Here's a link to the Google Map:
http://tinyurl.com/5jjzav
I flew down to Tucson early Monday morning, arriving at 9:21am. (10:21 Denver time.) Wayne met me at the airport with the bike in tow, stopping for breakfast before heading to the MVD to transfer the title and acquire a temporary permit. The wait was over an hour, so we used that time to pack the contents of my duffel bag into the two saddlebags and also to install the Throttlemeister. A lack of appropriate installation tools forced me to stop at Ace Hardware before leaving town and pick up a few wrenches. I then stopped at Chevron to fill up and take a picture before starting out. (Just to give an idea of how long everything took, I didn't leave Tucson until ~2:35pm.)
The ride up to Phoenix wasn't too bad, albeit a little warm for my liking. Ambient temperature was in the high 90s. Once I got into Phoenix however, it was a different story. I passed through right at about the start of rush hour, with the temperature at a balmy 108 degrees. The bike was running at a consistant 230-233, cooking the shit out of my legs and making me wish I had taken Pilot's advice to bring a camelpack. After spending a good 90 minutes on I-10 and I-17 though the greater Phoenix area, I stopped just outside of town for gas, water, and a mesh jacket. That goddamn textile just wasn't breathing well enough.
Continuing north, I broke off of I-17 just after Rimrock to take a detour up Oak Creek Canyon and through Sedona before arriving in Flagstaff where I stayed the night.
Woke up bright and early on Tuesday morning, planning on hitting the Grand Canyon before 10am. Took I-40 west to HWY64, and north from there to the park.
I didn't know the Grand Canyon was THAT fucking big...
From the Canyon, the route took me the remainder of 64 east to Cameron, where I headed north up into Tuba City. It was amazing to me at how quickly the scenery changed...
From Tuba City, I continued through the Navajo Nation past an area called Baby Rocks, and then up into the Four Corners area.
Some Harley dude I was following also stopped at Four Corners and offered to take my picture with the bike.
I stopped in Cortez, and then continued east into Durango.
As I headed north out of Durango and into Silverton, I got the opportunity to sit and wait (in the blistering 100 degree sun) for some chip seal repair. So... I took a picture. Also, it was right around this time 24 hours prior that I had begun my trip. I failed to meet the required mileage for the IBA, but it was nice to see how close I got.
The scenery really started getting nice just around Ouray, and traffic was light enough that I was able to snap a few more pictures:
And then of course, JUST outside of Ouray, we had to stop again for repavement construction. I parked next to another Harley guy, and we chatted for a good 25 minutes before they let us through.
The remainder of the trip is not quite as exciting. It was around 6:00 Denver time by the time I reached Ouray. Knowing I didn't have a whole lot of sunlight left, I booked it into Montrose, hauled ass through the Curecanti area, stopped for gas in Gunnison, and then continued my speeding exhibition into Poncha Springs.
At this point, it was quite dark outside and the temperature had dropped to a chilly 45 degrees. I put on another 2 t-shirts and the liner back into my textile jacket before taking off into Denver. I got home last night right around 11:30 - splattered with bugs, sore as hell, pissed off, and cold.
I don't think I've EVER taken that long of a shower as I did when I got home Tuesday night.
Bought my bike in Tucson, rode it home to Denver (56k... no.)
Linear Mode
