Devil's Highway

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peckhammer
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Devil's Highway

Post by peckhammer »

Girl Wonder and I just returned from Arizona where we rode part of Route 191, AKA The Devil's Highway. It's considered to be one of the twistiest roads in the US. I've included a link to a video clip below, which represents 17.5 miles of the road riding south from the DOT station to the view point just before Morenci. The clip has been sped up to shorten the length of the video.

We were riding two-up on a fully loaded R1200RT (rental). The leg you see with the Honda logo is the pillion. Notice how calm she is, and how neutral a passenger she is. If you watch any of the vid, I suggest starting at about 3 minutes and just check it out for a couple minutes to give you an idea of how twisty the road is, and what the stakes are if you run off the edge. Speed limit was 25 MPH through almost all if this section. I think this is probably the most challenging part of the road.

While running South to North, we had 6 big horned sheep walk out in front of us. I also saw a deer cross the road, but only saw one car the whole time I was out there after leaving Morceni. Lots of gravel in the tight corners. The rear wiggled a few times, which was either gravel, or me riding past the usable tire surface. And one time the front and rear both slid about 3 feet on gravel. It's a great road, but deserves quite a bit of caution.

Video: http://youtu.be/KMCx2zu4CDU
Map for video: http://goo.gl/maps/Mn3Os

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2007 BMW R 1200 R
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Dr. Strangelove
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Re: Devil's Highway

Post by Dr. Strangelove »

Coronado Trail, isn't it? Devil's Backbone is Utah 12? 24?
could be wrong...

When we did it there was fresh oil all over it. You're right though, Deals Gap is just a taste of what's on 191. Did you get as far as the copper mines? Awesome.
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peckhammer
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Re: Devil's Highway

Post by peckhammer »

Dr. Strangelove wrote:Coronado Trail, isn't it?
It is indeed the Coronado Trail. It is also referred to as the Devil's Highway because it used to be Route 666. It was renamed to Route 191. Rumor has it DOT was sick of people stealing the signs, although I am sure there were other reasons involved.
http://peckhammer.blip.tv
2007 BMW R 1200 R
2002 GasGas TXT280
1983 Peugeot 103 SP
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