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Ride Report: Ride to Salida,CO.
I golf on Tuesday and have been doing so for 39 years. Just a bunch of guys from the architecture,engineering and contractor sector. With one 18 hole tournament and 26 nine hole rounds each year. This year, the 18 holer happened to come up two days before the SW-FOG, (Southwest FJR Owners Gather) in Salida, Co. and my ride to the Moto GP at Mazada Raceway (Laguna Seca) near Marina, CA happened tocome up just 3 days later. Theride: Play 18 hole tournament, Two day ride to Salida, 2 days in Salida, 3 day ride to Vancouver, 9 hole golf, 2 dayride to Marina, 3 days at Laguna Seca, 2 day ride to Vancouver, 9 hole golf.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kenhattan/sets/72157630861016014/
Before leaving Vancouver, I reviewed the weather and saw that it was going to be 95+ around SE Idaho and Utah. To avoid riding in too much heat, I elected to make the trip 2 ½ days to get to Salida. Fist day took meto Jerome, Id, and temps in the high nineties. (I-84). I was correct, the heat wore me out and I fell asleep at 7pm. Waking at 3:19am I was ready to go, so I left Jerome with temps at 66 degrees headed for Cortez, Co. 10minutes later it was 55 degrees and I had to layer up. I went I-84 to I-15 at Tremonton, Ut, to U.S. 6 to Green River, I-70 east a few miles, South on U.S. 191 past Arches N.P. and Moab to Monticello, then U.S. 491 to Cortez. But, because of the early rising, I changed course and took shortcut SR 184 and U.S. 160 to Durango, Co., 622 miles. After a couple hours of rest, I unloaded the side bags and headed out to New Mexico to pick up Navajo Dam for the DamTour. I ate dinner at the dam and returned to Durango for the night, happy that my planned route avoided both lightening and rain from the thunderstorms just miles away. Days total was 723 miles. Also, I avoided 4 bucks that came off a treed hill and crossed the road right in front of me. I was hard on the brakes and stopped as the last one crossed just 10 feet away, blindly following the leader.
The next day I planned to take U.S. 550 north to U.S. 50, which runs through Salida, Co. Big-lighted sign on the side of the road says Red Mountain Pass Closed. I didn't want to believe it, but since I made the ride to Navajo dam on Thursday, making today's ride only 236 miles, I felt the ride up 550 wouldn't be wasted if I had to turn around and come back to Durango and go east from there. Just so happened, the pass was open and I went on to Ouray and Montrose. Just before arriving at Bear Creek Falls, I experienced another deer. This one came off the mountainside and landed on the road between the car in front and me. If I hadn't rolled off the throttle with the intent to pull off at the Bear Creek Falls turn out, I just may have touched it. If you haven't done U.S.550, the million-dollar highway, you should. This mountain pass road is full of twisties, elevation changes, majestic mountains and vistas and the timberline is very high so you seldom rise higher than the trees. There are old towns, great places to eat and lodge. The passes are around 11,000 feet. Do it early morning, because there will be less traffic. U.S. 50 was nice and Monarch Pass was the Jazz. Going east, the pass is two lanes so passing the slower vehicles is easy and the road surface is very good. I liked it so much I joined three others the next day to ride to Lake City and back.
The gather in Salida was very nice, with around 50 people showing up, good weather, great dinner at Wallbangers, capable riders to make it fun and a nice shirt. I was up early Sunday morning and the third person to leave at around 6am. I needed to get to Ranchester, Wy by way of roads in the mountains. I went by way of U.S. 24 past Aspen on to U.S. 40, I-80 to Rawlins, U.S. 287 to Lander for a Grand Tour checkpoint, SR 789 and U.S. 20 to Boysen dam at 101 degrees, throughThermopolis, U.S. 14 through the Bighorn National Forest and some nice waterfalls for some cooler temps and light rain from a near by thunderstorm. Stayed in Ranchester for the night for a 654 mile day.
On the road at 6am headed for Yellowtail Dam near Fort Smith, Mt. The dam people weren't up yet when I got there and had to just take pictures of a sign. I went on to Hardin vs. the Cutoff road toPryor, but it got me on I-90 and I might have picked up a few minutes getting to Billings, Mt. At Billings I took SR3 to U.S. 12 and managed to maintain around 70 mph on this two-lane road. I expected high winds but it was quite pleasant as there wasn't any or it was coming from the east. I was running a little behind after Yellowtail so I went ahead and took I-90 after Garrison onto Missoula. South to Lolo and then back on U.S. 12 towards Idaho. About one mile west of the turn at U.S. 93/U.S. 12, at about 4pm I was surprised by a doe coming out of a small grove of trees headed for my front end. I didn't see her until she was in the lane next to me. We made contact and I was forced off the asphalt onto the shoulder gravel. Determined not to go down, I fought to avoid going down the embankment, which I didn't think my FJR would handle very well. I managed well and stayed on the 3 foot wide gravel section where I was able to ride forward to an asphalt mailbox turnout. The deer died after a bit and a couple guys pulled her off the road. My windshield was ripped off thebike and my clutch lever was bent around my wedding ring. The deer hitting my clutch is most likely the impact that caused me to leave the asphalt surface. I got congrats from the car driver behind me as he thought I was toast in the ditch. I was very lucky. After removing the damaged windshield hardware, I made it back to the gas station and bought some duct tape to tape the windshield to the nose. This worked okay and it stayed that way for the ride to Laguna. I went on to Kamiah, Id for the night. I took it easy on U.S. 12 as it was after 5pm and I didn't want to be slaying any more deer, not that you can avoid them when they ambush you from your flank.
Leaving Kamiah at 6am provided cold and damp air with some sections of the road with dew. US 12 is such a nice road as it runs through the Nez Perce Indian Reservation along theClearwater River, another must if you haven't done it before. The deer broke my radar detector and it no longer beeps in my ear, only shows on the display. I followed 12 until Waitsburg, and took a side trip to Curl Lake Dam. Just west of Pomeroy I took a road suggested by my GPS, no research done on this road, and end up having to navigate a 13% down grade on gravel. Fist gear and still having to use the rear brake to keep from going to fast. Scary switchback corners with very rough rock. That was fun. Later I picked up Zintel Canyon Dam in Kennewick and Prosser Dam in Prosser, and then cut across country from Mabton to Bickleton and then Goldendale. Love that road. U.S. 97 to Biggs and I-84 to home. Arrived home at about 3:30 pm, drove to the golf course and shot 38.
Total miles for this ride was: 3,600 miles. After golf, I re-taped the windshield to the body, washed clothes and then got up the next morning and took off for Fortuna, Ca. on my way to Monterey, CA for the Moto GP at Laguna Seca. Ride down and back included Hwy 1, what a blast. Good Fun.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kenhattan/sets/72157630902113668/
I golf on Tuesday and have been doing so for 39 years. Just a bunch of guys from the architecture,engineering and contractor sector. With one 18 hole tournament and 26 nine hole rounds each year. This year, the 18 holer happened to come up two days before the SW-FOG, (Southwest FJR Owners Gather) in Salida, Co. and my ride to the Moto GP at Mazada Raceway (Laguna Seca) near Marina, CA happened tocome up just 3 days later. Theride: Play 18 hole tournament, Two day ride to Salida, 2 days in Salida, 3 day ride to Vancouver, 9 hole golf, 2 dayride to Marina, 3 days at Laguna Seca, 2 day ride to Vancouver, 9 hole golf.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kenhattan/sets/72157630861016014/
Before leaving Vancouver, I reviewed the weather and saw that it was going to be 95+ around SE Idaho and Utah. To avoid riding in too much heat, I elected to make the trip 2 ½ days to get to Salida. Fist day took meto Jerome, Id, and temps in the high nineties. (I-84). I was correct, the heat wore me out and I fell asleep at 7pm. Waking at 3:19am I was ready to go, so I left Jerome with temps at 66 degrees headed for Cortez, Co. 10minutes later it was 55 degrees and I had to layer up. I went I-84 to I-15 at Tremonton, Ut, to U.S. 6 to Green River, I-70 east a few miles, South on U.S. 191 past Arches N.P. and Moab to Monticello, then U.S. 491 to Cortez. But, because of the early rising, I changed course and took shortcut SR 184 and U.S. 160 to Durango, Co., 622 miles. After a couple hours of rest, I unloaded the side bags and headed out to New Mexico to pick up Navajo Dam for the DamTour. I ate dinner at the dam and returned to Durango for the night, happy that my planned route avoided both lightening and rain from the thunderstorms just miles away. Days total was 723 miles. Also, I avoided 4 bucks that came off a treed hill and crossed the road right in front of me. I was hard on the brakes and stopped as the last one crossed just 10 feet away, blindly following the leader.
The next day I planned to take U.S. 550 north to U.S. 50, which runs through Salida, Co. Big-lighted sign on the side of the road says Red Mountain Pass Closed. I didn't want to believe it, but since I made the ride to Navajo dam on Thursday, making today's ride only 236 miles, I felt the ride up 550 wouldn't be wasted if I had to turn around and come back to Durango and go east from there. Just so happened, the pass was open and I went on to Ouray and Montrose. Just before arriving at Bear Creek Falls, I experienced another deer. This one came off the mountainside and landed on the road between the car in front and me. If I hadn't rolled off the throttle with the intent to pull off at the Bear Creek Falls turn out, I just may have touched it. If you haven't done U.S.550, the million-dollar highway, you should. This mountain pass road is full of twisties, elevation changes, majestic mountains and vistas and the timberline is very high so you seldom rise higher than the trees. There are old towns, great places to eat and lodge. The passes are around 11,000 feet. Do it early morning, because there will be less traffic. U.S. 50 was nice and Monarch Pass was the Jazz. Going east, the pass is two lanes so passing the slower vehicles is easy and the road surface is very good. I liked it so much I joined three others the next day to ride to Lake City and back.
The gather in Salida was very nice, with around 50 people showing up, good weather, great dinner at Wallbangers, capable riders to make it fun and a nice shirt. I was up early Sunday morning and the third person to leave at around 6am. I needed to get to Ranchester, Wy by way of roads in the mountains. I went by way of U.S. 24 past Aspen on to U.S. 40, I-80 to Rawlins, U.S. 287 to Lander for a Grand Tour checkpoint, SR 789 and U.S. 20 to Boysen dam at 101 degrees, throughThermopolis, U.S. 14 through the Bighorn National Forest and some nice waterfalls for some cooler temps and light rain from a near by thunderstorm. Stayed in Ranchester for the night for a 654 mile day.
On the road at 6am headed for Yellowtail Dam near Fort Smith, Mt. The dam people weren't up yet when I got there and had to just take pictures of a sign. I went on to Hardin vs. the Cutoff road toPryor, but it got me on I-90 and I might have picked up a few minutes getting to Billings, Mt. At Billings I took SR3 to U.S. 12 and managed to maintain around 70 mph on this two-lane road. I expected high winds but it was quite pleasant as there wasn't any or it was coming from the east. I was running a little behind after Yellowtail so I went ahead and took I-90 after Garrison onto Missoula. South to Lolo and then back on U.S. 12 towards Idaho. About one mile west of the turn at U.S. 93/U.S. 12, at about 4pm I was surprised by a doe coming out of a small grove of trees headed for my front end. I didn't see her until she was in the lane next to me. We made contact and I was forced off the asphalt onto the shoulder gravel. Determined not to go down, I fought to avoid going down the embankment, which I didn't think my FJR would handle very well. I managed well and stayed on the 3 foot wide gravel section where I was able to ride forward to an asphalt mailbox turnout. The deer died after a bit and a couple guys pulled her off the road. My windshield was ripped off thebike and my clutch lever was bent around my wedding ring. The deer hitting my clutch is most likely the impact that caused me to leave the asphalt surface. I got congrats from the car driver behind me as he thought I was toast in the ditch. I was very lucky. After removing the damaged windshield hardware, I made it back to the gas station and bought some duct tape to tape the windshield to the nose. This worked okay and it stayed that way for the ride to Laguna. I went on to Kamiah, Id for the night. I took it easy on U.S. 12 as it was after 5pm and I didn't want to be slaying any more deer, not that you can avoid them when they ambush you from your flank.
Leaving Kamiah at 6am provided cold and damp air with some sections of the road with dew. US 12 is such a nice road as it runs through the Nez Perce Indian Reservation along theClearwater River, another must if you haven't done it before. The deer broke my radar detector and it no longer beeps in my ear, only shows on the display. I followed 12 until Waitsburg, and took a side trip to Curl Lake Dam. Just west of Pomeroy I took a road suggested by my GPS, no research done on this road, and end up having to navigate a 13% down grade on gravel. Fist gear and still having to use the rear brake to keep from going to fast. Scary switchback corners with very rough rock. That was fun. Later I picked up Zintel Canyon Dam in Kennewick and Prosser Dam in Prosser, and then cut across country from Mabton to Bickleton and then Goldendale. Love that road. U.S. 97 to Biggs and I-84 to home. Arrived home at about 3:30 pm, drove to the golf course and shot 38.
Total miles for this ride was: 3,600 miles. After golf, I re-taped the windshield to the body, washed clothes and then got up the next morning and took off for Fortuna, Ca. on my way to Monterey, CA for the Moto GP at Laguna Seca. Ride down and back included Hwy 1, what a blast. Good Fun.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kenhattan/sets/72157630902113668/
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