New Beginnings: A Trip Out West

Those of you who follow me know that I planned on doing Pinball Run 3. Due to a number of issues, which were not all mechanical, this did not happen. I was really bummed about not getting to go out west, so decided to go out west anyway. The adventure that ensued was amazing...

I left Nashville on my 1972 CL175 packed with gear headed to do a trial leg to my girlfriend's parent's place in West Tennessee with the intent of continuing west. Before leaving, all I did was set timing, modify a rack to bolt onto the bike and throw some tires on from tire piles with new tubes.

My mother came to see me off... Needless to say, she was not thrilled about the whole thing.

Night of the trial ride, I had my first issue!!!  (If you can call it that.) The ground lead on my battery came loose resulting in intermittent spark and flickering lights.

After that, it was pretty smooth sailing. I left Tennessee through Memphis and headed into Arkansas. I camped the night at Lake Sylvia, which is NOT in the Ozarks. Still amazing though. Checked points, valve tappets and did and oil change.

I decided to take the most epic route I could think of, and ended up on logging roads in Arkansas. The roads were great and tons of fun - except when you came across logging trucks making dense dust clouds you had to stop for, or you hit huge patches of silt in the road that sent your tire floating like a quarter on dry ice!

Before getting out of Arkansas, I saw this awesome door.

Oklahoma was a little more eventful... There were lots of cows and oil rigs evvveerrrywhere.

Oh hey there Mr. Storm Front!

Then there was this thing...

That storm front up near all those adorbs cows, is what screwed me later in the night. I was caught in an electrical storm in West Oklahoma near nothing. I had to stop for fear of being struck and the storm continued to brew, with more and more spinning off of the tip of Texas. After waiting 2 hours, with not less, but more behind it, I finally knocked on the door of the gentleman's shop whose eave I was hunkered under. He let me in his shop at 2am and let me spend the night, bringing me a banana, water, apple and blanket. I awoke the morning after to roosters, dogs and another brewing front. With the challenge to get past Amarillo ASAP into New Mexico.

You know all those lines you see from airplanes as you fly over the country?

 Fun fact about Texas, when it rains, it also frogs. It rained off and on ALL day and I had to have killed thousands of baby frogs hopping on the asphalt. The single best thing about the tip of Texas that I experienced was Palo Duro Canyon.

The goal after leaving Oklahoma was Las Vegas, NM (not to be confused with Las Vegas, NV). I made it, but not without having to race one more storm that I did beat! Highway 104 through New Mexico has got to be one of the most beautiful roads I experienced the whole trip. I was too busy racing a storm to take a picture, but here's a picture from someone else that shows the beauty of this road. It changes from desert, to twisting mountain roads, to plains that roll for 10's of miles.

Arriving in Las Vegas, NM, I stayed with with my girlfriend's sister and helped them move out of one of the most magical homes I've ever visited. The house was built by a catholic priest who had villagers bring him stones to atone for their sins. There was a carriage house and three cottages. One for the priest, the nun and a visitor. The story goes that a path was worn between the priest's and the nun's and that she became pregnant. The catholic church severed ties and told the priest and nun they could keep the land and their homes if they never let what happened there be known. Oops.

I stayed for some time in New Mexico, and ended up pulling my air filters to stay running lean enough at altitude since I had no jets on hand. Soon though, it would be time to leave New Mexico for Colorado.

Pig Rich

Before leaving New Mexico, I got to ride through Carson National Forest and had to find a spot where I had cell phone reception for an interview. I'd highly recommend passing through this forest if you ever find yourself near it. The elevation changes are astounding and the views are insane. My bike ran great at elevation in Carson, because it was so damn cold!

I entered Colorado on dirt, and it was really magical. I'd been on dirt for miles and miles and miles coming closer to the Colorado border. The transition was marked by a cattle guard on this dirt road! There were several lakes that I passed on the way, and the scenery was just amazing.

My goal for the day after leaving New Mexico, was to hit Zapata Falls near Blanca Peak and the Great Sand Dunes. Sadly, I ran into another thunderstorm right as I was getting to the camp ground and had to turn around. The only solace is that I had an amazing and cheap breakfast the next morning in true Colorado fashion at Fort Garland.

 
The Zapata Falls camp ground has to be the best campground there is... The camp site road zig zags up the side of the mountain and every site looks out into the valley with views for miles and miles. Every. Single. One. The road to get there is rough, but there's a lake and an amazing waterfall in hiking distance from the campgrounds.

Also, right next to Zapata Falls and Blanca Peak is the Great Sand Dunes National Park. It's wild. It feels like you're in Egypt or something!

I kept on trucking and arrived in Denver. The next day, I would ride up to Berthoud, Colorado, where I'd get some much needed supplies and break a throttle cable.

I stayed for a while in Berthoud, helping her family get read for her sister's wedding. Partly during that time, we went up to her grandmother's cabin near a ski lodge where she had lived for 10 years. My girlfriend's little brother and I hiked to the top of the ridge behind her cabin.

 
After the wedding, I got ready to ride to Pike's Peak!

The ride to the top was truly amazing. I had to keep my speed up to make it up some of the inclines, and got a stern talking to at the halfway check point on the way down. I got pretty home sick after 3 weeks away from home with only 2 changes of clothes, so I sort of straight-shot it back to Tennessee after Pike Peak.

I decided to take interstates back home because it was a 5 hour savings over coming back state highways and I ended up not making it home because of that. The bike started preigniting really bad in St. Louis during rush hour traffic and I couldn't pull over. I had to keep it between 8,000 and 9,000 rpm to keep it up to speed with traffic. On the way out, I hadn't exceeded 8000 rpm and on the last leg I didn't let below it. I limped to southern Illinois on one cylinder till that one blew too. Haven't torn into the bike yet to see how bad it is, but I holed the left cylinder's piston. It was such a bummer to put 4,500 miles on a 43 year old motorcycle and not make it home with only 150 miles to go. The bike was tuned and in spec, I think the RPM just did it in. Lesson learned not to push something that hard for that long.

If I had it all to do over again, I wouldn't change a thing except for the interstate riding. :)