My "boss" helped to facilitate my route and my goal. Don't get me wrong, I like working for him, but he's relentless. He said I could go anywhere I wanted but I could only take Friday off. I casually laid out a route, leaving Thursday night after work and stopping in Blythe for the evening. This would allow me to spend all day Friday on a two lane road.

My first pass at a route  came to 925 miles in 24 hours and 23 minutes. "Hmmmm..." I thought to myself. I don't really need any more wallpaper for the garage, but 925 miles in 24 hours and 23 minutes is just soooo close to 1,000 miles in 24 hours. One thing I didn't want to do is to jeopardize my Friday route. The only way I knew how to do this was to include a gas stop at the gas station on Hwy 2 (aka Angeles Crest Highway) at the 210 freeway in La Canada/Flintridge. Since my routing program put me in Paonia at 7:15pm, I couldn't leave before 7:15 pm. The detour to La Canada/Flintridge would put me into Blythe rather late, but I would be able to keep my scenic ride on Friday. Well, that's what I kept telling myself.

Thursday came and I was ready to roll at the requisite time. I got gas at my starting gas stop at 7:24 pm. I was concerned about traffic on I-5 at this time of day. After all, it's one of the few freeways in L.A. that doesn't have an HOV lane. I decided to take the tollroad towards CA 91 to I-605 to I-210. That was a little longer, but less risk. There was only one problem with that plan. By the time I hit the 241/261 intersection (intersection of two toll roads) I realized that I had forgotten my meds. Drat. This error cost me an hour, but at least I was able to have confidence that the traffic would be light on I-5 through downtown L.A. where I then take CA 2 to I-210 west for my gas stop. 

I check into the motel at 1:30 and I'm asleep by 2. I set my alarm for 6 because I need a minimum of four hours sleep. I'm out the door by 6:30. I get gas in Ehrenberg right over the Arizona border from Blythe because gas is forty cents a gallon cheaper. I soon depart the freeway on my way to Prescott. Highway 89 is a wonderful road and I have a glorious time rolling into Prescott. I stop for breakfast (and gas) in Prescott Valley. Since I left late out of Blythe, I decide to straighten out the route a little bit by skipping Sedona and settle for a short stretch of I-17 into Flagstaff.

As I traverse the Navajo Indian reservation, I watch in awe one of the monsoon thunderstorms ahead of me. For the longest time, it appears that the storm is south of my route. Just as I begin to enjoy the geology around Red Mesa, I find that even catching the edge of this particular storm would be enough for me. Traffic slows to 40 mph due to visibility and I get peppered with BB sized hail. Prior to the storm, it was so hot and humid I didn't want to don my raingear. Besides, I thought the rain would cool me off. Well, between being totally soaked while enduring a 30 mph crosswind and a dramatic drop of at least 20 degrees in air temperature and all of a sudden, it's freezing here in Northern Arizona in July. Serious. Fortunately, I dry out pretty quickly and everything is back to normal except the sun has taken the rest of the day off. As I enter Colorado via Four Corners, I've got storms on both shoulders as I enjoy the San Juan Skyway. By now, I'm getting doused on a regular basis. As the sun is starting to set, the forest rats come out. There are at least four who are standing by the side of the road just trying to decide what vehicle to jump out in front of. I pass a family of four bison trotting along the shoulder of the road.

The bad weather has slowed my pace and I begin to become concerned about reaching my kilo-mile goal. I stop briefly to put on warmer gloves and a dry shirt. Much better! I reach Delta right at 7:24 pm, exactly 24 hours after my starting gas stop, 1,019.7 GPS miles ago. Whew! That was pretty close.

I make the final 40 miles to the campsite and discover the city park is full of Beemers! It's dark, but the entire park is surrounded by parked motorcycles. I have a difficult time finding a parking place. I finally find one and leave a voice mail message for Dave who arrived much earlier than I. I start to pitch my tent when my phone rings. As my luck would have it, Dave is camped on the opposite side of the park from me. He says there's a spot for me, so I pick up my tent and ride over. Dave, Rory and Steve help me pitch my tent. This gives me time to grab a Brat and a beverage and catch up with my friends.

The Route from San Juan Capistrano, CA to Paonia, Colorado

click on image for larger version (particularly the panorama scenes)

SouthCoaster Central. No, we didn't have a banner. Sigh...

180^o View

A few scenes from the Top of the Rockies Rally

 I stop for breakfast (and coffee) just east of Grand Junction. By the time I peel off of I-70 towards Hanksville, I'm just starting to wake up. It's a good thing because this route is the highlight of my return. It's a glorious morning ride on Utah 24 towards Torrey then south on Utah 12, a magnificent road. I stop in Boulder for lunch and gas. Apparently, my wife Nancy is watching the SPOT tracking and she sees that I stop. My phone rings. We have a nice chat and I finish my bean and cheese burrito.

I reach the entrance to Zion early in the afternoon. I ask the park ranger if there is very much traffic. He responds "It's Sunday" and nods his head. Sure enough, there is a lot of traffic and it's hot. I really want to ignore that double yellow line, but I manage to coax a little patience until I'm out of the park. I reach Hurricane by 3 pm and check into my room about four hours earlier than I had planned. I take a shower and fall right to sleep.

I wake up about 9 pm, grab a burger and I'm ready to go. It's quite a light show to the west as the thunderstorms over Nevada provide the excitement. I'm pretty convinced that the storm is north of me, but I really had no idea because it was so dark outside. No moon; no stars; no city lights. The only clue I could get is when the sky would light up with the flash of lightning. I'm not sure I wanted to see what I saw, but there was nothing but rain ahead of me. Even though it's late at night, it's still too hot to don my rain gear. Yes, I'm wearing my Cool Vest at midnight!

I dry out and successfully miss the traffic in Las Vegas (timing is everything), and I stop for gas and a cup of coffee at the state line. The lack of sleep starts to catch up with me, so I take the safe route and get another room in Barstow. Forty four bucks; not bad. Unfortunately, my cell phone battery has run down and I really don't have an opportunity to call Nancy or my sister Carol to let them know that I'm O.K. and I didn't crash. Later, they assumed I stopped and they weren't worried. It was either that or all of this excitement occurred while they were asleep (like the rest of the sane people on the planet) and it didn't even register that I had stopped. Nonetheless, I was back on the road at 6:30 and home a little before 9.

I kept my promise to my "boss" and only missed work on Friday. Although Monday wasn't one of my most productive days, I did spend the entire day in the office. He never asks what I did this past weekend, but if he did I would say "Just another weekend motorcycle ride".

Total for the trip: 2,043 miles.