US MotoGP Day 3

Man, life is GOOD!

What a day. Each one gets better than the last (like my marriage).

After a bad night of camping, we woke up early ready to ride, baby, ride. It got a bit chilly at night but as soon as the sun came up it warmed up nicely. Our first destination was Telluride, CO. This has always been our favorite mountain town. This trip however I was not quite as impressed. It has really grown with sidewalks full of people. It has turned into a very expensive mini-Aspen – commercialized and crowded. Not to my liking. It is till a good destination town but just not as good as in the past.

The ride to Telluride was just awesome. Crisp cool morning air, winding, climbing mountain roads, cars to act as pylons as we raced up the canyon. A little too much traffic, but it wasn’t a problem with the 160+ ponies on the CBR’s. Keep the bike at about 7-8 thousand RPM and when you whack the throttle open things happen at warp speed. A deep growl emits out the exhaust, you are thrown back in the seat, the front wheel lifts – even at 85 mph – and WHAM – you rocket past cars like they were tied to the mountainside. Three seconds and you are at 110 mph and accelerating – hard. Better have your helmet strapped on good and tight. Things get really small really quick in your rear view mirror. Adam and I have this timed to perfection. The leader waits for the right moment, signals the pass, and both bikes leap forward in unison, passing 3-4-5 cars in less time than it takes to read this sentence. You have to make sure the other cars are not pulling out to pass at the same time, and that the leader is not turning left, but that knowledge comes from experience.

Western Colorado

After Telluride we decided to take a new route out of Colorado. I have ridden most of the good roads in the Rockies, but Highway 145 and 90 west to Utah is one of the few I have not ridden. Our other choice was Highway 666 out of Cortez, which I have ridden – it sucks. The 145/90 route through Naturita, Bedrock and Paradox was an excellent choice. The route follows the Dolores River part of the way. Right down in the bottom of a tight canyon for 30 miles or so, 80 mph sweepers linked end on end. The road is lightly traveled so you can just let it fly. Just about that time the song “Highway to the Danger Zone” from the movie Top Gun was playing on my iPod. I was rocking! Adam in front leading, the CBR whining at 8-10 thousand RPM, flicking the bike left and right, the canyon a blur as we ripped up the road. Accellerate hard as the bike leaps forward, slam on the brakes for the next corner, downshift, arc through the corner, then hard on the gas on the exit. I finally had to tell myself to SLOW DOWN – I was getting that adrenaline rush again that seems to cause me problems and crashes . I finally backed it off a bit and let Adam disappear down the canyon. I was still having a blast, but just down a notch. Good thinking. Closest hospital was about 90 miles away.

Bugs. Lots and lots of bugs. Especially at 85 mph, they just can’t get out of the way fast enough. The bugs are so bad we have to clean our helmets every stop, and wash our bikes each night. Got to be stylin, can’t have bug-coated crotch rockets.


Utah

I believe southern Utah has some of the most incredible roads and scenery in the U.S. of A. A very desolate area, you can just hammer on the throttle and let her rip. We went from Blanding to Hanksville at an average of 105 mph. This was a 126 mile leg and we saw a total of 10 vehicles on the route. Three of them were riders from Texas on their way to the same races. Unlike Wyoming, where you can also lay on the throttle, southern Utah has just awesome, breathtaking, inspiring scenery. The roads are so smooth it seems we were just gliding at breathtaking speed, a speck of high tech man and machine in a world that is eons old. We would take these big fast sweepers at 100 mph, the suspension working, the tires fighting for grip, the CBR clawing for the sky on the exit. Nobody around. Not a house, not a store, not a gas station, not even an outhouse or barn – for 126 miles. Fuel is certainly a big concern. As we rolled into the gas pumps at Hanksville my low fuel light came on. Glad they were open. Hanksville is nothing more than two gas stations at the crossroads of highway 95 and 24. Not much else around for a long, long, long ways. This is also a stopping point for every motorcyclist passing through the area, since it is the only fuel stop for over a hundred miles. Adam and I sat in the shade and chatted with the other riders. One guy had been riding over 50 years and was on a 2000 mile trip on his Goldwing with his buddy on a Harley.

Our plan was to make Escalante that nigh, but some of the other riders mentioned we might want to stay at Torrey. Arriving around 6:30 pm we found a hotel room available – unusual for a holiday weekend in this part of the country. While it is a desolate area, Torrey is near Capital Reef National Park so a there were a number of tourists staying in the area. After a nice dinner we both crashed in a nice soft bed.

Tomorrow’s plan is to ride my absolute all time favorite road – Highway 12 from Torrey to Escalante. Sixty miles of just the best roads, awesome scenery, and twisty curves. We are thinking of riding it to Escalante, and if we have time, ride it back to Torrey and then back to Escalante again. It is that good.