| Summary: - Trip - Plano TX to Wichita Falls TX to Raton NM to Granby CO to Craig COJ to Mexican Hat UT to Kanab UT to Moriarty NM to Plano TX - Pack - Runt/X, Wiliedog, B-People, Shadow, OldPeople, Marty/Paula - Date - Fri 06/17 @ 5:30 PM till Mon 06/27 @ 11:00 AM => 10 days - Miles - 3887 = ~390 per day Fri: - Plano to Wichita Falls TX - 75 N, 380 E, 287 N - 5:30 PM to 8:10 PM - 158 miles - X logs off from work around noon and excitement builds - Dawg shows up in heat of day, we unload and chat, excitement build more - Meet Shadow and B's @ Shell, off into heavy traffic - Straight shot to Wichita Falls where we meet the OldPeople @ the Ramada
Sat - Witchita Falls TX to Raton NM - 287 N, 87/64 N - 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM - 465 miles - Boring roads, good weather - Passed a Harley and a custom hardtail chopper multiple times over course of the day. Hardtail did 400+ miles. Also passed a log cabin being hauled on a flatbed 4 times. Got to her Runt squel 'Whoo, wouldn't that be nice to have, hint, hint, nudge, nudge' 4 times. - Slash's Meanie shed its K&N filter as we rolled along. Packed scattered and regrouped while Oldman performed repairs. Onward. - B-Man picks up the Devil Duck during the filter repair. Nasty looking black and orange ducky that someone had cast away. Mistake. - B-Man's new '500 miles on it' rear tire becomes a new '500 miles on it and a big old hole in it' rear tire. Pit crew had plug and air in it in 15 minutes (ignoring the 10 minutes it took to refill when X let 10 lbs of air out.). Pack wanted to burn Evil Duck but was worried unknown horror could result. Duck was set along road for next victim. Onward. - Post to Rouge Owner's list asking for tire help gets mostly heckles and taunts. X collects dollars from those who bet value would be added. - Raton Kaw dealer successfully grinds tire down to cords while installing patch for 3rd time. Patch seems to hold but cord concerns say new tire needed. - Got to see the World's Largest Ice Cream Cone next to the Microtel. It gave the pack the shivers.
Sun - Raton NM to Granby CO - I25 N, 69 N, 50 W, 291 N, 285 N, 24 N, 91 N, 70 E, 40 N - 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM - 364 miles + 34 runaround miles - Good roads, good day. - Final plan has B-Man blasting north to get tire installed by very helpful dude who opens shop on Sunday. Rouge member checks in with offer to help but B is gone. Thanks Michael. - 69 was very pleasing, some traffic on 50 and 24, silly switchbacks (hate switchbacks) on 40, loooong tunnel on 70, 12 mile (that is mile) downhill on 70. - Rafting is very popular. Canoes were playing bumper cars in the rivers. - Shadow almost gets splotted when he misjudges one of: - R1100RT power - distance to oncoming car - speed of oncoming car In the end, power was sufficient. - B called to announce tire installed and he was coming through Rocky Mountain Park. X/Runt rollout to meet him 45 minutes out. X miscalculates B-Speed and meets him 15 minutes out. - Littletree Inn was quaint
Mon - Granby CO to Craig CO - 125 N, 14 E, 287 N, 130 W, 230 S, 70 W, 13 S - 8:15 AM to 4:20 PM - 413 miles - Extremly pleasing roads especially 14 and 130 - Chaos in the pack all day. Natives seem to be getting restless. - 8:30 rollout almost became 7:15 as troops were excited - Pack was scattered all over CO as different views were stopped for. - Cows were seen and captured on film. - Two large antlered furry creatures would have been much cuter if they were no standing in the road - Construction on 287 lead to some interesting 'let's nip in front of this car before it becomes one lane'. Having 5 100 HP bikes and a RT in the pack assisted in this. - Did I mention 14 and 130 were very pleasing.
Tues - Craig CO to Mexican Hat UT - 40 W, 1 S, 64 E, 139 S, 70 W, 128 S, 191 S, 163 W - 7:30 AM to 5:00 PM - 436 miles - Good day - Utah tar snakes are slippery/scary/irritating/good speed limiters. - Pack has been discussing/debating route since before departure. Old had caused mini rebellion by trying to change WDawg's orig route to 'blast to Kanab' (or rough equivilant). Compromise route proposed by Shadow/Dawg (the above 4 day journey) had the additional twist of subbing CO 141 for 128/191. Old's abacus/fingercounting stated this was too long. At monemnt of truth (139/70) pack went west/to Moab while Shadow proceed to 141 - Pack exits 70 @ exit 214 and does 5 miles of bumpy dirt road before finding 128 (which would be exit 212 if you are looking). - 128 into Moab is VERY scenic but not made for rolling the curves. While X is looking at red rocks, Shadow is finding time to text message things like 'awesome road', 'endless S curves', etc. X hates Shadow. - Into Moab, lunch, back to Arches Park. Plan of 'drive into park 1 mile, road ends, see Arch, get out before heatstroke sets in' would have been a known bad plan if only someone had looked at the park map. 15 miles in, pack stops, B-People stagger off, stagger back, and pack heads for a beverage back in town. Next time, take the first right and call it done. - Arrive San Juan Inn in Mexican Hat which is build along cliffs/river. Very cool (unless your air conditioner is broke). X's theory that it will cool off soom is proven wrong as at 2:00AM rolling over in bed still was enough effort to break a sweat. Lost 3 lbs of water that night. - Try the Navajo Fry bread any chance you get.
Wed - Mexican Hat UT to Kanab UT - 163 W, 261 N, 95 N, 24 W, 12 S, 89 S - ?? - 381 miles - Shadow shuns pack and heads to Tennesse to be with his Beamer buddies. - Beautiful day of riding, outstanding roads except for some silly 3 mile long gravel switchback muletrail we climbed. - Mixture of rolling straights, big sweepers, S curves, tighter stuff, Hogback that ran the ridgeline, etc. Great day of riding. - Aikens Lodge /Good mexican @ Nedro's - Fun @ Parry Lodge
Thur/Fri - Kanab - Thurs - Dawg and Runt are down with the stomach crud and B-Girl decides to hang with Runt. - Reaminder of pack heads for Bryce Canyon and devour 89/12 at pleasing pace. - Canyon end was 100 miles from Kanab, went to end and doubled back for stops. Natural Bridge and HooDoos were cool. - Rockin V for dinner - Fun @ Parry Lodge. - Fri - Rev leads pack out to North Rim. Actually on way out, Rev was replaced by an Alien as pace was less than Rev usually runs in second gear. Nice wander. - North Rim Lodge for brunch, see the big crease, back to junction and out to Cape Royal - Very nice roads that were taken at more standard pace on return. Old/Slash shunned pack and left early. Rev came back to his body and he beat the rain with minutes to spare. - Marty/Paula arrive from their CA trip just in time to leave. - Good day - Fun @ Parry Lodge.
- Kanab UT to Moriarty NM - 89 S, 98 S, 160 E, 64 E, 550 S, 40 E - 8:15 AM to 5:00 PM - ~ 550 miles - X wakes up @ 5:00AM with stomach crud. By 8:15 body is totally drained of fluids and the slog starts towards home. - Pack is in total disarray - Dawg slung off in early morning hours and makes it to Bernadino - OldPeople had announced shunning as they were going to see family in Pagosa Springs - X waves BPeople and Marty/Paula while they head towartds Charma and actually end up in Santa Fe - Wide open country - By 5:00, X is laying on hotel bed while Runt spoons him noodle soup. Sun - Moriarty NM to Vernon TX - 40 E, 287 S - ~ 500 miles - Dawg rolls into parking lot and mini pack rolls. - Nicely overcast and pace is brisk. - Heat drive pack to Econolodge in Vernon. Runt procures flyswatter and ant spray. Runt doing her naked 'I just killed my 5th fly' dance' is a sight to behold. Ant spray protects the bugs on Claw's windshiled from the ant hordes. - B's/Marty/Paula arrive and shun the Lodge for the Day's Inn - Good Catfish at Best Western Mon - Vernon TX to Plano TX - 287 S, 380 E, 75 S - 7:00 AM to 11:15 AM (with an hour @ Cracker Barrel) - 214 miles - Pack rolls home
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