I headed south from my place in Chandler, all my gear in the saddle bags and a full tank of gas. Perfect weather, clear skies and smooth sailing. I headed down to Florence Junction where I departed the pavement for some quality time on the dirt and gravel roads. Not the most expediant way to travel, especially for an offroad greehorn like myself, but if you never do it you never learn how. I’ll let the picture speak for itself. I came up over a hill and into a spread of catus in bloom, absolutely gorgeous.

After a short break for a photo op, I was back in the saddle and cruised over the dusty roads on my way to Oracle. My reason for wanting to go there? Mt. Lemon. There was a road that went up the back side and down the front, should make for a good ride I thought. I wasn’t disappointed. This is a picture from somewhere near the top of Mt. Lemon. I’ve shrunk the picture and compressed it for the web but the sign reads, “Road Not Maintained for Passenger Car Travel, 4×4 recommended.” Yeah, that was after I made it to the top baby. =)

I didn’t get there totally unscathed. There was about 9 miles of that 4×4 track. Boulder and rock making up the trail. At one point I needed a break to rest the muscles and get some fluids back in me. Hey, wrestling 500+ lbs of bike is work! Well I saw a nice little spot of shade and thought, “I’m gonna stop there.” So I let my speed drop and this is the result. The front tire hit a boulder and the bike didn’t have enough momentum to carry it over. The bars turned and over I went with the bike. Very low speed get off. Lesson #1, keep your speed up.

Lesson #2, traveling with a buddy is a good thing, and I wasn’t. But I’m not a complainer. Hell, in the middle of a 4×4 track halfway up a mountain by yourself it’s just you and God, and he was probably laughing his butt off. I got it back up, but not on the first try I’ll tell you. Adventure, oh yeah!

I did make it to the top, the road down the other side was paved and I was hoping for a little twisty action, but as I came around the bend there was the infamous “Road Destruction” sign and flag man. Turns out they were doing some major reworking of the road and were only allowing traffic once an hour, and I had just missed it. I asked the guy if there was another way down and he said, “There’s a 4×4 road that goes down to Oracle, but I don’t think you want to take that bike down it.” I just laughed and told him I had just come up that very same road!. There’s something of a little ski resort there, all closed up but there were some houses and little general store. So I parked the bike, bought some munchies, a refreshing beverage, kicked back on a picnic table in front, and pulled out a novel I had brought with me. Less than an hour later I was on my way down the hill with a line of traffic. No fun but I got there. I couldn’t get any pictures of it either. They wouldn’t let folks stop on the way down, so I guess I’ll have to go back sometime. By this time the sun was getting low on the horizon, so I hooked up with the super slab known as I-10 and boogied on over to Willcox where I spent the night.

The next morning I was up at the crack of dawn, without the aid of an alarm clock, ready to ride. I stayed off the super slab and took the back roads towards highway 366. It looks good on the map, and I’d heard it was a good ride. Unfortunately it was also under heavy construction. The day was young and I was antsy to put on some miles not because I had to, however a bike that’s not in motion may be nice to look at but it’s boring as all get out just to sit there. So I wandered up highway 191 and found what I will call the single best paved road in all of Arizona. From Clifton to Eager. Ride this. It’s not a speed road like so many in the state, and it lasts a long, long time.

I pulled off halfway at a rest stop and met another Rally goer, he had already been to the Rally site and was taking a day trip south. I would meet him later at the Rally and he said, “That road just went on forever!” =) You know most of the places I’ve been, I have met the nicest folks riding motorcycles. People who will still say “Hi,” to complete strangers. Motorcycling is good.

After a stop in Eager to fuel the bike and myself, I went west on 260 to Show Low. The roads went back to being straight and fast. I could tell there was a rally though, I passed several bikes going the other way which I would later discover was the test ride group from the Rally. Hats off to Victory BMW in Chandler Arizona. They provided test rides of new bikes and were all round great guys (more on that later). Go there, buy stuff from them. =)

The ride to the Rally site in Heber was pretty uneventful, as I’ve said before most of the Arizona highways are fast. I got signed up and got a bunk for the night. I then spent the rest of the time wandering around, looking at the stuff that was for sale, and I signed up for the “Dirty Bird” run. It was a GS ride scheduled for Saturday and the prize was an awesome embroidered jacket. One of a kind. I’m not a socialite so I won’t bore you with the details of the evening, but it was nice.

Saturday morning had everyone waking up to the sound of rain. It had rained most of the night. An omen for the Dirty Bird run. I’ll admit I had some trepidation about doing the ride, I’m not a skilled off road rider by any means and the rain meant there would be mud. Boy was that an understatement. After breakfast the riders met up to get the course map and the rules. It was 60 some miles of fire roads, and a list of questions. The ride wasn’t timed, but they gave you points for answering the questions about the route, and subtracted points for excess mileage. There was a double meaning to “Dirty,” sneaky SOB’s. =) Only five guys were brave enough, or stupid enough, to attempt the ride. Yeah, I was one of them.

It was still raining when we started out, and I thought to myself that if it got too bad I’d just turn around. Well the first part of the ride was gravel, not bad at all even in the rain. Two of the guys and I agreed to stick together, although I was definitely the slowest rider. I can’t thank them enough for always waiting up for me, and even coming back to make sure I was alright at times. Like I said, I’ve met some of the best people riding. To get on with the story though, we soon discovered after a few miles that we had missed a turn. Reference the “Dirty” in “Dirty Bird.” The sign for the fireroad was not visible from the direction we came from. We doubled back and got headed the right way, and this was where the road started to get really muddy. Ahead pucker facter 10 captain! Oh yeah, some really nasty stuff. At this point I decided to screw the questions and the race for the jacket, I went into full bore survival mode.

I wound up dumping the bike twice, and coming close to dumping it more times than I can remember. The first time the road was so slipery I couldn’t get a foot hold to lift the bike up. So I slid it over into the ditch which put the bike at a better angle to lift up. Then all I had to do was ride it out of the ditch. I was the only contestant with mud on the inside of my windshield. =)

Again, much thanks to Jim and Kelland for sticking around for me. This continued for most of the course and had me beat to a pulp. I was so tired I was not riding effectively, so when the course crossed highway 260 I told Jim and Kelland to go on without me. I had to call it quits before fatigue dealt me something worse than a bike laying on its side in the mud. I’m not a quitter, but a man does have to know his limitations. I needed to be alert enough to get back to Phoenix that night, as I had to work the next day.

I went back to the Rally site, covered in mud and with a foot brake that had been bent in one of my falls. I got a hero’s welcome which quite honestly I don’t think I deserved, having completed just half the course. Reference my line about meeting some of the nicest folks on bikes above. I didn’t even have my helmet off before one of the Victory BMW guys came over about my bent foot brake. I was already scheduled for service that week, he said they’d get the part on order. Victory BMW, Chandler Arizona. Go there, buy stuff from them. Those guys are great.

I was second coming in, behind a guy named Esa who had completed the whole course. That guy was awesome, he would later walk away with the jacket. An hour or two after I got back, Jim and Kelland came in. Jim let me know it was a good thing I stopped halfway as the course was worse on the second half. I don’t think he was saying that just to humor me, as Kelland took a tumble on that part of the course. Even Esa said he almost lost it at one point.

The Rally awards ceremony was that evening, but like I said I had to work the next day. So I had the bike packed and was on the road before dinner was served. The run from Payson to Phoenix is long but fast, and one I’ve done many times before. All I can say is I got home, took a hot shower and slept like a rock.

I’m no longer a Rally virgin, and I had a great time. As a final note, when I had my bike serviced at Victory BMW, they charged me only for the part to replace the foot brake, and they gave me a loaner bike while they worked on mine (1100S…zooooom!). Victory BMW, Chandler Arizona. Go there, buy stuff from them. Seriously, those guys rock.

This was the only time I took my bike to a car wash. There was just too much mud caked on it to do any other way. I still have some Arizona mud that is permanently bonded to the exhaust pipes. Character baby. =)