#10: Old Highway 91 from St George to Mesquite Nevada:
This was just outside my back door for 25 years, and I rode it a lot. I’m not sure I ever got sick of it. Before they put in the virgin River gorge and completed 1-15 at a million dollars a mile back in 1972, this was how you got to Vegas. Be sure to ride under the freeway at Littlefield to get the full effect.
Highway 91 — The Freeway, before Interstates were cool.
#9: Highway 191 from Duchesne to Moab:
Leaving Duchesne you’ll ride up to 9,000 feet and down into some pretty historic parts of the Mining towns of Utah. Some great bars, history and open roads. Keep going and you’ll end up in Moab and probably find something fun to do. Everybody loves Moab.
Duchesne to Moab: Mountain roads, History and the red rocks of Moab.
#8: Highway 18 from St George to Caliente Nevada
Another road I’ve ridden a lot, but it never got old. Hay fields and hills that end up in the Canyon Town of Caliente Nevada. Remember to ride through Modena. There’s a few cool old surprises there…
Highway 18 – Bluff Street in St George to Caliente Nevada
#7: Utah Highway 89
I rode highway 89 mostly because I hated riding the Interstate. Its a great road that’ll take a few hours longer than 1-15, but much more interesting. You’ll ride through national forests, High mountains and High Desert. The home of Butch Cassidy, The big Rock Candy mountain and a lot of other cool places.
Get off the interstate.
#6: Highway 189 through Provo Canyon:
I remember getting back from one the Easy Rider tours that went half way across the country and coming home from the Airport. After all those states and terrain, I still didn’t see anything as beautiful as Provo Canyon. There’s at least 10 or 11 waterfalls through there if you’re paying attention, including Bridal Veil Falls. Its a gorgeous ride, and Heber City Has some of the best people you’d ever want to meet.
Highway 189 from Provo to Heber.
#5: Highway 14 – Cedar Mountain through Duck Creek village.
A great 2 lane ride over Cedar mountain and through the pines. Missus Zip and I had our Honeymoon in Duck Creek Village. It’s a great ride. A nice side road at the top is over to Panguitch Lake, Or Even to the 10,000 foot top to Brian Head. Hard to beat 🙂
Over the top of Cedar Mountain is a gorgeous ride.
#4: Heber to Tabiona to Heber again:
You’ll go past Strawberry Reservoir and into Highway 35 and the mountains of Tabiona. Stop in Hannah and get a bite to eat, and kick a foot up on your freeway pegs and enjoy the scenery of really small town Utah. This is a great ride.
Heber to Tabiona to Heber Again. A great ride.
#3: Highway 9 through Zion National Park:
Zion is one of a kind, and a must see. It’s a twisty road through some of the most beautiful scenery you’ll find on the planet. Take 89 south through Kanab and Fredonia on the way home, over the edge of the Kaibab Plateau and through Colorado City.
#2: The Alpine Loop.
Head up Provo Canyon and turn off at Sundance Ski Resort. This road is kinda funky — its a narrow 2 lane (almost 1 lane) that takes you over the top of the mountain. You’ll have to be careful around the corners because there’s a lot of blind spots, but its drop dead beautiful and right in the middle of dense forest.
The Alpine Loop. Stop and hike Timpanogos Caves on the other side while you’re at it…
#1: Utah Highway 12.
My favorite road in Utah. You’ll go through Bryce Canyon, Tropic and Cannonville and Escalante. The Town of Boulder is beautiful (great fishing there) and over the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. You’ll end up in Torrey after a great ride with a lot of terrain changes. The road into boulder valley is awesome. The whole road is good. For fun, take the side road into Antimony.
One of the first things I thought about moving to Phoenix was relief. Relief that I didn’t have to be trapped by weather to not go riding whenever I wanted to in December, or whenever. Sure, it gets hotter than hell down here, but you don’t slide sideways into a ditch because of the heat, and you sure as fuck don’t have to shovel it off your doorstep in the mornings and scrape it off the windows. If you live in the desert long enough, you become a desert rat, at least I did. I’m lucky enough that my wife is on board and she loves the desert as much as I do. To me, the Desert means freedom.
I didn’t exactly know what the Monsoons were though before I moved down here. You still have the check the weather to go for long rides, because the thunderstorms down here are biblical. The dust storms that sometimes precede them are pretty epic as well. This ride had been planned 2 weeks earlier, and although I don’t really mind riding in the rain, its better if the weather is good. It looked like it was going to be nice this last weekend, and Friday morning I loaded up the bike and planned to leave early and get to Albuquerque and explore some new roads I’ve never seen. Once there, I’d figure it out where to go next on Saturday morning.
My Boss is always telling me I need to come to work prepared…
I left work around 1 and hit the road, up Arizona 97 toward Payson and into some higher country. It was around 110 degrees and pretty hot, but the road climbed quickly and I knew it wouldn’t last long.
Star Valley Arizona – Resting my ass and taking in the scenery
I got out before the weekend traffic and the roads were killer, and the weather cooled down 25 degrees. It was awesome. This has always been my theory: It takes 3 days to have a good ride, at least: the first day all the bullshit drains out, the second day you feel like yourself again, and the third day is just pure inspiration. I think the more of a 2 lane road you get the faster the bullshit drains out, and as I got further and further away from home the ride just kept getting better. I was starting to realize I had a whole weekend of this. It was starting to get really damn enjoyable.
I went through Springerville AZ, gassed up, stuffed some beef jerky into my vest pocket and headed on down the road — the sun was going down and I wanted to see as much of the country as I could. I knew I’d be pulling into Albuquerque in the dark. I hit the road. The sunset was at my back and the shadows were getting tall and the weather a little cooler. Perfect riding.
Welcome to New Mexico. I hit the border by dusk and saw the landscape start to open up, New Mexico Style.
About a half an hour later, it was dark. I started heading north on New Mexico 36, and decided I wasn’t going to make ABQ tonight. I knew there was a KOA in Grants that was closer, so I decided to ride there, crash for the night and figure it out in the morning. I twisted the throttle and enjoyed the ride, happy in my new plan.
You gotta love riding at night in the Desert, especially on a new road. Up north, I always worried about critters on the road like Deer, elk and even moose at night. I suck at spotting Deer during the day, let alone at night. A perk of the desert is the night riding. You can relax a little, sing out loud without looking like a moron, and enjoy the ride.
Somewhere outside Techado New Mexico.
I passed some pretty cool scenery I think the last 40 miles into Grants. It was pitch dark with no moon but my headlight was picking up the sides of some massive rock formations. The turns in the road said this was interesting terrain, I just couldn’t see any of it. Another nice surprise that I’ll need to go back and check out. El Malpais National Monument is what I was missing it turns out. Even as I type this out I’m curious as to what I missed — I’ll go back again.
I rolled into Grants about 10pm. The Lady at the KOA was a sweetheart and gave me an upgrade from a tent spot to a cabin for 10 bucks. I guess the thought of setting up a tent and sleeping on the ground made me an easy sell. I called Missus Zip, watched the local news, checked the weather and was asleep in an hour.
Day 2:
I was up at 5. Some call it a curse to be an early riser, but by God I think its a blessing. Especially on a route 66 road trip by yourself. I was stoked, and the day was mine.
My $10 cabin upgrade on a route 66 morning. A New Mexico Sunrise
I showered, watched a couple of Episodes of the Rifleman while I drank coffee and it warmed up a little. I decided to head Toward Albuquerque on route 66 and double back toward Flagstaff
Wait though, the Rifleman — I’ve never watched it before. Two thumbs up!!
Budville New Mexico Route 66
Budville New Mexico Route 66 – Bitchen old sign.
Budville was named after “Bud” Rice who was a character of sorts. Some loved him, some hated him. He was a local entrepreneur, philanthropist, Justice of the peace and some say local con-man. He ran this place from 1929 to 1967 when someone robbed the place and shot him in front of his wife Flossie. The crime was never solved. Budville Trading company was open for 66 years and finally closed in 1994. Lots of Stories on Route 66….Looks like Bud even had him some shacks you could rent for the night, motor court style.
San Fidel New Mexico Route 66
An Old Whiting Brothers Gas Station Sign — San Fidel New Mexico
There used to be hundreds of Whiting Brothers filling stations across the US — at least 40 on route 66 alone. Started in 1926 with the birth of route 66, they included gas, groceries, motels with a slogan of “quality gas for less.” The business slowed in the 70s with the fuel shortages and the building of the Interstate. By the 80s, they were all but gone.
Lots of Ghosts here. If you keep your eyes peeled, you’ll still see Whiting Brothers signs all up and down route 66 today. There’s a restored one in Moriarty New Mexico, East of ABQ.
I was glad I doubled back. It rained a little here and there, but I was enjoying the 160 mile ride from Grants to Albuquerque to Grants again. I wished I’d had taken more pictures.
Grants has lots of great history — It started out as a railroad town in the 1880s, became a logging town till the 1930s, and was mostly known as a Uranium mining town till the 1980s. When the mining boom ended, Grants went through a pretty rough time. Tourism and the resurgence of Route 66 has brought it back. Its still one of my favorite route 66 towns.
Grants New Mexico Cafe
I stayed on route 66 west bound, avoiding as much interstate as I could. The clouds and rain started to clear, and the sky started opening up. It was turning out to be a helluva good day to ride.
The Continental Divide – New Mexico
I rode through Gallup and on through the border back into Arizona.
Side note: One of the things about riding is you don’t miss much of the experience. You’re part of it, rather than just observing it. The heat, the cold, the weather, the smells. It heightens your senses I think. I noticed the predominant smell in New Mexico is weed. Most of the place smells like Marijuana, and I don’t know why. I think everyone smokes pot there. Just an observation…
Arizona Route 66!
Chief Yellowhorse — A route 66 Classic. Right on the Arizona/New Mexico Border
If you don’t rubberneck and look for side roads, or have a good Route 66 map made by those in the know, you’ll miss a lot of great spots on the Mother road. The interstate signs don’t always tell you where some of the best parts of route 66 are. This is one of my favorites — the Querino Canyon Bridge.
Querino Canyon Bridge, Houck Arizona — This was route 66 from 1929 to the 1960s when they built the Interstate. It still serves the local traffic. Querino Canyon Bridge. She’s a beautiful old Gal….
It started getting hotter as I rolled on through Joseph city, Jackrabbit City, did a couple of laps through Winslow. I opened it up and headed toward Flagstaff.
I rolled into flagstaff KOA that evening after riding for 12 hours, feeling pretty tired and just wanting to set up my tent and crash for the night. I rolled into my tent spot and my overly-enthusiastic camping neighbor was on me before I could even shut the bike off. I could appreciate that kind of friendliness normally, but I guess he couldn’t see by the look on my face that I was beat, and it wasn’t all that mutual right now. He kept touching my bike, peppering me with questions about where I’d been, what year my bike was, how long I’d been riding….. it to the point I thought there was something wrong with this guy.
He asked what I did; I looked at him and said — “I just got out of Prison and I’m re-building my life”.
It worked.
I set up my tent, called missus Zip to let her know I was ok, and crashed for the night.
Day 3: Flagstaff to Home
I woke up, showered and broke down my tent. It’d been a damn fine ride, and I could be home in 2 hours if I hauled ass, but I wasn’t ready to end my ride.
Getting ready to break camp and head home from Flagstaff
Heading down the 17 into the Valley
I got off the interstate as quick as I could, and hit the back roads toward Payson AZ again to head home. Another new road.
The road from Camp Verde is an awesome ride, one I’ll want to take again. Back on AZ 87, heading toward PaysonBike Selfie.
Arizona is my favorite state. It has it all: The desert valleys, lots of old history, mountainous Ponderosa pine forests, sane gun laws, the Grand Canyon, route 66 and high desert plains. I rolled down slowly off the mountain and found a couple of cool little towns I want to go back and explore again. Strawberry AZ and Pine AZ. Lots of bikers and twisty forest roads.
The traffic was heavy coming off the mountain. I was tired of following cars so I took a side road toward a historical marker in Strawberry Arizona.
The oldest standing schoolhouse in Arizona. 1884.
I stopped and ate in Payson, and headed on down the road (and into the heat again) toward Home.
Glen Campbell has always been good Road Music. Rhinestone Cowboy, Galveston, By the time I get to Phoenix…. It’ll hit the spot at certain times on a good road trip. I’ve always been a fan.
The man had serious talent. He had a solid career as a session guitarist; The righteous brothers, Merle Haggard, the Monkees, Roger Miller and the Beach Boys. Hell, the Beach Boys tried to hire him to Replace Brian Wilson on tour. He Decided to do his own thing instead, follow his gut and then turn out some of his own hits. He Had a few.
I guess he lived in Phoenix for a pretty long stretch — The radio stations on my daily commute have been full of stories about him. From Alice Cooper to Radio Hosts who worked with him here, and even to his neighbors who knew him. Turns out, he was as down to earth and friendly as he was represented. Basically, a helluva good human being.
RIP Glen Campbell. You sir, were gentle on all of our minds. Thanks for what you did.
Check this out. For you n00bs out there, listen up! 😉
It’s a motorcycle safety film produced by the late Cliff Vaughs in 1974— Cliff was one of the makers of the Easy Rider bikes and built the most famous bike in the world: Captain America. He got with Peter Fonda a few years after Easy Rider to make this film. Its a blast from the past. Plus its got my Childhood Hero Evel Knevel! I can’t believe it didn’t win an academy award 🙂
Cliff Vaughs shows up about 7:30 in the film RIP Cliff!
I don’t recall if I’ve posted this before, and I’m too lazy to go back and check to see if I did. It came up in a conversation today, and it still cracks me up. If you’re a guy, you’ll understand.
It’s been pretty damn hot lately. We hit 120 one day, and a couple of days over 117. Its monsoon season in the Valley, and we’re starting to get some pretty bitchen thunderstorms. When it rains in the desert, the sky just opens up and DUMPS. Its bad ass. Those are even fun to ride in, because they don’t last long. I freaking love the desert.
The nice thing about living here is although its too hot right now to go explore somewhere, you don’t get that feeling that the clock is ticking on a long ride. I love that. Mrs Zip and I are planning on a ride to Nevada for a BACA rally in October, and I’d like to go check out New Mexico before that. I’m thinking Alamagordo to see some nuclear history, or Roswell for the fuck of it and see some Aliens. Texas is also an option: Route 66 in the panhandle, or El Paso to bring back some killer Salsa and eat some Texas BBQ. There’s the Abandoned set where John Wayne Re-created the Alamo thats only 900 miles away in Bracketville, or go see the stockyards again in Fort Worth and get a killer steak.
I need to stop. this is giving me the ride hornies.
