Trans Americas 2009 - The Blog

Another riding day, with some 385 miles to cover to Vernal, Utah...

Jim's alarm clock dragged me from a deep sleep at 5.45am, beeping away while he merrily slept on. I tried to wake him by gently calling his name, but to no avail. Almost shouting, and flashing the main room light seemed to have the desired effect, and as he stirred I quietly mentioned that his alarm was going off, and then went back to sleep. When my alarm went off an hour later, I groggily got up, showered and packed, then as I was leaving the room for breakfast, in came Jim, looking decidedly groggy and muttering about how he'd got up early to get an early start, only to have to wait for breakfast which didn't start until 7am...

By 8.15am I was pulling out of the car park and riding out of town, taking highway 120 towards Meeteetse with my music on and dropping straight into the groove, enjoying the feeling of being on the road again. The first section was all sweeping bends and up-and-down undulations, and I rode along with my line naturally flowing, smoothly riding the curves whilst at the same time scanning this way and that, admiring the scenery as much as looking for hazards. I stopped for fuel at Shoshoni, and bought another phone card so I could ring Olivia and wish her a happy 5th birthday. But the card didn't work, and the phone volume was so bad I couldn't hear what the customer service people were saying, so I had to continue without having spoken to her.

Soon the rolling hills gave way to the entrance to the Wind River Gorge, running into the Indian Reservation of the same name following the line of the river, more great bends. I was tracking alongside a train on the railway on the opposite side of the gorge, catching glances across to see whether I was getting ahead or not. When the gorge opened out I pulled into a rest area for a short break, and naughtily ignored the signs proclaiming that using the facilities required the payment of a park fee (there was no-one around to pay anyway).

Once out of the gorge the rocks began to change colour, with bands of deep red cutting across the landscape, and sections of rock mounds not dissimilar to the moonscape we saw at the Petrified Forest. Climbing one big hill, the view behind was so spectacular that I had to pull over and take a photo, using the impromptu stop as an excuse to eat some of the “van snacks” I'd remembered to get from Jeff before setting off...





Before long the landscape changed again, from gently undulating to completely flat as we rode along the high plateau – by which time I'd caught up to Nigel, Chris and Danielle, the 4 of us riding in formation across this desolate place. Despite the sun shining it was getting chilly, with a side wind and an altitude of over 8,000 ft, and I was glad that I'd started the day with my inner jacket on and the vents on my jacket closed. We stopped after around 240 miles for a quick coffee, and I tried again with the phone card and this time managed to get the customer service people to activate the card (seems the garage that sold it to me forgot). But as I was using a pay-phone it didn't want to connect my international call, so I once again had to carry on without getting through.

The next stop was at Cruel Jack's in Rock Springs, where the others ate lunch (by now we'd been joined by Max & Christine, Richard & Karen and Al), and I tried again on the phone, this time successfully getting through to Tracy but it was well past Olivia's bedtime, so I had to relay a message to Danielle via Tracy to pass on my apologies...
Back on the US-191 the road got more interesting again, with wide sweeping bends leading alongside Flaming Gorge, and I once again dropped into the groove, riding the curves and chasing the vanishing point, all the time eyes wide open and absorbing the stunning views. Shortly after we crossed the state border and entered Utah there was a viewpoint overlooking Flaming Gorge Reservoir, so I pulled in hoping for a rest-room as well as a good picture. I got the picture, but not the much-needed restroom...





The dam was constructed between 1958 and 1964 and holds back around 4.6 Km2 of water, used both for recreation and for generating power. Having taken advantage of another viewpoint with some good trees, I followed the road down and across the dam, rising up and over the surrounding hills and then over some more undulating countryside before signs started to appear warning of a steep descent and “10 switchbacks”. Whilst these are warning signs for other road users, for the motorcyclist they are manna from heaven. They provide some great opportunities to practice getting lines spot-on, as the technique required to negotiate a switchback (hairpin) is similar to any other bend, but perhaps a little more extreme, the key being to turn in as late as possible, turning the bike quickly and getting just the right amount of lean angle set for a smooth curve, holding a positive throttle round the turn to keep the bike stable and on line, then accelerating as soon as the road opens up, chasing the vanishing point. Getting entry speed and turn-in point just right is the key to a smooth corner, if either of these are wrong you end up “thruppeny bitting” the corner, having to re-apply steering input and lean angle midway through the turn, effectively making the turn look like an old three-penny bit (think 20p piece) rather than a smooth arc. Great fun...

Part way down through this brilliant road was a viewpoint, looking out towards Vernal across the lands where dinosaur remains have been found... even with such great riding to be done, I stopped, the view breathtaking...





Eventually I arrived in Vernal, filled up with fuel and then rode to the hotel, the Best Western Dinosaur Inn. With my bag in the room, I stripped and put on my swimming shorts and jumped in the pool (which is in a fenced area in the car park...) to cool off. Once cooled, and with the sun disappearing behind the clouds I went back to my room, showered and updated the blog. Then it was time for dinner and beer... This being Utah, we can only get beer when in a club or eating, so we went to a bar/restaurant down the road, where we tried 3 different local beers (1st Amendment Lager, Provo Girl Pilsner and Full Suspension Pale Ale) all of which were only OK (nothing special) and ate fish and chips (also only OK). With my stomach grumbling, I returned to the hotel and went to bed...