Catch The Sun

Quite the ride today from New Mexico to Arizona...all day riding in the sun seemed to make me ride faster but also took more energy.  I left NM a after 9am and got to my destination in AZ at 4:45pm - I made quite a few stops for pics and video and even stopped for a lunch break.  All the other days riding I just ate Zone bars and drank water until I got to where I was going.  I did find some kicks on route 66 which is now named route 118.  I am also wonder what X4 means - almost every sign on route 66 was tagged with it so much that you can't really read the signs.  Route 66 is far more enjoyable than the route that replaced it - 40.  While on 40 you can go really fast - it's totally straight and very boring to ride unless you like to pass hundreds of large trucks - which was kind of fun too for awhile.  Route 66 on the other hand is two lanes, has curves and you can still go fairly fast in some sections and get some good lean into the curves.  New Mexico and Arizona along the way share a love of Indians (I really jammed through the Navajo nation), dinosaurs and rocks.  You can also buy tons of Indian jewelry and clothes - lots of places for this on route 66.

Once I got around Flagstaff in AZ there was a noticeable rise in the temperature - wearing full riding gear with a courier bag and guitar strapped to my back was not comfortable if I was not moving, speed felt good and the closer to Phoenix the hotter it got.  The Uly also has a hot spot that will cook your inner right hamstring if you stop or just don't go fast enough...so yeah I was moving pretty fast to get off the bike in this heat and throw on the flip flops.

Checked out a weekly bike gathering with Gingles that was really cool.  Mad bikes and sounds everywhere!  My dad will be stoked to know the brothers still dress up their rides with lights everywhere :)  I felt kind of weird because the Uly looked like crap - 1400+ miles in 5 days and I didn't clean it at all so you can imagine how dirty it was especially sitting next to Gingles clean HD and all the other bikes...Uly's are meant to be dirty and show where they've been!  My Uly has definitely done it's job and gone through just about every kind of weather - I'm sure some of the bikes at that show have never seen dirt, rain or snow.  Another fine performance from the Uly - looking forward to spending a few days in Phoenix and just taking some simple trips on the Uly around town

I'm totally about to pass out right now from a full day of riding and a good time with Gingles and meeting some of his riding people...having a hard time finishing this one beer, but really happy to be here and looking forward to the 90+ degrees and AZ sun.

"Can you feel it?
now that Spring has come
that it's time to live in the scattered sun"