This stretch through the slickrock was really the only place I could confidently say I recognized from the day before.
I was skeptical of Tom’s route planning for this 5-day RMMRC Utah ride when I saw that he had us backtracking on Day Three every mile we had ridden on Day Two plus some. And really, if that was what we did it would have been less than wonderful, although only to an extent.
But we pulled out a map and put our heads together and came up with a somewhat different route where we backtracked on the really good part but took a different route rather than the less interesting part.
The thing was, we were going over one of the very best roads in Utah on Day Two and you know you’ve heard it said that a road looks completely different going the other way. Well, it’s true. We went back through all this terrific country and if we had ridden it yesterday you could have fooled me.
So we had left Green River and ridden to where Utah 24 runs south to Hanksville, then followed 24 west to Torrey. It was the part from Torrey that was fabulous. Of course doing it the other direction would be fabulous, too. And it was. But rather than turn east to Hanksville we went west, up to Loa, and then took Utah 72 over Hogan Pass and then down to I-70 on the other side.
This was a very nice road that I had ridden last year coming home from the RMMRC trip where I got sick and had to abandon the trip. And I had forgotten that all the way up and down over that pass it was just sweeper after sweeper. Perfect motorcycle road, except that this year there were several sections interlaced with masses of pretty fresh tar snakes. It wasn’t hot, so they weren’t soft and oozy but I know I still slipped a couple times and they made the ride incredibly bumpy. Fortunately it was just sections, not the entire stretch of road.
Of course, that gave us even more of I-70 to ride but this particular stretch is actually pretty scenic. One of the best places to stop–only available if you are eastbound–is the Spotted Wolf Canyon View Area. And we did stop. Plus, we only had to go a few miles east past Green River to reach Crescent Junction, where we turned south on US 191 to Moab. The road south to Moab was not anywhere near as busy as it could have been so that part of the ride was nice and went quickly.
And then Moab. I remember when this was a small town. We used to take camping trips over there, to Canyonlands National Park and Arches National Park. That was 40 years ago. I don’t think there’s a single commercial building in Moab that was there 40 years ago that is still standing. I miss the old Moab.
Anyway, it wasn’t as crowded as I expected so I guess it was OK staying there. I generally avoid Moab these days.
And tomorrow we’re heading back into Colorado.
Biker Quote for Today
You might be a Yuppie biker if you try to look like a biker.
Tags: motorcycle riding in Utah, motorcycle trip to Utah, motorcycling Utah