Time to share a road trip

[Pain]

It's the depths of another winter, so it's time to share another road trip. I will honestly try to finish this one during this week. I really, really will.

Anyway, I am planning a (very) long road trip, starting in July 2011. I had planned on riding my sr250 for this trip (for a few pretty good reason that don't much apply to this ride report. Look here if you really want to know), and so took off just over three weeks to do a long road trip on the 250, just to see how I liked it. The plan was to ride to the Grand Canyon, and then to the Horizons Unlimited meeting in Colorado.

Horizons Unlimited, by the way, is a website for serious overlanders. I don't think these guy count a trip that doesn't involve a border crossing. Going there changes one's views of motorcycles as transport. Now that I've warned you I am not responsible for any idea you might get.

More tomorrow. Have to feed the cat and go to bed.

Anyway, I was a bit sick the week or two before I left, and busy at work, and I didn't really plan or think much about the trip until I left, and typically ran into some problems.



Anyway, I was frustrated with the pace the 250 was dictating, and had a fever, and was generally feeling a bit off, so I got the bike home, tossed everything onto my xs1100H and hit the road again. I know, still not much in the way of planning, but racking up serious miles felt pretty good.


Along the Mississippi

I stopped in North Platte at the end of day one. I wanted to see the Wild West Memorial, and I saw a "Free Museum" sign, which was nice. I slept like a rock, still a bit feverish. In fact I was running a fever for almost this entire trip, and having lost some time at the start was feeling the pinch of time too. I don't like either of those feelings.


The Memorial. Actually, it was a bit disappointing, though I am not sure what I was expecting.

So I headed off to the free museum. Maybe they would have a sticker I could add to my collection.

Sadly no sticker, but other oddities from Buffalo Bill's traveling show.


Anyway, back on the road I kept heading west. For some reason I thought Colorado was all mountains, but I was to be disappointed.

Where do I ski?

I did eventually reach the mountains, passing through Denver and stopping long enough to eat at a Chipolte. Probably not the Chipolte, but still.

(I was really in the Rockies for this pic, though I guess it's hard to tell.)

I wanted to get past Moab before stopping, but Utah was really friggin dark, and I opted for safety and a $100 Super 8. By the way, don't even stay there - worst hotel of my life. The bed was like plywood with sheets on it, the breakfast sucked and the walls were - very thin.

From Moab, on the xs11, the Grand Canyon was only a short ride. Still, there were things to see on the way

But even better than this (maybe) was Monument Valley.

Truthfully, this was my first time in the desert SW, and it all kinda looked the same. It looked awesome, but I didn't see anything really special about it. I do wish I had felt a little better and went off road a bit more. Maybe next time.

As you can see, I was under clouds now but it didn't start raining until I reached the Grand Canyon East Entrance. Then I got to ride 25 miles on loose tar, which was interesting. I then managed to get one of the last camp sites in the Mather campground. I set up my tent, cooked some ramen, chatted some with the couple in the site next to mine (they had just hiked down to the canyon bottom and back), and went to bed early. I planned to take in the whole south rim the next day.

[Kit]

Wow, long trip. Great pictures. Love the ammo can saddle bags, by the way.

[natemoen]

Hope your big trip goes well! What size ammo cans are those? Been tryin to find some like that for ammo cans myself.

[Pain]

Hope your big trip goes well! What size ammo cans are those? Been tryin to find some like that for ammo cans myself.

Not sure...big ones? I am not going to use them so you can come get them if you want. They do have holes drilled in them, though. I bought them at Sherpers in Hales Corners, they don't always have them in stock, but tend to carry them.

[MaximPhil]

Hi Pain,
thanks for posting yor trip pictures. Looks like you carry a lot of stuff.
Phil

[natemoen]

Not sure...big ones? I am not going to use them so you can come get them if you want. They do have holes drilled in them, though. I bought them at Sherpers in Hales Corners, they don't always have them in stock, but tend to carry them.

Heck yeah! I would take them off your hands if you don't want them!

[Pain]

Part two

So I had made if from Milwaukee to The Grand Canyon in about 2 and a half days.


The shiny bits on the road are actually where the better traction is. The darker parts made the rear all squirrelly.

There were views of the canyon on my right all the way to the campsite, but with cars behind me and the road and rain I didn't look much. So, really, I hadn't seen it yet when I headed out of the campground towards Grand Canyon Village for breakfast. I had to take down my campsite, since Mather was technically full again overnight. The ranger was pretty sure there would be spots open again after 5pm.

I got breakfast -

(um, can I have pancakes?)

Then bought some fever reducers and a couple bottles of water, and then headed for the buses (forgetting the fever reducers and water on the bike, I wasn't thinking all that clearly).


And, there it is. I had heard a lot that seeing the Grand Canyon wasn't all that big a deal. It was just a big hole in the ground, after all. In fact, it is a huge hole in the ground, and definitely something to see.





The strangest thing started to happen as I was walking along the rim. The views were amazing...I mean they were all amazing. All of them. After about 20 minutes I wasn't taking pictures anymore, at least not of the canyon


I was still feeling sick, so perhaps that had something to do with it. I was awestruck by the canyon, but after a while I was more numbed. I felt for the Spaniards who first came across it, they must have been "How are we supposed to walk around that?"


Oh, this must be special than, right?


Thar it is. Actually, you can clearly see the bands in the rock here. There was also water for sale and I bought more, drank it all, and refilled it from a water fountain/bubbler.


The canyon looks different on the western end, and I guess there was a progression of colors and such. Buses go all the way to Hermit's Rest, which is technically the end of the viewing areas. The eastern end, Desert View, isn't on the bus routes. I would stop there on the way back towards Moab the next day.

At Hermits Rest I took about a 30 minute nap. The sun felt so nice and warm, and I was really feeling miserable. I should have gotten a campsite for a couple of days and rested up, but was still feeling time pressured and, well. I did get that advice from a friend during a phone call, but ignored it.

Since I had to give up my campsite I headed out of the park to camp again. There was a National Geographic Imax movie and museum that I had been seeing billboards for since the middle of the day before. It wasn't that great (The ranger's at the canyon had warned me), but I got to bed early.

I woke up, packed up, and hit the road. I was headed back to Moab, planning to stop at Desert View. I had also heard Four Corners Monument had re-opened, and wanted to go there too. On the down side the bike had started to run very badly. White smoke and less power, which I blamed on altitude.


The stop is dominated by this Indian watchtower. It isn't actually an Indian watchtower, and isn't modeled after any particular race of Indian's watchtower, but is rather a rendition of what one might have looked like. No, I'm not kidding.

The inside, though, is decorated in the Hopi style, which was cool.


The views were, of course, amazing.



The road was calling, though, so I headed back out to it. On the way to Four Corners, I got 18mpg, which I decided was jut not going to work for this trip. Once in the parking lot (with another bike, really the first other rider I had met on this trip) and started to look at what was going on. I didn't have to look far.



I have an amazing mechanic, so I called him. The inside of the filter was intact, so while he wasn't happy, he said the bike could be ridden. I told him to order a replacement. I still wasn't sure why it had happened, and neither was he, but I was still thinking altitude. All I got from him was a non-committal maybe.


The monument had been closed for construction, and had really only just re-opened. I couldn't really tell what they had been doing.

Drum roll..

More Drum roll

And the finish

Now, there was a sign acknowledging this was, perhaps, not really the four corners. The surveyors may have been a couple hundred yards off (There wasn't GPS back then you know). But that the US Federal government had declared this the official monument for the four corners, even if it wasn't in the right spot.

I drank some more water, hopped on the bike, and head to Moab to camp. But the time I got there I was actually shivering. It was 80 degrees out, so I was blaming my fever. I found a campsite, set up my tent, briefly spoke with 3 BMW riders, and went to sleep. The plan was to hike Arches NP the next day, but I would have to see what the morning brought.

[Pain]

Hi Pain,
thanks for posting yor trip pictures. Looks like you carry a lot of stuff.
Phil

Yes, and no. The two bag on the back are tent and sleeping bag (which also has a blanket/pillow). The top case is mostly empty, one sidecase is clothes and the other food/kitchen stuff. The tank bag is maps/gloves/waterbottle. Tools go in the fairing (which locks).

I can live off the bike packed like this for as long as I can get food and water refills.

[STEPPENWOLF]

Nice trip and pictures,many thanks for sharing. Been there a few times and it is always awesome.Too bad ya had a fever, that will kill an otherwise fantastic trip.Yuppers it is a pretty big ditch,hiking to the bottom is easy till the second daythen you find out you have muscles that never existed.
Good job on the report.

[Pain]

Part 3

I woke up in Moab with my sleeping bag just soaked. I felt amazingly better, my head was clear and I had energy for the first time in what felt like forever. My fever had broken overnight.

The plan was to wander around Arches National Park. A couple friends had been there a year ago and I was entranced by the arches. So, I pretty much had to go. I had been right here a few days earlier, but had continued to the Grand Canyon. How I felt right then I wished I had skipped in and spend the time in Moab.

I grabbed breakfast at a cool little coffee shop


Arches is just, and I mean just, north of Moab. I didn't know much about them or the area and will do a few things differently when I'm in the area again.

By the time I got there (about 10am) there was a good crowd and constant stream of traffic. I wasn't sure how hot it was going to get, or how far I would be walking.

The welcome center was nice, and had a cool little movie that explained how the Arches were formed, and talked about Canyonland NP, which was to the south of Moab. So much to see.

The welcome center also helped me decided what I wanted to see in the park. So, after the movie I grabbed a map of the park and got back on the bike.

The first think I noticed as I rode into the park was the complete lack of arches. I couldn't see one from the road for the first 15 minutes or so.

Not an arch, but they talked about this formation in the movie and I recognized it.

See the arch? Way over on the right? That was the first one I saw.

Also not an arch, but still cool.

Eventually there were arches all over

Including this one

I guess it's famous. I had to hike about a mile to get this pic, there was a 5 mile hike to get under it, but I had a different arch I wanted to hike towards.

I had to ride further into the park, but I wanted to walk to see landscape arch, which is currently the longest arch in the park. It is also falling down. No one really knows how long it will last, but a few chunks have fallen off in the last 20 years or so and they've closed the paths under it. I figured I had better see it when I can.

The hike was supposed to be 2.7 miles each way, with a few side trails to see other arches on the way. The path was well marked and packed gravel. There was a fountain to fill water bottles at the trailhead and signs warning everyone to bring water. I filled a gallon bottle. It was about 1230pm.

There were arches all along the path, so I was getting my fill. My pictures show I was feeling better, I took more at Arches NP than I had at the Grand Canyon and Four Corners added together.

The last hundred yards or so to Landscape arch was loose sand instead of gravel, more like walking on a beach. It sucked in my biker boots, but I managed

It was much longer than it seems in the picture, and looked incredibly fragile. People whispered near it (I'm not kidding). Nothing fell while I was there.


I drank most of my water. I saw a lot of envious people with crushed 20oz bottles walking back out. I rode back into Moab for airconditioning and a salad, and saw this

It seem's I'm getting a bit of an oil leak. This is what happens when you take off without going over the bike first.

I enjoyed the salad, and got a hotel for the night. My electronics were all dead and I felt I needed a shower after the fever sweat and walking around Arches. I also felt like I had just woken from a haze and needed to take stock of where I was and what I was doing.
After my shower I did the math and realized I was way over budget. I was supposed to spend another week on the road, but that was couldn't happen. The bike was sick and getting about 20mpg, and now leaking oil. The next day I was supposed to head even higher into Silverton for the HU meeting. I admitted to not being sure what to do, so went to sleep.

In the morning I came to the (sad) conclusion I had to continue towards home. I could be home in 3 days, and then start taking the bike apart to find out what was going wrong. Then I spend 30 minutes or so riding back and forth through Moab changing my mind. Eventually I was back headed east on I-70, through Denver and stopping again in North Platte, staying at the same hotel I had on the way west.

I did make another stop, I saw signs for a Pony Express Station and exited to see what there was to see.

I was a little disappointed to find they had moved it to the park. Would have been more awesome for the park to have gone up around the station. It was quite small inside, and there were two staff ladies eager to tell stories of the station and the Pony Express in general.


It was here, cleaning some oil of the side of my bike, that I realized my enrichers were on about 1/2. I couldn't even say when I had used them last, probably on the first day riding west from home. So they had been all this whole time. The air filter and poor mpg all made sense, and I felt a bit foolish. Nothing else for it now, I was due home that night.

I wasn't totally home free. In Iowa I felt the stuff behind me slide a bit further back, and pulled over to see what was going on.

Several of the bolts holding the vetter rack together, and therefore the bags on, had sheered off or fallen out. I had safety wire and did what I could to get it all secured again.



This was the last unplanned stop, and the rest of the ride home was smooth and easy. My mpg was better too, oddly enough. The next day I got all the parts I needed to a) replace the air filter b) replace the bolts and c) replace the crackshaft seal on the left side of the bike (Following tech tips from here) to solve the oil leak. Bike is running fine now

Woo Hoo! I finished an RR. Okay, I glossed over some details and didn't share anywhere near as many pictures as I could have, but still I will call this progress!

More pictures at xspain.smugmug.com I ride a lot, and go a lot of places, and take a lot of pictures.

[natemoen]

Sounds like a good trip overall. I remember going to arched as a kid and would like to back some day.

[CatatonicBug]

Nice! I hope to be able to take a trip like that someday. They say that a trip that has nothing go wrong is a boring trip, that you don't remember much of. It's the ones with things that break or plans that change that you remember forever!

[Special Ed]

Wow! Wow, wow! Great pictures. More than I can take in right now. I'll go back when I have the time to absorb it all, but for now: thanks for sharing!
Special Ed

[planedick]

Great report...

Maybe you should begin writing for a MC magazine.. I really enjoyed the report and all the pics. Planning an adventure myself this spring, coast to coast and back....

[Pain]

Maybe you should begin writing for a MC magazine.. I really enjoyed the report and all the pics. Planning an adventure myself this spring, coast to coast and back....

Wow, that is some high praise. I need it too, planning on packing in everything to become a homeless jobless vagabond starting in July, off to see the world. Selling a story or 30 would help keep me on the road longer (which I am in favor of).

As for your trip, enjoy it. Don't over plan and keep an open mind.