I'm baaaack.

[BigLenny]

Well, we did it! We made it back last night on our 11 day western bike trip.

 

We left 2 Saturday's ago and headed west. Here is a quick recap of the route we took:

 

Sat - Little Rock to Amarillo via I-40. (Hotter than blue blazes across Oklahoma, 103-104 degrees).

Sun - Amarillo to Taos NM via Dumas Tx, Clayton NM, Cimarron NM, and Eagle Nest NM. Beautiful ride! Cimarron Canyon is a neat ride, and Taos is an interesting place to visit. Very old, and you better like adobe structures.

Mon - Toas to Pagosa Springs, Co. First time on the trip to go up to 10000+ altitude. Northern NM is beautiful, and southern Colorado heading into Pagosa gave us a glimpse of the beauty that lied ahead.

Tues - Pagosa Springs to Gunnison Co via Wolf Creek Pass and the Continental Divide, Salida Co.(Cool looking old town with the Arkansas River rapidly flowing through it. We wanted to see the headwaters of the Arkansas because we live in a town where the Arkansas river is a half mile wide with barges going up and down), Hwy 50 over Monarch Pass (11300 and Cont Divide again).

Wed - Gunnison to Durango via Hwy 50 to Black Canyon of the Gunnison, to Montrose, then MILLION DOLLAR HWY to Ouray, Silverton, Durango. Hwy 50 was stunning! Black Canyon was unbelievable. Million Dollar Hwy was CRAAAAZZZZYYYY!!!!

Thursday - Durango to Page, Az via Four Corners and Monument Valley. This route and the sites we stopped at was riding on another planet, or shall I say a number of different planets. Seemed like every time we went around a corner the terrain and scenery changed to some other worldly site. Gorgeous area. Really got a feeling of being WAY out in the middle of nowhere.

Fri - Page to Sedona Az via Grand Canyon, Az. No words to describe! Went in the East Gate and worked our way around all the viewing points to the South Rim. Had to stop in the middle of the Hwy to wait for a HUGE elk to saunter across the road. Rode through light rain from Grand Canyon to Flagstaff. Made it into Sedona right before sunset.

Sat - Sedona area. Spent all day in and around this area. Unique and very relaxing place. Rode up the mountain to Jerome, Az. Very cool old mining town with a great biker/artsy feeling. Great food and shops, and the view back to Cottonwood and Sedona is wonderful.

Sun - Sedona to Tucumcari, NM via 89A and I-40. Perfect temperature, and the scenery was great considering it was an interstate highway. Had a great BBQ lunch in Albuquerque at Rudy's.

Mon - Tucumcari to Ok City via I-40. Two words, BORING and WINDY! Fought the wind so much, by the time we got to Ok City I was ready to fall off the bike. LOL.

Tues - Ok City to Home via I-40. Three words, GREEN, GREEN, GREEN! It had been so long since we had seen green grass and huge green trees, it made us realize how beautiful it is.

 

Overall an unbelievable ride! My honey took 1197 pictures with the new camera I bought her for the trip. Not to mention we took several with our iPhones. I will post some of them whenever we get them loaded on the iMac.

 

Red (my RSTD) was perfect. Never a glitch of an issue. Talked to hundreds of bikers and everyone was super nice and complementary of each others bikes. Had numerous people ask about what brand my bike is, and several wanted to know where I got the passenger armrests my wife enjoyed using. Boat loads of Harleys out there. I would say that a very close percentage estimate of brand of bikes we saw was 80% Harley, 15% Goldwing and BMW, and the other 5% was the rest us in the bike world. I know a lot of people buy Harley's because thats the dominate brand name and the image is what a lot of people go for, but after seeing SO MANY Harley's on this trip, I realize that these bikes can't just be about looks and image. They must be pretty good quality too for so many of them to be on these longe range rides fully packed and performing great. I think pretty much everybody makes a quality bike nowadays.

 

I'm gonna figure out a way to have me a summer home in Colorado. LOL.

 

BTW, the Helicoil job I did on my front fork held perfectly.

 

P.S. I was so sad to read that Warrior passed away. I had never personally met him, but I had posted back and forth with him a couple times on the site. From what everyone that knew him has posted, he must've been an awesome guy, and what a great loss. My prayers are with his family.

[PBJ]

welcome back sounds like you had a great time.

[Miles]

BigLenny, congrats on a successful ride. It sounds like the two of you had a great time.

You are right that the scenary in the areas you went to is out of this world. Also happy to hear that the RSTD performed flawlessly.

 

If you ever get a chance to ride up to the Northwest corner of these United States, let me know in advance. I would be happy to host both of you at our ranch for several days, and show you some of the beautiful sights, and riding roads, of the Great Pacific Northwest.

[Hazenson]

WOW Sounds Like a Awesome Adventure, Glad to hear your back and had a safe trip

[pmelah]

Im jelous now I wana do trip like that

[pmelah]

Glad you jad fun ive been all through that country side in a big truck and loved it now I wana do it on my yammie