Post by dangdawg on Dec 3, 2008 15:56:27 GMT -5
So I’m thinking what better way to kick off December than to take a scooter ride to Christmas? Christmas Arizona is on the Google Map, but not on my Rand McNally map. It would be cool to post a ride report with a picture of the scoot in front of the sign that says welcome to Christmas, but from the looks of the satellite photo I doubt there is a sign. It looks like a dirt road to a ghost town.
First of all, it got up to 80 degrees today (12/2/08) in Tucson. ho ho ho… But that part is for later in the report.
The plan was to ride from Tucson to Globe via Hwy 77 that goes by Christmas. There are some steep grades and speed limits up to 65 MPH. At over 250 miles round trip, it would be my longest ride to date and it would really test the capabilities of the scoot. However, I know that there had been some ongoing road work on Hwy 77, so I leave home not knowing for sure where I might end up.
I get out on the road at 9:50 AM. The temperature was in the upper 50’s. The sky was mostly clear with a few high clouds and no wind. It was perfect riding weather. I stopped for gas in Oro Valley. It was $2.35 to “filler-up.”
It took almost until 10:40 until I got out of town and a few minutes later I stopped for a few minutes here. Don’t you just love those signs that say entering public lands, no trespassing?
On down the road the scenery is fantastic. After a few miles of gradual inclines you start going down into the San Pedro river valley and to the town of Mammoth. This picture is of Mammoth, more or less. What? Hey, don’t mess with Mammoth.
The San Pedro river valley is real pretty. The leaves on some of the trees are just starting to change colors. Sorry, I didn’t get any pics of the yellow leaves.
Next was where I had to make a decision. Winkelman (that’s a town) is where the road forks one way (Hwy 77) goes by Christmas and on to Globe. The other way (Hwy 177) also goes to Globe in a more round about way, but has some killer hills that I wanted to try. I decided to take the round about way and come back at Christmas from the other way (south).
Did somebody say hill? Yes, and there is more than one that steep. Also with the hills come the twisties!
The scoot did pretty well on the steep hills. Going up the 10% grades, it slowed down to 50 MPH in one spot, but they drop the speed limit down to 45 MPH anyway so I was able to avoid being a rolling road block. There was very light traffic nonetheless. There were several motorcycles along the way, but no other scoots. I was the only psycho scooter on the road.
That place down by the river is so stinking hot that they had to name it Kelvin. But that’s nothing compared to that behemoth man made mountain at the Asarco (I think) mine in the background.
If you can get past some of the semi-permanent mining scars, the place looks pretty good.
After several killer hills you come to Superior. It isn’t really some kind of superlative place I can assure you. Hwy 177 ends at Superior so I go east on Hwy 60 to Globe which is about 20 miles away. The first 15 miles of Hwy 60 are really fun on two wheels. There are some pretty steep grades so you have to have enough power. I just had enough power to make the grades.
Before you get to Globe you go through Miami. Just as I was almost all the way past Miami and coming to the giant metropolis of Claypool, I had a WTF moment. Up near the top of a giant mine tailings pile were what appeared to be cattle grazing on the grass. I have lived in Arizona for a while, but had never seen anything like that before. I had to stop to take a picture.
After another gas stop in Globe ($3.10 to “filler-up”) and I’m on my way. I went all the way through Globe until I came to Hwy 77 and turned right. I was immediately met with detour signs. One of the signs said the road was closed 23 miles ahead, closed from 6AM to 6PM and open only to local traffic.
I munch my peanut butter sandwich while I contemplate whether I want to risk going almost 25 miles and then maybe having to turn around and come back 25 miles the same way. I decided I wouldn’t try it and then a minute later a cage pulls up next to me and the passenger asked me if I know how to get to Tucson. I told them about Hwy 177, the way I had just come from. They seemed slightly irritated, thanked me for my help and drove off.
I drove off too, back through Globe slightly irritated. I rode straight home the same way I came thinking Christmas might have to wait until next year. I didn’t stop for anything. It was starting to get a little windy in spots and I was blown around a bit, but nothing serious. It also started to get warm, especially when I started hitting stop light back in Tucson. I got home around 5 PM. I was able to do that without un-layering my clothing. It was a long ride and a long day. My butt was a little sore. The scoot did okay too, but the gas tank was empty. It was a good ride.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
First of all, it got up to 80 degrees today (12/2/08) in Tucson. ho ho ho… But that part is for later in the report.
The plan was to ride from Tucson to Globe via Hwy 77 that goes by Christmas. There are some steep grades and speed limits up to 65 MPH. At over 250 miles round trip, it would be my longest ride to date and it would really test the capabilities of the scoot. However, I know that there had been some ongoing road work on Hwy 77, so I leave home not knowing for sure where I might end up.
I get out on the road at 9:50 AM. The temperature was in the upper 50’s. The sky was mostly clear with a few high clouds and no wind. It was perfect riding weather. I stopped for gas in Oro Valley. It was $2.35 to “filler-up.”
It took almost until 10:40 until I got out of town and a few minutes later I stopped for a few minutes here. Don’t you just love those signs that say entering public lands, no trespassing?
On down the road the scenery is fantastic. After a few miles of gradual inclines you start going down into the San Pedro river valley and to the town of Mammoth. This picture is of Mammoth, more or less. What? Hey, don’t mess with Mammoth.
The San Pedro river valley is real pretty. The leaves on some of the trees are just starting to change colors. Sorry, I didn’t get any pics of the yellow leaves.
Next was where I had to make a decision. Winkelman (that’s a town) is where the road forks one way (Hwy 77) goes by Christmas and on to Globe. The other way (Hwy 177) also goes to Globe in a more round about way, but has some killer hills that I wanted to try. I decided to take the round about way and come back at Christmas from the other way (south).
Did somebody say hill? Yes, and there is more than one that steep. Also with the hills come the twisties!
The scoot did pretty well on the steep hills. Going up the 10% grades, it slowed down to 50 MPH in one spot, but they drop the speed limit down to 45 MPH anyway so I was able to avoid being a rolling road block. There was very light traffic nonetheless. There were several motorcycles along the way, but no other scoots. I was the only psycho scooter on the road.
That place down by the river is so stinking hot that they had to name it Kelvin. But that’s nothing compared to that behemoth man made mountain at the Asarco (I think) mine in the background.
If you can get past some of the semi-permanent mining scars, the place looks pretty good.
After several killer hills you come to Superior. It isn’t really some kind of superlative place I can assure you. Hwy 177 ends at Superior so I go east on Hwy 60 to Globe which is about 20 miles away. The first 15 miles of Hwy 60 are really fun on two wheels. There are some pretty steep grades so you have to have enough power. I just had enough power to make the grades.
Before you get to Globe you go through Miami. Just as I was almost all the way past Miami and coming to the giant metropolis of Claypool, I had a WTF moment. Up near the top of a giant mine tailings pile were what appeared to be cattle grazing on the grass. I have lived in Arizona for a while, but had never seen anything like that before. I had to stop to take a picture.
After another gas stop in Globe ($3.10 to “filler-up”) and I’m on my way. I went all the way through Globe until I came to Hwy 77 and turned right. I was immediately met with detour signs. One of the signs said the road was closed 23 miles ahead, closed from 6AM to 6PM and open only to local traffic.
I munch my peanut butter sandwich while I contemplate whether I want to risk going almost 25 miles and then maybe having to turn around and come back 25 miles the same way. I decided I wouldn’t try it and then a minute later a cage pulls up next to me and the passenger asked me if I know how to get to Tucson. I told them about Hwy 177, the way I had just come from. They seemed slightly irritated, thanked me for my help and drove off.
I drove off too, back through Globe slightly irritated. I rode straight home the same way I came thinking Christmas might have to wait until next year. I didn’t stop for anything. It was starting to get a little windy in spots and I was blown around a bit, but nothing serious. It also started to get warm, especially when I started hitting stop light back in Tucson. I got home around 5 PM. I was able to do that without un-layering my clothing. It was a long ride and a long day. My butt was a little sore. The scoot did okay too, but the gas tank was empty. It was a good ride.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
