Trip Reports Archives

Sierra Vista, AZ to Brookshire, TX

Failing for a technicality is a possiblilty but, I feel good about the ride.

Now, about that ride......

I left Sierra Vista, Arizona ahead of a weather report that indicated storms would follow me into Texas. What I got instead was a lot of wind.

I mean...a LOT of wind.

After I cleared Texas Canyon eastbound on I-10 in southeastern Arizona the wind picked up with a vengeance from the south. That southerly wind kept blowing for most of my trip across Texas.

I experienced gusts up to 51 miles per hour and a steady wind of at least 35 miles per hour from Lordsburg, New Mexico to Sonora, Texas. From Lordsburg to Las Cruces, New Mexico that wind meant that I was to enjoy a near continuous dust storm. El Paso brought a brief relief from the dust, but that didn't last long and there was more dust to be had from Plateau, Texas to Fort Stockton.

All in all, by the time I arrived in Kerrville, Texas I was seriously considering stopping and calling the attempt failed. I was bone tired from fighting the wind all day, and the light rain that was picking up wasn't helping matters.

Fortunately, the rain only lasted about 5 minutes and my ride continued on into the night.

I arrived in Brookshire, TX at around 22 minutes after midnight, the ride having taken about an hour longer to complete than I'd accounted for.

Where I was tired before, on the stop in Kerrville, my stop in Brookshire was an absolute necessity. I was almost falling asleep behind the handlebars and I fully expected to crash if I was forced to ride even 10 more miles.

Short of my mark for the ride (I'd wanted 1075 miles for a good safety buffer) I called it a night at the Super 8 in Brookshire.

The only really interesting story to relate is that if there is a police chase video done on Sonora, TX that day, I'll be the guy pumping gas at the Shell station as the State Trooper comes screaming down the exit ramp after what appears to be a red Neon. The Neon circled the on-off ramps using the Interstate as his personal raceway for a while as he was chased by an increasingly large contingent of Troopers and local police.

The quote of the day comes from the station attendant who remarked, "Wow! This is so exciting! Nothing EVER happens around here."

Richardson, TX to Sierra Vista, AZ

Monday, 10 March, began my trip with a complication. I had a leaky rear tire from the moment I woke up to do a pre-trip inspection on the bike. Following a quick (and very helpful) trip to Harley-Davidson of North Texas, I was leaving Carrollton, TX with a fresh new tire, and lovely light rains. As any experienced rider knows, a new tire, and light rains are not a good way to start off a long trip, but the situation was completely unavoidable. My only choice would have been to cancel the trip, or ride things out.

I managed to leave Carrollton, TX at 1033 (Central Time) in the morning and the weather improved significantly by the time I had ridden as far as downtown Fort Worth. My trip was under way.

My first gas stop of the morning was near Ranger, TX and while the weather was quite chilly, the ride was going quite well. The miles ticked off quickly (and uneventfully) with more gas stops near Sweetwater, Monahans, and Van Horn.

My Van Horn stop was quite lucky. While making a call on my cell phone another rider pulled up for a fuel stop. We struck up a conversation and it turns out Doug was heading the same direction. We agreed to ride to Deming, NM together, and if the morning brought similar departure times we would ride together as far as Benson, AZ.

Everything turned out well for that ride as well. A quick gas stop in Las Cruces, NM put the two of us on track for finishing out our Deming leg, and the following morning a gas and go, followed by fueling in Willcox, AZ allowed me to finish out my trip and see Doug at least that far on his trip to San Diego, CA.

I arrived in Sierra Vista, AZ on 11 March 2008, at a reasonably early hour in the morning and had time to putter around town and make my way out to the home of some friends I have here in town. I'd probably be lynched by the Harley riding crowd at home for riding the last leg of my trip - 1/2 mile of primitive dirt road - but that's part of the fun of where they live.

As Jeff Foxworthy says, "If the instructions to your house include the words, 'turn off the paved road,' you might be a Redneck.

Problems and or Repairs: Rear tire flat at start of trip, required replacement. Right rear tail light failed for braking mode during trip. Replaced on arrival at Sierra Vista Harley-Davidson