[celiblue]

Hey guys, I took another solo cross country road trip on my bike. This time I decided that instead of crashing at a hotel at the end of the day I would camp out instead. I took with me my laptop, backpacking tent, inflatable mattress, and sleeping bag as well as 1 week worth of clothes. I went ahead and mounted/wired up my GoPro camera on the handlebars so I could take time lapsed pictures throughout the duration of the trip. I was way more prepared for this trip this time than last year's for sure. I even had an emergency tool kit for the bike.

The rider

The Bike - 2011 Yamaha Stryker - Mods: Dunlop 250 rear tire, license plate mod, engine guards, sissy bar, and saddle bag supports. Other than that it's pretty much factory spec.

Houston to Dallas to Amarillo

It takes **** near forever to get out of Texas. I left Houston around noon on a Saturday. There is not much to look at between Houston and Amarillo so I didn't take that many pictures. I let my GoPro worry about that. There was some kind of crotch rocket meet somewhere in this town called Waxahachie or something because I kept running into cops and bikers on the road. I logged 680 something miles by the time I got to Amarillo. Camped out at this rest stop like a boss!

Amarillo to Albuquerque to Santa Fe to Taos, NM

It seems like as soon as you cross state lines the terrain and road conditions change. Kind of like opening up another chapter in a geography book. A lot of the buildings/houses in Santa Fe look like they're made of clay. They blend in pretty well with the landscape, kind of like what that colony in Tatooine looks like in Star Wars. I checked out the Rio Grande river and whatnot before getting to Taos. Taos is like some hipster hippie Native American town. There is psychedelic looking art all over town and every building seems to be made out of adobe. I guess that's just southwestern Native American culture. The art shops there are pretty cool and I am still planning to purchase a painting I came across that I really liked. They're not cheap.

With inclement weather fast approaching I scrambled to find a place where I could camp out. I lucked out and found this RV campground that had sheltered camp sites. Once I set up the tent I went back into town to check out that casino they had there. It was definitely not Vegas for sure.

 

[celiblue]

Rio Grande Gorge Bridge

The Rio Grande Gorge bridge is just outside of Taos. This guy said that a lot of people have committed suicide by jumping off this bridge.

Earthship Community

Earthship colony was out of this world. Earthship homes are houses that are self sustained and are completely off the grid. They're partially made out of recycled items and you can live off the indoor hydroponics. Someone should expand this technology on a grand scale to 3rd world countries. Most of the people living in these homes were eccentric to say the least.

Carson National Forest
I accidentally kept going straight at a crossroad and wound up going through this forest instead. I was riding for like 10 minutes before I realized I was going the wrong way but I just kept going, I still had plenty of daylight. This is by far the best mistake I made on this trip. Little to almost non-existent traffic, freshly paved roads, the scenery, long sweeping curves made this forest fun to go through. Those who always talk about riding through the Black Hills/Sturgis in South Dakota being the top places to check out need to get out more. They're probably trailoring their bikes all the time. They ain't about that life.

Alamosa Sand Dunes National Park
I made it there pretty late in the day and I almost turned around because it looked like it was going to be raining in that direction. I found out later that it rarely rains there because of how the proximity of the mountains and the wind currents interact. The waitress at that restaurant they have near the park entrance was cute. She laughed when I told her I wanted extra extra mayo on my burger. Tallest sand dunes in the North American continent. Took me 3hrs to get to the tallest dune and back on the bike. I recommend leaving the beer gut at home for this ride!

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Twin Peaks

 

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Alamosa Sand Dunes to Manitou Springs, CO

I made to Manitou Springs and the weather looked kinda iffy so I scrambled to find a campsite and setup the tent. It seems like anything you would want to do outdoors you need to do so before 4pm in the day. After that, you may have small thunderstorms moving around raining down on you. I checked out the Garden of the Gods.

Pikes Peak, CO

Pikes Peak was an incredible experience, I didn't cross it off my bucket list because I'm going back! I held off on going through the gate into Pikes Peak highway when I first got there because it looked like it was going to rain. I went back into town and had an early dinner and walked around. I recommend the ice cream there. The doppler radar showed that it was clearing up so I made my way back before the gate closed. Made it through the gate and as soon as I was out of sight from the park ranger's truck I hauled ass. Seemed like every time I would slow down for a turn I would pass by a park ranger sitting on the side of the road. I think the fastest I went was like 60 on the straightaways accidentally bouncing the rev limiter a couple of times but that changed once I got past the tree line. It's just way too nerve wrecking once you're taking 180 degree turns on the switchbacks and see that you're like riding a foot or two away from a ledge :fthat:. It's pretty interesting how you lose horsepower once you're at the top. I remember romping on the throttle and not feeling the motor flex anymore, it would just accelerate like it was running on 3/4 throttle. I should have worn my leather jacket, it was cold up there! :fuuu:

Last time I went skydiving, we jumped off at 14,000 feet!

Brake checkpoint at Pikes Peak Highway




Denver, CO

The day after I rode up to Pikes Peak I took the bike for an oil change at this bike shop. Didn't need to at 2500 miles but I was feeling paranoid about the motor since I was beating the crap out of it and being so far from home didn't help any. I passed through Denver, Loveland, and Estes Park.

This Vmax looked like something Batman would ride!

 

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Rocky Mountain National Park

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After leaving Rocky Mountain NP I went through Granby, Hot Suphur Springs, Kremmling, and then on some dirt road that was not on my paper map. The dirt road was brutal because these road maintenance workers had just passed through spraying water all over the road so that they could level the road better or something. I almost turned around when I passed by these adventure bikers that were riding while standing up on their dual sport bikes. Next trip I'm getting a GPS unit instead of relying on my iPhone for the map. You just get too far up into the mountains for a while and ATT's reception sucks to begin with. It still did a pretty good job so I'm not going to knock it too much but sometimes I felt like I was taking the wrong way and had to keep riding for a while until I came across some reception to confirm my location. I finally made it to a major interstate and went west until I got to Glenwood Springs. That portion of the highway as you ride between the canyons is awesome. You can see rapids running next to the highway and rafts floating down the river. I noticed the fan never turned off while I was pumping gas so I checked out the radiator and lo and behold it was caked solid with mud from that dirt road. The fan usually turns off like after 30 seconds of just sitting there so I made a quick stop at a car wash. Went south from Glenwood Springs through Carbondale and crashed at this RV campground in Delta, just outside of Gunnison NP. Passed through a couple of mining towns on the way there and you can see how they strip layers off the surface of the mountains to extract whatever it is they're after. You know you meet some of the nicest people out there on the road. Makes you proud and privileged to be living in a country where strangers are only friends you haven't met yet.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

Getting away from Gunnison NP was touch and go to say the least. I'm surprised I got through it like a boss!:X-wing: I was forced to break away from the interstate because of the thunderstorms down south from Ridgeway and instead headed west around them. At least that's what it looked like on my iPhone. Well I came across a construction crew that was blasting rocks off a wall and they had the road closed. I gave up on waiting after 10 minutes having plenty of time to study the map and figure out that I could take the Last Dollar Road and bypass this section so I went for it. This road was very nice to go through and it didn't help to follow that car in front of me that apparently did not know their way around. Well I got back to the original road that was supposed to take me to Telluride but it was being diverted into some service road. I remember looking at the muddy dirt road and the cop diverting the flow of traffic and thinking ****! :fuuu::fuuu::fuuu::fuuu::fuuu::fuuu::fuuu: I told the cop I wouldn't go through there and he said there was a rock slide ahead and no one could get through it. Well I don't know where I rode through for about 4 hours but I saw a lot of mud, an airport, Mountain Village, and somehow I wound up in Cortez. Oh yeah, it was pretty cold too because I got wet. I was ready for some desert heat.

 

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Mesa Verde National Park

I like how this park is infested with deer. They're like literally all over the place and scare the crap out of you at night by popping out of nowhere. They also like to get hit by cars.

I went on two tours of cliff dwellings and it was awesome! The Anasazi indians designed the entrances and exits in a certain way to detect and prevent enemies from getting into the dwellings. Some crawling through tunnels and climbing ladders is involved.

Four Corners National Monument

Skip the Navajo bread. If you must try it just to say you've had it keep in mind it is practically a funnel cake. You get cinnamon or powdered sugar to choose from. The guy cooking the bread looked like that indian chief from Dancing with Wolves. It was extremely hot and dry out there and I met some bikers on their way to Arizona from Sturgis.

Next on the list was Monument Valley, but it was raining in that direction so I chose to skip that ride. Shot across Utah to check out the next park on the list.

Zion National Park
I'm coming back to this park. The hiking trails there are awesome. Absolutely stunning scenery.

I heard about Angels Landing about a decade ago from a park ranger while hiking at Philmont in New Mexico. He said it was epic but I didn't realize that was true until I hiked it. Strenuous hiking and climbing is involved. Definetely leave the beer gut at home for this trail.

The chain is there for a reason. Going up is tough, coming down is hard since you're already tired and your calf muscles quiver at times. The tram ride back to the visitor's center was kinda hazy since I dozed off a couple of times. Took me 2hrs 37min 27 seconds to get up and back down to the trailhead.

Bryce National Park
I got here relatively early but I was depleted from the hike at Zion so I didn't do much here. I did watch the sunset and sunrise here and both were great. Park looked like there was a wildfire not too long ago. Inspiration point is the spot to be at to view the "amphitheater".

I was still bummed out about missing out on Monument Valley so I decided to head back and check it out regardless of the weather. You can really cover some ground on those desert roads when you're doing 90+MPH.


Upper Antelope Canyons

This guided tour I went on was totally random. It was some establishment just off the side of the road and I spontaneously decided to check it out. I'm glad I stumbled across this deal, it was pretty cool! There is a $60 dollar fee that applies to everyone except Native Americans. Apparently I looked like a native because the receptionist signed me up for free. I was kind of worried the whole time cause they were talking to me in some language and were really interested in finding out what tribe I belonged to. I think they cracked a joke or two at that Italian couple, I don't know. I was probably the only fluent english speaking tourist there, everyone was either Asian or European. I just stayed the **** away from the guides throughout the tour like the plague.

What do you say Navajo nation, Hot or Not? LOL

 

[celiblue]

Monument Valley

I made it. The entrance to this valley is unforgettable. You ride through a worn out town and wonder where the scenery is at until you get over a hill with all the action on the other side. You experience an "A-Ha!" moment.

Mokee Dugway, Utah

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Forest

Beautiful place. You get to see a lot of natural rock formations. Everything is just breathtaking. Extremely desolate region.

I almost ran out of gas on this stretch. I had never been so glad to see that Sinclair dinosaur gas station logo out in the distance. I had already been practicing a "ran out of gas" speech for like 5 miles.

Capitol Reef National Park

This national park ranked the lowest on my list. They don't charge admission and rightly so because there really isn't much to do here. I still enjoyed checking out the petroglyphs and learning about the geographic phenomena found here. I realized while looking at a map that I was extremely far away from Houston by myself on a bike. I still miss that feeling.

I made it to Salt Lake City late in the afternoon. Found a RV campground right next to some amusement park. Some lady at this McDonald's I was in line at hustle'd her way into a free meal through this rookie manager. I guess if you yell loud enough you can get anything for free :Ewave1: What do they manufacture in Salt Lake City that smells so weird?

Soda Springs, Idaho

The birthplace of carbonated drinks!

People going through the Oregon Trail back in the day had to go through countless obstacles. It's considered the nation's longest graveyard.

Grand Teton National Park

Jackson Hole

A lot of big money here. Want to own a place here with a good view? Sure! Got a couple million bucks? All the pictures looked a little cloudy because of the wildfire going on in Idaho.

I started this fire for the family next to my campsite. Guy ran out of lighter fluid and he was looking for some, I showed him how eagle scouts do it. A simple teepee stack will work as long as you set the kindling right if you just have a lighter.

Lake Jackson

Yellowstone National Park

 

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Lake Yellowstone

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Custard's Last Stand

 

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Devil's Tower


Devil's Tower was pretty cool, there were rock climbers on the tower. If you look closely you'll spot 3 of them. There are groundhogs all over the place!

I can't say I was impressed with the Black Hills. Roads were in bad shape and too congested with traffic to enjoy. I passed through this area about a week after the Sturgis rally and there were still a lot of bikes all over the place. Had an expensive lunch at a restaurant in Deadwood. You can tell these small towns have a lot of history with the gaming and mining industries.

Mt. Rushmore

Badlands National Park

The scenery here is mind blowing. I recall seeing similar terrain and natural formations in the Painted Desert in Arizona but it was never to this scale.

Minuteman Missile Silo

This was one of the hundreds of missile silos that were decommissioned at the end of the Cold War. You really don't know this is a missile site until you're 50 feet away from the blast door. Makes you wonder how many of these are still out there fully functional.

After visiting the missile silo, I headed straight to Houston. At this point I was very tired and just wanted to get home so I rode as much as I could handle to cover some ground. Made it to Topeka by the first night then Houston the following night. I think I rode for 16 hours straight the second day.

12 states, 10 National Parks, 4 National Monuments, 3 weeks, 6,432 miles, 1 bike, 1 guy, 0 problems.

 

[celiblue]

Be proud of your Strykers guys! Everywhere I went people stopped and asked about my bike. Ride them if you got them!

 

[J4patrice]

Awesome pictures! Looks like you have a great ride. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Guest]

Great pictures and narrative. Makes me want to schedule a vacation!

 

[zona]

Dam!!!! I'm so jealous. Bro thats a awsome ride and the pics are great. I like how you traveled but that desert walk thing, i have to pass. Thx for showing us your memorial riding experience.

 

[toby]

Thanx for sharing. Glad to see wife and I aren't the only ones the pack our bikes like that and hit the camp sites. How many miles in all and how long was your trip and did you do it all in one trip.

 

[safetydanny]

Man Thanks for sharing this, you had told me all about it but there is nothing like seeing it through pictures! I am thinking that maybe I will try something like this in the years to come!!!

 

[mikoloe]

dude your sooo crazy its cool! The tarantulas and Scorpions come out at night and your on the ground! thats greatness! Thanks for sharing the Pics.

 

[kdhutch]

Wow! Looks like an amazing trip!

 

[wolf]

Awesome trip with some OUTSTANDING pix

 

[strykenshane]

all I can say is wow, very monumental and one helluva fun read and some stunning photography. Last summer I rode from Atlanta to Vegas with stops in Amarillo, Albuqurque, Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon. In November I took a car trip back from vegas visiting Mount Rushmore, the Crazy Horse Monument, Deadwood, Devils Tower and the Badlands. Both were fun and awesome trips, just wish I had more time. I'm planning a trip in June now that will take me to Yellowstone and back to vegas with stops at the Grand Tetons, Antelope canyon and several others. I truly wish I could do my trips camping like you did and like I did as a youngster. Unfortunately I developed sleep apnea about 5 years ago and sleeping without my machine could kill me. Very very nice Celiblue!

 

[11Stryker]

GREAT TRIP Celiblue!!!! Like your pic of sour mash and would have been super to have been there in person to see all that you did. Great job with the pics and narration!!! Great job!!

 

[bt]

Great pictures!! and a great trip-Thanks for posting!!