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got up late, plan was for 200 miles, end up in Ouray late afternoon and hang out and relax�.plan failed
http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-GS...GSvTWXL-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-zD...zDxVk4s-XL.jpg by the time we got to the bottom of Hancock Pass it was about 8.30am. http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-37...372SJhB-XL.jpg I found out real quick the gearing on my bike was going to be a problem (too low) http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-wS...wSBqjv8-XL.jpg if you've never been up here, this is a worms eye view, this isn't rock or pebbles this is boulders most of the way and its just a case of gas it and the boulders determine your line to a certain extent http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-tQ...tQZnTmB-XL.jpg i had two get offs before i was halfway up and then a third which would have made great video but no one even saw it. my front wheel hit a big rock throwing it up in the air, right at that same time i grabbed a hand full of throttle and wheelied into a bush at almost 90 degrees to the trail. http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-xf...xfBLKb3-XL.jpg that trail is crazy tough and by the time we were at the top it was close to noon� http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-CN...CNHLRcj-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-MG...MGR6Qx5-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-Bd...BdpTtnN-XL.jpg i guess living in Louisiana at sea level made it real tough going with the altitude, we had to take a good few rests. this was to hurt us later� up and down pass after pass, getting caught in the rain http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-FS...FS4QXMb-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-tB...tBMqMh9-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-H8...H8znvcs-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-sh...shcjp4L-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-3D...3DmM4xL-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-h6...h6GFpTN-XL.jpg By the time we were at the the top of Cinnamon we had been in the rain for a few hours and at cloud level http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-JT...JTz7k8W-XL.jpg later at california pass we got a little lost, we were both on reserve, and then on the way down my rear brake fluid boiled so i had to roll down from 12,000 feet with the motor off and using the gearing for braking �eventually hitting 550 Pat ran out of gas and i had to tow him into town�.quite a day that ended at 11pm�but fun all the same |
left Ouray late after trying to find somewhere to get breakfast on a Sunday morning, plenty of places but all with a long wait�found somewhere and got riding around 9 am,
first order of business for the day was Ophir Pass. Going out of Ouray around the switchbacks my front end felt very notchy so we rode down the pass towards Silverton to the gas station at the bottom, the plan was get some grease and fix it�a quick teardown to clean and regrease the bearing. the gas station had no grease but the garage in the back had the owner there helping a guy with a bicycle. i asked if i pulled my front end apart could i get some grease? "sure no problem, i love helping you ADV guys out" so i tear the front end down to get the top bearing out and its partially ceased, all this in front of his shop he refuses to help and i didn't ask and didn't need any but he makes comments as i go along of course then i get literally a teaspoon of grease - now keep in mind here i could have gone into town and got a tub full for $5�.as i'm putting the front end back together he comes up and says "i'm leaving now give me $10!" Moral of the story ride the two minutes more in to town OK, front end back together and up Ophir�very cool, had to wait to go down the other side as a 50+ year old lady was jogging up, should have got a photo of her http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-G3...G3z3vh4-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-Kq...KqwWJmW-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-ZC...ZCLBmZc-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-zW...zW78BLD-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-VC...VCLLS5M-XL.jpg we headed west to Utah after that and hit Moki Dugway, Goosenecks, Mexican Hat before finally settling at Valley of the Gods� http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-XN...N9v4dT-2XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-MS...MSrTbBk-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-28...287Wx6Z-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-xD...xD7LCD6-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-Xk...XkBLd5p-XL.jpg a storm looked like it was coming in, Pat somehow had a signal on his phone and it said 55% chance of rain - wrong. try 100% and it came down hard, with about 50mph + winds and a a full on lightning show to end the day, rain came down the whole night and at times it felt like the tent was being lifted up with me in it! http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-N6...N63vJQm-XL.jpg |
both of us were very tired from virtually no sleep the night before, we took a easy ride out of Valley of the Gods and thru the canyons for the rest of the day, with a storm brewing to our west the whole day, but not one single drop of rain�result finally.
http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-hJ...hJ9wvZB-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-FT...FTjKJDQ-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-C3...C3jcX9Z-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-RJ...RJPTPfN-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-65...65G888v-XL.jpg We headed towards Green River UT, using old route 24 the land is being reclaimed and soon this road will disappear back in to the desert. http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-qT...qTxxWpn-XL.jpg Got in the state park early and did a little minor maintenance and had a few beers, by 8.30 the storm caught up with us and it another night with the sound of rain on the outside of the tent |
a quick ride from Green River to Moab to top off the tanks�
next it was heading to Shafer Switchbacks http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-kb...kb33QR8-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-m3...m3DSJtd-XL.jpg can you see Pat on his bike in this shot below? http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-vB...vBjct9V-XL.jpg and here are the switchbacks heading down to White Rim Road http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-v4...v4v3PtK-XL.jpg and to the Musselman Arch� http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-xs...xs5gkKG-XL.jpg in hindsight that would have been a good time to come off the trail, having never done it before we were interested in the ride to see what all the hype was about� this is what we saw http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-wr...wr2nNwZ-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-Jz...JzQxBkQ-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-GB...GBGgv6C-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-74...74rhdnr-XL.jpg here lizard lizard!!! http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-HV...HVSf58H-XL.jpg well great weather cool scenery but after a while it all seemed very similar the sun was beating down and we spent too much time at the start taking photos, not realizing we were drinking more of our water than we thought. By the time we got to Potato bottom were were virtually out of water!!! NOT GOOD�we agreed that we could see the Colorado, this is what we saw http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-dG...dGW6ckG-XL.jpg if we could get to it we were going in the river to cool off, we found a way in by Hardscrabble Campground, we wallowed in the water for nearly an hour in full riding gear http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-R9...R9qbtTW-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-Ds...Ds6QzvJ-XL.jpg nicely cooled off and now a few clouds were in the sky blocking the sun, all good again, well for about 500 yards, as we rounded the next corner the river had spilled its banks onto the trail and we had two sections of very soft mud to cross with water flowing at a good rate, done not to difficult, 500 yards more and another corner the is a car partially submurged and a guy sitting there, http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-d3...d3Lm36h-XL.jpg we crossed the mud and the water and he offered us a gallon of water as he had plenty in his car, nice guy, thanks if you ever read this. from then on until mineral bottom road http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-pS...pSjGr3W-XL.jpg about every few hundred years there was standing water and deep sand washed down from the flash floods that have been happening all over southern Utah for the last few days since we have been here�spending the night in Moab http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-qD...qDtKVHF-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-wf...wfHj4pL-XL.jpg |
coming out of Moab early in the morning
http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-ZJ...ZJjxqqk-XL.jpg i headed out on the Utah backcountry discovery route north of Green River, having done a lot of the routes further south i was on section 8. Over the last few weeks Southern UT has been having severe flash flooding on a daily basis, i was wary about heading out just in case areas had been washed out or made impassable for one reason or another. Initially the route seemed OK for the first ten miles or so http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-sk...skmzG9W-XL.jpg after that the heavy rains started to show the toll on the trail, there were long sections of deep sand, so if you don't like deep sand avoid this section, there's lots of it right now http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-Jp...JphGVB7-XL.jpg i found a section that first appeared to be a gate i needed to go thru, but there was no way http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-Kj...KjbkdmC-XL.jpg later down the trail i found what i think was the right gate, so i went thru http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-h6...h6VcbNs-XL.jpg all good again and at one point you cross the 'spanish trail' http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-WX...WXdcpq9-XL.jpg then out of nowhere i hit so rough ground and the GPS cut out, i have a zumo 550, so i did the normal check - taking out the battery and replacing it - nothing, i then pulled out the tools and went thru the electrical system, connections, fuses, charging wires from source to the head unit, everything was good, but all it would do would scroll thru the initial first two flash screens and then cut off. http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-74...744JgVR-XL.jpg i have a 60csx as a back up on the bars but it only has base map, as i use it mainly for altitude or compass, now this was my main unit!!! a quick check of the map showed the main paved road maybe 6 miles away, i was at a point on the trail where i had two choices, follow the trail and head in deeper, but with no GPS tracks and the map has no names and the trail doesn't either....so i headed towards the road - hopefully, it was all a little vague, i was trying to find a definite point i could recognise - i came across a ranch entrance no i know if you see this you are heading the wrong way http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-CJ...CJNSK7R-XL.jpg i came to a cross roads after being chased down the trail by a big black bull for about 100 years!!! and there was a truck there, it was the rancher who owns some of this land, he wanted to know if i had see any of his bulls!!! YES, i told him i was chased and he laughed, " that bull is heading this way for water, he was chasing you cause he thinks you might steal his water :lol3 so i tell him i am looking to get off the trail as my GPS as taken a ****, we are sitting at a crossroads, 4 ways to go i figure, so i ask which is the best way, he points at two of them and tells me i could use either, and then points in a direction where there is no trail and said you could go that way if you want as well. he laughs and then points, "go that way" its the shortest, i said 6 miles, which is what it shows on the maps to scale, he told me it was 16 miles, and it was...he took off http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-jm...jmxmf3x-XL.jpg the road is fast and scenic http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-s8...s8XmBNs-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-5g...5gHZ7KQ-XL.jpg i get back to the highway, but on the way something isn't right with the front end...later in the day i check the bearings that "the guy in silverton helped me with new grease a few days earlier". i pulled the whole front end apart in a motel parking lot http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-8s...8sgkTTV-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-FP...FPcFd46-XL.jpg what i found is the "mechanic" just added new grease to the bearings and didn't clean them first, there was old grease with grit and dirt under the new grease, this is what made the front end feel notchy so soon...i went thru the whole thing, cleaned and regreased and got it all back in one piece in about an hour for $10.50 spent at the local Napa store because of this i decided to head out of UT and go to Reno, long day on the road passing Bonneville Salt Flats, but a whole lot of nothing else for the rest of the day http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-qF...qF7ckbX-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-Hw...HwqPLJR-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-JG...-JGvXtXM-L.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-nw...nwWSj2J-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-Cg...Cgr7hTT-XL.jpg |
very late start from Reno, by the time i was outside the city limits it was after 12pm, this would have an affect later in the day.
http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-S3...S36j9Rz-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-d9...d93Jcpv-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-ZB...ZBTDqhF-XL.jpg i headed northwest towards one of my favorite rides, route 36 in northern california, firstly thru Lasson NP and the volcano fields, they were doing managed fires so visibility was very limited only got these few good shots http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-sJ...sJqv3ZV-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-f3...f3JMzSH-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-H5...H5k48mC-XL.jpg from there it was onto route 36, from Lasson to Red Bluff its OK but from Red Bluff onwards it kind of reminds me in places of the road from Cusco to Nasca in Peru, perfect payment most of the time and never more than an 1/8 of a mile without a bend the sign by the side of the road when you rejoin the 36 in Red Bluff after one mile on the freeway reads twisty road for the next 140 miles�and it is http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-8H...8Hznfpq-XL.jpg because i was late and riding into the sun i decided not to head for the coast but stayed in a campground, and on a saturday night i was the only one there�weird!!! http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-q7...q7m27JC-XL.jpg |
i'll get to the Zebras in a bit�
i finished riding 36 with the sun on my back all the way to the ocean, only in the last few miles did i hit the fog and the temperature dropped dramatically http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-fz...fz8XFJk-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-MT...MTtbxdp-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-Sn...Sn3mFtQ-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-Zq...ZqpVzKx-XL.jpg the rest of the day was spent with the ocean on my right most of the time or surrounded by big Redwoods http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-mP...mPS9jgr-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-Zp...Zptvn6R-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-wX...wXLtGS8-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-8G...8GrHkPn-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-RN...RNbXGvW-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-dn...dnJxRrP-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-8J...8J9nbtH-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-kN...kNtzxft-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-Gp...GpPnnwV-XL.jpg �.until rounding a corner i thought i had ridden thru a time warp and i was in an african savanna in the middle of a field was two Zebras!!! yes i'm not losing my mind, and having lived in Kenya years ago i can tell you these were big and healthy http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-Sb...SbgLrwD-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-k8...k853sDQ-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-R5...R58Wcrz-XL.jpg i ended the day in a State Park, i must have had a puzzled look on my face, "are you Ok?" an English accent asks me i reply, "$40 for a campsite, am i missing something here?" "nope thats right, you can pitch your tent by us if you want, no problem". this is how i met Matt, Nicola and there two kids Cosmo and Sky, they were world travelers now settled in California. they understood $40 was most of a days budget for a traveller, so we ended up in the same pitch talking the night away about life on the road around the campfire�and BTW they had the BIGGEST tent i have ever seen, they were now car campers http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-cw...cwqfDQQ-XL.jpg |
more coast riding and the occasional diversion to get off the fog to the inland and warm up
http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-h8...h8bF4f7-XL.jpg ...and today i'm back in Argentina!!! seeing a familiar face...gotta lover quirky californians and there choice of animals http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-Vt...VtGb7Vb-XL.jpg when the fog lifted in certain areas of route 101 and route 1 the views as expected are incredible http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-rD...rDFdj9n-XL.jpg how about a fixer upper with ocean views...any takers http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-VC...VCB5zFT-XL.jpg i arrived into San Francisco just in time as everyone was leaving so didn't have to deal with too much traffic http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-6w...6w6LVRG-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-CP...CP3VDXf-XL.jpg having been here lots of times before i just headed to the Presidio to take a different "angle" of the Golden Gate Bridge http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-qq...qqkBm7k-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-sm...smVVMck-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-CQ...CQ9RfQk-XL.jpg i ended up the day spending the night with fellow inmate "Hetman" in his apartment downtown and grabbing some food...thanks for your hospitality Dave it was very much appreciated, and he gave me a few pointers to some roads that the locals like....i'm off |
Quote:
he is now loaded in a uhaul and headed home...me i'm still on the road |
Headed out of San Fran on Skyline and got to Alices for breakfast, as it was mid week there was only one other bike there so quick service and an excellent breakfast sandwich, after a cool ride on a twisty portion of slab
http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-Gh...GhTNgLw-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-Xk...Xk222nN-XL.jpg the rest of the day was up and down, past the Lick Observatory http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-QD...QDCs2zD-XL.jpg on a road that climbed passing cyclists in their 70's�it was hard work on my bike wearing full gear. When i got to the top i was told a man that was 80 was doing this ride a while back and had a heart attack on the climb�it is that steep in parts, if you haven't ridden it Coming down the other side the heat increased with each mile and every few hundred feet i lost altitude� http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-Qj...Qj44wFf-XL.jpg not knowing this road i passed a few riders heading in the opposite direction i soon found out where they had been - The Junction - but again i was the only one there http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-93...9334zms-XL.jpg http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-3N...3NWR6RH-XL.jpg Once almost down to sea level it was farm country http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-qJ...qJ37GMG-XL.jpg and then finding a place to wild camp in the Stanislaus Forest http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-MT...MTm9DHW-XL.jpg |
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