Author Topic: Interesting Roads and Destinations (Read 43078 times)

ofreen · « **Reply #25 on:** August 03, 2010, 12:22:37 pm »

Thanks, Andy. I'll make the same offer to you. Another good reason to have a few extra bikes.

ofreen · « **Reply #26 on:** November 08, 2010, 12:46:59 pm »

This segment (and others) always makes me think about how it must have been not so long ago when this was one of the main routes west. Narrow and winding, with some steep grades, it could be a challenge back in the good old days. These days the pavement between Kingman and Oatman is in poor condition so you can't too carried away in the corners, but the road is still very entertaining. The road south of Oatman is in better shape and very twisty, with a lot of decreasing radius curves and off-camber stuff. Good fun.

Oatman -

Some video -

seaweb11 · « **Reply #27 on:** November 08, 2010, 02:37:10 pm »

Thanks for posting on this thread again

Makes me long for a solo again.

BobbyR · « **Reply #28 on:** November 08, 2010, 07:08:39 pm »

You guys are my heroes.

ofreen · « **Reply #29 on:** November 09, 2010, 10:10:18 am »

Quote from: seaweb11 on November 08, 2010, 02:37:10 pm

Thanks for posting on this thread again
Makes me long for a solo again.

Yeah, me too. Summer went by too fast this year. (Like always.) I did manage to get two 10-day rides in, plus some dual purpose rides, so I didn't do too bad. But that just whets the appetite for more.

Quote from: BobbyR on November 08, 2010, 07:08:39 pm

You guys are my heroes.

Traveling and camping by bike, taking the back roads, with no particular destination every day is about as good as it gets.

ofreen · « **Reply #30 on:** April 07, 2011, 05:32:24 pm »

This is a nice little side trip off the main road north of Silver City NM to an old mining town. The road is very entertaining as it climbs and descends and bobs and weaves around, with some great views. The town itself has a nice ramshackle appeal and the people there are glad to see you. You can buy a t-shirt or stay in a haunted inn.

seaweb11 · « **Reply #31 on:** April 07, 2011, 08:32:52 pm »

Awesome photos.

ofreen · « **Reply #32 on:** October 24, 2011, 09:32:07 pm »

I think I mentioned before that I like to find the old roads that have been supplanted by newer ones, especially roads that were replaced by the interstates. (I hate interstates.) Here is one that has some history as it is part of the old Oregon Trail. I guess getting down this hill out of the Blue Mountains wasn't much fun in a wagon, a little dangerous back in the day. We have it good now, it's paved and reasonably smooth. I was surprised to see new pavement since the last time I was on it. It has been getting pretty dilapidated the last few years. I can remember riding up this road as a kid when we used to take the yearly trip down to Salt Lake in the summer, long before I-84 existed. Anyway, it is worth seeking out, something different to get you off the I-84 drone for a bit.

andy750 · « **Reply #33 on:** October 25, 2011, 04:49:51 am »

As always Greg wonderful photos and very interesting history!

Thanks for sharing,
Andy

ofreen · « **Reply #34 on:** October 25, 2011, 08:48:02 am »

Thanks, Andy. I'll try to get some more of these up now that things have slowed down a little.

70CB750 · « **Reply #35 on:** December 01, 2011, 03:11:38 am »

Great pictures, thank you!

Dig the Dworshak name on the map, LOL, I guess the original Dvořák was too hard to pronounce

BobbyR · « **Reply #36 on:** December 02, 2011, 09:04:27 am »

Those photos remind me about the beauty that can be found in the rugged and sometimes desolate areas you find out west. I lived in Cali and Nevada for a while.

Here in the Northeast we don't have the long sightlines and vistas unless we are on top of a mountain.

Absolutely beautiful pictures.

gregk · « **Reply #37 on:** January 13, 2012, 07:09:32 am »

ofreen

We are going to try the Kingman-Oatman road this morning, or as soon as it warm up a bit. We trailered bikes from BC to Arizona last week and took a secondary road off I15 south of Mesquite and had a nice suprise. It travels along Lake Mead to Boulder City. The surface is new and I think there was one other car and a bike passed us.
We plan to go back with the bikes and will take a few pictures. We were really impressed with this section of road and wonder why it hasn't been mentioned before?

greg

ofreen · « **Reply #38 on:** January 13, 2012, 05:21:30 pm »

Quote from: gregk on January 13, 2012, 07:09:32 am

ofreen

We are going to try the Kingman-Oatman road this morning, or as soon as it warm up a bit. We trailered bikes from BC to Arizona last week and took a secondary road off I15 south of Mesquite and had a nice suprise. It travels along Lake Mead to Boulder City. The surface is new and I think there was one other car and a bike passed us.
We plan to go back with the bikes and will take a few pictures. We were really impressed with this section of road and wonder why it hasn't been mentioned before?

greg

Man, I wish I could go. I know the road you are talking about. They are developing a big recreation area there. We were on part of it about a year and a half ago. A lot was still gravel then and still under construction. We'll have to hit it again.

gregk · « **Reply #39 on:** January 14, 2012, 09:48:46 am »

ofreen

The trip to oatman went well. An interesting place to say the least.
Did you see the old bikes in one of the shops? A single cylinder HD, an Excelsior, another bike that was leather belt driven and a few old motors on display.
Our next trip is to 29 palms- Joshua Tree Park in California. Probably go Monday.

ofreen · « **Reply #40 on:** January 14, 2012, 10:01:25 am »

Quote from: gregk on January 14, 2012, 09:48:46 am

Did you see the old bikes in one of the shops? A single cylinder HD, an Excelsior, another bike that was leather belt driven and a few old motors on display.

I missed that and will look for it next time. Were you able to get some pix?

gregk · « **Reply #41 on:** January 15, 2012, 06:52:43 am »

No pictures of the bikes this time but we will be going back a few times in the next month.
Our next adventure is a ride thru Joshua Tree Park, in California.

greg

the technological J · « **Reply #42 on:** January 16, 2012, 10:25:04 pm »

man i need to bounce out west for a while

ofreen · « **Reply #43 on:** January 30, 2012, 09:05:37 pm »

NV722 has a lot of history to it. It runs from just outside Middlegate, NV to just west of Austin, NV. It was part of the old Lincoln Highway that ran most of the way across the country, and later was designated as part of US50. It goes over another higher pass well south of present day US50. They hype US50 as being the loneliest highway, but 722 has it beat. I prefer it to 50, being a smaller road through more rugged and scenic terrain, but 722/50 makes a nice little loop. I knew I'd be taking this road during the Nevada leg of the relay and intended to take more pictures for use in this thread. But somehow I got caught up in the ride and didn't take many. So the pictures don't do it justice, but everyone should go see for themselves, right? It is a great road.

This old house was a pretty nice one in its time. It sits by itself miles from anything else. Amazing it hasn't been burned down. It looks like party central now.

Here's the obligatory video. Just as I shut the camera off after passing that old farm house, a big coyote ran across the road. But I missed getting it on camera.

gregk · « **Reply #44 on:** January 31, 2012, 05:49:49 am »

I got around to returning to Oatman to get some pictures of the bikes in a shop. There are two single cylinder HD's, an Excelisor, a Clevland and a Rocket ( never heard of it - leather belt drive). Also several motors JAP etc.

ofreen · « **Reply #45 on:** February 02, 2012, 05:13:40 pm »

Thanks for putting the pics up. I'll look for that place next time.

ofreen · « **Reply #46 on:** September 08, 2012, 10:18:09 am »

One of the fun things about traveling by motorcycle is meeting other people doing the same thing. We met a couple of guys heading to Sturgis in a rest area in Oklahoma while taking a break from the 110+ degree heat. During the conversation we mentioned we were going to stop in Bentonville, AR to look at guitars and banjos. Turns out they were from that area and they clued us in on Eureka Springs and the surrounding area as being good for riding. Good is an understatement. We ended up staying a couple of days in the area riding around. We could have stayed longer as we left plenty of roads unseen. Here's a few photos.

Eureka Springs is an interesting old town. It reminds of some mining towns further west, such as Jerome, AZ or Bisbee, AZ and plenty of others built on the side of a steep hill. As it turns out, the town is famous, but I'll show some pix here in case there are others as ignorant as me. It is a resort town, so it is a tourist trap. But it is cool to walk around and look at all the old buildings and shops.

The New Orleans Hotel. If the fire doesn't get you, the fire escapes might -

So Eureka Springs is cool, but what is really worthwhile are the roads in the area. Even the road leading into town from the west is outstanding, except it is lined with businesses, restaurants, etc. Riding that road is like going into a Hooters. It has the ambiance of something else, in this case a remote mountain road, but you have to restrain yourself because there are kids around.

These signs are all over the area. They sum up the area's roads nicely -

Just outside of Witter, AR -

Some roadside art at Witter. This thing is a remarkable piece of work and it is just sitting alongside the road rusting away. Maybe our Arkansas members can give us some more info on who made it. Be sure to read the story on the sign. It is hilarious.

What is better than having a break in the shade in 112 degree heat, taking a little refreshment at an old store alongside the road visiting with the locals? A nice old store at St Paul, AR -

There are a lot of old towns in the area. Here's a couple.

Boston, AR -

Kingston, I think -

Northwest Arkansas turned out to be one of the high points of the trip, even better because it was unexpected. I highly recommend checking it out. By the way, the Eureka Springs KOA is pretty decent for tenting unlike most KOAs these days.

Stev-o · « **Reply #47 on:** September 08, 2012, 01:00:18 pm »

Great write up Greg. I've been to Eureka Springs, nice town. Hwy 7, southeast of ES, is an incredible ride on a bike.

ofreen · « **Reply #48 on:** September 08, 2012, 02:19:31 pm »

Thanks, Stev-o. I found out it is hard to go wrong with any of the roads around there. Plus, there are some decent county roads that don't show on that map I posted.

ofreen · « **Reply #49 on:** November 03, 2012, 02:54:38 pm »

It looks like there is a recurring theme here - old roads that have been superceded by newer routes. Here is another, old US95 on Whitebird Hill north of the town of Whitebird, ID. They were pretty proud of themselves when this segment was completed and improved beginning in 1921 and finally paved in 1938. Probably justified. It is said if all the arcs of the switchbacks are combined, it adds up to 37 full 360s. There is plenty of other history in the area too. The U.S. cavalry had their butts handed to them by the Nez Perce in 1877 at the Whitebird battle site, the opening shots of the Nez Perce war. There is a walking tour you can take at the bottom of the hill, just outside Whitebird.

The old road gains almost 3000 feet in 14 miles, but the new road does the same thing in seven. But the old road is way more interesting. You can see the new road in the distant background in the first photo.

Here is a view of the old road from new US95 -

Bird's eye view -

News:

Author Topic: Interesting Roads and Destinations (Read 43078 times)