I slabed to Colorado, then began the Western TAT at Trinidad. The Western TAT is generally regarded as a fairly serious endeavor, certainly the hardest route I've yet attempted. It was a beautiful ride this time of year.

Day 1: Home to Grants NM

September 13, 2012

Departure: 2012-09-13

I had delayed my trip for three days while a storm rolled through. On the Arizona/New Mexico border I came to this flooded road. Looks like I should have waited another day.

There were two sections like this. This one was flowing with quite a strong current. I thought long and hard about crossing it, because of the danger of being swept off the road. But eventually I gave it a try.

At the El Malpais National Monument. The wind was cold and whipping through here, but I found a bit of shelter behind the rock wall.

This is two days after torrential rains.

Day 2

September 14, 2012: Grants NM to Trinidad CO

I'm carrying a new rear tire because I don't want to wear-out it's knobbies while riding on the highway.

I removed the back wheel, and for only $15 the mechanics in the shop changed the tire for me.

The tire shop is in Raton, New Mexico, only about 15 miles from where I'm planning to start the Western TAT.

Day 3

September 15, 2012: Trinidad to Westcliffe

Early morning out of Trinidad

Today's riding was on mostly good gravel roads. These are the Spanish Peaks (East 12,683' and West 13,625') They are your first \"Wow!\" moment when cycling across the country and entering southern Colorado from the east.

Outside of La Veta, I see fresh snow on the Culebra Range of the southern Sangre de Christos. The high one is Trinchera Peak at 13,517'

An old-fashioned service station in La Veta, CO. Here was the routine: Pull up to the pump, flip up the gas lever on the side of the pump, and start pumping gas. Then wander into the office to pay. The guy squints out the window to read the flow meter, then uses an extra-large calculator to figure the price.

Today's ride was pleasant as it rolled over hill and dale. The road was good and the scenery interesting.

A family of highland cows stood quietly beside the road while I took their picture. The larger male was standing right behind me, but I wanted to photograph the calves. They were somewhat skittish and timid but very nice animals.

View of the road I just came up, and now we're starting to get somewhere. The Sangre de Christos are coming into view. In the center are Crestone Peak (14,300 ft) and Needle (14,203 ft), and Humbolt (14,064 ft).

The bike's rear-end started wobbling, and suddenly threw me wildly out of control. I was going 35 and almost lost it over the edge. Come to find out that the bead had broken loose on one side of the tire.

This is me for the next two hours, trying to patch the inner tube. The nail had done a real job on it.

I was carrying a spare inner tube but if I used it, I would no longer have a spare.

The inner tube all patched and ready to go back into the tire.

Ten miles farther the tire went flat again. The larger patch had torn loose. The patch was not large enough for that big of a hole. So this time the repair was quick and easy - I just fitted the spare tube. But I no longer had a spare, and that was a bit worrisome.

I took a room at the Westcliffe Inn.

Day 4

September 16, 2012: Westcliffe to Campsite below Cinnamon Pass

View of the Sangre De Cristo mountains from my window. In my younger days I came to this region several times to climb these peaks. In fact did a believed first ascent on the Crestone Needle.

The nice lady manager let me park on the sidewalk beside my room. She said that she lets motorcyclists do this all the time - Harleys mainly. The problem here was the gravel was too soft and deep to support the bike.

The phone charger I built from spare parts.

Cotopaxi CO

The TAT goes over Marshall Pass. I have already gone over Marshall three times this year, and wanted to see something new. Well, Monarch Pass is not actually new, I've been here maybe 50 times. But not recently. Anyway, it's very beautiful up here.

I'm almost a regular customer here at Sargents. Nice people, good food, and a great place to meet fellow travelers. Here I met a guy from Wales doing the GDR by mountain bike.

How to spend quality time with your son: Share your passion for motorcycle touring with him, and let him ride your spare bike. These guys were on a three day trip and having a blast.

The TAT shares this section with the GDR, meaning I have ridden this road leading up into the mountains four times this year - and enjoyed it each time.

To my pleasant surprise, the turning of the Aspen leaves was early this year.

Colorful Colorado

After getting gas in Lake City, I'm heading for Cinnamon. By the way, I spent a full summer in the woods around Lake City when teaching outdoor classes.

A stop to check tire pressure before heading into the high country

I was feeling a little intimidated with the rocks and steep places on this road, so at the junction of American Forks I turned around and headed back down to timberline, to make camp.

I found a place to camp in the nearby clump of trees, so settled in for the night.

A cozy place to pitch my tarp, nestled in the Spruce. Next I will hook the Net-Tent under it. There's no bugs this late in the season, but the Net-Tent will provide a great deal of extra warmth at the high altitude. This summer I am using no foam pad, and very rarely will I use a ground sheet. I tend to sleep just fine without them.

Campsite below Cinnamon Pass.

Day 5

September 17, 2012: Campsite to Dolores

After breaking camp, I'm warming up the bike. The lithium battery is sluggish in the cold, and takes a few tries to get the engine started. I like it anyway because it is super-lightweight.

On the first switchback above yesterday's turn-around point.

Early morning and I had the whole pass to myself, so I didn't have to be as careful watching for oncoming traffic. Up here the road becomes much less steep and rocky - but on the other hand, the occasional seep running across the road was frozen.

I was happy to reach Cinnamon Pass.

Making my way down to Animas Forks, an historic mining town long since vacated.

Animas Forks

Descending to Silverton

Breakfast stop. I spent two summers working in the woods around here, and have many funny stories centered around this town.

Silverton

Climbing to Ophir Pass

Oh-oh, looks steep down there.

Parts of the descent of Ophir Pass were the toughs parts of the trip, so far. The problem was, I hadn't learned to turn off the ABS when going down steep and loose rocks and dirt. I didn't drop the bike, but had to sometimes inch my way down. Next time I'll know, and that's what this trip is all about - learning from experiences.

There was another sign that read: \"Drive slow and visit our town. Drive fast and visit our mayor.\"

Looking back at Ophir Pass.

This part of the ride was especially nice. In fact I enjoyed all so far.

In another ride report I mentioned that I don't drink the water in the Rocky Mountains without treating it. This is why. The sheep are everywhere in the National Forests and they pollute the water.

The next stretch up into the hills started out fine, but became more rocky by the mile.

The rocks went on for 2.5 hours before the route descended back to Dunton road much further along. Later I learned that most TAT riders skip this section (called the Willow Divide) and ride Dunton road. Also, in mid summer some riders have reported many blow-downs up here.

My track-log along the Willow Divide. In Google Earth, view from 12 mi high.

After the road of rocks, I followed the pavement 16 miles SW to Dolores, CO, and spent the night.

Day 6

September 18, 2012: Dolores to Muley Point

I need a spare inner tube, so called the closest motorcycle shop (Manus, CO) and they said they had my size is stock. I headed 16 mi SE to Manus. Turns out they didn't any after all. Still, I enjoyed talking with the owner, Harry. I knew him from a previous visit.

Empty handed, I headed west into Utah and the Valley of the Gods and Muley Point to enjoy the rest of my day.

Setting Hen and Rooster Buttes in the Valley of the Gods.

Castle Butte

Moki Dugway - good for zooming!! (aka Moqui or Mokee Dugway)

View from the top of the Moki Dugway, looking 1,100 feet down.

The weather looks good, so tonight I will camp under the stars, amongst pinion pines.

New quilt, nice and warm! When motorcycle touring I don't use a foam pad. And I rarely use a ground sheet, but here I did because of the sand. I'm sleeping atop my Net-Tent, but as the night turned dark the mosquitoes came out so I had to crawl inside the Net-Tent and pull the netting over my face. Works good that way.

Sunset at Muley Point.

An old juniper growing on the brink of the high cliffs.

Two generations of lichen on sandstone.

Yucca pods catching the alpenglow.

I'm not carrying a DSLR (or tripod) on this trip, but taking these photos with a point-and-shoot.

I reached out from my bed and laid the camera on the ground, pointing straight up with the self-timer set to 10 seconds and exposure set to 30 seconds.

Day 7

September 19, 2012: Muley Point to Home

Sunrise

Wilson Arch outside of Moab

The early morning found me headed for Moab. Jenny had called the only motorcycle shop in town, and the owner affirmed he had lots of inner tubes in the size I needed.

Arriving Moab, I called in at the shop, and come to find out - the guy was mistaken. He had no inner tubes in that size, or anything close.

I has a great long way to go on this trip, but I felt that I couldn't safely continue without a spare inner tube, and couldn't seem to find one anywhere - in any town within driving distance, or on-line. It seems the whole world was out of stock on that size, and had been for three months. So I reluctantly headed for home.

Funny story: That night I was kicked out of the Motel 6 in Holbrook, Arizona for parking my bike on the sidewalk alongside my room. A while earlier I had seen a car back into my parking space without looking. No way was I going to park my bike in that space. The manager threatened to call the police if I didn't move the bike, but he was so testy that I didn't feel like complying. I suppose that the string of failures with the tire and tube had spoiled my mood. I told him that if he called the police, then I wanted a refund on the room. He wrote out the refund, and I packed the bike and found myself on the road again. I didn't feel like unloading at another motel, so I rode all night. It was a beautiful ride - absolutely beautiful, and I'm so glad I did it.

Jenny was camping an hour away from home, so I headed for her campsite and at 3:00 am surprised her. She thought I was in Holbrook. At dawn she rose and took the dog for a long run, while I kept sleeping. Then mid-morning we broke camp and returned home.

PS: I plan to continue with the ride in a week or so. In the meantime I am making several gear refinements.

Preamble to this Ride

2012-09-12: Working on my Dakar in preparation for the trip. Had done:

• Change engine oil, and replace oil filter
• New air filter
• Lube throttle and clutch cables
• Replace steering head bearings
• Rebuild front forks
• New front tire TKC-80 (carrying a fresh rear for mounting in CO)
• Checked brake pads and fluid (ok)
• Check coolant (ok)
• New spark plugs
• Check valves timing (OK)
• Install relay-powered charging station for phone and sat-phone.
• New moto battery.

Notes:

The sat-phone was left-over from our South Pole trip. This is the first trip I've done in the Continental USA where carrying one makes sense, with traveling solo through such remote and rugged country. I needed mobile charging capabilities because I'm planning to camp most nights.

The new battery (Shorai lithium) flies off the table whenever I pick it up. Should be heavy, my arm thinks. love it so far.

Front end disassembly in my shop.

Notches on the lower steering-head race.

Lacking a puller, I'm removing the upper bearing by chopping it off.

New bearings installed on the steering stem and cap. These bearings are an interference fit, so they must be pressed off and on. I learned how at the below websites. Once learned, I think I could do the job much quicker next time.

New bearing race in the lower steering tube. These races are an interference fit also.

Note: These type of notches on the upper and lower steering-head races are normal after a great deal of use. They happen on just about any kind of bike. The bearings and races have to be replaced every now and then. But I put off the job for longer that I normally would have, because I was on journey. I also found that the bearings were not original, meaning that the job had been done before. I also found a few tool marks on the edge of one of the races that I don't think the factory made. When I bought the bike, it had only 6,000 mi., so I can't imagine why the previous owner needed new steering head bearings. Now the bike has 28,000 miles.

Refs: Steering Head Bearing Replacement FAQ

Vid These guys also have lots of good ideas.

I learned how to rebuild the front forks from these people: Bluepoof F650 forks. The first time, the job took me all day. This time it took me only 45 minutes for each fork.

Most people who bought our Sewing the Ray-Way Backpack video will recognize something in this picture. It is Melly - supervising Jenny while she sews my new insulated jacket.

Adjusting the steering head bearings.

Melly is studying the workings of the motorcycle. She's not like a normal bird that will just sit there, uninterested. She is very curious and has to study everything.

Doing a bit of electrical work on my bike, installing a charger for my cell phone and sat phone.

Not dropped, but laid over on the pads in order to practice picking it back up. The bike weighs over 450 pounds, so this is not so easy.

Dog not happy. Getting the Dakar ready can mean only one thing: Ray is about to leave for his NFT.