Go West Young Man, and then go back east. A Redemption (I hope) Ride

MidTNJasonF

Premier Member
#1
In few days I leave for my annual Spring/Summer long ride. This year I am headed West from Tennessee with goal being to see the American Southwest and a few milestone National Parks along the way.
I will be completing several IBA rides during this trip including starting with a 1500 Bun Burner with nested SS1000. Later in the trip I will be doing a 50CC Quest and tacking on a few miles to complete a SS3000 for the third day. Ultimately I will be ending up at the 50th annual MOA National Rally back in Virginia before returning home to Middle Tennessee.

Where does the redemption come in you may ask. Well I have recently had two failed IBA rides, one was a mechanical I posted about here and the other was an illness that hit a few hundred miles into my ride. I am determined to get some IBA certified rides in this year so this trip will be that redemption attempt. That first failure was a severe tire delamination at mile 620 for the day. The second failure was a run in with the NORA intestinal virus around mile 300 for the day.

The route this year will be Tennessee to New Mexico to the Canyonlands National Park area for the BB1500/SS1000. Once there I will spend a few days exploring Arches NP, Canyonlands NP, Natural Bridges, Valley of the Gods, and Monument Valley before moving on to the Grand Canyon. The North Rim is stil closed at the Grand Canyon until early June so I am going to spend a couple days on the South Rim. From There I am headed to Death Valley for a few days of exploring before heading down to San Diego via Joshua Tree National Park.

Once in San Diego I will start my 50CC and head toward Jacksonville Beach via a short stop in Junction TX to rest a few hours. With my 50CC hopefully complete I will make the run up to the Richmond, VA are for the BMW MOA rally. Following the Rally I will be headed back home to Middle TN making a nice rectangle across the Southern US.

All in it looks like I will cover 7000~8000 miles over the course of about 16 or so days, maybe a bit more if any of my exploration days turn out to be higher mileage.
 
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EricV

Premier Member
IBR Finisher
#2
Any high point destinations planned? I used to live in St George, UT and Portland, OR and know the West well.
 

MidTNJasonF

Premier Member
#3
Any high point destinations planned? I used to live in St George, UT and Portland, OR and know the West well.
Today is not a good technology day for me apparently. I was typing, got interrupted with actual work, tried to click over to another screen and prematurely submitted my barely started draft.

I edited my original post with the details.
 

EricV

Premier Member
IBR Finisher
#4
When you're going through the Valley of the Gods a good lunch or over night spot is the San Juan Inn in Mexican Hat. Right above the river and good food, decent, clean rooms. I've stayed there many times and eaten there more. Don't fall for the Swinging Steak restaurant up the road, it's just a gimmick and the food isn't worth the price.

Sounds like you've got lots of great riding ahead. Good luck on the IBA rides and enjoy the riding.
 

nudihjn

Premier Member
#6
Just finished a 15 state, 7000 mile, 20 day ride out west from SC. Went to Arches NP, Nine Mile Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Zion Canyon in UT. Arches NP has timed entry, so look into that before you show up. Also explored CO - Telluride, Durango, Cortez, Million Dollar Hwy, Pikes Peak, CO Springs, The Stanley Hotel (where Stephen King stayed - inspiration for The Shining), & Grand Junction. Northern route out through WY & southern route back thru NM, TX, OK, AR… Great riding in that region! Did not do any IBA cert rides on the trip …
 

MidTNJasonF

Premier Member
#9
Just finished a 15 state, 7000 mile, 20 day ride out west from SC. Went to Arches NP, Nine Mile Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Zion Canyon in UT. Arches NP has timed entry, so look into that before you show up. Also explored CO - Telluride, Durango, Cortez, Million Dollar Hwy, Pikes Peak, CO Springs, The Stanley Hotel (where Stephen King stayed - inspiration for The Shining), & Grand Junction. Northern route out through WY & southern route back thru NM, TX, OK, AR… Great riding in that region! Did not do any IBA cert rides on the trip …

I was able to get a timed entry reservation for Arches so all good there.
 

MidTNJasonF

Premier Member
#10
I was able to complete the first portion of my ride.

Made a run across Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, North Texas and into New Mexico Saturday. Very little traffic and great weather. The feed lots in Amarillo sure do stink.
There was a nasty, nasty storm in Texas and New Mexico as I was finishing my ride but I managed to escape with only a few drops of rain, some strong gusts, and one hell of a light show. Stayed in Tucumcari for the night.

Got on the road this morning (Sunday) and meandered up through Northern New Mexico, Colorado and Utah. Mostly secondary highways and some county roads but managed an additional 500 miles to complete my BB1500 with the Saturday nested SS1000.

Northern New Mexico is stunning. Had to force myself to keep riding and not stop every 1/4 mile to take in the views. I did make the side trip to the Four Corners Monument. Hot, crowded, unimpressive, and not worth the extra time or $8 entry. But hey, been there, took the picture I guess.

I sit now just south of Canyonlands National Park taking in a gorgeous sunset from my rental cabin porch.
 
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MidTNJasonF

Premier Member
#11
I am back home, and unfortunately back at work.

I was able to complete my 50CC as well. It went so well in fact I may never attempt another 50CC. I managed to complete the entire ride with, get this, NO RAIN, there was some mist and drizzle as I rode into Jacksonville Beach but it was more saturated humid air and ocean mist hanging in the air.
In only two things of "significance" even happened, I can't even call them problems or mishaps. I did get some cross winds in New Mexico and West Texas that resulted in a forced lane change and blew a tumble weed into me. Second was a run in with a closed gas station in West Texas. They were open for business but had a pump issue and all pumps were shut down and blocked off. Next fuel without back tracking was 42 miles and I had 30 miles of range left on the GS. I backed my pace way down to 60~65 mph to get the rpms in a range I know I get better gas mileage. I made the 42 miles even if the last 5 were on "0" as far as the bike display was concerned.

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Not a full ride report but...

I left before Memorial Day headed west. Went through Arkansas, Oklahoma, the Panhandle of Texas and into New Mexico.
From New Mexico I wandered north into the corner of Colorado and into southern Utah. Spent a few days in Canyonlands National Park, Arches National Park, and the Moab area.
From there I went through Valley of the Gods and Monument Valley toward the Grand Canyon. Spent a couple days in Grand Canyon National park including one day off the bike to hike the South Rim and part of Bright Angel.
Left GC NP and went south picking up old Route 66 and followed the mother road over toward Las Vegas to meet a friend for lunch at In-N-Out before moving on to Death Valley National Park.
Spent 3 days in Death Valley riding Mustard Canyon, 20 mule team canyon and part of Titus Canyon. Unseasonably cool when I arrived at 103ºF but got closer to normal on my last day at 111ºF.
Left DV NP and headed over to the Searles Valley and China Lake area to spend the night there.
I then set out south toward Joshua Tree National Park and the Salton Sea area before ending up in San Diego for a night.
Went to the beach before sunrise to start my coast to coast ride back east bound for the Atlantic ocean in Jacksonville Beach. I got into Jacksonville beach about 44 hours later completing my 50CC Quest.
After some rest in Jacksonville I wandered up toward North Carolina and eventually the Richmond Virginia area for the 50th annual BMW MOA National rally.
After the rally I wandered back toward Tennessee getting home yesterday evening.

I dumped the fully loaded bike off-road in Canyonlands National park and dislocated by thumb which did make things a bit tougher with my throttle hand the rest of the trip. Making matters worse I dislocated it 4 more times since it is really prone to repeat dislocations after the first one until it has a chance to heal.

Stats:
Total distance; 7232 miles
States visited/crossed; 17
Number of National Parks; 6
Number of State Parks; 2
Gas Used; 188.67 gallons
Number of fuel Stops; 43
Max payed for gas; $6.069 / G (In Death Valley CA)
Min payed for gas; $2.829 / G
Avg payed for gas; $3.869 / G
Total Spent on Fuel; $707.49
Camping Nights; 5
Cabin/Yurt/Bunkhouse Nights; 3
Hotel Nights; 8

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