| Author | Message | ||
     Bttrthnwrk |
Mt. Lemmon is 9,100 or so feet high just north of Tucson, which is roughly 2,000 above sea level itself. There's 2 roads up to the top. The front one goes north from Tucson, and is 35 miles of paved mountain road - a great ride but really crowded on weekends and holidays. The back road is about 21 miles of dirt, sand and gravel switchbacks from just outside Oracle, AZ to the spot near the top where the dirt road joins the paved one that goes up the front side from Tucson. So, today I tried going as far up the back side of Mt. Lemmon as I could without killing myself. Despite the sign, the first 4 or 5 miles are really good road. Dirt, but good. Almost smooth. Almost not sandy.  After that, it gets a little hairer, though. When I hit the first of the really loose uphill switchbacks, I realized I wasn't 25 anymore, and I wasn't on an enduro, either. In theory, I remember what to do for both uphill and downhill switchbacks on loose stuff. Lean to the high side, sit, inside foot out, and goose is to get back wheel around. Hah! The first time, I goosed it too hard, and much to my surprise, wound up going back downhill. At least I was still doing it on the road. The dropoffs start to get a little scary right where the switchbacks start. I guess they kind of go together. After getting to the bottom of that first switchback and turning around, I went back at it, this time a little easier on the throttle. Almost wound up in the outside ditch, but not quite. I managed to carve it back onto the good part of the road just at the edge and avoided the ditch. Phew! I got as far as Peppersauce Canyon, about 8 or 10 miles in, and stopped to take a couple of pix.  It's probably just as well I stopped there, since I probably probably would have blown by the sign without noticing that it says, "Spark Arresters Required" beyond this point. Probably to keep the bears safe.  I can see I'm going to need more practice. Fortunately, I've got a 5 day weekend coming up on Thanksgiving, so I'll be sure to go and "practice" some more. Maybe I'll try a ride all the way around the Catalina mountains on Redington Pass road. That's about 40 miles of dirt with some "interesting" switchbacks, both uphill and downhill. | ||
| Paralegalpete |
Great post, looks like a lot of fun | ||
| Etennuly |
You are the man! It takes some fore thought to powerslide the Uly through the turns, even with dirt bike experience!  Sounds like a fun ride. Need more pictures! | ||
| Metaldude |
Looks like a lot of fun! Glad you didn't go over the side. I still haven't taken my Uly on a serious dirt road. Do you find that your bags mess with your weight distribution? Or do you even notice they're there? | ||
| Bttrthnwrk |
I'm not really much of a picture taker when I'm riding. I never got the hang of shooting while the bike's in motion, and I don't much like stopping. I guess I'm kind of like a dog on a car ride with the window down. Go. GO. GO! I have been trying to do better, though. Mostly that means stopping and shooting. Maybe I can do something with my RAM mount, now that I've got some innertube wrapped around the handlebars under the U-clamp. Uly's vibes have ruined a lot of movies for me. I don't know about the fore-thought, though, for powering around loose corners. If I'd REALLY thought about it beforehand, I probably would have just putt-putted through the switchbacks. I might wind up doing that, anyway, assuming I live through enough experimentation to convince me that I need to. Sigh. You'd think I'd have gotten smarter as I got older. Oh, well. As far as the bags go, I've got my tool roll in one side and a tire pump and other oddments in the other. They balance out pretty well. I'm more concerned about going over backwards when trying to start uphill from the middle of a slope. I've backwards endo-d a couple of enduros that way in the mountains many years ago. I probably wouldn't bounce back as well from it now, either. I'm hoping that if I ever do it on the Uly, maybe the topcase will act like a wheelie bar, and I'd be saved. | ||
| Eulysses |
Getting out of the rain this winter up here north of Seattle and roaming AZ for two months. Like seeing what a ride near Tucson looks like. I see leaves on the ground...that is encouraging! Means there are trees. I like trees. | ||
| Bttrthnwrk |
I like trees too. Unfortunately, the first picture is far more representative of what you'll find in southern AZ than the next 2 pix. Down here, the trees like the mountains best of all - not too hot in the summer up there. When you do wind up in AZ, remember to take the run either up or down AZ 191 from Show Low and Springerville south to Morenci or back the other way (or both!). 90+ miles of mountain road each way. Great ride. Lotsa trees, too. just make sure you gas up at either end, though. Of course, if it's winter by the time you get here, that may not be a trip you really want to take. The elevations run to 8000-9000+ feet, and it gets cold and snowy in winter. |
