Ah, what a beautiful morning for a mountain run. Low Down (Pauly) and I made a run up Mt. Lemmon this morning..so, as I am obligated..HERE'S PEECTURES!!! (ie. a brief photo tour up Mt. Lemmon) Let me start by saying this is probably gonna be shorter than normal as we god absorbed in the road by about the half way point, and I stopped taking pictures. So, lets begin! Our first stop up the mountain. Just trying to get a shot of the bikes and the weather. Here's my 1150R: And Pauly and his Husky TE610: A nice shot of the clouds over the hillsides: Some shots of the road, coming and going: A picture of the mountain and some rocks. More impressive in person. The road farther up the mountain: Really tall trees, and (hard to picture) the clouds were moving really fast across the sky: The bikes again, and some traffic: More scenary: Clouds. Thought it pretty impressive: A valley down from the stopping point: The road, looking down: It was at this point, we just started cruising. Had a good time, zipping through the twisties until we hit some slow traffic. It seems Esuvees don't like whipping around corners at over 55 mph. Somewhere along the road, we passed a guy stopped on teh side of the road on his buell somethingorother, rubbing his hands together. My thought was "Ha, I'm not the only one with cold hands" Then it hit me. Why did I have cold hands, I have heated handgrips! So, on came the warm-sticks and all was good. Once we hit the top and dropped into the town of Sumerhaven, I munched a piece of pie and we both had a hot chocolate before heading back down. I was leading the way up, so I figured I'd let Paul lead on the down trip. Now I'm a pretty "agressive" rider, but Once we got going, I could not catch up to him. TE610 vs me on 1150R and he was gone. I knew he had to be waiting for me, cuz I was working to stay as close as I was. All in all, a good ride. Wish the rest of the group had made it, but never fear, this WILL happen again.
Nothing like the stuff of colorado, but its a good substitute. And here I thought I lived in a barren desert. Well, I do, but mountains and green things are only a few minutes away.
Great pictures and report!! I had an awesome time (you really can't have a bad time carving Mt. Lemon, can you?). We will have to do some more quests for $7 pie in the near future!! BTW... I only got to about 70 in the fastest corner.
I can't afford them both! Well, I can, but I still gotta pay for this 1150 beasty. Insurance wouldn't be bad if I wasn't making bike payments
It is nil, but add the $120/month insurance on the 1150, plus the $240/month payment to my father to pay off said thing, coupled with the price of gas, my cell phone bill, and the fact that I'm trying to SAVE money, and you see that while I do make a fair bit of money, I do not make enough to afford all my toys at this moment. I wish it weren't so. Wait til I have another stripe, or two, then I'll start looking into more toys. Besides, I need to get a car sometime soonish, having a bike is great, but it is a limitation since it's my ONLY mode of transport.
It used to be lots prettier up there & on the way. That fire a few years back pretty well devastated both the mountain & the community. I went back up there just about the time they started to rebuild. Some of the plants & trees take a long time to grow back & some never do. The road hasn't changed however. People still poke along & pullouts are few & largely underused.
The pull outs are well marked and pretty common, people jsut refuse to get out fo the way. I guess SUV's think that they aren't holding up a guy on a roadster who just wants to have fun, and 30mph up that mountain is NOT my idea of fun, though it can be relaxing at times.
Yay! A fun ride everytime. The 30 mph speed limit is a crime against humanity, as you know. I like the chili w/ cornbread up top, and then pie, naturally. Nice pics! I've done the dirt side down the other side on a street bike, not bad at all, FYI.
I suppose I should have started this whole thing by say "this is my first ride report and this ride was only a morning, so go easy on my narrative skills, or lack there of." 30mph, bmw roadster, mountain road, brisk morning, and a need to go zoom zoom. These things do not all go together. I laughed a few times as I'd exit a corner, hard on the throttle, passing 60 towards the next straight, and pass a 30mph speed limit sign. If it's warm next weekend, I'll go up again, maybe a little later in the day, and take more pics. Though I think Pauly got tired of stopping every few minutes for my photo tour of the mountain, so I'll have to sweep, and let him go ahead....if there's not a lot of people, it'll give me a chance to let loose and try to catch up again, though I hold no delusions of that being possible. Hey, anyone wanna donate to the "AFD needs an Aerostitch Roadcrafter One-Piece Suit" charity? Its a good cause, and I'm a broke airman, Military...come on...any takers? I'll do something exciting for every donation of $5 or more.
AFD, if you find something to bundle yourself in, we can carve the Lemmon again and add to this fine report! I don't mind stopping for pictures, and I don't mind waiting for you either...:huh
Lemon is zesty, but every one loves Graham crackers! If you liked Mt. Lemon, go east on 10 to 191 north, and just before Safford hit Mt. Graham. Up and back will give you 40+ miles of super tight twisty stuff! If that's not enough, there's always Morenci to Alpine! 90 miles of twistys and two straight-aways!
The 30 mph speed is there for the warmer months, try riding up the mountain around those curves when all of the little asphalt snakes are nice and warm, any faster than 30 it feels like riding on marbles! The ride from Morenci all the way up to Springerville is great! I rode down from Springerville last March and passed 5 cars total in the 90+ miles. However, I think I slowed down for at least a dozen deer and maybe as many elk that were just standing in the middle of the road, and they all were standing in the shade.:eek1 :eek1 :eek1
How do you feel about monday? I'm free, gotta cary the cell phone, but thats it. I'm up for another ride.