What a ride

I'd read about the ride to Prescott before we got down here. When I read that the local Riders Association of Triumph (R.A.T.) group was heading up there today, I made plans to go.

Headed out at about 8 a.m. to meet the group on the I-17 freeway about 25 miles north of the condo. Six of us showed up at the Chevron station. I did a crappy job of getting the names. It was NYSteve, Motoweasel and several other guys. They were riding a Speed Triple, Street Triple, 1050 Sprint, 955 Sprint, Japanese V-twin and my 955 Sprint.

We headed west on 74 for 40 miles of basically straight two-lane highway, saguaros and brush all around, to the US 60 junction, then northwest on US 60 to Wickenburg. Not much there. Then US 93 a few miles to SR 89, which took us past the crossroads of Congress and on toward a significant range of mountains.

You can see the climb up the mountain face from miles away. The road splits into separate uphill and downhill lanes. Zoom in on the section on Google Maps -- it's an impressive piece of road. This must have saved the lives of many a trucker. Road surface was clean and smooth but as we hit the 35 mph curves I quickly fell behind the other riders. Two reasons. First, I'd been warned that the law waits and tickets for the most minor speed infractions. Second, I wanted to not die.

Past Yarnell the road straightened for a while and the landscape changed. We rolled through Peeples Valley, a broad expanse of grass pastures, tidy fences and a few majestic cottonwoods. I figured its likely owned by the same family that pioneered the area 150 years ago. Or some bastard from Microsoft or Goldman Sachs.

Not much farther we headed up again and entered the Prescott National Forest and Ponderosa Park. If I thought the road to Yarnell was twisty, I had a lesson ahead. I've never seen such a succession of canyon switchbacks and cliff-pavement-cliff outside curves, many posted for 25 mph speeds. We were high enough by now that the roadsides were dotted with snow and I had my electric jacket liner working. Saw some actual trees!

In Prescott we grabbed lunch at a brew pub and I caught a photo of the county courthouse and the rider group.

For the trip back the guys decided to do the newbie (me) a favor and route through Skull Valley. The country was more open and the curves were high-speed sweepers. Some of the landscape was lovely, with hummocks topped by weather-rounded boulders. Skull Valley was home to George Phippen (1915–1966), a well known western artist, co-founder and first president of the Cowboy Artists of America. (Wikipedia). We stopped for a break and I got another picture.

From there it was a slog. Back through Peeples Valley, Wickenburg, etc etc. Though my new sheepskin butt pad helped, my rear end was begging for mercy. The whole run was 261 miles. Got back at 3:30 p.m. Pamela and I had a nice dinner at a Japanese restaurant.