Colorado Cruiser: Escaping the Phoenix Heat

I got into the valley of the sun on Monday and the temperature was in the 90s. I was melting but I was happy to see Nannette and my inlaws air conditioning.

I was planning on what to do for the day when my brother Mike called. He's building a cabin up in the high country near Show Low and wanted me to come up and visit. My brother Rob will also be up there so it sounded like a great plan to escape from the heat, so less than 12 hours after arriving, I headed right back up to the cold temperatures.

I spent the morning working on my father in law's computer, then I packed up and headed for cool weather.

There are 2 ways to get up to Showlow. You can either go north to Payson, then turn east, or you go east to Globe, then turn north.

I chose to go east to Globe because it would put at high altitude quicker than crossing the whole of the valley going north. It would also let me ride through the Salt River Canyon which I have never done. I've driven the canyon many times when Nannette and I first got married, but I haven't been through the canyon for over 15 years.

Just as I had expected, it was hot riding for the first 40 miles. But just as soon as I got to the first hills, the temperature dropped. (Am I talking too much about heat? probably)

I stopped in the shade of a big rock for a drink and to stretch my legs, then kept riding. By the time I reached Globe, the temperature had dropped to 72 degrees and I started enjoying the ride rather than enduring it.

I stopped for another break just before descending the canyon, then I noticed the sign that actually said, entering the canyon so I grabbed a quick shot.

I'm not sure how scary the canyon can be on a motorcycle because I really just moseyed my way down and stopped at every little pullout to enjoy the views. I was in no hurry and spent most of the trip down and back up in 2nd or 3rd gear, nearly idling. It was another very relaxing ride.

I'm glad I came this way because the canyon really is pretty.

I arrived in Showlow and turned back west a bit to head for my brothers cabin. I stopped to check my iPhone for directions because his house is on a brand new road that is only on google maps. He actually got to name the road and gave it the name of "Brindle Bull Road".

We have a family story about the brindle bull. I'll probably tell it wrong, but here goes.

When my brother Dave was a baby, my parents lived on a farm in Southern Colorado. One day, Dave got out of the house and started looking for our father. He saw him on the far side of a corral and climbed through the fence and ran across to him.

That particular corral was where my dad was holding a young bull. The bull had some odd color splotches, so he was referred to as a "Brindle Bull". And it was a young, mean bull.

When the bull saw my brother, he began to snort and run toward him. My dad heard the noise and turned to see what was happening and was horrified to see his little boy about to be chased down by the massive bull.

But before the bull could get to him, the family dog came running in from nowhere and started snapping and barking at the bull. Some people say that the dog actually bit the bull in the nether regions. Whatever the case, the dog occupied the bull long enough for my dad to get into the pen and grab Dave and get back out.

We lost Dave to diabetes and heart disease a few years ago, so naming the road Brindle Bull was nod to our brother.

So anyway, I had stopped to look for directions when my phone rang. My brother Rob was calling to ask me if I could buy a PVC pipe fitting before coming out. I was just outside Showlow so it was perfect timing. I bought the part, then headed back out to them.

When I pulled off the highway, I saw the obviously new road with fresh gravel on it. I turned up the road and hand't gone 40 feet when the front wheel sank into the grave, pushed a big pile in front of it, then whipped hard left which threw the whole weight of the bike to the right and WHAM down it went. I was barely going 3 or 4 miles an hour, so all I did was step off the bike as it dropped.

I'm sorry John (my riding buddy) but it still just doesn't come to mind to take a picture of my downed bike. My first thought is to get the bike up so gas and oil doesn't run out and ruin things. Conciously I know that won't happen, but emotionally I can't stand the bike being down.

Since the bike fell on the right side, I put the kickstand down (it's on the left). Then I make sure the wheel is turned all the way to the right, position myself on the right side of the bike facing away, bend my knees and actually sit on the seat. Take the handlebar in my left hand and grab the passenger hand grab with my right hand, then straight my knees pushing back against the bike and it stands right up. It's no simple, but it's not terribly hard either. The bike was back up in under 30 seconds.

I got myself squared away and calmed back down, then evaluated the road again. I wondered if I could just walk it up the road with my feet on the ground and allot of clutch. I got the bike about 50 more feet up the road but it was a major struggle. The front wheel was pushing huge piles of rock ahead of it, and the rear wheel kept spinning. Finally I gave up. I put the bike in reverse and backed down the road and out onto the pavement. Then I turned around and pulled into a parking lot beside the road.

I was just contemplating what to do when my phone rang again. It was Rob asking if I'd gotten lost. I explained what happened and he said they'd be right down. The drove a truck down and we talked about what to do. They first thought to bring a big trailer down and tow the bike up but I asked if there was anyone nearby where I could just park the bike. So they led me a few hundred yards up the road to a neighbor.

I won't go into everything that happened while I visited my brothers because it would tripple the length of this blog, but we hauled some water, worked on the house, had dinner, told allot of jokes, sat around a fire, rigged up some power for my breathing machine, and finally went to bed.

The next morning we had Chorizo and Eggs for breakfast, then worked more on wiring power to the cabin.

By 10:00 I said my goodbye's and walked back over to retrieve my motorcycle.

On the way home I took the 2nd route home through Payson. That involves driving down from the top of the Mogollon Rim. The rim is a huge escarpment that runs across about half of Arizona east and west.

I stopped to take pictures from a lookout before riding down.

I stopped for lunch in Payson. I ate at the Crosswinds Restaurant at the Payson Airport which sits atop a big bluff just north of town. I used to have an airplane that I'd fly up to the airport for breakfast with friends or to visit our cabin. I brought back allot of good memories to eat there.

On my way back to Mesa I decided to ride out to Saguaro Lake, another place I used to frequent. I had a ski boat for nearly 20 years, and I'd go skiing 30 or more times a summer. That's allot of ski trips.

Back in the valley, I had to help my wife with a broken down car. She was borrowing a car from her parents when the radiator blew all the water out. We don't know exactly what happened, but it turned out that the radiator was actually cracked AND blew the radiator cap off.

My friend Eric helped me tow the car to his house and we pulled the radiator out. We got a new one from Napa, but it was too late finish it. We'll try to get it done tomorrow, but I need to spend some time with my mother or I'll be grounded.

My father in law "Red". We can't change is name to "Gray" now could we?