*Ride Report* Summer Running 2006

[rocker59]

Days 1 and 2:

 

 

Good evening from Mount Sterling, Kentucky!

 

A few weeks ago when visiting with my friend, Jason in Fayetteville, he reminded me that he and his crew were going to be leaving for thier NM/CO/UT trip on the 22nd of September. I really do love it out West and didn't want to miss another opportunity to ride through some of my favourite country on some of my favourite roads! I'm lucky enough to be in a position to make the trip with them, so here's my report. It'll be blow-by-blow this year. I'm taking my laptop along to update the report along the way.

 

 

The trip, for me, starts Monday, September 18 near Manassas, Virginia. I see Phyllis off to work, then finish loading the Nero Corsa for the trip. 4,011 miles on the odometer. That will be more than doubled over the next couple of weeks.

 

 

I leave the farm at Brentsville and head North on 234, then West on I-66. All goes well - for the first 50 miles... I've been nursing a bad rear tire. I had to plug it recently because of a nail puncture. I checked it before leaving and all seemed well, I could've replaced it before heading out, but I have a new set of tires waiting for me in Fayetteville. For some reason I thought I could ride this bad tire 1200 miles home! :-[ Well, I couldn't...

 

About 50 miles into the trip, just as I was approaching Front Royal, I heard a pop then felt a rapid deflation of the rear tire. Not good at 80mph !!! I get the bike pulled over and asses my situation. Rear tire blown. Completely flat. I knew I should've replaced that tire !!! This SUCKS !!! For what it's worth all you V11 riders, the Sport/LeMans will not sit on its sidestand with a flat rear tire. I look around and decide that leaning the bike against the armco is the only answer. Luckily, I have the Hepco Beckers on and it's no problem to prop the bike up.

 

I look at my clock. 11am. This day is going to be shot! I call a friend to look up tow companies. I get a Henry's flatbed sent out to haul me off I-66 and into Front Royal. That takes a couple hours. Not many choices for motorcycle tire repairs in Front Royal on a Monday. The driver takes me to the Goodyear store. They meet us out front and let us know quick that they don't work on "them motorsickles". I tell them I just need a plug and I'll be on my way. "Nope, sorry, can't plug no motorsickle tire". : "OK", I say, "can you sell me a plug so I can do it myself?" They can do that. So I get the plug, get my tools out of my bag and proceed to fix my own tire in front of the Goodyear store! The manager hated it. The mechanic loved it! He was kind of impressed that I carried my own tools on the motorcycle...

 

$75 in towing, $6 in plugs and I'm on my way, SLOWLY, back to Brentsville to re-assess my situation. I ride hwy 55 back. 45 mph all the way!!! At least the three plugs I had to put in that hole held it together for the 50 miles back home...

 

Back at the farm, I have to use some redneck ingenuity to get the rear tire off the ground. No centerstand on the Nero. No shop stand with me in Virginia. Oh, but there's an oak tree in the front yard and I have some ratcheting tiedowns!!!

 

I removed the rear wheel/tire and settled in for the evening. Day one shot. Three things to remember: 1) Never set out on a trip with a plugged tire. 2) The LeMans needs a centerstand. BAD !!! 3) Always carry a couple of ratcheting tiedowns.

 

Tuesday morning, 8am. I hop in the car with the bad tire and head 40 miles to Fredericksburg to Morton's BMW. They are the only dealer in the area with the tire I want in stock. They can also mount it for me when I get there! I arrive right at 9am and they get me fixed right up. So much for saving a little money. Now I have a spare Metzeler Z6 Roadtec sitting at home in Fayetteville!!!

 

I have the tire re-mounted and the bike out of the tree by noon. I eat some lunch, take a shower, re-load the bike, and hit the road at about 230pm.

 

I'm running a day behind, so not much stopping to smell the roses. I ran I-66 West, I-81 South, and I-64 West to Mount Sterling, Kentucky. I arrived here at about 11pm, tied up the Nero and grabbed the laptop.

 

 

 

I'm beat and ready to hit the rack after running almost 500 miles this afternoon. 4,584 miles now on the odometer...

 

 

More to follow... More pics and less text... Trust me... ;D

[Guzzirider]

I love that bike hoist!

 

You can always count on a Guzzi rider for a clever solution!

 

Guy

[Martin Barrett]

Great, keep them coming. Looking forward to daily updates - take it that you're not camping - internet provison permiting. Obviously when you all meet up the atraction of the may get in the way and we will understand.

 

You're posting a greater picture/text ratio than I normally manage

[rocker59]

Wednesday, 20 September

 

Did I mention how beautiful West Virginia is ? If I-64 is any indication of how things are there, I'd love to spend a few days hitting the backroads !!! I-64 and I-77 are steep and curvy South of Charleston. Saw a pretty bad pileup Just South of the toll plaza. The Southbound lanes were all closed and traffic was backed up for miles at nearly 9pm. Seems a couple of semis tangled with a car and the outcome was not good. The car was on its top and the trucks were out of commision. Bad scene. I was Northbound, so traffic was still moving, but slowly. The poor folks heading the other direction weren't so lucky...

 

Well I got about 5 hours sleep at the Days Inn here in Mount Sterling, Kentucky. It's a pretty nice little town, actually. 30 miles East of Lexington on I-66, it's a natural "halfway point" for my trips back and forth to Virginia... Up at 0730. Get the bike loaded up, grab a continental breakfast in the lobby then some fuel. Depart at 0930. 700 miles ahead of me through Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, and finally Arkansas.

 

 

 

Here's what lays ahead of me. 725 miles of slab !!! As a rule I try to avoid the slab, but sometimes you've just got to get there! It's going to be two lanes once I get to Oklahoma...

 

 

It's actually quite pretty in Southern Indiana:

 

 

 

Luck was with me today. Traffic was light through Lexington, Louisville, Southern Indiana, and Southern Illinois. Speeds were 70-80mph even though 55-65 was posted. I wasn't complaining. I just picked a "bird dog" and followed along!!!

 

 

 

The cloudy skies I woke up to in Kentucky were gone by the time I got to the Mississippi. Temps started out in the low 40s and reached into the 60s as the day went on. A cold front had gone through on Tuesday. Cool dry air! Gotta love it! The coastal humidity of NoVa has been killing me the last month, or so:

 

 

 

This Westerner always feels at home when he crosses the big river and is greeted by the Gateway Arch. Just like Graceland in Memphis, The Arch is a must-do everytime I pass through St. Louis:

 

 

 

Something happened in Missouri. My Nero Corsa passed 5,000 miles on the odometer and it started getting better fuel mileage... On Tuesday, the bike returned an average of about 36mpg on two tanks and 38 on one tank. That was riding 65-70 in 6th gear. That's about 3800 rpm.

 

For some reason, the two tanks I ran through the bike in Missouri showed 41 mpg, that was after 3 tanks of 37.5 mpg... I was still riding in 6th gear, but speeds increased to the point of turning 4000-4500 rpm. It was fill the tank, run 160 miles. Fill the tank, run 160 miles all day. Either the bike is loosening up and breaking in, or the bike gets better fuel economy running between 4000 and 4500 rpm than it does running between 3500 and 4000 rpm... :-\ Hmmm, the things one ponders when pounding out miles, crouched on a sportsbike on the interstate...

 

41 mpg is OK by me !!! That means 200 miles to a tankfull is possible. I sure hope that becomes a regular occurance. 32-37 mpg has been the rule so far...

 

 

Joplin came at 830 pm Central. 12 hours in the saddle. Only 80 miles from my destination, I made one last fuel/rest stop before leaving the interstate and heading into NW Arkansas:

 

 

 

Ahhh !!! Casa de Libby (mom's house) in Fayetteville looks great after 13 hours on the road. I arrived at 930pm after making a ceremonial ride down Dickson street, the local biker haunt. Yes, I had the only bike with bags and bugs!!!

 

5323 miles on the odometer. That's 1213 miles on the trip, so far. So, the odometer isn't too far off the 1214 miles estimated by MapsOnUs... Hmmm...

 

More to come... Thursday I'll get tires and hang with friends in Fayetteville...

[rocker59]

Day 4 - Thursday 21 September

 

Well I was kinda delerious last night when I hit the rack. Kinda thought I'd get plenty of good sleep. Unfortunately, Thursday is trash day in this neighbourhood. 0630 and the recycle trucks were already making thier rounds. Got up 0730 and tried to make a plan for the day.

 

I needed a front stand to remove the front wheel. Unfortunately, there were no appropriate trees in my mom's front yard to hang the Nero in !!! ;D I called "youngskywalker" to borrow his frontstand. (again). And, again, unfortunately he told me it was holding up his Ducati trackbike at Jesse's place, 40 miles away. Bummer!!! Well I've needed one, anyway, so I head off to the local YamaKawaZuki shop for a PitBull front stand.

 

When I get back, I lifted the Nero up and pulled the front wheel. I didn't have a rearstand handy, so I used my trusty ratcheting tiedowns to hold the rearend in place while I worked on the front end.

 

 

 

I got a call from DesmoDerek as I was heading out with the wheel/tire to be mounted. He reminded me of the snow advisory in Colorado for the weekend. He suggested I stop by and borrow his BMW heated vest. Great idea! I picked it up and after visiting with he and his wife for a bit, I headed up to Bentonville to get the new front Metzeler Z6 mounted. My friend, Jesse, told me to stop by today and he would mount the tire for me. What a great guy! On his lunch hour, he mounted it for me. For Free !!! You gotta love friends like that !!! (I owe you one, Jesse!)

 

From Jesse's place, I headed up to BMW Bentonville to get an adapter for the vest Derek loaned me. I ended up buying a fused BMW outlet. I'm sure it will come in handy on the Nero... When getting ready to leave, some transport driver shows up to pick up a R12RT. He had to unload this so he could load the bike ahead of it in the trailer:

 

 

Blown 427 putting out 900bhp. There's a 16 month wait if any of you have $300k burning a hole in your pocket:

 

 

Yep, that's a Unique Performance GT500 convertible signed by Carroll, his-self !!!

 

 

After all that fun, it's back to Casa de Libby to re-install the front wheel with the new Z6:

 

Check your bolts, folks. Every bolt I've pulled on this bike has needed anti-seize in a bad way. Much longer and some of these would've required an easy-out!

 

 

 

Ahhh, what I've been waiting for:

 

 

A few margaritas at Jose's with some good friends:

 

 

 

Dickson Street, Fayetteville. If you're ever passing through NW Arkansas, check it out:

 

 

 

So there is a developing dilema on the rest of the trip. A low pressure system is heading this way from Colorado and Kansas. It just started raining/storming here. A couple of the folks in the group I'm meeting are gonna drop out if it's raining at H-hour tomorrow. And, it is said that there are snow advisories for the weekend in Colorado.

 

Tomorrow I'm gonna change the oil, check the valves, and pack up for the trip. There is a possibility for an early Saturday departure. Time will tell.

 

Worst case scenario, I'll make a solo ride to Taos. Stay there a couple of days then head back East...

 

Who knows??? I might even make the return trip via ITALY... Texas... That's next weekend, right ?

[Martin Barrett]

I found I got very good mileage on a long haul across Germany on the Autobahns. Despite 85mph I think it's the lack of changes in throttle position. I did 154miles and the light hadn't come on where normally I'd only get 115-125 normal usage.

 

I find slab work much more uncomfortable, due to the lack of body position change than when on minor roads, complete with photo stops. Is that an Air Hawk pad?

 

725miles putting that into perspective Lands End to John O'Groats which is the furthest two points apart mainland UK is 874miles. Just reminds me how big the US is. I normaly go in circles.

 

Good luck with the weather

[rocker59]

I found I got very good mileage on a long haul across Germany on the Autobahns. Despite 85mph I think it's the lack of changes in throttle position. I did 154miles and the light hadn't come on where normally I'd only get 115-125 normal usage.

 

I find slab work much more uncomfortable, due to the lack of body position change than when on minor roads, complete with photo stops. Is that an Air Hawk pad?

 

725miles putting that into perspective Lands End to John O'Groats which is the furthest two points apart mainland UK is 874miles. Just reminds me how big the US is. I normaly go in circles.

 

Good luck with the weather

 

 

Yep. That's an AirHawk. It really saved my bum on this trip!

 

It's 1200 miles from my girlfriend's place in suburban Washington D.C. to my mom's house in Arkansas. It's about another 1800 miles to Los Angeles. It makes a traveller thankful for the interstate highway system when he's trying to knock out the miles !!!

[nose2wind]

Great report!

 

I just use a floor jack under the sump for lifting the front end.

 

You could spend 3 days easily in AR and MO. The road out west is bad till you get to NM. Co is great too!

[staedtler]

Hey Rocker...... good report

 

 

whenever you feel like hitting west Texas,... i'll hook you up!!

i'll be heading out to Marfa in about a month...

 

pm me dude....really

[rocker59]

Day 5. Friday, 22 September.

 

Spent the day changing engine/tranny/bevel fluids and packing for the trip. This part of the trip I'll be riding with some friends for the NW Arkansas area. Tom, Joe, Andy, Ed, Jason, and Donna. In the group are two Ducati Monsters, a Ducati ST2, a BMW R12GS, an older BMW K11RT, a Yamaha, and my Guzzi Nero Corsa.

 

The first section of our group departed at 2pm. I was to meet Jason and Donna at 530pm in Tontitown. During the mid-afternoon, thunderstorms began to start popping up around Fayetteville. As luck would have it I got to ride in one through rush hour traffic to meet Jason and Donna. Stoplights were out. Water was standing in the streets. A normally 20 minute trip took me almost an hour! I arrived at 6pm.

 

Lucky for us there was no rain once we headed West toward Enid, Oklahoma on US-412. A couple of fuel stops and a little traffic around Tulsa was all we had to contend with on the way out. 220 miles in 4 hours. We arrived at the motel about 10pm. 5550 miles on the odometer.

 

 

 

 

Day 6. Saturday 23 September.

 

Lazy H motel, Enid, Oklahoma:

 

Andy getting loaded and ready:

 

Joe and his ST2:

 

Heading West from Enid:

 

 

Donna and her Monster:

 

Jason:

http://rocker59.smugmug.com/photos/97436142-M.jpg[/img]

 

Oh, how I hate waiting in construction zones. Who needs a pilot car? Really...

 

Breakfast in Woodward at the Domino Truck Stop:

 

 

US-412 at Elmwood, OK:

 

Taking a break from the wind in Elmwood:

 

Donna, Andy, Ed:

 

 

 

Tonight's digs in Raton, NM:

 

 

 

Carports for our steeds!:

 

 

 

Dinner in Raton:

 

Unwinding back at the Colt:

 

Over 400 miles covered today. 5975 miles now on the Nero Corsa's odometer.

 

If you're ever in Northeastern New Mexico, ride Hwy 72 between Raton and Folsom. It's a great ride over Johnson Mesa. Today we saw hundreds of antelope and a big group of wild turkey. The curvy road was great, too, after 600 miles of nearly straight roadways!!!

 

On to Taos and Pagosa Springs tomorrow !!!

[rocker59]

Day 7. Sunday, 24 September.

 

It was about 30-degrees this morning, so we weren't in too big a hurry to get on the road. We spent some time hanging around the hotel deciding on the day's agenda. Overnight, one of our members, Tom, decided to turn around and ride back to Arkansas. After he departed this morning, that left us with six in our group.

 

 

Donna:

 

 

Ed:

 

 

Jason:

 

 

Andy and your's truly:

 

 

We headed West on US-64 up Cimmaron Canyon:

 

 

A little stop at Eagle Nest for a photo op. That's the tallest peak in New Mexico in the background, 13,161-foot Wheeler Peak:

 

 

The curves of Cimmaron Canyon were welcome after the long journey across Oklahoma on US-412:

 

 

Regrouping at the top of the canyon:

 

 

After departing Eagle Nest, we ran Taos Canyon down into Taos for a lunch stop.

 

 

Andy and the bikes in downtown taos:

 

 

Jason visiting with a groovy Ducati Multistrada rider in downtown Taos. We saw lots of bikes there:

 

 

We ate on the plaza at Ogelvie's. It was cold, but since we had thermals on for riding the bikes, the veranda was nice for lunch.

 

Donna and Joe:

 

 

The whole crew:

 

 

Mmm, Burrito. There is a theme going, in case you haven't noticed yet:

 

 

Jason getting ready to dig in:

 

 

From Taos, it's West on US-64, one of the best motorcycling roads in the USA. The stretch between Tres Piedras and Tierra Amarilla is just amazing!

 

 

Here's the Nero Corsa posing at the Brazos Cliffs overlook at about 10,500-feet elevation:

 

 

Yep, there is snow up at the 9-10k feet level. The cold front that came through last week dumped quite a bit of snow up here:

 

 

The Brazos Cliffs:

 

 

It's funny. The Nero Corsa has been running great up at these high elevations. I expected it to give me a little trouble, but it's been running just great! Only a small noticeable loss in power due to the elevation. No loss in fuel economy. I've actually been getting over 40mpg on some tanks up here in The Rockies!!!

 

From Brazos Cliffs, we continue West on US-64, then North on US-84 on in to Pagosa Springs where we intend to stay the night. At the fuel stop in Pagosa, my Nero Corsa got to flirt with another beautiful Italian:

 

 

 

 

As luck would have it, a group of Ferrari guys from Denver were having a rally in Pagosa Springs this weekend. We stopped by for a visit. They were staying just across the street from us. Eye candy, for sure!:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were a couple other marques in attendance. A couple of the new Ford GTs:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And an Aston and a Bentley:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are the springs that made Pagosa famous way before white folks stumbled upon them:

 

 

Steamy springs are eveywhere in downtown Pagosa. Beautiful, but you have to ignore the sulphur smell:

 

 

Yes! We're eating Mexican for every meal on this trip! For dinner in Pagosa, it's Tequila's:

 

 

Ed loving his shrimp and mushroom dish:

 

 

Jason and Donna:

 

 

After dinner we decided to soak up some local flavour at The Pagosa Bar:

 

 

Drink a few beers, shoot a little pool:

 

 

Jason found this elk outside our hotel on the walk back from Pagosa Bar and just couldn't resist mounting it! (He'd had a few beers...):

 

 

 

What a great day on the road! 240 miles covered. A great lunch and shopping on the plaza in Taos. Great dinner and fun in Pagosa. Not to mention one of the best motorcycle rides there is! 2100 miles into my trip. 6208 miles now showing on the Nero...

 

The day's ride:

 

 

 

[Keith Foster]

Bravo Rocker! wonderful pics and write up, keep them coming

[Alex-Corsa]

Such an amazing touring report. Let the good times rolll

[Bill Hagan]

Wow. Can't say anything else. Well, except thanks.

 

Bill

[rocker59]

Day 8. Monday, 25 September.

 

 

The day started off a bit frosty in Pagosa Springs:

 

 

I think it was in the upper 20s in downtown Pagosa Springs this morning:

 

 

Here's our route for the day:

alt='98014850-M.gif'>

 

 

The traffic and construction was rough on US-160 between Pagosa and Durango. Once West of Durango, the traffic cleared out and we were able to resume our "sport-touring pace". Our first stop was Dolores, Colorado. Fuel and a snack before running up to Lizard Head Pass:

 

 

We met an Airforce guy here from Las Vegas on a SV-1000. He was waiting on his dad, who showed up on a BMW R11RT. Nice people:

 

 

Dolores was a railroad town on the RGS. I couldn't pass up these photos. I'm a train buff, as well as a history buff:

 

 

This was passenger rail service in Southwestern Colorado from the 1930s into the early 1950s:

 

 

The rebuilt depot:

 

 

Motorcycles, Railroads, and History. A great combination!

 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galloping_Goose

 

http://www.narrowgauge.org/ncmap/excur1.html

 

 

From Dolores we travelled up Hwy 145, which follows the old RGS rail line over Lizard Head Pass to Telluride and Placerville. Another one of those "must do" roads for motorcyclists. This is gold mining country, so there are things to see and do in every little town along the way!

 

 

The top of the hill. Lizard Head Pass, elevation 10,222 feet:

 

 

Looking Westward at the pass:

 

 

Stopping at the pass was another chance for a couple of photos:

 

 

It's starting to look like wintertime up here:

alt='98017493-M.jpg'>

 

 

 

 

Traffic and construction were bad between Telluride and Placerville. Lots of construction going on. Near MM 72 highway 145 is falling off the side of the mountain so it's one lane traffic. Once we turned West again toward Naturita, it thinned out and we were able to stretch our ponies' legs a bit.

 

 

We stopped for fuel and a break at Naturita. From here we would take Hwy 90 thruogh Paradox Canyon and on into Utah. In Utah, it changes to Hwy 46 and takes us over the La Sal Mountains through La Sal Pass to US-191 and then North to Moab. Colorado Highway 90 is a must ride road! The climb out of Paradox Canyon and on to the Utah border is a great stretch of pavement. I know lots of people have ridden 141, the "million dollar highway". If you're ever out there, take a detour onto highway 90. You won't be dissapointed:

 

 

The ride down into Paradox Canyon. La Sal Mountains on the horizon:

 

 

Joe and Andy covering my six:

 

 

I love this wide-open country!

 

 

A couple of mule deer crossed the road just before we pulled over for this panoramic view at the top of Paradox Canyon:

 

Andy with his Kawasaki S750:

 

 

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED !!! (...or is it only half over ??? ) The Utah border:

 

 

Utah Highway 46 has some nice twisties going over the La Sal Mountains:

 

 

Great fun!

 

 

I'm a little road-weary and bug-spattered as we near Moab:

 

 

That's OK, because even through the bugs and road grime I'm taken aback by 360-degree views of nature's beauty!

 

 

Snow-capped mountains and red rock mesas are all around us:

 

 

Touchdown in Moab. My goal of running the Nero from Virginia to Utah is complete. Now I just have to turn around and ride it back. ;D 8)

 

 

Today's ride was a little over 300 miles. My Guzzi's odometer is showing 6501 miles. That puts me 2391 miles into my journey since leaving Virginia last Monday.

 

We are going to stay two nights in Moab then begin our ride Eastward back toward Arkansas.

 

 

Stay tuned for more "Summer Running"....