Mrs. C. and I decided to take my advice from last week's newsletter and
take the ride to Silver City, NM that I mapped out last week on the HD Ride Planner. After looking at the
weather report of the towns along the route, I knew it was going to be a trip where we would almost certainly run
into some rain along the way. It was just a matter of how much and for how long. After spending the morning looking
at the hourly forecasts on Accuweather.com, radar maps,
etc., it was time to make a go or no go decision. Keeping in mind that it is hard to make a rational decision
on something like this when it is an activity that you really want to do, I tried to look at the big
picture and make the right call.
Remembering that I have aborted other rides in the past due to the prospects of rain, only to wake up to sunshine, I decided to do what any avid motorcycle rider
would do. Pack the rain gear, head North and hope for the best. As we were filling up with gas in Fountain
Hills at about 3:30pm on Friday, a Cyclerides.com reader informed us that he had just driven through the Christopher
Creek area and the conditions were pea soup fog and rain. Of course, given my desire to make this trip, I took
that as a positive, because it wasn't snowing. Even though I now had some inside information on the current weather,
I was still believing it would pass through before we got there.
Oh yes, the "it won't rain on me" syndrome leads me to another one of
the games that we tend to play as riders. The "When to put
on rain gear" game. Putting on rain gear is not one of the easiest or desirable things to do in my opinion.
Trying to get my size 13 boot through the leg of the poly rain pants and then get everything zipped, Velcro attached
and water tight is a real pain. Given that thought, this is not something I want to go through until
I absolutely have to. What's worse than getting wet Even though I am staring into dark black rain clouds and
oncoming cars with their windshield wipers flapping at full speed, I somehow tend to stay in denial and believe
that it is magically not going to be raining on my side of the road, just so I won't have to pull over and put
on my rain suit. WRONG! I'm sure you have all been there.
We went about another 2 miles where we ran into the first batch of fog and then
the rain started coming down. After a couple more miles of riding in
the rain, again in denial that the rain was going to continue on my side of the road, we finally pulled over and
put on our rain gear, IN THE RAIN! Does that sequence sound familiar to anyone? Due to the other jackets that we
had on and our helmets with face shields, we only suffered some wet jeans on the lower legs. Now we were all geared
up for rain and it was put to good use for the next 40 miles. The pea soup fog arrived as advertised to about 1/4
mile visibility and the rain came steady with a temperature of 54 degrees. A few miles past Overgaard, the rain
stopped and we were left with wet gloves, freezing hands and staring into a beautiful Northern Arizona stormy sky, hoping that would
be all of the rain. The next stop was Show Low for gas and then another 47 miles to the Best Western in Eager where
we ended the day at 7:30pm with 234 miles in 5 hours of riding.
The next morning we were rewarded for our decision to go forward with the trip
by sunshine with blue skies and some clouds to begin our ride down
Hwy. 191 carved through the Apache Sitgreaves National Forest, more commonly known as the "Coronado Trail Scenic Road".
I have this ride rated at the highest level on Cyclerides.com Day Rides with 5 out of 5 spokes.
It is one of my favorite rides in the State and I have only been on it once, 4 years ago. So to say I
was eager to get another look at this route from the top down was an understatement. I guess the thought of experiencing
this incredible road again is what made me want to ride in the rain for 40 miles. But before we could
tackle the 400 + twisties of the Coronado Trail, we stopped at the old Bear Wallow Cafe in Alpine for breakfast.
Great food in an old diner style setting.
With some tasty biscuits and gravy still finding their way down the hatch, it was time to saddle up and really get into the meat of the Coronado Trail with
our first stop at the quaint old Hannagan Meadow Lodge for some gas.
Great idea, but one little problem. NO GAS! For some reason, they are currently not selling gas. Which was a bigger
problem for us because we were counting on that as a gas stop and we would have been on fumes if we had to go on
to Clifton from there. Fortunately, the owner had a full 5 gallon gas can which we were able to put about a gallon
or so in
each bike to make sure that we made it. First tip for this trip,
fill up in Alpine or Clifton, because there are NO SERVICES
for 94 miles.
Now that we had enough fuel to comfortably get us to the other end, we were on
way to enjoy great riding weather from the high 50's to mid 60's
while negotiating several hundred twists and turns on our 67 mile ride from Hanagan Meadow to the copper mines
in Morenci. One reason this is such a great ride is that you encounter so many different landscapes along the way.
You will go through tall pines and Aspen at over 9000
feet and then ride along the top of the rim with a view of what seems to be 50 miles off to your left and right.
You will then start your descent down to Morenci as you serpentine your way along the side
of the rim through boulder outcroppings, scrub pine
and hoodoos as you reach the copper mines in Morenci. This is truly
one of the best rides in the State of Arizona. One reason I make that statement is that it is not just a 20 mile
ride and you are done. This ride is FULL of beauty and excitement for the entire 97 miles
from Alpine to Morenci. I would encourage you to look at the over 175 photos that I took and have displayed for
this ride. If you have never seen this road, you will be amazed. If you have, take a walk down memory lane.
Once you have finished the ride from Hannagan Meadow to Morenci, you will be left with conflicting emotions. You will feel exuberant for just experiencing
one of the best rides in the State, and you will feel a little sad that it is over. It takes almost 2.5 hours
to go the 67 miles, but it doesn't seem nearly that long as you are constantly entertained by being one with the
road and the wilderness while enjoying the beauty of nature around every corner. As an avid motorcycle photographer,
it was a never ending pallet of great shots. Enjoy the photos.
While it is an exciting and beautiful ride, it is also a little tricky. Due to the fact that the road is pretty much cut out of the side of the hills and
mountains, when it rains a lot of dirt, rocks and sand make their way to the road. Combine that with some
deteriorating
asphalt and the amount of 10-15 mph curves that you will negotiate,
it can be a little treacherous at times if you decide to make these curves a little too fast. Just take your time, enjoy
the beauty and keep the rubber side down. That being said, don't be afraid to do the route. Mrs. C. did
it with no problem, just pay attention to what you are doing and take your time. Here is a photo of something
that you will probably see somewhere along the way.
We got some gas, water and snacks in Clifton at the only gas station in town
before continuing South on 191 to Three Way where we took
Hwy. 78 East to 180 for the 46 miles on in to Silver City, NM, voted "Best Small Town in New Mexico"
for 2008. For some reason, I wasn't expecting much out of Hwy. 78, thinking it was just a feeder road through the
desert to 180. I was wrong. It turned out to be a great road, twisting its way up in elevation for a
view of where you had been continuing in to tall pines before dropping back down
to Hwy. 180. A very pretty ride. The 46 miles from the intersection of 78/180 South to Silver City is a nice ride
with the mountains in the Gila National Forest off to your left, but definitely a notch down from what
you have just ridden.
We arrived in Silver City at around 2pm on Saturday, just in time to check into our
motel and put away our travel bag. There happened to be a Blues
Festival in town that weekend as were a couple hundred bikes that came to participate in the event. We even ran
into a group of friends from the Phoenix area. Even
though we had 216 miles of great riding behind us, we were not done yet. There is a 75 mile loop that goes
North out of Silver City through Pinos Altos and the Gila National Forest known as the "Trail of the Mountain
Spirits" Scenic Byway. If you take the ride to Silver City, make sure and ride this loop. It is a very
narrow, almost 2 lane road with no center stripe that
literally take you back into the Gila National Forest zig zagging your way back to
Lake
Roberts. This road was both a bonus and a highlight of the area
around Silver City as we had no idea that it was this good of a ride. We even saw 4 young deer along side of the road.
Don't expect to make this 75 miles very quickly either as it is full of 10-15 mph curves taking you through the
forest. This is an excellent ride. If you choose, you can take a 14 mile detour at the turnoff to Hwy. 35 to
the Gila Cliff Dwellings. We chose to skip that this time.
We made it back for a riding tour of downtown Silver City after our 2.5 hour loop through
the forest. Silver City is an old Silver mining town from the late 1800's. They
have done a good job of preserving the old buildings and making the town thrive over the years. It is now presumably
a kind of hippy influenced town with the arts and music. If someone dropped you in there and didn't tell you
where you were, by the looks of the people walking the streets, you might think
you were in San Francisco in the 60's. Tie Dyed shirts and dreadlocks are alive and well in Silver City. This
is also the home of Western New Mexico University. We ate at a very cool place on the corner of College Ave. and
Pope St. in Historic Downtown Silver City called Silver
City Brewing Co. Good pizza and burgers with an outdoor
patio to watch the locals.
There was so much to cover for the entire 940 mile ride that we took for the weekend
that I have just covered the ride to Silver City this week. Next week
I will talk about the ride home up Hwy. 180 and down U.S. 60 through the always beautiful Salt River Canyon.
From I-17 and Loop 101 the route to Silver City is 438 miles. The loop that I talk about out of Silver City is 75 miles.
Click Here for a Map of the Route.
Click Here for All
175 Photos.
Useful Links:
Coronado Trail
Scenic Byway
US Highway 191 -
Coronado Trail
Silver City, NM
Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest
Trail of the Mountain Spirits" Scenic
Byway
