A warm July ride

[motoracer8]

I wanted to take this ride in May then June, crummy weather delayed me till July. From Folsom CA. I went east on Hwy. 50, the only time I needed a jacket was in the Sierras and through Lake Tahoe, by the time I got to Carson City it was mid 80's. My first stop was in Fallon Nev. gas and a snack, next stop Eureka Nev. gas and a drink, next stop Ely Nev. where I spent the night. My plan for the next day was to go south on Hwy 93 to Panaca and go east on 319/56 to Cedar City Utah then to Hwy 14 to Cedar Breaks national mounument on Hwy 143 to Panguich to spend the night, just a few miles out of Cedar city there was a fire and the road was closed, I could see smoke off in the distance but no fire. So I went back and went north on the freeway (17) to Hwy 20 and got to panguich from the north. I did make the loop through Cedar Breaks, nice ride. I stayed at a very nice motorcycle friendly motel, the owner rides a Harley, and I got the m/c discount. The cowboy steak house down the street is a great place for dinner. My plan for the next day was to ride Hwy's 12 and 24 whitch gose through Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef National park, and one of the most senic rides I've been on in a long time, I took alittle detour on 276 and rode the ferry across the north end of lake Powell, a short stop at National Bridges Nat. Monument then on to Blanding for the night. The next day was another nice ride through Monument Valley on Hwy. 163 to Kayenta for breakfast and gas, temps had been pretty nice so far 80's to mid 90's, it was still morning and was still nice. As I headed south into Flagstaff I had alittle cloud cover and it kept the temps down, as I went down the Oak Creek Canyon to Sedona it started to warm up, at noon it was almost 100 deg. I had a date it Phoenix so down into the oven I rode, when I got off the freeway in Scottsdale it was 113 deg. that was 2:30 in the afternoon. No riding the next day, Saturday it was 112 deg, but I saw many people on motorcycles. Sunday morning I left for Las Vegas at 6am, it was allready 91 deg. I went out the Carefree Hwy. (74) and north on 93, a short stint on Hwy 40 to Kingman, gas an more water as it was starting to get hot again, I continued on 93 to the Hoover Dam this is the only place where I was miserably hot, it was Sunday the traffic was very slow across the dam, it was 110 and no air flow, I was very happy to get to Boulder City and some air flow, the traffic was light into Vegas and I got to the hotel about noon, it was now 108 deg. Air conditioning and a shower was worth whatever I had to pay at that point. I hung out in the restraunt and the casino most of the afternoon, about 8 pm I wanderd out on the strip for awhile, it was still quite hot. I wanderd back about 9 pm to watch the volcano in front of the Mirage go off and the was it for me back to the room. Monday was time to head for home, it was 106 in the parking garage at 7am, I thought another day in the heat but once I got out on Hwy 95 going north it was quite pleasent 80's all the way to 266 and Big Pine on Hwy 395, north to Bishop for lunch at Shats and gas, I continued north on 395 to 89 to Lake Tahoe then on Hwy 50 home to Folsom. That last day was 510 miles, but it was time to go home. So in 7 days I coverd 2600 miles, averaged around 50 mpg. the machine used almost no oil, and had no issues. Even in the heat going across Hoover dam whitch took about 30 minutes at walking speed the oil temp got one bar above it's normal opperating temp. It was just me and the R12R a great touring companion.

Ken G.

[bobw]

Great ride and congrats on surviving the summer heat! I love these roads, but man oh man, tough time of year as your recorded temps describe.

Safe travels!

[GypsyRR]

You went a long way to go out on your date!!!, but it sounds like a nice ride getting there. Kayenta: I remember that place from my travels last summer. Not a good memory. I'd like to travel out west again some day and see those places in southern Utah you mention. I bet it was wonderful. Thanks for sharing.

[Boxer]

But it was a dry heat...Right?

[motoracer8]

It was dry alright, about 12% humitidy in Phoenix. And while it was hot, most of the ride was ok untill about 60 miles out from Phoenix when it got real hot, same goes for Las Vegas, going across the dam it was real hot.

Yeah Kayenta is not much of a town but there was a McDonalds there and it was time to take a break.

Anyone interseted in seeing Utah, starting in Kayenta AZ. and heading north on 163 then 261 into Monument Valley Utah, 95 to Hanksville, 24, and 12 to Panguich is a great ride.

Ken G.

[Dr. Strangelove]

ditto on your route...been there done that

and I, too, stopped at the Micky Dee's for a break from the blowing red dust. There is cell phone service there for ATT

John

[Boxer]

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Dont'cha just love it when SPAM revives an old thread? I'm sort of glad it did in this case. I intend to makemy trek out to that area this June, and it helped to be reminded of the heat and humidity there. I guess I'll need a larger cooler.