FuzzyRider
esolc oot m'I siht dear nac uoy fI
So me and 5 other guys from work took a week of vacation this year and headed out to Yellowstone. It started at 7:00 AM on Saturday July 21st, we all met up just northwest of Dallas and headed out US 380 to US 287 towards Amarillo. Stop 1 was somewhere along 287:
As you can see we had 3 Wings, a Venture, an old Connie, and me and my new FJR. Outside Amarillo we found a nice road (335 to 1061) through some pretty mesa country. I was shocked to see something resembling an interesting road near Amarillo, but hey I was happy. From there we followed 385 to US 87 into Clayton, NM. Day 1 was about 500 easy miles with no problems - a good start to the trip.
Day 2 started in the Super 8 parking lot in Clayton:
We continued northwest out of Clayton and found ourselves in the extinct volcano land of northeast New Mexico:
We continued on 87 and got on I-25 for a short jaunt through the Raton Pass:
I was a little concerned since I haven't had my '07 up at any elevation but it handled the 7800 foot altitude of the pass without even a minor hiccup. We continued on I-25 until we got to Walsenburg, CO and picked up US 160 on our way west. When we stopped for fuel in La Veta I realized 3 things about Colorado: 1 - it's very pretty in much of the state 2 - gas prices are outrageous and 3 - octane is lower than in Texas:
We kept riding on 160 seeing some more beautiful land until turning north on CO 150 to visit Great Sand Dunes National Park. It was weird seeing huge sand dunes right next to a mountain with no other sand visibile anywhere in the area on the ride into the park:
After spending an hour in the dunes we made our way back down to pick up 160 and continue west. 160 turns southwest heading towards Wolf Creek Pass - one of the prettiest passes I've seen in my life. Before we got to the pass we saw a huge storm hovering over it and decided to pull over and put on our rain gear. Putting on the gear delayed us just long enough for it to stop raining on the pass but the roads were still wet and it was still pretty cold (low 50s in the pass). Still, it was a truly wonderful pass that I'd love to ride on again. I managed to make it across the 10,800 foot pass with no surging!!! Here's a view from an overlook on the south side of the pass - the picture doesn't even come close to doing it justice:
We pulled into Durango late in the evening - about 7:45 - and spent about an hour trying to find a place that had 6 rooms. Finally we managed to find the Budget Motel (not to be confused with Budget Inn). It wasn't much but it had beds and showers that were most appreciated at the time.
On day 3 we had a planned stop at Mesa Verde National Park so we continued west on 160 out of Durango, CO until we reached the park. When we got to the gates we were told by the ranger that the roads were under construction and to expect gravel - great. As it turned out there was no gravel but 1/3 the way up the mesa we hit grooved pavement where the top asphalt had been ground down. It was pretty uneventful going as I follwed the leader at an easy pace. At one turn however I got my front and rear tires tracking in seperate grooves. Since we were going slow I decided to ride it out and on corner exit the rear tire hopped into the same groove as the front. When we got to the top we spent a couple hours looking at the Native American cliff dwellings. It was a very pretty place with beautiful scenery:
After a couple hours we got down off the mesa and ate lunch in Mancos, CO. After lunch we decided to use the marvels of modern technology - cell phones with internet browsers - to find a hotel for the night in Grand Junction, CO. After calling a half dozen hotels we found the rooms at a La Quinta. We took CO 145 to CO 62 to US 550 on north into Grand Junction. While on 145 we worked our way up to Lizard Head Pass and, since it was mid-afternoon at the time there was a storm perched on the pass. We put our rain gear on and headed up the pass. Near the top of the 10,200 foot pass in moderate rain I noticed surging for the first time. It happened 4 times but each time I was able to close the throttle a little and open it back up to clear it out. I stayed in 5th gear during the surging and still had enough power to accelerate. I guess my '07 is one of the better ones in regards to this problem. Once we got on US 550 (which turned into US 50 in Montrose) it was smooth sailing up to Grand Junction until we got about 50 miles out. We had mountains on either side of us and could see big thunderstorms over both ranges making their way to Grand Junction. At one point my CB squelch was broken by lightning 6 times in a minute. We decided to pick up the pace and beat feet towards Grand Junction. After pushing 10 over the speed limit for a little over 30 minutes we arrived in Grand Junction and got to the hotel just before the rain hit! And it was an impressive storm with lots of lightning strikes - I stayed up watching the lightning for 30 minutes before heading to bed.
Day 4 started by splitting our group up. The Connie needed new tires (we told him that before we left but I don't think he saw the necessity until hitting the heavy rain on Lizrd Head Pass) so he and his brother - one of the Wing riders - stayed behind to get the tire while two Wings, the Venture, and myself pushed on towards Jackson. Our group headed up CO 139 to Rangely where we picked up CO 64 and took it until it joined with US 40 which took us into northeastern Utah where we picked up US 191. 139 and 191 where the best combination of roads and weather we had on the whole trip. I especially liked the low-speed switchbacks on 191 in Utah - absolutely breathtaking in every way. We stopped at the Flaming Gorge dam in northeastern Utah. You can't see it in this picture but the river in the valley on the other side of this dam is over 400 feet below:
After the dam we continued up 191 towards our stop in Jackson, WY. Southern Wyoming was very pretty but the middle part of the west side of the state was...a little boring. Even while riding through boring country side you have to remain alert. About 4:30 in the afternoon the pillion on the lead bike spots a herd of deer to the west. She scans for any stragglers on the east side of the road and a milisecond after she sees the deer the lead rider sees it and simultaneously says "Deer deer deer deer!" over the CB while starting to brake hard. The deer runs across the highway and the lead rider, due to good reactions on the brake and a last second swerve, manages to miss hitting the deer by about 6 feet. I was riding second at the time and had plenty of time to use the excellent FJR brakes to 1) make sure I didn't hit the lead rider or the deer and 2) make sure I didn't get hit by the rider behind me. Fortunately there was no danger of #2 as the rider behind me was alert. After that we made it into Jackson with no other problems.
On day 5 a cold had started to affect 3 of the folks in our group and a couple other people stayed behind for various reasons so 3 bikes and 5 people headed up to the Grand Tetons. We had a leisurely ride to the park and up Signal Mountain where I took this picture:
As you can see clouds hung over the peaks all day so I wasn't able to get any really good shots but the clouds did start to thin out a little later in the afternoon:
The next day we all headed up to Yellowstone. Of course the first stop was Old Faithful and we got there early enough to get a really good seat on the benches around the geyser.
After that we broke into smaller groups to explore the park according to our interests. I was fascinated by the Grand Prismatic Spring where the blue is caused by scattering of light and the red/brown hues around the spring are made by bacteria mats that live off the hot water and minerals produced by the spring:
Not too long after this a Wing rider I was riding with noticed the clouds in the sky joining up. I wanted to see one more thing before we left - the Firehole River Falls. Well, we got there OK but by the time we were leaving the skies opened up. We managed to get our rain gear on but not before my t-shirt, mesh jacket, and jeans were already wet. And like a genius I opted not to put on my sweatshirt/sweatpants under my rain gear. Well, I was comfortable before the rain since the temps were in the low 70s but that quickly changed and soon it was in the mid to low 50s. And oh yeah, since I have Frog Toggs (which I thought did an outstanding job the many times I wore them during this trip) I got some airflow. Brrrrr. It rained on us moderate to hard the entire 100 mile trip back to Jackson. When I got back to the hotel I spent 45 minutes in the bathtub until I was finally warmed up.
Day 7 was spent riding 191 south to Rock Springs, WY where we picked up I-80 and took it east. We were almost clear of Wyoming when the skies opened up and rained on us all the way through Nebraska to Scott's Bluff (we wanted to stay somewhere closer to the highway but couldn't find rooms). Day 8 was spent, once again, riding though the rain in Nebraska where we picked up US 283 and took it south to Dodge City Kansas. Once we got into Kansas the rain stopped. Since I was starting to catch the cold that affected some of the riders in our group earlier I picked up some Airborne and slammed that down. Day 9 was an uneventful day. We continued on 283 and picked up US 287 in Vernon, TX. It was actually a very nice feeling to see that "Welcome to Texas" sign on the road. Apart from dodging another storm on our way home the last day was a breeze.
All in all I had a great time - 9 days, 3500 miles, and no mishaps. Things I learned on the trip:
1) Make sure the kickstand is fully extended before getting off the bike - I was lucky and stood right next to it when it started to go over so I was able to lift it back up and fully extend the kickstand.
2) Wild Bill highway pegs are a MUST for me travelling long distances. I couldn't have made the trip if I didn't have the highway pegs to extend my legs and shift my butt into a different position.
3) Throttle locks or even better cruise control is a must for me. I installed the Vista Cruise the week before the trip and was oh so glad I had it.
4) For me Frog Toggs work great but YMMV.
5) I will have some sort of riser intalled to bring the bars up and back a little before my next long trip
6) A Yamaha Touring screen would be nice but I didn't mind the stock screen very much at all...who knows, I might end up keeping the stock screen.
7) Side bags hold a lot and the saddlebag liners were great. I don't know that I would have bought them if they weren't included with the bike but I know now that they are a necessesity for a long trip.
8) A top case is in my future - more cargo room, while not strictly necessary, would have been very nice. Especially since I didn't have enough room to take my weatherproof boots with me and had to wear my perforated boots in all the rain. Of course the perforations make it a snap to dry them out - leave them on the hotel A/C unit overnight and they're dry as a bone in the morning.
I'm sure I'll think of some more to add - including pictures of the highway pegs and mounts (I thought I had some I was going to include in this post and it turns out I don't have any).
As you can see we had 3 Wings, a Venture, an old Connie, and me and my new FJR. Outside Amarillo we found a nice road (335 to 1061) through some pretty mesa country. I was shocked to see something resembling an interesting road near Amarillo, but hey I was happy. From there we followed 385 to US 87 into Clayton, NM. Day 1 was about 500 easy miles with no problems - a good start to the trip.
Day 2 started in the Super 8 parking lot in Clayton:
We continued northwest out of Clayton and found ourselves in the extinct volcano land of northeast New Mexico:
We continued on 87 and got on I-25 for a short jaunt through the Raton Pass:
I was a little concerned since I haven't had my '07 up at any elevation but it handled the 7800 foot altitude of the pass without even a minor hiccup. We continued on I-25 until we got to Walsenburg, CO and picked up US 160 on our way west. When we stopped for fuel in La Veta I realized 3 things about Colorado: 1 - it's very pretty in much of the state 2 - gas prices are outrageous and 3 - octane is lower than in Texas:
We kept riding on 160 seeing some more beautiful land until turning north on CO 150 to visit Great Sand Dunes National Park. It was weird seeing huge sand dunes right next to a mountain with no other sand visibile anywhere in the area on the ride into the park:
After spending an hour in the dunes we made our way back down to pick up 160 and continue west. 160 turns southwest heading towards Wolf Creek Pass - one of the prettiest passes I've seen in my life. Before we got to the pass we saw a huge storm hovering over it and decided to pull over and put on our rain gear. Putting on the gear delayed us just long enough for it to stop raining on the pass but the roads were still wet and it was still pretty cold (low 50s in the pass). Still, it was a truly wonderful pass that I'd love to ride on again. I managed to make it across the 10,800 foot pass with no surging!!! Here's a view from an overlook on the south side of the pass - the picture doesn't even come close to doing it justice:
We pulled into Durango late in the evening - about 7:45 - and spent about an hour trying to find a place that had 6 rooms. Finally we managed to find the Budget Motel (not to be confused with Budget Inn). It wasn't much but it had beds and showers that were most appreciated at the time.
On day 3 we had a planned stop at Mesa Verde National Park so we continued west on 160 out of Durango, CO until we reached the park. When we got to the gates we were told by the ranger that the roads were under construction and to expect gravel - great. As it turned out there was no gravel but 1/3 the way up the mesa we hit grooved pavement where the top asphalt had been ground down. It was pretty uneventful going as I follwed the leader at an easy pace. At one turn however I got my front and rear tires tracking in seperate grooves. Since we were going slow I decided to ride it out and on corner exit the rear tire hopped into the same groove as the front. When we got to the top we spent a couple hours looking at the Native American cliff dwellings. It was a very pretty place with beautiful scenery:
After a couple hours we got down off the mesa and ate lunch in Mancos, CO. After lunch we decided to use the marvels of modern technology - cell phones with internet browsers - to find a hotel for the night in Grand Junction, CO. After calling a half dozen hotels we found the rooms at a La Quinta. We took CO 145 to CO 62 to US 550 on north into Grand Junction. While on 145 we worked our way up to Lizard Head Pass and, since it was mid-afternoon at the time there was a storm perched on the pass. We put our rain gear on and headed up the pass. Near the top of the 10,200 foot pass in moderate rain I noticed surging for the first time. It happened 4 times but each time I was able to close the throttle a little and open it back up to clear it out. I stayed in 5th gear during the surging and still had enough power to accelerate. I guess my '07 is one of the better ones in regards to this problem. Once we got on US 550 (which turned into US 50 in Montrose) it was smooth sailing up to Grand Junction until we got about 50 miles out. We had mountains on either side of us and could see big thunderstorms over both ranges making their way to Grand Junction. At one point my CB squelch was broken by lightning 6 times in a minute. We decided to pick up the pace and beat feet towards Grand Junction. After pushing 10 over the speed limit for a little over 30 minutes we arrived in Grand Junction and got to the hotel just before the rain hit! And it was an impressive storm with lots of lightning strikes - I stayed up watching the lightning for 30 minutes before heading to bed.
Day 4 started by splitting our group up. The Connie needed new tires (we told him that before we left but I don't think he saw the necessity until hitting the heavy rain on Lizrd Head Pass) so he and his brother - one of the Wing riders - stayed behind to get the tire while two Wings, the Venture, and myself pushed on towards Jackson. Our group headed up CO 139 to Rangely where we picked up CO 64 and took it until it joined with US 40 which took us into northeastern Utah where we picked up US 191. 139 and 191 where the best combination of roads and weather we had on the whole trip. I especially liked the low-speed switchbacks on 191 in Utah - absolutely breathtaking in every way. We stopped at the Flaming Gorge dam in northeastern Utah. You can't see it in this picture but the river in the valley on the other side of this dam is over 400 feet below:
After the dam we continued up 191 towards our stop in Jackson, WY. Southern Wyoming was very pretty but the middle part of the west side of the state was...a little boring.
Even while riding through boring country side you have to remain alert. About 4:30 in the afternoon the pillion on the lead bike spots a herd of deer to the west. She scans for any stragglers on the east side of the road and a milisecond after she sees the deer the lead rider sees it and simultaneously says "Deer deer deer deer!" over the CB while starting to brake hard. The deer runs across the highway and the lead rider, due to good reactions on the brake and a last second swerve, manages to miss hitting the deer by about 6 feet. I was riding second at the time and had plenty of time to use the excellent FJR brakes to 1) make sure I didn't hit the lead rider or the deer and 2) make sure I didn't get hit by the rider behind me. Fortunately there was no danger of #2 as the rider behind me was alert. After that we made it into Jackson with no other problems.On day 5 a cold had started to affect 3 of the folks in our group and a couple other people stayed behind for various reasons so 3 bikes and 5 people headed up to the Grand Tetons. We had a leisurely ride to the park and up Signal Mountain where I took this picture:
As you can see clouds hung over the peaks all day so I wasn't able to get any really good shots but the clouds did start to thin out a little later in the afternoon:
The next day we all headed up to Yellowstone. Of course the first stop was Old Faithful and we got there early enough to get a really good seat on the benches around the geyser.
After that we broke into smaller groups to explore the park according to our interests. I was fascinated by the Grand Prismatic Spring where the blue is caused by scattering of light and the red/brown hues around the spring are made by bacteria mats that live off the hot water and minerals produced by the spring:
Not too long after this a Wing rider I was riding with noticed the clouds in the sky joining up. I wanted to see one more thing before we left - the Firehole River Falls. Well, we got there OK but by the time we were leaving the skies opened up. We managed to get our rain gear on but not before my t-shirt, mesh jacket, and jeans were already wet. And like a genius I opted not to put on my sweatshirt/sweatpants under my rain gear. Well, I was comfortable before the rain since the temps were in the low 70s but that quickly changed and soon it was in the mid to low 50s. And oh yeah, since I have Frog Toggs (which I thought did an outstanding job the many times I wore them during this trip) I got some airflow. Brrrrr. It rained on us moderate to hard the entire 100 mile trip back to Jackson. When I got back to the hotel I spent 45 minutes in the bathtub until I was finally warmed up.
Day 7 was spent riding 191 south to Rock Springs, WY where we picked up I-80 and took it east. We were almost clear of Wyoming when the skies opened up and rained on us all the way through Nebraska to Scott's Bluff (we wanted to stay somewhere closer to the highway but couldn't find rooms). Day 8 was spent, once again, riding though the rain in Nebraska where we picked up US 283 and took it south to Dodge City Kansas. Once we got into Kansas the rain stopped. Since I was starting to catch the cold that affected some of the riders in our group earlier I picked up some Airborne and slammed that down. Day 9 was an uneventful day. We continued on 283 and picked up US 287 in Vernon, TX. It was actually a very nice feeling to see that "Welcome to Texas" sign on the road. Apart from dodging another storm on our way home the last day was a breeze.
All in all I had a great time - 9 days, 3500 miles, and no mishaps. Things I learned on the trip:
1) Make sure the kickstand is fully extended before getting off the bike - I was lucky and stood right next to it when it started to go over so I was able to lift it back up and fully extend the kickstand.
2) Wild Bill highway pegs are a MUST for me travelling long distances. I couldn't have made the trip if I didn't have the highway pegs to extend my legs and shift my butt into a different position.
3) Throttle locks or even better cruise control is a must for me. I installed the Vista Cruise the week before the trip and was oh so glad I had it.
4) For me Frog Toggs work great but YMMV.
5) I will have some sort of riser intalled to bring the bars up and back a little before my next long trip
6) A Yamaha Touring screen would be nice but I didn't mind the stock screen very much at all...who knows, I might end up keeping the stock screen.
7) Side bags hold a lot and the saddlebag liners were great. I don't know that I would have bought them if they weren't included with the bike but I know now that they are a necessesity for a long trip.
8) A top case is in my future - more cargo room, while not strictly necessary, would have been very nice. Especially since I didn't have enough room to take my weatherproof boots with me and had to wear my perforated boots in all the rain. Of course the perforations make it a snap to dry them out - leave them on the hotel A/C unit overnight and they're dry as a bone in the morning.
I'm sure I'll think of some more to add - including pictures of the highway pegs and mounts (I thought I had some I was going to include in this post and it turns out I don't have any).
