A nice note from John…

Joe Gresh and Baja John at Isabelle’s in Newcastle, Wyoming

I had a nice email from my good buddy John last night…

Joe,

I’ve been preparing my bike for a ride to Alaska next spring, so it’s been sitting in my cousin’s garage since my return from CA.  This morning my bike was finally ready to hit the road again, so I took off with a simple plan of a day ride through Skull Valley and back to Chino. 

I left the house and pointed the bike towards Prescott to run a couple of errands, one of those being the local Target store.  When I was exiting the parking lot, I saw a weathered Moto Guzzi with two gas cans on a homemade rack and the rider standing beside it drinking some water.  I pulled up figuring this guy had a story, and sure enough I was right.  His name is Brad, and he had just completed 22,000 miles on his 1984 Guzzi.  He and two friends had just returned to the states after their ride to Prudhoe Bay. 

I enjoyed listening to some of their adventures, and I plied him with questions about Alaska and the Yukon.  He said that he needed the two gas cans to give him a range of 250 miles, and he had to use both of them on more than one occasion.  One of the many things that I’m going to do to prepare for my trip will be to run my bike out of gas to see what kind of range it has. 

Anyway,  these guys came from New Jersey, but Brad split off from the group upon returning to the states since he decided to relocate to San Francisco in the coming months.  You can read about their trip at www.fullrideadventure.com.  Select ‘Tales from the Road’ to read their blog. 

Have you heard of a guy named, “Panhead Billy Burrows?”  I guess he’s a motorcyclist that’s lived on the road for over 30 years.  Sounds like an interesting guy.  They mention him in their blog.

After leaving Prescott, I took a shortcut to Iron Springs Road via Forest Road 47.  It looked to me more like Forest “Trail” 47 since it didn’t look like anyone had been on it in ages.  As you know, I don’t have a lot of experience in dirt, and it hurts when I fall.  It hurt when I was young, too, but now it hurts for two weeks instead of two days.  Anyway, there were a couple of spots where I was a little nervous due to ruts on a steep hill, but I felt confident that if I couldn’t ride it up, I would be able to walk it up.  That’s one thing that I love about the RX3.  It inspires confidence; partly because I can sit on it flat footed, partly because it’s lightweight, and partly because it accelerates so smoothly.  There’s no power band to contend with if you panic.  There are no surprises.  The bike not only accelerates smoothly, but the suspension firmly dampens bumps, ruts, and whatever else you throw at it.  At least it does for my rookie riding style.  Before I knew it, Forest Road 47 was behind me.  It was a piece of cake.

So far I love Arizona, and I may wind up relocating here.  We’ll see what the future holds. I will be riding a lot over the coming months, so if you can make it over sometime, I will be able to show you some great roads. 

Baja John 

That sounds like a plan, John.  Thanks  for the note.  Alaska sounds like it would be a hoot.   Ryan made that trek on his KLR.   I’m more of a Baja guy myself…I’d rather contend with fictitious banditos than real bears, but who knows….a ride to Alaska may be in my future, too!  And I checked out the site you mentioned (very briefly so far)…it looks great!  I’ll view it in more detail a bit later.