Arizona heat, decreasing dave, and a beautiful mountain

[yellow cake]

Well, the heat is an undertone; It was a brisk 65 degrees F (20 degrees for the rest of the world) with not a cloud in the sky. Decreasing Dave and I planned a trip up the treacherous Mt Lemmon. Why so treacherous? because of the mounds of cars, and police. Mix in a few rabid road bikers..and it's a dish.

So, I go out first thing yesterday morning to check over the hyper; I check front pressure, all is fine. Then go to check the rear, pull the cap, and it acted as if someone unscrewed the core. A quick trip by the local tyre dealer had me all fixed up.

The next step was break fest, As Dave and I were going to meet at 10am, I had time to kill...



Mille's pancake hause was the choice. Not busy at all, and very quick service..Picture of my helmet while drinking my coffee...




So it was off to the meet point; The centre of America; Mcdonalds..Or Mcducks as I like to call it.



Ahh, the golden arches. and of course, I spot someone unhappy with my parking choice, a true patron of the fine meals served by Americas restaurant.

[yellow cake]

So I move spots after checking the time;



Of course, As I haven't eluded to, dave lives about 45-50 miles outside of the city, and this being about 5 minutes out of the city, I was ok with waiting some.

THEN! Look who shows up; power ranger suit and all!


We chit chat a little bit; then make the choice to brave the mountain.

[yellow cake]

So we make our wake up the mountain (about 25 miles each way, filled with AMAZING curves)..We also pass a curve dave has some history with; seems it's claimed a bike of his before.

We make it to our first spot to chat, and take in the sights





The mountain air was extremely beautiful and fresh. Very few cars and bicyclists for a saturday.

We then mount up, and prepare to go through one of the main campsites; usually this means police and people...

Well, we made it through A-ok, the tempurature dropped 10 degrees, and it was very cool and dry still.

Pulled over quickly in the middle of some of the best turns on the mountain to snap a quick pic

[yellow cake]

Notice the colour change? that's right, the higher we go (from 4k feet above sea level, to 8K feet) the trees start and the cactus stop...


After a few wheelies, rail a few more cruves we loom closer to the police sub-station..We notice a park ranger behind us, so we pull over quickly to let him by.



Notice something here? We're as tall as the tree tops...

[yellow cake]

5 more miles, and we made it..No cops, no harley riders, no bicyclist either. We stop at the local pizza joint to have a bit to eat..And I need to call the girlfriend...



We hang out in the 60 degree sun after about an hour; Enough for me to get some redness going on my arms...Then head down for a spirited 25 more miles.

And as I could hear the jaws music, we spot it. The elusive inbred harley rider. This particular specimen had been eyeing us both; waiting to leave to look like a bad ass on a cobbled stone road. So he hops on his rattle track and turns the key...

We're greeted to the sound of pure badass of music; Coldplay. Yes, coldplay, in all his tattoo'd, pierced glory, this guy is blairing coldplay for the masses. After noticing us laughing, he quickly changes it to his inbred brothern; kid rock.



So his wench hops on the back, and they speed off down a curved cobble stoned road. Nearly hits Dave's ducati, and then narrowly missed the wall in the curve.

5 or so minutes later we too split, though without the coldplay and terrible riding.

We head down, staying safe and predictable. Smooth in the corners, and moderate in the straights. We get to the bottom and head our seperate ways.

[John]

Sounds like a nice way to spend a Saturday. I can't think of anything better than riding some nice roads with buddies, good weather and good eats. Other than MotoGP or WSBK (AMA is getting better), done deal. One thing though, you mentioned Decreasing Dave's poweranger suit (nice suit Dave, btw) and then your arms getting sunburned, I take it you don't wear protective gear? I'm not some protective gear cop, but I have crashed before and having leathers on was an intelligent choice. I've gotten to the point if its too hot out now I stay home unless I get up at the crack of dawn and go then. That is the best alternative to beating the heat and traffic around here. I respect those who regardless of the heat will don their protective gear anyway, they don't know when the worst will happen, smart people. I never wore protective gear when I was younger, that included no helmet. Even today I've relaxed the rules a few times, once last year I was on an overnighter with my Multistrada. Myself and a riding friend decided to go back to camp wearing only t shirts because it was sweltering out, I felt wierd and a little paranoid, but to be honest much cooler and comfortable. One excuse I used was because I was riding a sport tour bike not a sports bike, how that could justify it I don't know. Anyway, excellent ride story appreciate the sharing.

[Decreasing Dave]

Thanks for the Kudos John, he did do a pretty good job of writing up that ride.

Actually, Cake was wearing a leather jacket and riding boots with jeans. What he was refering to about the sunburn was when we were sitting on top of the mountain at the pizza joint. We both got enough sun to start the burn a little.

It was a good time for sure. Everyone that had planned to go with me, backed out at the last minute so I was left to go it alone until I got to Tucson. No biggie really but the ride isn't all that exciting to get there.

I've ridden Mt. Lemmon many times before but there is something about two Hypers riding up together that feels more like an "assault" on the mountain than just a "ride". Maybe because they're different than most bikes, I don't know, but the Hyper makes those mountain curves flow real easy.

I can't wait until we hit the LA Hills at the end of next month.

Dave

[yellow cake]

Originally Posted by John

Sounds like a nice way to spend a Saturday. I can't think of anything better than riding some nice roads with buddies, good weather and good eats. Other than MotoGP or WSBK (AMA is getting better), done deal. One thing though, you mentioned Decreasing Dave's poweranger suit (nice suit Dave, btw) and then your arms getting sunburned, I take it you don't wear protective gear? I'm not some protective gear cop, but I have crashed before and having leathers on was an intelligent choice. I've gotten to the point if its too hot out now I stay home unless I get up at the crack of dawn and go then. That is the best alternative to beating the heat and traffic around here. I respect those who regardless of the heat will don their protective gear anyway, they don't know when the worst will happen, smart people. I never wore protective gear when I was younger, that included no helmet. Even today I've relaxed the rules a few times, once last year I was on an overnighter with my Multistrada. Myself and a riding friend decided to go back to camp wearing only t shirts because it was sweltering out, I felt wierd and a little paranoid, but to be honest much cooler and comfortable. One excuse I used was because I was riding a sport tour bike not a sports bike, how that could justify it I don't know. Anyway, excellent ride story appreciate the sharing.

Wore my teknic leather jacket, Kobe pro race gloves, alpinestar SMX plus', and the suomey you see. Also a pair of jeans...I've gone down several times at the track, and couldn't imagine doing it without at least a good jacket and gloves.

[metalhead]

I liked the write up. Good photos too. Good stuff dudes.

[Raiden]

Excellent write-up and pics