Took a little ride...

[d0gWateR]

Rogue's GPS "Rose" has obviously been customized with a Get Some waypoint set. Gotta put that on my "mods" list.

Great pics and ride report!

[lasvegasrider]

Incredible, absolutely incredible report.


Looking forward to MORE of your great post.

[Rogue 1]

Monday October 28^th

The sun is shining, the sky is clear and crystal blue and the air is crisp and clean when I awake at 7:30. Caroline moans as extricate myself and hit the shower. The hangover isn’t nearly as bad as it should be; must have been the exercise. She heads back to her hotel to pack and drags an oath from me that I will join her when I am ready to leave.

Showered and packed and feeling amazingly refreshed, I head to the Sagebrush for coffee and croissant with the french crew and Roger the proprietor. The French again express their lack of love for American coffee. Given the current example, I have to agree with them.

They are packing, ready to head “En Masse� to the Grand Canyon. I pull out my map and point out some routes they might consider taking, stressing Hwy 89 through Sedona.

Gilles, Elisabele and Bernard insist I take a bottle of wine and I promise to toast them and remember them all fondly when I drink it. Pascal and Helen load me up with beer and water and we all trade emails and contact information. “You must visit us in France!� I give them the rest of what I’m carrying… no sense trying to cross the border with it. They are very thankful.

Caroline wants to blow off her crew and join me on the road; this won’t work for me on many levels, some obvious now and others later. She will take nothing less than a promise that I will come and visit her in Paris. How can I say no? (I keep that promise, but it is another story unto itself). It is a goodbye fit for a Bogart flick.


I jump on the bike and roar off down the road, another cowboy leaving a woman behind to search out adventure and fortune.


.................................................. .................................................. ................................


Road notes and philosophical shifts

• Just some notes on the side… as previously mentioned, I’m all screwed up concerning the time… and just when I think I’ve got a handle on it… the country goes off daylight savings… falling back! WHAT TIME IS IT???

• My understanding of life on the road and its effect on a person is becoming clearer. The biggest and most impressive difference to me out here is my perception of time. It just seems like I have more of it… brought on by the fact that I am utilizing so much of it in so many different ways. My worldly perceptions seem more full, so many great experiences, every turn brings something new too see, every day brings new adventure, relationships, destinations and sights… and nothing is predictable. I go where the road leads and see what happens, compared to the normal, everyday, extraordinarily predictable routines at home; where what you did today is much like yesterday and will probably be the same tomorrow. I realize that I have spent most of my time “betweenâ€� events. Whatever the last thing I did that was truly interesting and notable, looking forward too and waiting for that “nextâ€� big thing. The in betweens are lost, wasted. This will not do and I vow not to fall into that trap again when I finally return. This “ain’tâ€� your standard 2 week vacation and the impact traveling has had on me is intoxicating; I am remiss to consider giving it up.

Postcards mailed, I reluctantly leave Tombstone and head south east on Hwy 80 towards historic Bisbee and Douglass. I cross open plains, past lonely mountain peaks, rising from the flat barren earth into the pure blue sky. The only moisture evident in the air is at the tops of the distant mountain ranges, thick white clouds remain stationary above and around them and them alone. The clouds appear like great cotton balloons, motionless, tethered by invisible string, held in place by the mountains gravity.






Small creatures scurry, hop and crawl across my path, important destinations and appointments that must be met on the other side of the road, inch worms, lizards, toads, salamanders and grasshoppers, the life of the desert.

I amuse myself by trying to avoid ending their small but (to them at least) important lives, slaloming to and fro, it gives me something to do. Eventually, I find I am squashing more than I miss as the hypnotic effect of the long empty road has me staring at them in a vain attempt to identify what sort of creatures they are. This of course causes Silvers tires to run right over them as the bike goes where you look. Squish, Ooops, sorry… have to stop that.

Bisbee








25 miles to Bisbee, a quaint town, nestled in a quiet, rocky valley, the old mixed with the new, history preserved and listed as a National Historic Landmark. Given over to tourists and artisans, Bisbee was originally founded for a large (and I mean HUGE) copper mine on the immediate edge of the town. The crater, strip mined, has got to be at least 300 feet deep and runs about a half mile in length. Modern mining equipment bled the area dry years ago and all that remains is the hole in the ground. I am saddened by the sight of the scarred earth.





more to come

[lasvegasrider]

So, get the expanded version of your adventure published, please. This is the best ride report I have ever read. Include the French 'connection' and such.

[jmoore813]

I have just spend the last 90 minutes reading your report, man. It's one of the best ones i've ever read

keep it coming

[Rogue 1]

I exceeded the smugmug limit again... 6 gigs in 6 days... ooops...
Baldy has been very cool about this but I think I might be pushing it a little...
He has suggested that I use less pics and instead insert links to my smugmug site... I'm going to upgrade once again (going pro) and we'll see what happens...

Things might get better... or they might get worse... because I think I just figured out how to post video...

this is a test...


If this works the video below will show one of the bugs I didn't squish as described in the last post...

http://rogue1.smugmug.com/gallery/107770/1/4895297

[Rogue 1]

Then again... maybe not... damn...

A little advice here?

I bet Peach knows what to do...

[Rogue 1]

Heres a nice pano of the road to Bisbee anyway

[Rogue 1]

Thanks for all the compliments people!

Glad to know I am contributing the creation of quality time in the work place!

[Rogue 1]

Originally Posted by Misery Goat

nice report rogue..drop me pm next time you're in the city..

my office is just out of the frame to the right..

Thanks, I'll be sure to do that MG! My compliments to your town and it's people... I'd go back anytime!

[Rogue 1]

Edge of Douglas


Another 25 miles to Douglass, and I find the town is not much more than an intersection at a border crossing to Mexico. Not much else to do here, I get the bright idea to cross into Mexico, just for a quick look see… something similar to dipping my foot in the pool before diving in. My anxiety about going to Mexico alone, and all the stories I’ve heard come to the fore and the good things I’ve heard are forgotten… I realize I’m scared shitless regarding this part of my journey. I have no idea what waits for me on the other side… unfounded and unreasonable fear. (I must not fear, fear is the mind killer)



I approach the US/Mexico border, passing warnings in English and Spanish “It is illegal to bring Firearms and ammunition into Mexico. The penalty for such is a minimum of 25 years in prison.� Holy you know what… glad we took care of that potential mess.

It is desolate here... quiet... little to no traffic... few vehicles pass from the opposite direction and no one but myself is headed towards the border. Looks like it will be a peaceful ride.

Following the signs “Nothing to Declare� I ride slowly right through the plaza, un-approached, unquestioned, unmolested and seemingly unnoticed. I pass three seperate border guards and the barely glance my way... isn't anyone going to ask me for ID or something?

Poof, I’m in Mexico. That was too easy.

Its like passing through the looking glass, nothing but desert on the US side, the Mexican side is teeming, bustling and overdeveloped, packed with one story buildings that I was unable to see from the other side of the border, scores of bars, cantinas, restaurants, taquerillas, curio shops and small businesses. The streets are crowded on the other side and as I ride a few blocks deeper, scores of locals stop what they are doing to turn and look at me and Silver. Every street corner is populated with people and the traffic is thick and aggressive, cutting me off right and left.

I feel like I warped somehow... I saw no hint of this three hundred yards ago...

I feel the eyes of the people on me and I am not without trepidation. I have been warned many times that I am most likely to run into trouble in the border towns and this place has all the obvious signs. Most likely, I am not much more than a curiosity on a cool bike, but I am panicky and like a spooked pony I head back to the border.

I hang 2 lefts and head back the way I came, running into a huge bottleneck; five lanes into two of cars looking to enter the US. Apparently no one wants to get in and everyone wants out… this does not help to alleviate my misgivings.

Everyone wants to leave...


Run from the border...


I work my way through the cars, the motorcycle being given the respect and way that bikes get everywhere in the world except the states, and approach the plaza. My turn comes and I pull under the overpass, the border patrol officer asks me what I was doing in Mexico. He looks at me with more than a little professional interest. As I answer, the frivolity of my visit and its obvious implications become clear… Why has this gringo crossed the border into Mexico only to leave 10 minutes later… in other words… what did I pick up here… shit.

I field a string of questions… what was the purpose of my visit, where am I from, where am I coming from, where am I going… my answers, though truthful, sound silly in my own ears…

I start to sweat as visions of Silver in pieces and cavity searches float through my head. The truth will set you free has become another on of my credos so I tell him exactly what I was doing... I know now I am an idiot/I wasn't thinking of appearances/ I just wanted to dip my foot in the pool... Please don't stick a probe up my butt..

Miraculously, I get lucky and the officer lets me pass… another lesson learned, international crossings are not taken lightly anymore.

What a chickenshit I am...


more to come

[bvkamp]

Originally Posted by vegasklr

So, get the expanded version of your adventure published, please. This is the best ride report I have ever read. Include the French 'connection' and such.

Yeah . . . we want the French Connection story after the trip is over. :rabia

[Rogue 1]

Originally Posted by bvkamp

Yeah . . . we want the French Connection story after the trip is over. :rabia

Pervs! Nothin' but pervs degenerates ya are!



Wait till I get to Cabo...

[Rogue 1]

BTW Bvkamp... this ones pretty funny... >>>

[Rogue 1]

This is what the border itself looks like from the US side...