Day 3 – Arizona and Route 66

Today was another late start from having rolled into Vegas well past midnight the day prior. So I was beat, and that almost bad ending in the seedy part of town kept me awake a long time past that. So try as I might, I didn't make all the way to the Grand Canyon.

I ended up making a bit of the old Route 66 though. In fact, am staying the night in one of them; Williams, Arizona.

Unfortunately, the high speed freeway (I-40) that killed off the quant Route 66 towns is what I had to drive most of the day. It's a crazy posted 75 MPH freeway; two lanes per side with large median separation. It's full of double-trailer semi trucks making their drug-enhanced cross-state drive. They are two types: the ones who run super slow up the hills (which there are no hills for much of the road), and the ones who pass those guys effectively closing traffic on both lanes.

Don't get me wrong...the latter type don't drive slow at all. Nope. They drive 85 MPH, literally. So they buffet you badly when they pass you. First, they blow you over to the shoulder as tey approach with their big wind turbulance cloud. Then, as they're almost past you, you're sucked into them. In a car, no big deal. On a motorbike at 80 or 85, it can be dodgy.

So you end up wanting to stay in front of these guys, and you run all day at high speed across Arizona. The winds beat you, and there's no places to really turn off for miles. You gas up and hydrate up at little gas/markets along the way, but in the end you just have to drive it. So I have few pics to show for the day.

Here's the Border into Arizona. Let me tell you, those boys running the checkpoint at Hoover Dam were a serious group. It took an hour to cross through, down the winding rocky mountain to the base of Hoover Dam. The bike did fine idling for an hour and working her clutch and brakes incessantly.

The new bridge at the damn was halfway done, and jutted out high above from both sides. It had 20 or 30 huge cables supporting it as bot arms stretched to meet the other over the gorge.

Arizona was not hot, but wore me out badly. It was that high-speed Autobaun. My head is still feeling shaky, like I'm still out there being buffeted. There were huge vast vistas, and little hills everywhere. It was a lot like Nevada, but the hills had been shaved off flat.

I didn't do any offroading today, but did drive up an active mining road to answer the call of nature at one point. Tried to really hydrate, and drank lots of water and powerade. But should have doubled it, even then. Am dehydrated tonight, and really wiped out.

But found nice neutral relaxed riding position, and if could have kept the speeds down, could have ridden all day no problem. Seat and handlebars very ergonomically correct on the Vstrom. And was able to lean back on my gear, which was nice. You tend to get inventive on positions when spending hours in that saddle.

This country is so vast. So much is still untouched, unspoiled. It really makes me appreciate the vastness and size of the west, and our country. Yes, roads traverse it, but out here the roads are few. The vastness, and mother nature rules.

Arizona gets cold starting about 4pm. Had to pull over and put the liners back in my riding gear, and switch to cold weather gloves. Actually had cell coverage at that point, so checked in back home. Cell coverage was non-existent all day in Death Valley, by the way.

After a long while, the highway started turning and curving into the mountains. I came across some dead towns on nearby Route 66 at that point. Ran through one, just to see. There were a very few people still there in one. You could get a room there for $29, and actually saw two “customer” cars there. But I hopped back on the interstate, and continued on.

Saw lots of Elk, just grazing near te roads. There are “Watch for Elk” signs everywhere,and it's getting well dark and quite cold. There's snow on the side of the road where it was snowplowed recently. So I decide to stop for the night, instead of possibly hitting an elk on the last hour into the Grand Canyon. Plus, I didn't want to miss the scenery in the dark.

So I got a hotel in Williams, Arizona, which is the last town on Route 66 to be bypassed by the interstate. It's just like the town in the animated movie “Cars”. Am packed up, showered, and ready for an early start to the GC tomorrow. There's 3 BMW motorbikes parked outside next to mine. I can keep an eye on my bike; it's right outside my ground floor window.

Day 3 was long and a bit tedious, but it's all part of the adventure. Am really excited about seeing the GC tomorrow, and then up to Zion, Utah after that.