Arizona US-191

August 30, 2012

El Paso TX

Wow!!  What a surprise this turned out to be.  Once again the map is not accurate in detail.  The map really cant portray what the road reaaaalllly does!  I describe this road as the Tail of the Dragon repeated over and over on the Beartooth Highway!!

Yes, I was scared crapless again….yes, I’ll have to get a good Mexican dinner con frijoles y jalapenos to mitigate the constipating impact this ride will have upon my tender, youthful sensibilities L.

Riding out of Springerville was pretty much a level, perhaps somewhat minor incline of a ride, to where the excitement began.  Bob took some photos in town showing the differences in our bikes/packing and also one of his teddy bear sitting on a local monument.  I also asked him to take one of a trailer with the name Paddock on it….I have a Boeing friend who has that name.

Bob took the lead since he knew the way as he rode the highway yesterday coming into Springerville.  Besides which, he is the superior rider.  It was educational to be riding behind him and observing how smooth he leans and glides his Harley through the turns.  Initially all the curves were gentle and easy for me.  Lots of woods and land on each side of the road to make me feel very comfortable…this photo shows Bob’s bike where we stopped at the Meadow and what the beginning ride looked like.

 

But that was soon to end.  Next thing I knew we had climbed up the mountain to vertical heights with no shoulder on the road and drop offs that made me queasy.  I’m a wuss FINE!  SO WHAT!  I hate dizzying heights! The side of the road fell vertically straight down to unseen depths.  I worked on keeping my focus on the road ahead….DON”T LOOK DOWN!!

Too late….I looked…..I think I pee’d my jeans….not sure.

I approached turn #2 by inches at a time, brake, roll, brake, roll, stop, turn handlebar, roll….hey…is this going uphill?  OK, fine, off the brake, let out the clutch, FINE….a little throttle…oh shit, turn handlebar, am I in the opposite lane?  You’re damn right I am!  That’s a bottomless freaking dropoff where a highway shoulder is supposed to be! Brake, little clutch, BRAKE, ok, a little clutch with throttle…ARGHHH!!  I looked again!  Don’t look, Don’t look, breathe, Why in the F#*k am I doing these rides????

Ahhh, made it through turn #2….where’s Bob (looking far ahead up the switchbacked mountain)….He’s on turn #11!!!!  That man knows no fear!

Then I completely lost sight of Bob until inching around a descending turn and he took this photo of me….????  And yes….he was laughing!

 

Oh well, he’s a very accomplished rider…..I’m not….and I have my fears and anxieties…it appears that he doesn’t.

But the ride was indeed beautiful….I liked it better than the ‘Tooth and really did feel it was a combination of the Tail and the ‘Tooth with some 550 thrown in as icing on the top. You can see the abundance of green of grass, shrubs and trees along the ride.

And then we came upon a turnout with gorgeous views…the last pic of me is Bob’s sense of weird humor!

 

 

Later we came upon a huge copper mine/quarry and grabbed some photos of that.

Then we reached Clifton where we took a photo of Bob by the locomotive memorial.  As we were heading under a bridge Bob saw a goat and it’s kid on the side of the road and caught this photo of the kid running on the shoulder's berm.

We finally reached Three Way and got some gas for the bikes and some chow for the rider.

From there it was a mad dash on US-70 south to get onto I-10 East.  Somewhere on the 70 I think we entered NM before reaching Lordsburg....not much to see there. 

About 60 miles later we were in Deming and took the first exit to ride through town.  The first gas station we came to had lines of cars waiting at the pumps.  Since I had taken the lead in town I continued on to where the 'In Town' gas stations were and we tanked up for a few cents less. 

Allow me a little digression here.  Back sometime around 1982 I had visited Deming for the first time.  This era of course was pre-google, pre-internet...hell the 286 had just been in the back not too long.  Anyhow, I was still in the USMC then and managed to get a flight task to take a CH-46 from NAS North Island (San Diego) to MCAS Cherry Point to be re-worked.  Our first stop on this 5 or 6 day trip was at Deming.  I vaguely remember having to walk a bit to find a motel and restaurant just off the local higway.  While chatting with the locals I found out that we had just missed the famous Deming Duck Races!  Yes, they really do have an annual live duck race here every year!

We quickly got back on the 10 and were heading east again to El Paso so we could make the check in time for the Three Flags Classic.  Here's some pics that Bob took while riding....oh, I forgot to mention a little trick he does....while riding behind him on the 191 I noticed him suddenly turn in the seat, raise his hands to his face, and then put his hands back on the handle bars....the guys is taking photos with both hands while riding the bike!!
 

 

One of the stops I wanted to make along the way was at the rest stop overlooking Las Cruces….my fav little town along with the Mesilla Valley.  It is so much prettier than El Paso!

We reached the Super 8 (formerly Best Western) in time to check in before dinner.  In the process I met Steve and Blake and we all decided to go to Carlos & Micky’s for a good Mexican Dinner.

Hopefully it’ll mitigate the impact of 191 J.

C ya mañana,
Gonzo
Twitter: @GonzoCrossUSA
Email: GonzoCrossUSA@gmail.com
Cell: 949-433-0761