Thursday, March 12, 2020

15 Best Roads in America part 1

I've decided to participate in SCMA's 15 Best Roads in America ride this year.
(Southern California Motorcycle Association)
The first four roads I'm going to do are in Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico.
One of those roads is the Geronimo Trail in NM. Master welder Mr. Sanchez here in West Valley City has created a bust of Chief Joseph of the Nez Pierce Indians.....I figure that bust would set a good tone for this ride.

On my planned route I will be traveling through Pie Town, New Mexico. I make an invitation on the Tenere forum for other riders to meet me there and enjoy a delicious pie for lunch. 

Mark, aka MAK10 from Idaho joins me for the ride down. Our first photo op is in front of the famous Sinclair building in Elberta, Utah.

Then we stop in Green River, Utah for a tasty bacon burger.

The first road on my list is The Dinosaur Diamond Prehistoric hwy (Ut128)  from Cisco to Moab, Utah. We check out the 'ghost town' of Cisco.

Then make a photo stop to prove I was there.

After Moab we take a left at the LaSalle Jct and ride over to Norwood, Colorado. The next morning we ride #2 - The San Juan Skyway (Co145) Placerville to Cortez, Colorado.





Then we motor back into Utah where we start #3 Monument Valley - Bluff, Utah to Kayenta, Arizona.
Proving I was there...at Mexican Hat.


Overnighting in Springerville, Arizona we leave the next morning for our lunch date at the Gathering Place in Pie Town, New Mexico.

Mark, Glen, and Garry.
Glen resides in Illinois, Garry Ontario Canada, but they are both wintering in Arizona. They had a LONG ride to meet us for lunch and make it back home.

You are right....there are no pies in this picture......

There you go....

After lunch we split up. Mark rides homeward, north. Garry and Glen ride off into the sunset....west. I ride south to Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Rest stop..

In the morning I backtrack to Hatch, NM where ride #4 The Geronimo Trail starts.

And it was a RAINY day....so I didn't get many pics but here is one, Hillsboro was a great little town that I would like to spend more time in.

From Hillsboro I ride to Silver City, NM and finish the ride. Then riding to Pinetop, Arizona I stay for two nights in a comfy condo.....
......which is really nice since I'm soaked from the all day rain. 

Riding home after those two days, I'm again in solid rain to Kayenta, Az, and rain AGAIN on the last day from there to home.
Oh well....it was still a GREAT ride!
2400 miles, 4 of 15 roads completed.....next?

4 comments:

RichardM said...

Nice photos. I was thinking that it was still pretty cool in northern NM.

Ken said...

Richard - I think the lowest temps I encountered were above 40 so not terribly cold, but I do prefer warmer weather, but you gotta take what you can get... :)

Krod said...

Wow,am I ever jealous. While you were out on another great adventure I was home trying to get over the cold/flu. I looked up the 15 roads and it looks like a pretty ambitious undertaking. You're going to have a great year of riding. Thanks for the ride report. I'd like to go ride with you sometime. I'm just a little north of you in Woods Cross.

Ken said...

Krod - Lets go for a ride! I'm also doing the SCMA 4 corners and 3 flags classic. It WILL be a big years if I can do them all... Fingers crossed.