Another beautiful day in Arizona

[raven]

Is that redundant or what?

:woot:

So here's a little ride report that should have those of you in snow-bound climes jonesin' for a ride (sorry - couldn't resist it).

http://www.twistyroad.com/gc08/DSCN2249.JPG

[raven]

When last we rode together we swore we’d start doing DS rides every couple of weeks to stay in practice. So, here we are, almost 3 months later finally going for another DS ride. Seems the combination of weird work schedules, traveling and lousy weather have conspired to keep us from our plans.

But, not today.

Today, started out looking rather grey and gloomy with forecast for rain and snow but lots of blue sky was peaking through the clouds so we opted to go for it after a yummy breakfast at Gus Balon’s (as mentioned in Road Food – great place). We managed to not get in a fight with a couple of feisty, cane-wielding, octogenarians who cut the “waiting for a table” line. The waitress came to our defense but we deferred and waited a few minutes longer before getting to indulge in 2 eggs over with potatoes, toast and bacon. Yum.

Attempting to photo breakfast (‘cause don’t ride-reports always need food pictures) highlights the dead batteries in the camera so this necessitates a stop at the quick mart for batteries and a couple of bottles of water.
http://www.twistyroad.com/gc08/DSCN2201.JPG

Of course, topping off for gas isn’t a bad idea, either. Especially considering the Wee is well into it’s five gallon tank and there’s no gas where we’re going. I go ahead and top off the XRL even though it’s practically full.
http://www.twistyroad.com/gc08/DSCN2202.JPG

Good thing we stopped for gas. The Wee needed OVER 3 gallons (but, to quote someone we all know "it'd probably be okay").

[Missy B]

I've waited 4.5 hours for one pic??? :mrgreen: (Oops...ok...3?)

[raven]

A blast through the twisties on pavement takes us down to Gardner Canyon Road and we head off on the dirt.

http://www.twistyroad.com/gc08/DSCN2205.JPG

Check out the warning sign. We see these all over the place out here.

http://www.twistyroad.com/gc08/DSCN2255.JPG

We zip down Gardner Canyon Road and enjoy the rolling hills and golden grasses. The road’s in great shape and makes for a nice easy clip as we blast along.

http://www.twistyroad.com/gc08/DSCN2214.JPG

[raven]

Have patience there, will you!!!

[raven]

Blowing around a corner we’re treated with the sight of a hunter’s pack of dogs. Such good dogs they are, all sitting like well-behaved sentinels. We both laugh that our dogs would be barking and carrying on to see two bikes go revving by but these good dogs seem unconcerned with our noisy machines.

http://www.twistyroad.com/gc08/DSCN2211.JPG

Now for the requisite rear-view mirror shot (what would a ride report be without one?) as we stop by Apache Springs for another photo op.

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Wouldn’t you just love to live out here with your horses and dirt-bikes?

[raven]

Just a few miles further and the landscape changes from the open grasslands to a small scrub forest.

http://www.twistyroad.com/gc08/DSCN2223.JPG

With several small water crossings and then we come to the end of the road and a portion of the Arizona Trail.

http://www.twistyroad.com/gc08/DSCN2224.JPG

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The Wee contemplates attempting the steep climb beyond the trail entrance.

http://www.twistyroad.com/gc08/DSCN2231.JPG

But, decides it’s nap-time instead (strange, it’s usually the XRL that needs a nap whilst out DS’ing).

http://www.twistyroad.com/gc08/DSCN2229.JPG

[raven]

Of course, you’d want to take a rest too if faced with this rocky ascent. It’s a bit more than we want to tackle today, especially with street tires.

http://www.twistyroad.com/gc08/DSCN2227.JPG

We do have a video of the raising of the Wee but I haven’t managed to get it set-up for viewing yet since someone keeps PM’ing me every two minutes to ask if the ride report is ready yet…..

So here’s the only injury of the day (look away if you don’t want to see the carnage).

http://www.twistyroad.com/gc08/DSCN2232.JPG

Ouch – don’t you just hate it when you break a nail?


So we head back the way we came and go blasting back along the rocky road and the golden grasslands but first a photo of the mountains and the bit of snow that stuck over-night.

http://www.twistyroad.com/gc08/DSCN2233.JPG

[raven]

Seems like we always manage to see cows when we head out into the wilds of Arizona so here’s the, now routine, cow picture. This one seems to be enjoying the beautiful day whilst lying in the tall grasses.

http://www.twistyroad.com/gc08/DSCN2245.JPG

We finally make it to the parking area for Kentucky Camp but decide we won’t have time to take the 1/2 mile hike down the gated road to check out the old mine and get back to Tucson before dark. So we take the requisite XRL photo and then turn towards home.


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Aren’t the clouds amazing?

http://www.twistyroad.com/gc08/DSCN2244.JPG

So, it's time to head for home and the end of another beautiful day in Arizona.

Wish y'all were here!

:thumbsup:

[raven]

Okay, impatient one, so where's your ride report?????
:mrgreen:

[Missy B]

Umm......

Umm...

I've been too busy refreshing my page looking for yours to make one of my own?

:mrgreen:

[Missy B]

What an awesome day today turned out to be! I woke up at 6 am, saw the wind blowing a lot and peeked at the thermometer and it said, "Too cold!" The sun was up at 7, so I peeked again, and our flags in our front yard were in the air like they were hanging on a wall. Windy, cloudy, wet, and cold. I shivered inside the house just thinking about it. Took the kids to school, went to a doctor's appt and called raven. We committed to breakfast and nothing more. :crackup: We'll see how it goes from there.

http://www.blairlair.net/images/DS121708/01-gussign.JPG

raven has been farkling the XR!

http://www.blairlair.net/images/DS121708/02-containers.JPG

Tool holders and other ends and ends in the containers. Pretty clever!

I didn't get a picture of them, I don't think, but raven also put on some highway pegs on the XR. Classic! They made me chuckle. Not something you see every day on the BRPs of the world. :mrgreen:

As raven said, we enjoyed a nice b'fast, ran into one of raven's former students who raved on and on about how cool raven is, :blah: :blah: :blah: (LOL) and then decided we were ready for a ride. Weather be darned! :woot:

We stopped at a Walgreen's and unbeknownst to us...was closed. But..if you are in Vail AZ and need a Walgreen's, it will be open at the end of January. LOL

At Walgreen's, we had a discussion about gas and I had 3 bars on the Wee so declared, "Oh, I should be fine." LOL It's a good thing we stopped because when I opened the gas tank to cap off, I couldn't see any gas. It was one less thing to worry about in the middle of nowhere.

Raven filled up too and just like us humans after filling up, it needed to relieve itself.

http://www.blairlair.net/images/DS121708/03-peed.JPG

(continued)

[Missy B]

We headed toward our destination for exploring. I've driven by this road off of Rte 83 so many times and have always wanted to explore around out there. I was so happy when we found it.

Our celebratory pic...Dirt, we found it!! Wheee!

http://www.blairlair.net/images/DS121708/04-bikes.JPG

For some reason, raven sent me off from here. I was a little hesitant to go first because I am wayyyyy slower than raven, esp when I'm on the Wee in the dirt. On the street? Fogedaboutit. I never see raven unless there's traffic. :mrgreen:

There was a method to raven's madness.

Pics while waiting for raven at a decision point:

http://www.blairlair.net/images/DS121708/05-waitingfordace.JPG

http://www.blairlair.net/images/DS121708/07-scenery.JPG

Which way do we go???

http://www.blairlair.net/images/DS121708/06-decisiontime.JPG

Guess I'll wait for raven....Oh...look....

http://www.blairlair.net/images/DS121708/10-dace.JPG

http://www.blairlair.net/images/DS121708/11-dace.JPG

We decided to head toward Apache Springs...first...

Signs DS'ers love to see!

http://www.blairlair.net/images/DS121708/08-limmaint.JPG

Gratuitous Wee shot:

http://www.blairlair.net/images/DS121708/09-wee.JPG

(continued)

[raven]

We're waiting....

[Missy B]

It was just incredibly beautiful scenery and roads where we were. I can say that I would never have taken this road if not for the dual sport experience. So I'm really glad to have experienced it all. I was a little taken aback by the first stream crossing. It seemed to come out of nowhere, but that's how the desert landscape goes. Keeps things exciting.

And I had a big ole grin and :woot: inside my helmet after my first stream crossing with the Wee. :woot:
Unfortunately, tho, my Alter Ego pants are a tad short, so I had a chance to see how cold the water was today. BRRRRR

Learning experiences today:

The Wee likes to rest every now and then. Who knew?

It likes to rest when:

1. Front tire and rear tire are on bigger sized rocks (I prefer the term boulder in this case) and stupid rider neglects to keep throttle on.

2. Stupid rider looks down in midst of not keeping throttle on.

3. Stupid rider decides she needs to put a foot down..but can't because the bike is tall...and on two roc..er...boulders. :mrgreen:

4. Bike, with combination of all 3 things above, is now leaned over to point of no return (even tho I stupidly tried not to let it go down).

5. When napping, it automatically shuts itself off. Who knew?

It was incredibly stupid after making it through water crossings and some rougher terrain....then to drop the thing at virtually a standstill and only because of two lil roc...err...boulders.

But..the Pelicans and handguards? Worth their weight in gold. I could hear the Pelican bag make a crunching sound that made me wince. But once I had my learning experience on uprighting a Wee, we inspected and nary a scratch except some very minor scuffs on the handguard and pelican bag.

So off we went back to the decision point and took the way toward Kentucky Camp this time.

(continued)

[Missy B]

This road was way fun, too. Nothing too technical and just quiet. A few rolling hills and cattleguards that were fun to pin the throttle over and get a little rise off the seat. :woot:

We reached the Kentucky Camp, but didn't realize we couldn't ride all the way up to it. Bummer. We decided our footwear was not what we wanted to be walking 1/2 mile in, so we enjoyed the quiet where we were and hydrated for awhile. I felt drawn to stay in this area for awhile for some reason.

http://www.blairlair.net/images/DS121708/12-kcscenery.JPG

http://www.blairlair.net/images/DS121708/13-kcscenery.JPG

http://www.blairlair.net/images/DS121708/14-kcscenery.JPG

The camp was an old mining facility founded in 1904. Check out the old sign...

http://www.blairlair.net/images/DS121708/15-oldsign.JPG

This was the only thing they had about the camp in the area, which I thought was weird. If I hadn't walked a little bit to the gate, I never would have been able to read the history behind it.

http://www.blairlair.net/images/DS121708/16-kclit.JPG

The Wee at Kentucky Camp:

http://www.blairlair.net/images/DS121708/17-weekc.JPG

And of course, the BRP/XR at Kentucky Camp...the clouds were just incredible today while they broke up from the storms last night.

http://www.blairlair.net/images/DS121708/18-xrkc.JPG

127 glorious miles for me today!

Thanks again raven for the fun day! :woot:

[raven]

Hey - I think I know why your legs are tired.....

http://www.twistyroad.com/gc08/weedown.jpg

[Missy B]

LOL Good point!!!

Is that from when I had myself low enough against the seat?

Maybe someone should look up, eh???

:mrgreen:

[raven]

I think that's you looking down....

ROTFLMAO

[Missy B]

I think that's you looking down....

ROTFLMAO

:blah: :blah: :blah:

I was feeling down, too.

:mrgreen:

[Missy B]

And, the dogs?!!!!

They were in that same exact circle when we went passed them how many hours later!!!

I was amazed. LOL

[NoCo Gal]

This is me ------> :mrgreen:

Good times guys. I never quite thought of the bikes as 'resting' right in the middle of the excitement, but I guess you might be on to something!

[raven]

Yep, sometimes they just get tired. Either that or they're a little narcoleptic!


Hard to say.....
:mrgreen:

[Missy B]

I think the treatment is more riding, no???

[NoCo Gal]

Bwahahaha, I *love* your avatar!!!

[Missy B]

Shhhh...the Wee is napping!!! :mrgreen:

[raven]

Yep, don't wake the Wee.....

(I vote for the picking it up photo)
ha

[Missy B]

The resizing is tricky on that one, it seems. To me, it looks like I'm huddled up, sleeping with it. LOL

[NoCo Gal]

Not bad for a 40-year-old...*snicker*

[RockyMtnRoadRash]

Great report! Stroms are notoriously sleepy bikes. My tank luggage has saved the day on a couple of my strom's sleepytime incidents, including the deliberate one where it was the only easy way to get at the oil drain.

[Missy B]

Not bad for a 40-year-old...*snicker*

You're not going to make it easy to ignore that, eh? :mrgreen:

Todd, I'm really glad for the pelicans. They are smaller than yours so the bike was still pretty low to the ground, but....they were enough to protect the fairing, etc. The handguards helped with that, too. It was comforting. Before I left the house, I had talked with K and last he knew I was taking the XT. I feel much more comfortable in the dirt with the XT, but the weather protection on the Wee is better and we had about a 45 mile ride one way to get to the dirt. I much prefer the Wee for street riding, so..the Wee it was. Hubby was not all that happy when he found out I took the Wee. he he he

Despite not having a bash plate/oil cooler protector nor engine guards, it's a great time in the dirt with it. It's not for the tougher trails like the trail after the Wee rested, but for the terrain we had yesterday, it is perfect.

I will feel better once I spring for the bash plate/oil cooler protector. That thing just hangs there, begging for damage. :shock:

Especially from those big boulders. :mrgreen:

[LoDownSinner]

LOL!! Looks like great fun!!!

Two things:

Raven: Don't go breaking Missy. We like her, and it's possible that she may be of limited use if you return her as a bloody mess.

Missy: When in doubt, gas it!

And, uh, why no figure eight videos? *ducks and runs*

[raven]

The Wee tried those pesky figure 8's but didn't much like them. Could be the big jutting rocks and boulders were a bit difficult to not look at so the Wee went in for a closer look.....

(ha)


The Wee claims it was NOT resting, it was INVESTIGATING.
(So it's definitely one up on the XRL 'cause I know that the BRP is just obstreperous)

[Missy B]

(So it's definitely one up on the XRL 'cause I know that the BRP is just obstreperous)

Hmm.....wonder where it gets that quality from??

:mrgreen:

[Missy B]

By the way, I remembered one more thing...

Always, always, always have friends with you while out dirtin' in remote areas.

The camera was in the bottom bag while the Wee was napping, so if it hadn't been for raven, there wouldn't have been any photographic evidence.

:mrgreen:

[raven]

Yep, that's what friends are for....catching the awkward moments one'd rather have go undocumented!
:thumbsup:

[Missy B]

What? And not document our learning experiences?? What fun would that be? :mrgreen:

[WonderBunny]

Yep, that's what friends are for....catching the awkward moments one'd rather have go undocumented!
:thumbsup:

I have to agree. When you know someone RMRR is going to do something stupid RMRR you just have to grab the camera because that someone RMRR is going to take the bike out in the snow RMRR. :)

Thanks for sharing! It looks like you both had a load of fun!