22 Miles in First Gear.

The Apache Loop, and certain stops along the way, are popular destination among Phoenician motorcyclists. Wanting to check it out ourselves we so we happened across an seeming reasonable local travel guide and borders and began using it to explore




Day Trips by Sheila Stein has a partiulary useful quality to this author. The trips dont require and planing, one just gets up and goes. The Wrench Wench and I were quite pleaesed this format because it fits our traveling style so well, One major detail this book has though is lack of detail, particularly in the area maps.. This has gotten us into an adventure situation a few times.

The following narrative is but one of those adventures.

This ride actually turned out to be an attempt to connect with one of the local BMW riding clubs. As these things often work out for us there was no real connection with the people. We did make an effort to go along with the plan though, but the ride captain for that day was too aggressive and I soon let us fall back and lose the crowd and then ride our own ride. This had two advantages, first, we could ride our own pace and enjoy it more. We got to turn down a road and play "where does that road go?" And in this case it was very, well interesting little exploration.

Following the group leader for the first part of the ride had put us well into The Apache Loop, or as it is known in the local vernacular, The Apache Trail Circle Road




Without the proper details on the map, we did make it to Roosevelt Dam, and we had to decide whether to go to some of the further possible destinations, or finish the Apache Loop.



Because we were both feeling a bit beat up that day we decided on the shorter route...which finishes the loop. Unbeknown to us the rest of the trail from Roosevelt Dam onward is 22 miles of fairly rough dirt road. And the lovely travel guide we had failed to mention this particular bit. Needless to say it was an interesting 22 miles.



There is a whole lot more story to tell here...but for now I hope this video keeps you entertained.

Thanks!

BMWeerman

Motorcycling to the Stars Part 2

Places like this have always been extremely exciting to me and Patti and I both felt a sense of wonder as we walked on the grounds and began to get a sense of the scale and grandness of the facility. Founded in 1958 the Kitt Peak Observatory is home to 23 telescopes making it the largest collection of astronomical instruments in the world.





Click Here for an Interactive View of this Map



View from the observation deck of the four meter telescope looking south

There are three guided tours provided each day for a nominal cost and each one covers a different area of the facility. We arrived just in time to take the last tour of the day which was to the main attraction; the four meter telescope. It was quite a hike from the visitors center to the telescope, and because of the lay of the land, it really is uphill both ways. At 8000 feet the temperature was significantly cooler than on the desert floor. We were wearing all of the layers that we had brought, which was not a lot, and felt quite chilled. In addition, at that altitude, the wind was blowing at a pretty good clip.



Trudging up the hill to the four meter telescope building



And it gets even more imposing as you actually approach it.



We had a really great guide for the tour and got more information than we could possibly have retained. The view from the observation deck of the four meter is stunning. One of the things that stuck in my head was the story about the near-earth collision detection program. The telescope pictured below is part of a government project that does nothing but scan the sky constantly for space objects that have the potential for hitting the earth. As of October 2008 982 of these near earth objects NEOs have been detected. Kind of an alarming fact when you think about it.





The silver dome in the center of the above picture is the NEO telescope

There were also some stunning views of the road we had just come up...





Above: US 386 as seen from the observation deck of the four-meter telescope looking to the west

After spending some time on the observation deck our group climbed a narrow set of stairs to view the instrument itself. Without the proper photographic equipment it is impossible to get the right shots or even convey the scale of the inside of the dome, but here is my meager attempt.



One of the things that made this trip visit special was we had a really great guide, I am not sure what his education or background was but he made the trip very interesing.



Definitely a trip worth making!

Motorcycling Around Pheonix - South Mountain Park

At the risk of offending some of my new friends and nieghbors I have found during our first six months here in the Phoenix, Metro area that is is not a great place for motorcycling. Even compared to LA, which boasts of the Angeles Crest Highway, PCH, and the great canyons. Or compared to the stark, but vibrant beauty of New Mexico, southern Arizona is a dump. Once you start getting north of Phoenix toward Flagstaff, Sedona, and the Grand Canyon it is a different story.

However having said all that, there are a few places of interest in and around the Phoenix Metro Area

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The red Marker on the above google map marks the location of South Mountain Park, which as it turns out it the largest recreational park within a metro area in the U.S

It's quite a ride to get there from where we live in northweawt. One has to go to the end of I-17 which is not so bad, but then their is a fair distance one must drive on surface streets through the ghetto to get to the park entrance.



Beginning the ascent into South Mountain Park



A wide view of Phoenix metro looking north



And a slightly tighter view


Following are some random shots in basically sequential order, ascending.

The Roswell Episode...

The making of this episode of Road Show has been so freaking' bizzare if I didn't believe in Aliens before I can certainly see there input in this situation.

Rewind a couple of weeks. We had just recently arrived here and I had alredy met up with some of my new biker buddies. We had only been in town a few days and they invited me out to the major boonies. I Googled the address they gave me and thought I had everything wrapped up. But out here in the high desert maps and reality seem to have little correlation outside of the major metro areas.

Long story short hereI ended up being lost, at night in the desert. Even though I was nowhere near Roswell at the time I can easily see why people see things out here. It is WILD!

Ok back to the present....

The fourth of July was coming up and with it the Roswell UFO festival. Since our downsizing from a 3 bedroom house with three car garage to 750 square foot pad with micro porch we have had doggie-hosting issues. Since the house we left also had a big back yard we would just leave the doggie door open and she was good for a night or two. Now she has to be taken out manually everytime. Possible solution turn her into a motorcycle dog!




Here Tuesday aka Motorcyle Dog is Ready for her first test run

A quick run down to Einsteins Bagels and a little dog friendly public hanging go so well I, yes believe it our not, dog skeptic me, says "oh, she will be fine let's just take her to Roswell.

NOT!

What my brilliant mind failed to compute was that a trip down to the local market DOES NOT equate to a hardcore slab-ride. It is astounding how aggressive the semi-trucks are on 70 going through Albuquerque. Actually it is amazing how aggresive all cage drivers are around here. Unfortunately a great percentage of them drive aggressively, but not well. Shoulder checking and rear-view mirror using seem to be against the rules. Fortunately we had only gone 23 miles so turning around and dropping off the Wrench Wench and the pup. Then I turned around and started over.

Fast forward to Roswell....






During the UFO festival at least most of the action takes place on Main St. from Second Ave to the South running to about Fifth Ave to the north. There were also some events being run from the Civic Center and the Military Insitute about 9 blocks North. Some may call that walking distance, but me, Nah!

Alas that, like many other details of the story are beyond the scope of this blog and must wait for the next issue of Road Show Magazine.

Here are the things which are specific to the podcast.


An interview with one of the proprietors of Planet Roswell who gave us a great interview and recommended reading.

Highlights from a conversation with the proprietor of Earth Station Roswell.

A bit of fun and a bit of terror from the road...

Please see the accompanying slide show, directly to the right for a kind of random sampling of the last couple of days of photography.


Keep your eyes peeled for the full story in Road Show Magazine.

Micro-Adventuring

Yesterday was one of those perfect days for motorcycling, cool, but not too cool with the promise of warming up later. Unfortunately, I had "THINGS TO DO." It had been a long time since the right combination of available time, a running bike and my health had conspired to even make such a day possible. But I had, "THINGS TO DO."

I spent the morning and most of the afternoon in an agony of indecision..."should I stay or should I go?"

You know that eventually I had to go, even though it was getting late.

Just to the east of Bakersfield on SR58 there is a railroad service road known as Bena Road. It is isolated, fairly well-maintained, and has long straight sections, in other words the perfect motorcycle road however so short it may be.




Traveling east on SR58 I pull in the cluth and slow down to exit on Tower Line Road. A short hop over to Bena and then reign in the beast past the landfill. Just past the landfill Bena takes a turn to the north and drops off steeply into a shallow valley. Rounding the corner throttle up letting gravity and internal combustion do their work. Hit the bottom corner at close to triple digits then roll on the throttle the rest of the way. Having recently just been in the engine, can see in my minds eye the throttle bodies opening full and in concert with the fuel injection computer pump as much air and fuel into the cylinders as possible.

Being the technical marvel that that is it still just adds up to one thing. adrenaline.

Ride to redline and hold. Still no windshield on the FrankenBeemer - 125 MPH in the naked wind. Helmet straining at my neck wanting to take flight on its own. NOTHING and I mean NOTHING will focus ones attention like being responsible for half a ton of bike and rider on a road like this. The tiniest lapse of attention and a rock, pothole or unseen patch of sand could put you down. Attention does not lapse.

In the twisties now, throttle rolls back, downshift into the tall end of fourth, countersteer into the first long right. This is classic peg-scraper, can I go for it? NO! No Balls. Right leg seems to have a memories of its own and I hear it telling me to play it safe.

Next up a classic sweeper to the right, looks clear, press the bike into the turn. Right leg exposed to the pavement now, toes twitch for the rear brake as Frankbeemer edges out of the line I set. Press harder into the turn now overiding the cellular feedback from my ankle.

At last the sound of tortured metal and sparks in my rear view mirror. Better.

FrankenBeemer begins to sense I am coming back and responds, the old confidence starts to flow back. Ascending hairpins coming up. Remembering the advice of master race coach Keith Code I feather the front brake only, slowing just enough to bring the lean angle of the bike up enough to stay in my lane. Yes this is good, we do the third gear dance.

Then anger...

There are blind corners on this road where if one blows the turn one will be launched into space. They are all marked by signs, but some freakin' morons have tagged up the sign. It's a NAVIGATION sign you idiots not gang territory...then gratitude I don't have to teach anymore.

Near the top of the hill I pull in the brakes hard and decide to turn off onto Caliente-Bodfish road.



Because this is a railroad service road it more or less follow the track of the Tehachapi Railroad as it ascends into the Tehachapi Mountains. (Geez that is brilliant)





As you can see one of the many very interesting looking tunnels that populate this route is located here as well.





As you can see here though the little buggers were ahead of me again!

The Abuse of Power By Doctors and a Desperate Gamble

This blog post does not have a clear beginning or a foreseeable clear end.  It does, however, have a clear now.  

For those readers who do not know that story, on May 14th 2007 I was horribly injured in a freak motorcycle accident on a desert road on the Arizona/New Mexico border.  I was miraculously rescued and, in fairness, have to thank the doctors who saved my life and put me back together.  
However, since that time, doctors with their over-medication, career and life-damaging reports which they refuse to take responsibility for, and mercenary financial tactics have brought me to a desperate place.

That desperate place is right, here, right now.

There is a specialist at UCLA who several months ago wrote a report, based on hearsay, that prevented me from returning to work and is about to make me lose my drivers license.  In this report she brought into question my my cognitive functioning.    Since that time I have been to another specialist at great expense to myself personally to have my cognitive functioning tested.  (Oh, by the way, no thanks to my psychiatrist, who has consistently over-medicated me and then refused to take any kind of responsibility for the implications of that.)
The cognitive testing shows me all normal.

IN SHORT, THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH ME THAT WOULD PREVENT ME FROM DRIVING OR PERFORMING ANY OTHER TASK AND I CAN PROVE IT.  HOWEVER, NEITHER THE SPECIALIST AT UCLA OR THE PSYCHIATRIST WILL ACKNOWLEDGE THIS!!!!!!!!

Worse still, their foot-dragging and buck-passing cost me a months work and a months disability which cost me my truck.  We are now down to just motorcycles and on March the 2nd I lose my drivers license unless a doctor will sign off on my medical

MY PSYCHIATRIST REFUSES TO SEE ME AND THE SPECIALIST SPECIALIST AT UCLA WILL NOT RETURN MY URGENT PHONE CALLS.  HOWEVER, IN THE BACKGROUND, THEY CONTINUE TO PASS THE BUCK AND DESTROY MY LAST OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE A LIVING AND DIG MYSELF OUT OF THE HOLE THAT HAS BEEN CREATED.

So, here is my desperate gamble-when I finish writing this and posting all over the internet, I am going to get on a motorcycle which needs a new clutch and new rear-end bearings and driving to UCLA. This is a distance of about 120 miles over some difficult and dangerous mountain terrain.  I am going to do whatever it takes to confront this doctor and/or one of her superiors and get them to take action.

At this point I am not naming names and I am keeping this report in the domain of blogs and private e-mails.  If I survive the day and do not get some satisfaction I will start naming names and start using my position as a member of the press to spread the story far and wide.  

I have nothing more to lose at this point.

Wish me luck.

J. Cameron Weckerley  Aka  BMWeerman  ....out 

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