
Day 1: Illinois and Iowa

I was still finishing my packing in the morning. I had to borrow a tail bag from a friend last night since I couldn’t fit in to my top case, tank bag and the two side cases, so this morning I was still re-arranging my things, that took forever also, it always does. We were almost ready to go, we pulled the bikes in to the driveway and Sandy’s bike had a problem starting. After she got it going, we rode straight to the Ducati dealer by my house which was on the way to the interstate anyway. The bike was just there two days ago for some maintenance and to have it looked over, but we just wanted to make sure it couldn’t break down during the trip. The mechanic didn’t see anything wrong with it. It started right up for him and he said it was probably the anti theft security thing. On these Ducati’s you can’t leave the key in the ignition in the on position too long otherwise the bike won’t start. When that happens, you have to take the key out and put it in again to start the bike. At around 9:30AM we left the dealership and headed out toward the interstate. I-88 to I-80 was the plan. It’s bad enough the Midwest is so boring and flat, it also smelled like a sweaty arm pit this morning. With my iPod cranking out good tunes, making the slab portion almost tolerable, we pointed our Ducs west and got on the throttle.



Leaving Chicagoland

The day was sunny and pleasant. After a few hours of droning on the interstate, we needed a break from monotony. I had a few back roads picked out that would allow us to go around Des Moines, IA and get us to I-35 to continue south. It was nothing exciting, no major twisties here. By 3PM we were feeling a bit hungry since we hadn’t eaten anything yet today. We stopped in at a McDonalds in Knoxville, IA for some salads. About half an hour later we were ready to hit the road again but Sandy’s bike wouldn’t start. There was no power at all, the instrument panel didn’t even light up.



Broken down in Iowa

Plan A

Sandy called the Ducati dealer, the same one we just visited a few hours ago. The mechanic walked her though a few things that she should check via phone. Within minutes we had the side panel partially off the ST4s and we were both digging in there, turning this, pushing that, pulling and poking. This must have been some entertainment for the people waiting in the drive through line at the McDonalds. After an hour and a half, still no clue to why the bike wasn’t starting, the fuses and all the wires seemed fine. We gave up.

Plan B

At 5:30PM Sandy called Ducati road side assistance and we found out there was a Ducati dealer in Des Moines, IA, only 35 miles from where she was broken down. Of course had we stayed on the interstate, she probably would have broken down a block from the dealership, I digress. Sandy was going to have the bike towed there and hopefully they would have it fixed tomorrow so we could continue with our trip. We were so happy that today was Friday and not Saturday. With the tow truck on the way she called the dealership in Des Moines to make sure they were ready to work on the bike first thing tomorrow morning, then she was informed that the mechanic was on vacation and wouldn’t
be back until Tuesday.

Plan C

Sandy called back Ducati road assistance to find out where the next nearest dealership was, unfortunately it was in Kansas City, KS and it would cost $700 to get the bike towed there so Sandy cancelled the tow truck. Ducati road assistance is nice, but what do you do when there is no place to tow the bike to get it fixed.

Plan D

We couldn’t think of anything else so Sandy was thinking of having one of her family members drive up here with the truck and trailer and take her and her bike home. The trip was over for her and I would continue by myself. The only thing that could save this trip is if the dealer in Kansas City could fix the bike tomorrow but she would have to get someone from her family to drive out here, pick her and the bike up and drive another four hours to Kansas City. We were desperate so she called Letko, the dealership in Kansas City just to see what they would say.

What happened next can only be described as a miracle. Mario, the service manager at Letko and his wife were going to drive out to IA, four hours away, and pick Sandy and her bike and bring them both to Kansas City and take a look at the bike in the morning. But Mario couldn’t leave for another hour or so.

So from 3:30PM to midnight Sandy and I hung out in the parking lot of McDonalds. We put her bike back together, then had some ice cream, then got some Taco Bell for dinner from across the street. The it got dark and we noticed many big insects flying around us. Upon closer examination, we realized that they were the largest praying mantis we’ve ever seen. Not only were they big but they were feisty too. They literally treated us like we were trespassing on their turf. They would land at times really close to us and would stare at us with those big googley black eyes. And if you approached them too close they would grab your boot and hold on to it, attacking. They were scary
monsters and seemed to enjoy the tree we were parked under. Their wing span must have been about 5-6 inches so once they took flight we had to run for cover. By 11PM they got bored with us and retired to the tree branches, we finally had some peace and quiet.



Monsters in Iowa

Mario and his wife showed up at midnight, he loaded the ST4s on to the trailer, then Sandy got in the truck and they were off to Kansas
City. It would take them 4 hours to get there, I was too tired to follow on my bike so I grabbed a motel room in town here at a Super 8.



Sandy's bike going to Kansas City, KS

Saturday, September 2
DAY 2: Iowa, Missouri and Kansas

I slept in a bit and was out on the road by 9:30AM. I couldn’t contact Sandy on her cell phone though before I left, I had a signal but when I dialed her number it wouldn’t even ring. I was heading toward Kansas City hoping her bike would be fixed today and we could resume our trip. After some meandering back roads I arrived at I-35 and slabbed south. I was cruising at a conservative speed since Sandy’s bike was the one with the fuzz buster. Then, I got passed by a guy riding a Boss Hoss and I gave chase for a while, but just a while, he was really hauling ass. I ran in to him later at a gas station, not a young guy at all, but really nice, he was chatting with all the motorcyclists at the gas station. I was about an hour north of Kansas City now so I gave Sandy a call. Good news, her bike was already fixed. They were just finishing up now. The problem was water damage in the multi connector box located in the front left of the bike, we didn’t even check there yesterday. I guess this is a problem on the older Ducs, the connector box isn’t waterproofed and after a while water gets in there and does all sorts of damage.



Sandy's bike getting worked on at Letko by Mario

Sandy and I decided to meet up somewhere on I-70 west of Kansas City in a couple of hours. We were going to call each other around 2:30PM and see where we were at that time to figure out who would ride to meet up with whom. Three more stops and two more phone calls, we finally met up in Topeka about 4PM.



The Tour continues

Immediately the weather turned to crap. It went from sunny and 80’s to rain and 60’s in about the span of thirty minutes. We stopped once to put on our rain liners and stopped again to put on more warmer layers, it was down right chilly and the sun was going down. At sundown we stopped for the night in Hays, KS at Motel 6, Sandy only had 5 hours of sleep last night so we decided not to push it today. We walked over to Whiskey Creek restaurant, which was recommended by the girl working the front counter at the motel. Good food and good beer.



Dinner at Whiskey Creek

[VIVID1]

Sunday, September 3
Day 3: Kansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico

We were out on the road by 8AM, no interstates for us this morning; we took a bunch of back roads that cut though Kansas in to Oklahoma and in to New Mexico. This way was just as fast as the interstate, the roads were empty and we kept our speeds up. In the early afternoon we reached Clayton, NM where we were originally planning on camping last night before Sandy’s bike broke down. I made a few short cuts in today’s route so we could still try to make today’s destination; Albuquerque, NM where we were going to spend the night with Sandy’s cousin.









We found us a cowboy in NM, but had to throw him back, too young



Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

The temperatures were cool today and as the clouds moved in it got a bit chilly. We got on it and headed for the mountains of New Mexico, wanting to ride though there before heading south to Albuquerque. The roads were nice and scenic, many twisties, also a bit of traffic. The cars were moving at a good pace, we didn’t even need to pass anyone, but then we all caught up to a slow Harley cruiser riding two-up and that was it, we couldn’t pass him, we were stuck behind him for miles.



64 Near Taos, NM





Nice sweepers and scenery on 68

Near Taos we found some rain and the pace got even slower. The rain wasn’t bad at all though and it did amplify the already crisp and fresh mountain air. We also saw a bit of deer here in the forests, and many more crossing the main streets in towns. As the sun started to drop toward the horizon we started to head toward Santa Fe. In the dark we jumped on I-25 for the last section of our ride in to Albuquerque. The temperatures were still nice and the traffic was moving fast. Then all the sudden, the traffic came to a halt as we encountered some gaper’s delay. There was an accident in the northbound lanes, as I passed the emergency vehicles I took a peek at what was lying in the road. Oh my. It was big. It was brown. It was a freakin’ bear.

We arrived in Albuquerque at around 9PM. I found the road the house was on, the driveway was sloped and gravel and unlit. The butterflies in my stomach instantly got agitated as I contemplated my decent to the house, locating the path of least resistance. I don’t like gravel. I really don’t like slopped gravel and I really, really don’t like any gravel in the dark. It went well considering I couldn’t see much. We parked the bikes in front of the house on the patio and went in.

Mary Ann, Sandy’s cousin, and Al, her husband, had an amazing spread of food waiting for us. Home made cheese ball and some crackers, chicken fajitas a la New Mexico , good ‘ol American apple pie and good beer and local wine. Sandy and I sat outside in the back yard with Mary Ann and Al eating and drinking and talking as the fire was burning in the outside fireplace near by. The night air was clean and cool and very pleasant. Sandy and I were beat. We laid out our sleeping bags in the living room next to the fire place and it was nighty-night.



Dinner is waiting for us



We're not very neat guests



Indoor camping

Monday, September 4
Day 4: New Mexico

The day started out with New Mexico style home made breakfast burritos and coffee. We hung out and relaxed a bit, did some laundry. Yea, we actually had some dirty clothes to wash already. Sandy likes to keep her Duc clean so she washed her bike. We didn’t leave until 2PM since Mary Ann and Sandy had some catching up to do. Then it was time to leave and that was stressful for us shorty girls o heavy bikes. Al monitored the traffic on the road since there was no way I was going to stop at the top of the gravel hill to see if anything as coming. The coast was clear I pulled out of the gravel pit and on to the road. It was easier then I though. A few minutes later Sandy was behind me and we were heading for the northwest corner of New Mexico.





We spent the night in a 100 year old adobe house

There was a bit of traffic on the interstate and we left later then anticipated so we decided to skip the twisty roads and just took 550 North still trying to make it to Mesa Verde by nightfall. 550 is designated as a scenic route on my map but I didn’t think it was all that scenic and it was pretty straight. I’d avoid it next time. We ran in to a small rain storm that lasted just a few minutes and arrived in Aztec, NM in the late afternoon. It was pretty hot here and we were sweating bullets trying to figure out what we should do next.

We looked at the map and realized that Mesa Verde was still very far away, we so headed east where we knew of a State Park that we could camp at. The road getting to the park was cool, it went up and down like a rollercoaster and had some great scenery. Confusion set in when we passed an entrance to a camp site, the road leading there was a beat up dirt road. We stopped down the road at a gas station to get more info. Then we fund out that wasn’t the park I saw on the map, the other park was further down and the road to it was paved. Paved was good, gravel/dirt was bad on a loaded up ST bike when you can’t even flat foot, we continued.

We arrived at the Navajo Dam and then Lake Navajo Sate Park. Navajo Lake is New Mexico’s second largest lake. The entrance booth was closed already since it was after 6PM so we continued in to the camping area where we could self check in. The guy at the gas station told us the camp site was full this morning, but we were hoping some people left already since the three day holiday weekend was over. As we headed to the park, we saw a lot of cars coming form the park heading the opposite direction. When we got to the camp site more then half of the camp sites were empty. We rode around the steep and narrow but paved roads and found a camp site with some grass to set up our tents on. Not all sites were good for tents, most looked like RV sites and there were many RV’s still here. Our site was a RV site too but, we parked our bikes in the spot where the RV would park. The price was $14 for the camp site, we put the money in to the self-pay envelope and dropped it in to the box.





Navajo Lake



Navajo Lake State Park camp

As the sun started setting we started to set up our tents. There was no store at the park so for dinner I made some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I’ve learned from starving on previous trips and I was caring this stuff with me just in case we got hungry and couldn’t find any food. We also had some trail mix for dessert. We attempted to make a fire but since there was a big rain two days ago we couldn’t get the wood lit. Our neighbors came over with some lighter fluid after they noticed that we couldn’t light one just with matches.



Dinner



Our camp site

It was a delightful night for camping. The air was cool but not cold and the sky was clear. The moon was almost full tonight and there were so many starts in the sky. Our camp site was pretty close to the bathrooms, so we didn’t have to walk too far. At around 10PM we called it a night and zipped ourselves in to our tents. My spot was a bit slopped and every time I turned to the other side I’d slide down, my sleeping pad, pillow and sleeping bag were made out of slippery type materials which didn’t help the situation. This was my first time camping on a motorcycle trip, so all my gear was new, just tested out for a few nights in my back yard a week before this trip.

[VIVID1]

Tuesday, September 5
Day 5: New Mexico and Arizona

About an hour before sunrise I woke up to zip up my sleeping bag all the way and pull it over my head. It was cold. We were sleeping at 6,000 feet in elevation. I really wanted to put on my fleece but I was too lazy to crawl out from the sleeping bag and put it on and I knew that I was getting up at sun rise anyway, which wasn’t too long. My alarm went off in the early morning but there was no sun yet so I re-set it for a later time and when it went off again still no sun, the last time it went off the sun was already at the horizon. I jetted out of the tent, grabbed the camera and headed for the lake to capture some pictures of the sun rise but the sun was way over the horizon by the time I climbed down to the water. The air was still chilly, but not for long, with each half hour it became warmer and warmer.



Sunrise at Navajo Lake


When I got back to the camp site, Sandy informed me that when she got up she found a small praying mantis inside her tent, how bizarre. The camp bathroom had free warm showers, although there were only two showers in the woman’s bathroom and one of them didn’t work really well. We got cleaned up, packed up and left by 11AM. This setting up and tearing down of the camp site does take some time but camping is just so much fun.



See the car driving on the road that goes to the Navajo Dam? Next picture, we're on that road



On the Navajo Dam road



Nasty drop



Twisties near Navajo Dam



Navajo Dam

It was a magnificent day already. We rode up towards the Navajo Dam to take some pictures, but since we didn’t spend the night in Mesa Verde I had to look at the map and adjust the route, I wanted to make it easy and quick; we were still behind, so we took 64 out. There was a bit of traffic on this road through New Mexico, but once we got in to Arizona the roads opened up a bit. With the open roads our speed increased also. Sandy was running a radar detector and I was leading on this trip, so I was watching her in my mirrors, if she backed down, so would I. of course I had no idea Sandy didn’t have the radar detector on right now. I went to pass a SUV swiftly and got back in to my lane just to find out there was a police car approaching in the near distance, hiding behind some other cars, I was shocked. Then he put his lights on. Sandy just finished her pass when I looked in my mirror to watch him turn around, but he didn’t. We got lucky. Sandy did turn her radar detector on right away and just in time too, two more police cars were heading in the other direction 5 minutes later.





A thief stealing a granola bar at a gas stop



Cool rock formations along 160



Cool, an abandoned building - time to investigate



Yea, the place has a door, but what fun is that



I had to be careful, the floor had collapsed in a few places



So the whole time we’re riding, we’re watching and admiring a storm in the distance. As the road turned, it would be to the left of us and then sometimes to the right and then it would be ahead of us. For about an hour we watched it dance in the distance, big menacing dark clouds and spectacular lightning. Once we turned on to 98 North we started to get close to it, so close you could see water falling in sheets to the ground from the dark clouds. Then we started to smell the rain, this was the smell of dry earth sucking up moisture, we knew then we couldn’t escape it. We rode right into it, it got gusty and cold right away, the rain drops were big and even painful at times as I felt them though my textile jacket. Then close to Page, AZ we rode out though the other side of the storm, and back in to the heat and sunshine. The closer we got to the city the hotter it got, in town it must have been in the upper80’s or low 90’s.

We wanted to call some of the campsites and get more information about them but none of the phone numbers we had worked so we just got on the bikes and rode toward the Wahweap marina and campsite, stopping at the Glen Canyon Dam for pictures. It cost us $7 to enter the Glen Canyon Recreational Area, this road used to be free back in the day when I used to come out here, now it was a national park. Back then there was no marina, and there wasn’t a lot of motorized boats here either, the lake was peaceful and serene. In the late 80’s and early 90’s I remembered camping at Lake Powel and not seeing another person for days. Those were the days. Now it’s all built up.



Glen Canyon Dam









Lake Powell

Camping at the Wahweap was $19 for our camp site. For dinner we bought some wood, salsa, tortilla chips, turkey franks and hot dog buns at the camp store, then schlepped all that stuff to our camp site on our bikes. The sun was low on the horizon so we needed to hurry and set up our tents but first we needed to park our bikes. Although the road to the camp site was paved, the parking spots were sand, both Sandy and I tried backing her bike in to the sand pit, but we were having a lot of difficulties, even with the both of us. Our neighbor next door was watching and came over to help. He used to race motocross and seemed familiar with motorbikes. He parked our bikes pretty quick, backing them in so we could ride right out tomorrow morning.

It was another great night for camping, clear skies, mid 70’s all night. The only thing bad about this camp site was the sand, it was everywhere, in our tents and in our sleeping bags, but it was so beautiful here that I didn’t even care, we could see the lake in the distance from our camp site, the moon hung above us like a giant lamp. The bathroom was near by also but the showers were a short walk near the camp store, and they were $2 for 15 minutes.



Dinner

Sandy got the fire going, I looked for sticks that I could cut and make skewers out off. Yea, you can’t get this close to nature at a Super 8, camping was awesome. After dinner we were beat and went to bed. I set the alarm clock again, knowing now when exactly the sun would come up, I was going to be ready to watch the sun rise tomorrow morning.

[VIVID1]

Wednesday, September 6
Day 6: Arizona and Utah

I woke up about half an hour before sun rise and discovered that I had left the tent zipper open about 6”. I though my zipper was all the way closed last night but I guess it was just stuck, There were no snakes, or tarantulas or scorpions in my tent though. We heard some coyotes hauling in the distance but the hot dogs we left on our picnic table were still there in the morning, they must have not been very hungry or are fussier eaters than I though them to be. We took off for a hike to the lake to watch the sun rise, it was still dark as we walked toward the lake. It seemed like forever, we waited patiently for the sun to peek from behind the other side of the lake. Immediately the black and gray rocks turned golden-orange as the sun’s rays saturated them. The temperature, which was in the low 70’s also started rising immediately as the run rose up in the sky quickly. After watching the dark blue water turn golden with the sun’s reflection, we headed back to the camp and started to tear it down, take our showers and get ready to leave, that took a few hours plus we had some breakfast and I had to adjust the route for today also. We were on the road by 11AM.



Just before sun rise at Lake Powell



The sun is up



Our camp site at Lake Powell



B-fast

We took 89 south and stopped by a roadside Indian jewelry stand. I happen to love Indian jewelry and so does Sandy. Now don’t go thinking that we’re girls so we like to shop, because I don’t really like to shop that much, unless it’s for motorcycles or gear. While browsing the many tables or silver and turquoise offerings, we noticed the nasty storm coming our way. I guess there was a good possibility of us getting wet today, eh? It was hot too, in the upper 80’s or low 90’s. After the purchase of some new jewelry we headed to 89A north, pretty nice roads with amazing scenery and nice sweepers. I was suddenly very thirsty, I still had not replenished my platypus, so the next gas station which was in Marble Canyon, we stopped for drinks. By the time we came out the wind was blowing really hard, kicking all kinds of sand in to the air and the storm was coming straight for us.



At the road side jewlery stand





Big rain coming our way

We decided to wait the storm out and went next door to a gift shop to look at more Indian jewelry. The rain fell hard and fast and pretty soon it was over so we left and kept going northwest. The storm wasn’t quick enough, we still managed to buy some jewelry. There were dark clouds still ahead, it was far from being over. It drizzled some on the way but the big rain didn’t come until we hit the twisty mountain roads right outside the Grand Canyon’s North Rim. And it got really cold too as we headed up in to the alpine forest. The twisties were awesome though; we continued without stopping and arrived in Utah. The rain had stopped now but the sky still looked dark and dreary. Back on 89, there were phenomenal sweepers everywhere, I really enjoyed this road. The temperatures remained cool and the skies continued to be cloudy so we rode until sun set and grabbed a motel room in Hatch, UT. No camping in the rain for us. We got to park our bikes right outside our window. New Bryce hotel had a café attached to the motel but the owner said that the cook didn’t show up to work today so the restaurant was closed. We walked down the road a bit and found an amazing place to eat, really cute inside and outside and so many great meal selections, I had a Navajo taco, it was delicious. This was a dry county so sadly no beer for us. We returned to out motel and went to bed shortly, we were going to get an early start tomorrow.




Near Marble Canyon



Near Grand Canyon's North Rim





This is the place to eat at in Hatch, UT

[VIVID1]

Thursday, September 7
Day 7: Utah

We had a lot of ground to cover today so we were on the bikes at 7AM and heading toward the amazing route 12. Once on 12 the scenery was just amazing, the rock formations continued to change colors and shapes and the road twisted between the canyons for miles and miles. This has to be one of my favorite roads in the USA. Some people go to Deal’s Gap for twisties, I rather come here and ride 12, 24 and 95. It’s THAT good. This is open range country, so there were cows hanging out in the road, but not where you’d expect them to hang out. Not where it was flat, they were up on the hills in the canyons. We would go though a corner and there would be a cow in the road or a cow crossing the road or a cow hearing us coming and looking our way to see what that was.

















The amazing Rt 12

The temperatures were cool this morning, the skies were overcast and there was a light drizzle at times also, but it didn’t spoil our fun at all, even when at times drizzle would turn to light rain, the road was still so much fun that it didn’t matter to us if it was wet or dry. Also the small towns on the way were really cute, too bad we didn’t have time to stop and take a closer look.











More route 12

[VIVID1]

(Day 7 continued)

Then in Torrey we headed east on 24, which is another one of my favorite roads, through Capitol Reef the rock formations are just amazing and the curves here are my favorite type of sweepers. You can really get in to rhythm as you turn left and right and left ad right and left and right. We stopped for a mi-day snack at one of the scenic pull outs. The sun had come out and the temperature was in the high 80’s now. There really weren’t a lot of people here, we’d only see a car go by one in a while.







Rt 24 though Capitol Reef



Lunch stop on 24

In Hanksville Sandy took off to buy some fossils and I hang out at one of the gas stations where I talked to a few HD riders and the lady that ran the gas station. The wind was picking up again and the HD riders had come from the south and told me I’d be riding in to more rain on 95. As we departed, it seemed we were riding in a full sand storm, the winds were pretty strong and we were blown all over the road.

We were enjoying the awesome sweepers though the canyons and then the rain started up again just as we approached the overlook of the Glen Canyon and the river. At the scenic overlook we found two Triumphs from Texas. We chatted with the riders a bit, one of them frequents ST.N and thought I looked familiar. They were heading north and we took off towards the south.









Glen Canyon overlook on 95

The rain was light, sometimes a drizzle and sometimes none at all. Since I’ve been on 24 and 95 before, I rode it a bit harder then before, even when it was raining. That road is just like a roller coaster and is made to go fast on. Since there are no towns or gas stations for 122 miles between Hanksville and Blanding, I bet the only way they could catch speeders is via air planes and with the clouds and rain they would have to fly pretty low. This road was as amazing as I remembered, actually it was even better traveling south. The road travels downward so you see the amazing scenery unfolding right in front of you with each mile.



Once past Blanding the rain started up again and we decided to again grab a motel room in Monticello. We checked in to the Best Western and by the time we got on our bikes to get them in front of our motel room, it was pouring rain. I’m so glad I brought that small folding umbrella, I unpacked my hard bags without getting the contents too wet, I’m just to lazy to take them all the way off. We also used the umbrella to walk next door to the Spur restaurant for dinner. The Spur was a real western type place and we were served by real cowboys and cowgirls. It’s a family owned place, the daughter which was our waitress had on her boots, wranglers and big silver buckle and a toothpick in her mouth. Not a fancy place and only 5 things on the menu plus a few specials. This was also a dry town, so no beer for us - again. The food was just OK. Sandy went to soak in the hot tub outside in the cold rain and I stayed inside the dry motel room to figure out the route for tomorrow. It kept raining hard all evening and all night.



Spur restaurant menu 1 meat 2 meat 3 meat 4 meat 5 chicken



Spur restaurant check

[VIVID1]

Friday, September 8
Day 8: Utah and Colorado

We got up to rain and by the time we left it turned heavy. We grabbed some really nice complimentary breakfast before we left too. We waited around a bit and it took longer to pack the bikes in the rain so we didn’t leave until 9AM. We headed toward Moab, but turned on 46 east before the town. This road was really nice, scenic with many twisties, some really tight curves posted at 15-25MPH, I’m just glad we were going down since it was raining really hard and there was so much fog on the mountain and the curves were super tight and steep.



Near Moab, UT

We entered Colorado in the rain and headed down 145, which is such a nice road, with such nice sweepers and a river running next to the road. Then to 162, another nice road with super sweet sweepers, did both of these roads back when I was here last time, still as nice as I remembered them. Then we headed to Montrose, CO on 550 and then east on 50. A couple of years ago I only did 50 for a few miles around Gunnison, well let me tell you, 50 is an awesome road with so much beautiful scenery and so many awesome twisties. I’m so glad we were pressed for time and I chose that road as a direct route east. The only bad thing was it kept raining hard the whole time and it was cold. I had to plug in my heated vest and at times I was still a bit cold when we would go up in elevation. The curves and scenery kept on entertaining us though. On this road like on no other road on this trip, we saw so many bikes and so many sport-tourers.







In Gunnison we stopped for gas and hot chocolate, and I decided to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch. There were so many sport-tourers at this gas station too. Since we lingered for a bit, many of them came and went and we exchanged road and weather information. It sure looked like we would have rain all the way to Colorado Springs where we were going to spend the night at my friend’s house tonight.

It was 50’s degrees in Gunnison and I was worried that at Monarch Pass which was at 11,300 Feet there might be ice, but all the riders coming from the east said it was cold up there but no ice. The road up the mountain to Monarch pass was super-sweet. Two lanes going up, curves posted at 35MPH, I enjoyed it immensely even in the rain and fog. This is my kind of mountain road since I like to ride fast. We stopped by the Monarch Pass sign to take some pictures, it was really cold up there, my fingers were numb even with the heated grips on high.



RT 50 going to Monarch Pass





We continued enjoying the roads but after so many hours of wet riding, the rain was getting to us. I can deal with it for hours but this was too much. After 8 hours of constant rain there was finally a break in the foul weather. We enjoyed the last section of curves on 50, and there were some really nice sections too, although a bit of traffic on the road. Then we headed on 115 to Colorado Springs. It got dark as we entered the city limits and it was hard reading the directions and the street signs to my friend’s house, so there was a lot of looking around for roads and u-turns. The roads in Colorado Springs were all still wet, but at least it wasn’t raining there. We finally made it to the house, which we had to find with a flash light since we couldn’t see any of the house numbers from the road. Paul and Deb came out when they heard bikes outside, we pulled in to the garage and started to get out of our filthy riding gear. Even before we were totally out of our riding gear we had some good beer handed to us. After some chatting and hanging out we all went to dinner to the Rock Bottom, more good beer and good food and motorcycle stories, both Paul and Deb ride motorcycles, they both have Yamaha R1’s.

Saturday, September 9
Day 9: Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska

We got up in the morning and Paul made some waffles and cappuccino. We all hung out for a while, Sandy washed her bike and I had to tighten the chain on mine, it was kind of loose. At noon Deb and Paul escorted us out toward Limon, CO on their bikes. It was a beautify day, mid to high 60’s and sunny. The road to Limon was all straight. It’s amazing how on the east side of the Rockies the earth is so flat and boring. Paul and Deb only rode a short distance and then turned around, Sandy and I continued to Limon where we stopped for gas.



When we pulled out of the gas stations she went around one way and I went another way. When I turned on to the street I saw the red ST4s waiting, then it pulled in behind me. Then a few feet later I saw another red ST4s. What? Was I seeing double? If Sandy was behind me then there was another rider riding a red ST4s. The 3 Ducs got on I-70 heading east. This would be the only other Duc ST that we would see on this trip. When Sandy and I took the exit ramp he kept going but gave us a thumbs up.

We were going to do plenty of interstate tomorrow so today we were going to take some back roads to get to I-80 for the final day of riding tomorrow. The clear skies of Colorado started to cloud up in Kansas and by the time we got in to Nebraska the drizzle started, then the rain came and then the down pour and fog. We kept going and going even though it was getting dark already. I was very determined to get to I-80 before nigh fall so I didn’t want to stop anywhere. When I reached Lexington, NE it was already dark and I was having trouble figuring out how to get to the Holiday Inn Express parking lot. Finally I was there and parked under the awning where there were two other bikes parked with Illinois plates, a VFR and a ST1100. It was still pouring and I realized that Sandy had pulled in to the gas station on the corner, apparently she couldn’t see much with her tinted shield, so she wanted to change it out for the clear one. She though we would still be riding for a bit but I was done and I was soaked. I didn’t want to pull over when the rain started to get heavy to put in my rain liner, so I was pretty wet and cold. It didn’t look like the rain was going to stop any time soon either.









Holiday Inn Express in Lexington, NE

There was nothing good to eat within walking distance so we ordered a pizza from Pizza Hut. They were short on drivers and the pizza was going to take one hour, it actually took 45 minutes. The plan was to head out early tomorrow to ride all the way home.

Sunday, September 10
Day 10: Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois

My alarm was supposed to go off at 5:30AM, it apparently did but when I snoozed it I turned the alarm off. When I woke up it was 7AM already. We had some complimentary breakfast, which was again really good with many different things to choose from. By the time we packed up and left the motel, it was 8:30AM and then we still needed gas. We ran in to the other two riders downstairs, they were heading west. We all gassed up and got on the road, it was close to 9AM now. It was wet but not raining when we left but the forecast was calling for rain all the way from here to home. It started raining down the road, there was also some fog too, at times it would stop raining, which was nice but then it would pour again, off and on rain and cold.

I was messing with my ipod some more this morning, it stopped playing yesterday afternoon and I still couldn’t figure out why. It was bad enough we had to ride some 700 miles of interstate today in the rain though the flat and boring Midwest but now with out any music? This was going to be a rough day for sure.



We kept a brisk pace and only stopped for gas every 130-150 miles, so we were making good time all day. Soon we would be home. Then out of no where my back wheel lost traction and slid to the left, then right, the front of the bike was also shaking violently. I kept the throttle steady and when the back tire regained traction, the bike resumed its course as if nothing had even happened. The only thing that was different is my heart was pounding a million times a minute and all the blood had drained out of my head. I’ve never slid out going straight before. I think I figured out what had happened. I was following a semi in the left lane which was passing a semi in the right lane. The semi on the left was traveling about 10 mph faster then the semi on the right. As I closed in behind the semi in front of me, the two trucks were just about next to each other. I encountered some really turbulent air then, there was a vortex of air spinning between the two trucks and it wanted to suck me in. As my bike started shaking the rear wheel maybe encountered a tar snake, or maybe hydroplaned, it was raining hard at the moment and the road was all wet. It was pretty scary. I guess I should keep more distance on the bike when following semis in the rain.



A few more stops, we finally arrived at I-88, then closer to Chicago Sandy went toward the northern suburbs and I continued home, arriving just after 8PM. It wasn’t raining in Chicago but it was still wet. I was tired, but not from the trip, just from riding the intestate in the rain all day.




I just love the stuff you see on the road



The trip was a lot of fun, great roads, great company. Another great motorcycle adventure. We did approx. 4000 miles in 10 days and tomorrow I was going back to work.

[RickD]

Anna, this is one of the best ride reports ever!
Thank you for taking the time to put it together
and share it with us. Well written and great pics!

Thanks again.

[sfarson]

Vivid1... This is a top shelf report. And I'm noting this having only scanned portions of it. Will go back to read in detail. Take a bow.

[Stasher]

That was an incredible ride report you have just provided for us. I definately think I will be wanting to make a detour down to Utah and Colorado some time in the next year or two.