4 Corner States Ride Revisited

6 Sep 2010

In August of last year, I started a ride through the four-corner states, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah. After meeting my friend Rick from Texas in Durango, we began our four week trip by riding the Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. The next day Sept 1st, we were riding to Chama NM to ride the Cumbres Toltec Scenic Railroad, when I had an accident riding my motorcycle. The previous night, I did not sleep well and while riding I got drowsy, drifted off the road, and crashed. This is called forgetting the “shiny side up” rule. Although the bike didn’t look it, it was significantly damaged and would need a lot of repair. It got towed to Durango Harley Davidson. Although I didn’t feel all that bad, since I was still walking, X-rays at the hospital in Pagosa Springs showed several broken bones. The ride was over though it had barely begun. Rick rented a car and drove me back to California, then drove back to Pagosa Springs, retrieved his bike and headed back to Texas.

After surgery, physical therapy, change of sleep medication, motorcycle repair and retrieval, and memorizing the “shiny-side up rule”, I began replanning the ride Rick and I started the summer of 2009. On his return trip last year, Rick had developed some problems with his XS-1100 Yamaha. After learning the fine arts of carb synchronization and electrical system troubleshooting, Rick completed repairs on his bike. We are both anticipating getting on the road again and finishing the trip we started a year ago.

We plan to meet in Chama NM, and ride the Cumbres Toltec Scenic Railroad http://www.cumbrestoltec.com/. Then spend the next few weeks riding through Colorado, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. We also plan to ride the Verde Canyon Railroad http://verdecanyonrr.com/, take several scenic routes and visit several national parks, monuments, and historical sites, including The Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Mesa Verde, Four Corners, Canyon de Chelly, Monument Valley, Natural Bridges, Canyonlands, Arches, Bryce, Cedar Breaks, Zion, The Grand Canyon, Montezuma’s Castle, Sunrise Crater, Meteor Crater and The Petrified Forest to name a few before ending our ride in Gallup, NM, September 19th, some 3200 miles later. In all, Rick and I will have each ridden roughly 4000 miles round trip for this 22 day ride. http://rideplanner.harley-davidson.com/rideplanner/share/208376

The ride starts August 29th for me, stopping in Flagstaff and continuing to Chama NM, where I will meet up with Rick. After riding the Cumbres Toltec Scenic Railroad the next day, we start our ride together on Sept 1st, riding up through Pagosa Springs which is where I forgot the “shiny-side up” rule, exactly one year ago to the day. We may stop by the hospital to see if any of the staff that treated me are still there.

The return trip for me will begin in Gallup, NM and end in Ridgecrest two days and 848 miles later, with stops in Page, AZ and St. George, UT. I’ll be heading west on 264 through the southern portions of the Navajo and Hopi Indian Reservations before stopping in Page, AZ. The next day, I’ll continue west across the southern end of the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument before stopping in St George. From there, I’ll continue west through the Shivwits-Piute Indian Reservation to I-15 into Las Vegas, then head north west on I-95 through the eastern portion of the Mojave Desert, and Beatty, NV. Then I’ll head south west on 190 through Death Valley and turn south on 178 toward Ridgecrest. From here, I’ll continue this ride log with the actual events of the ride as they occur.

Aug 29 - Left Ridgecrest for Flagstaff, AZ and arrived at 4 PM.  Mileage was roughly 460 @ 37 MPG.  The weather was nice.  It started out in the 70s, but by Needles it was 94.  After Kingman it cooled down and there was some cloud cover.  After Williams I got a little rain and the wind started gusting a little.  I stopped at the Harley Shop in Belmont.  They call it the Harley Davidson at the Grand Canyon, I don't know why.  It's 70 miles to the Grand Canyon from there.  They should call it the closest HD shop to the Grand Canyon maybe.  I got the requisite t-shirt, dip dot and a siren for my security system.  The instructions were totally wrong for my model, but it ended up being an easy install.  Now when the alarm goes off I'll be able to hear it.  Of course, I won't be able to get to my bike until whoever is tampering with it has taken whatever he wants, but at least I'll know to expect it rather than be surprised when I find missing parts.  It was a nice day for a long ride.  More of the same tomorrow I hope.

Aug 30 - Made it to Chama, NM around 2:30 PM.  Still waiting on Rick however.  I'm here at the Chama Trails Inn.  Nice place.  Chester and Starla are gracious hosts.  Chester lets up park the bikes in the back on the covered patio. Got a little wet today.  Not so much that I needed my rain gear however,  Leathers were fine.  Chester provided some rags and a place where I could use his hose to clean the bike up.  Looks like new again.  Got better mileage today for some reason.  Mileage was 377 @ 42 MPG.  I guess yesterday was mostly uphill, and today was mostly down.  Took lots of pics along the way, some even turned out okay. The canyons west of Kayenta are very picturesque and most of the way along highway 64 into Chama is very pretty.  Tomorrow Rick and I will ride the Cumbres Toltec Scenic Railroad.  Chester said he'd give us a lift to the depot, so we could leave the bikes at the hotel.  Hope Rick gets here soon.  I'm hungry.  More tomorrow.
Aug 31 - Chester gave us a ride to the depot and we boarded the bus to Cumbres.  Seems someone torched the trestle outside Chama and the train no longer goes to Chama.  We boarded the Cumbres
Toltec Railroad in Cumbres and had an excellent trip all the way to Antonito.  This train ride is advertised as the most scenic narrow gauge railroad in the US and rightly so, the scenery is "absolutely spectacular" to steal a phrase from Huell Howser.  More spectacular than the Durango to Silverton Train in my opinion.  We stopped in Osier for lunch.  It was more like dinner.  We had a complete Thanksgiving-style turkey dinner and it was all-you-can eat.  After lunch we had some extra time, so I walked over to the Toltec Gorge and got some pictures. When the train from Antonito showed up we continued our trip.  The docents explained all the important points along the trip.  This railroad is the highest and longest narrow gauge train in the US (maybe the world).  The train follows the Rio de Los Pinos river and skirts the Toltec Gorge. Tanglefoot and Whiplash Curves were fun. They threw in some less important stuff as well.  It takes takes 1 gallon of water for the train to go 22 feet.  That's less than three turns of the wheels. So the train has to hold a lot of water.  After getting to Antonito, we took the bus back to Chama and Chester and his brother Ernie came to pick us up and return us to the hotel.  Later we had a light dinner at the High Country restaurant, still being pretty full from lunch and called it a night.  Tomorrow we head to Montrose.  Passing the spot near Pagosa Springs where I crashed exactly 1 year before.

Sep 1 - Rick and I left Chama and headed for Pagosa Springs where we had breakfast at the same place we did last year.  Although we looked some for the place where the accident occurred, but neither of us could identify it.  Needless to say, we passed it.  From Pagosa Springs we headed north over Wolf Creek Pass at 10,850 ft to South Fork.  We also crossed over Spring Creek Pass at 10, 900 ft and then headed into Lake City where we stopped for gas and some refreshment.  We continued on highway 149 along the picturesque Gunnison River and crossed Slumgullion Pass at 11,530 ft to US 50 where we crossed the Blue Mesa Reservoir a couple times.  This is Colorado's largest body of water.  From here we turned off highway 50 to check out the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.  This is an amazing gorge carved by the Gunnison River.  The gorge is so deep and narrow that the sun hardly shines down to the bottom.  We stopped at several overlooks and followed trails to the edge of the gorge. As the sun began to set, we got some amazing pictures and headed into Montrose CO.  We stopped at the Best Western and later had some great Chinese a the Panda Palace.  Excellent food and plenty of it for the price. Mileage was 322 @ 44.7 MPG.

Sep 2 - We left Montrose and headed south on highway 550 down into Ridgeway and then on to Ouray which is a small mountain city, tucked into the San Juan Mountains.  This is a beautiful little city with only highway 550 in or out. We continued on into Silverton for gas and stopped for a break wandering up and down the streets checking out the many historic shops.  While there we heard the arrival of the Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad train. We continued south to Durango along the Million Dollar Highway.  In Durango, we stopped at the Harley Davidson shop and met with Trevor in the service department that managed the rebuilding of my bike last year.  Trevor was happy to see me in better shape than the last time he saw me.  Next to the Harley Shop is a Serious Texas Barbecue restaurant.  It's serious barbecue alright.  From Durango we headed to Cortez, CO.  Along the way a motorcyclist passed us like we were parked.  Later we saw him parked in front of a Colorado Ranger.  In Cortez, we checked in for a couple nights.

Sep 3 - We had breakfast and headed for Mesa Verde National Park.  This is the park that Rick briefly visited before one of his coils went out on his XS 1100 and limped home toward Ft Worth.  No such problem this time.  We had a great time in Mesa Verde.  We stopped at the visitor center and got tickets for a tour at Long House cliff dwelling. Our guide was Ellen.  She was very nice and well informed, plus she signed for some of the group that were hearing impaired.  Long House was a great place that we got to wander around in somewhat.  Each of the cliff dwellings have several kivas which were used primarily as places of religious worship.  We also saw other cliff dwellings and surface dwellings throughout Mesa Verde, including Cliff Palace which is the largest known cliff dwelling and Balcony House.  This place was unusual since we had to climb a tall ladder to enter it then climb out on our hands and knees with more ladders to climb before reaching the surface again. On the way back, we stopped at Shiloh restaurant for dinner in Cortez.  What a great place.  Ambiance could not have been better.   We sat next to a coy pond feeding them bits of bread crumbs.  The sirloin tips and three berry pie and ice cream were great.  Rick had an Elk steak which he said was excellent. Today was our first laundry day.  Mileage 93.5 @ 43.5 MPG.

Sep 4 - We left Cortez for Kayenta AZ.  First we made the requisite visit to Four Corners to validate this 4 Corner States trip.  Then we headed to Ship Rock and then to Canyon de Chelly National Monument (pronounced Shay).  The road there was an excellent motorcycle route through the pines with many twists and turns.  We stopped in the park at several overlooks into the canyon.  This place has amazing views.  The canyon is immense.  The ruins do not compare to those in Mesa Verde, but the canyon is strikingly different and beautiful.  This was a great adventure.  We gassed up in Chinle and had a late lunch, then headed to Kayenta.  Mileage was 261 @ 45.0 MPG.

Sep 5 - We ate breakfast in a little cafe in Kayenta and headed to Monument Valley.  We got some pictures along the way and checked out the visitor center.  We continued north on 163 to Mexican Hat, then headed west on 261 stopping at Goosenecks Overlook and then on to Moki Dugway.  Moki Dugway is a mining route on a narrow gravel road with steep grades up and down and tight turns for 3 miles.  We got some great shots of the road from the top.  From here we continued north to highway 95, then headed west to Natural Bridges National Park.  This park is rather small with several overlooks at several you guessed it, natural bridges.  From here we headed east to Blanding and then to Monticello.  We got gas and a late lunch here and headed for the hotel, where I spent half my time adding to this post.  Mileage was 120.8 @ 45.1.

Sep 6 - Today was a great day in many ways: weather was excellent, riding was exilerating, meals were scrumptious and scenery was again "absolutely spectacular".  We started out leaving Monticello heading west on Creek Road.  This road was a a short cut and a great bike riding road up into the mountains and down to the road leading into Canyonlands.  On the way, Rick passed a good size rattlesnake out sunning himself next to the road. There were several overlooks that we stopped at, took little walks to the view points and got several pictures.  We stopped at the Needles Outpost to top off @ $5 per gallon.  Rick's Yamaha took 2 and my Road King took 1.5 gallons.  Do the math. We then headed out of Canyonlands to highway 191 north and then west on the next road to the Needles Overlook.  This was a great road that we could take at high speed to the end where we stopped to browse Canyonlands vistas from several hundred feet up.  The view was, well you know.  We could see the Colorado River off in the distance.  We headed back to highway 191 north and then into Moab, got gas and a little oil for the Yamaha.  My digital readout indicates oil full still.  We decided to take in the La Sal Mountain scenic loop.  What a trip!  We climbed several hundred feet with continual twisties, cool mountain air and clear skies.  We stopped at a spot with a great overlook at Castle Rock.  Then headed down the other side toward Castle Valley and then turned west on highway 128 that follows along the Colorado River.  We arrived back in Moab in time for dinner.  Denny's has some great food when you're really hungry and the milkshakes are giant size.  Always check the dessert menu first, so you know whow much dinner to have.  We headed to the Best Western Canyonlands for the night.  What a nice hotel.  If ever you are in Moab for the night, stay here.  Milage 241.9 @ 44.8.

Bakersfield Harley Shop Ride

3 July 2010

It’s the 4th of July weekend. What better time to celebrate the long standing tradition of our Independence Day than with a nice energetic motorcycle ride trough Kern Canyon and back over the Greenhorns. Lots of nice scenery and windy roads to ride.


We planned to start out from Ridgecrest and take I-178 west to I-14 south then continue on I-178 west through Kern Valley and Kern River Canyon. We would then take the back way into our destination, which was the Harley Davidson shop in Bakersfield.


Our return trip was basically the same except we we’re going north from Bakersfield to Woody then west on I-155 to Glenville for lunch, then over Alta Sierra and down into Wofford Heights. We planned to stop in Lake Isabella for gas. From here the trip would be identical to the trip out.

We had an exceptional turnout for this ride. Except for a friend I brought and myself, no one else showed up. It was a great day fior a ride regardless of the numbers. In fact, two is perfect. We departed from the 76 station in Inyokern at about 0830 headed for the Bakersfield Harley shop. The weather was cool, but not cold and the ride over Walker Pass was very nice. The mountains have lost all traces of snow and the skies were clear with very little wind. We encountered quite a bit of traffic and had to follow it until the Kern River turn off. From there the road was fairly open and free of traffic.

Lake Isabella is as full as I’ve seen it for a long time. There were thousands of people all around, many still trying to find parking places, some camping, boating, jet skiing and cooking. The smell of bacon in the morning is enough to get everybody’s attention. From Isabella west, the road was wide open. Our group had no problem sticking together and several cars actually used the turnouts to let us by.

The Kern River was high and moving very fast, a dangerous place for anyone to play for sure. We made it through the twisties and sweepers of the canyon and turned on Comanche Rd headed north through Hart Park, and then traveled along the Kern River to China Grade Rd. Heading north on China Grade, we passed over the Kern River into the oil fields. Back in the 1850s, Gordon’s Ferry operated here to allow travelers and the Butterfield Overland Stage Coach to cross the river. Here’s some info on it. http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?MarkerID=25149.

Finally on Merle Haggard Drive heading west, we stopped to fill up at the Shell station just before the shop. The shop was not too busy and there was coffee and refreshment available. The Bakersfield shop is nicely laid out and everyone is quite friendly and willing to help customers find what they are looking for. I talked with Mark one of the salesmen for a while. As we were discussing ride destinations, he mentioned the Indian Wells Valley brewery had the best tasting beer on tap he’s had. Since I don’t drink I couldn’t share his enthusiasm, but felt good that something from my area was of notable interest to him. Mark also mentioned there are several unusual specials being offered at the shop currently. They’re offering credit toward a new set when an old seat is brought in for trade. They’re also offering with purchase of any new 96 CI model, of which they have several, a free engine modification to 103 CI. I thought that was a pretty nice deal.

When we decided we’d had enough, we mounted up and headed toward our lunch stop in Glenville, The Crazy Horse Saloon. From Merle Haggard Drive we headed north on Airport Drive, through more oil fields. This route goes along an old Butterfield Overland Stage Coach route and there is a marker along the road to Woody explaining the significance of this route. In Woody, we turned west onto I-155 toward Glenville. Along this route, there are several blind turns that tighten as you enter them making this a challenging road. Fun, but challenging. In Glenville, we stopped at the Crazy Horse Saloon for lunch and a nice rest stop after negotiating the entire twisting road leading here.

Also here in Glenville is the oldest known residence in Kern County. This adobe house dates back to 1857 when the town was named after James Madison Glenn. http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=25032

After lunch, we continued along I-155 east toward Alta Sierra and Shirley Meadows (The Greenhorns). This area about 9 miles east of Glenville is about 6500 feet in altitude, so the temperature is cool and the scenery of shrubs and natural Oak trees we’d been traveling through so far turned to pines. There are some tight turns along this road that need extra caution. I headed into a left-hand turn a little too fast and ended up in the dirt before I could stop, dropping my bike. The crash bars took the only visible damage. Some buffing and chrome spray should take care of that nicely. No worse for wear, we hit the road again.

We continued down into Wofford Heights where we could get glimpses of Lake Isabella. When it’s as full as it is, it’s quite a sight to see. We turned south toward Isabella and again encountered lots of traffic. Next we headed west on I-178 toward Walker Pass. All this time the weather had been cool and comfortable, but heading down into Indian Wells Valley it warmed up considerably. Warm is not really the word to use. It was plain hot. We hadn’t needed to use our hydrator vests to this point, but I seriously considered breaking mine out just for the ride home. I decided to tough it out. As we got onto I-14 north from I-178, we hadn’t noticed how windy it was, but as soon as we started up I-14 the cross wind was really strong. Soon we were on I-178 heading east again with the wind at our backs and it became unnoticeable again all the way to Jacks Ranch.

In all, a great ride. A little wind and a little heat, but a great day for a ride on some of the best motorcycle roads around. Those that turned out for this ride had an enjoyable time. Until the next one, keep your eyes open and the shiny side up. It’s my experience that these two things increase the probability that your ride will be an enjoyable one.



Tom Lystrup

Yosemite, Kings and Sequoia National Park Almost Ride

25-28 June 2010

I had a great plan together for this ride to Yosemite, King’s Canyon and Sequoia National Parks this year. The ride would be spread over four days and encompass about 1000 miles round trip. As everyone knows, plans as a rule don’t always go according to Hoyle and this trip would be no exception.

There were several riders going together to Yosemite from our local Harley Owners Group, then we all would split up and go separate ways. Those that stayed together ended up riding back together for the most part. Along the way, John a friend from work, and I stopped at June Lake to pay another friend a visit. Soon after our visit, we were back on the road around the loop, heading to the Mobil station on I-120 (Tioga Pass road) where we caught up with the rest of the group for lunch. The pork tenderloin and carrot cake were fabulous. Next, we headed into Yosemite and stopped at Olmsted Point where we could view Half Dome from the back side and got the usual group photos.

After the brief stop, John and I left the group and headed over to see Hetch-Hetchy Reservoir and the O’Shaughnessy Dam. The rest of the group headed to Oakhurst, where we would catch up to them for dinner later.

The ride to Hetch-Hetchy was excellent and the dam and reservoir were amazing. There was a lot of water coming over the spillway which turned into a roaring torrent that shot out over the side of the gorge below in an amazing waterfall and spray that created rainbows and mists that coated the other side of the canyon and fell back into the gorge in a thousand trickling waterfalls. This side trip was well worth the extra time to see. After getting some great photos, John and I then headed toward Oakhurst, our destination.

We stopped at the tunnel overlook for some quick pictures of Yosemite Valley and immediately headed out. I entered the tunnel first and gunned it, creating a deafening roar that I later heard had startled the tourists. When I looked back to see if John was following, he wasn’t. I slowed down and he caught up soon thereafter. Later he confessed his delay, but that is his story. Feel free to imagine what might have delayed him. The road from the tunnel to the south park entrance/exit is under construction. Traffic was heavy and slow and there were several places where the pavement turned into gravel. I was happy my travel plans would not be taking me back over that road again. We arrived at the hotel in Oakhurst and met up with the rest of our group for some great Italian cuisine.

For Saturday, some of the group were going to take the tram around Mariposa Grove and see Glacier Point, but since I’d been there a couple times already, I decided to do something different. I planned to leave Oakhurst and head north on I-49 to I-4 (Ebbett’s Pass). Take that to Markleeville, then take I-89 north to I-88 (Kit Carson Pass) west and take that down to I-49, back to Oakhurst. Part of that worked right. Then things changed.

John went with me and we made it easy to Jamestown on I-49, near where I-4 and I-108 converge. We stopped for a late breakfast. The little café was full of people, but the food came fast and was very good. We finished up and began to leave. Pulling out of the parking lot was more of a challenge than I could manage in the gravel and I tipped my bike over. John quickly helped me get vertical again (seems I forgot the shiny side up rule). I suppose there are now some scratch marks on the bottom side of the crash bars, but I haven’t looked. Other than that, there was no damage and we continued on our way.

We next took I-4 east toward Markleeville. Nice road with lots of sweepers, minor traffic, beautiful scenery. The pines and mountains covered in snow were awesome. Toward the summit the sweepers turn into some tight twisties. We stopped at Bear Valley to gas up. This area is in the middle of a beautiful valley with several small lakes. After cresting Ebbett’s Pass, we stopped for some pictures at a beautiful lake where fisherman were catching quite a few trout. Then we continued on to Markleeville, where the first change to the plan occurred.

Looking at the remaining tread on my front tire, I thought I might be pushing it to expect to complete the trip with spare tread. Looking at the GPS, I figured it was only about 40 miles to the Harley shop in Carson City. John agreed to the plan change and off we went. This was just the first change of plans. We got to the shop about 1330 and they quickly got the bike into the service shop to have new tires installed. After having black side walls for a while, I decided to go back to the wide whitewall models. The shop gave me a good deal on a set of Dunlop 402s and they said they would be done in a couple hours. I figured that would give us enough time to get back to Oakhurst before dark, but my figures would turn out to be wrong. The mechanic told me that my front wheel was out of round and that I should come check it out. He showed me on the balancer that it was. It looked bad, so I asked him to fix it. He was able to get if back within spec in short work and we were back on the road at 1630. This was a little later than I expected, but it could not be helped.

We decided it would be best to head down I-395 to Sonora Pass (I-180) and take that back to I-49. Neither of us wanted to negotiate the road under construction through Yosemite again, especially if it would be in the dark. So we headed south on I-395 toward Topaz Lake and past Walker and took Sonora Pass. What a challenging route Sonora Pass is! Steep 26% grades on the way up, tight windy curves, traffic including a bus or two and a truck being pushed by a trailer, gave our bikes and us a real workout.

After cresting Sonora Pass, we came into some thick forested areas, mountains covered in snow, streams running by the side of the road and open meadows. There were plenty tight twisties and sweepers to enjoy. After all this, the road opened up and became very smooth, with gradual sweeping turns right and left that we could easily negotiate at 60 mph or so. We rode these sweepers for about an hour or so. It was amazingly fun and traffic was non-existent. About Coulterville on I-49 it got dark. We finally made it back to Oakhurst about 2130 and had a late dinner at a great little Chinese place. In all, an excellent day’s ride, the new tires made the ride effortless and the change of plans worked out as well as could be.

Sunday morning we got up, ate breakfast and headed for King’s Canyon. Not the straight shot you might imagine down I-41, we took some of the back roads. We went around Bass Lake then took Auberry down to I-180 and on to King’s Canyon. Arguing with the ranger about what the Annual Pass covers and doesn’t cover is a waste of time. John paid his share and later said my argument with the ranger was worth the admission price.

We stopped at Grant Grove and walked around some of the biggest trees in the world. The President Grant Tree is about 300 feet tall. There were many others that from my vantage point were all the same, huge. Next we entered the canyon and found lots of sweepers and twisties. We stopped at the King’s Canyon Lodge for some refreshment. Here they have the oldest still working gravity gas pumps in the World probably. They date back to 1929, six gallon minimum purchase, but they have regular and premium. Next we stopped at Grizzly Falls and took some more pictures. I got a few photos of the King’s River as we were riding next to it on our right. The King’s River is a thundering torrent of water racing through the canyon at amazing speed. Our next stop was Roaring Falls. Not a very high falls, but the amount of water coming down this falls is inestimable. To say it’s a lot does not begin to describe how much water comes over this little falls. We headed over to the Cedar Grove Lodge, our destination for the night. The presentation by the ranger on bears was entertaining, but geared toward kids. Still it was the only show in the canyon since there are no TVs in the rooms at the lodge. Also there is no cell phone coverage and WiFi is very limited.

Monday we headed out of the canyon for Sequoia and our return home. At Hume Lake we gassed up and had a snack for breakfast. They only had 87 octane gas, but the store sells octane booster. As we were climbing out of King’s Canyon I noticed John’s back tire flashing white with each revolution. At Hume Lake, I looked closer and pointed out to John that he had already worn through the first set of cord on his back tire. Although John thought his tires would last for the trip, his back tire had a different idea. It had had enough. It was time for plan change number two.

No matter, I’d seen all of Sequoia before so this change was no big deal. I reprogrammed the GPS for Visalia where I knew there was a Harley Shop. We made it to the shop okay, but it was closed. We found a cycle place that had a tire for John’s bike and a guy close by that could install it. Man was it hot in Visalia and the humidity was up as well. John and I walked to a nearby taco shop for lunch. When we got back the bike was done. With the tire installed we took off, when John noticed his back brake did not work. We returned to the guy that installed the tire. After working on it for some time, the determination was that his master cylinder had gone out and adjusting the caliper just a little to reinstall the brakes during the tire change, was enough to affect the operation of the back brake. Bleeding the brakes did not work. There was nothing for John to do but ride home with no back brake. I soaked and donned my hydro vest as did John. John had some trouble not being able to use his back brake, so we took it slow. John felt he was slowing me down and asked me to continue on without him. I wanted to make sure he made it back okay, so I stuck with him.

We got to Bakersfield where the Harley Shop was again closed. We gassed up and John insisted I go ahead alone. I did not want to leave him, but he insisted he did not want me to follow him and that he would be okay. It was time for plan change number three. I felt bad that John did not want me to ride with him, but I wasn’t going to follow him if he didn’t want me to. I headed off without him to I-178 east through the Kern River Canyon. There was hardly any traffic. The temperature got cooler with the altitude change and cloud cover. I took some more photos of the ride back through Kern River Valley and coming down from Walker Pass. I had a pleasant ride and made it back about 1730. It’s always a good idea to have a ride plan, but this trip I found out I need to be flexible for a number of reasons. The number in this case was three. In all I logged over 1300 miles.

Tom Lystrup

Breckenridge Rd

Either you’ve never heard of Breckenridge Rd, you’ve heard of it but never ridden it, or you’ve ridden it and probably cringe at the sound of it. Perhaps you’ve also heard the song by Merle Haggard called “I’ll Never Swim Kern River Again”. Had he been a biker and ridden Breckenridge Rd., perhaps he would have written a song “I’ll Never Ride Breckenridge Again”.


Breckenridge is a 35 mile paved, one-lane goat trail, with hundreds of blind corners, poor paving, steep hairpin turns, road hazards such as gravel, sand, boulders, water, potholes the size of bathtubs, as well as mild traffic, farm animals and the occasional steaming, slippery cow pie.

Nobody in their right mind would consider riding such a road. It’s not logical; it makes no sense to take such a road, when there are so many others that are better. Then again not all riders are in their right mind. Some of us “left-minders” like taking roads simply because they are there, simply for the adventure of it, or simply because it’s the road less traveled. I am an adventurist. I’ll try almost anything once, just to say I’ve done it.

I saw Breckenridge on the map years ago and wondered if it was paved. I took the trouble of tracing it with Google Earth and verified it was. I planned for quite a while to ride it some summer, since it’s closed in winter and early spring, because the snow is never removed. Then earlier this year some friends told me they rode Breckenridge last year and described the road just as I imagined,” the worse road they had ever ridden”. They said they would never think of taking such a terrible road again in their lifetime. I knew fate would catch up to me some day.

Earlier this year I tried taking Breckenridge with a friend but a few miles in we ran into a solid impassable ice sheet which covered the road. Breckenridge would have to wait until later.
Last weekend was my next attempt. I had ridden to Lone Pine for lunch with a group of riders. On the return trip, I decided to cross Sherman Pass for something to do, but the sign on Kennedy Meadows Rd said Sherman Pass was closed. I didn’t have a plan B until I thought of Breckenridge. Now was as good a time as any. The Breckenridge challenge was on.

NOTE: A word to the wise, do not attempt to ride this road unless you are well aware of your riding skills and are very confident in your abilities and do not attempt to ride this road alone, like I did.

I headed up I-178 west to Lake Isabella and Bodfish, then up the switchbacks to Havilah. I made it to the Breckenridge turn off in good time. There was plenty of daylight left. I began up the road and quickly encountered road hazards of sand and gravel as well as a couple of trucks loaded with firewood. The blind hairpin turns were next, but the scenery was great. There were lots of flowers and yuccas in bloom. Yeah the scenery was great, but the numerous road hazards forced me to concentrate on the road and forget the scenery. Before long, I was in the pines. The air was cool, but a jacket was unnecessary at this point. Turn after turn, I winded my way to the top and finally crossed over at around 8500 feet or so. From this vantage there is a view of Lake Isabella in the distant north that is breathtaking. The road then leveled out for several hundred yards, but the twisties and road hazards resumed almost immediately. I found myself not gauging the turns well enough and could not keep to the right as much as I tried. Debris and poor road conditions prevented me from enjoying the ride more than I was.

After a while I was out of the pines. Oaks and shrubs were now visible. The scenery south and west was opening up, but there was no time to take it in. Although I was getting lower in altitude, the road was still very twisty with blind curves everywhere. Occasionally the road straightened out and I could get up to 40 mph for a few seconds. I passed a couple farms with cow pens and a pretty nice ranch and then the road began to turn into sweepers now and then with a surprising blind hairpin turn thrown in to keep me on my toes. The sweepers got more frequent and the road began to straighten out pretty well to where I could finally get up to 50 mph for a while.

After a few more hairpin turns, I began to see oil wells and more cow pens, then a stop sign, I had reached Comanche Rd. Comanche connects I-58 to I-178 near Edison. Thirty-Five miles and nearly 2 hours later, I had finally reached the end (Breckenridge continues, but it’s straight into Edison from here). So, I could turn right to I-178 or left to I-58. I turned back. Nobody in their right mind would do such a thing, but a “left-minder” might. After making it back to the origin, I turned right on Caliente-Bodfish Rd and made my way over to I-58. I gassed up in Tehachapi and headed for home.

Some riders wear a patch for riding the Tail of the Dragon, Highway 129 at Deal’s Gap, North Carolina. That’s nothing compared to Breckenridge – The Tail of Godzilla. Those that have ridden Breckenridge don’t need no stinking patches. The fact that they have ridden it and are alive to tell the tail is all it takes. If someone asks you if you want to ride Breckenridge and you hesitate. Have them call me. I’ll go. This is a road for “left-minders” only.

Tom Lystrup Breckenridge Rd ride plan 19 July 2010