3-12-08
Springtime Railroad Tires

My friend Cactus Jack in Salida, Colorado sent me a photo of his bicycle and trailer loaded on down with his musical instruments. Jack is a very talented musician that I have know for thirty some years. He and his friend Willie, I met as they were playing music on the streets of Tonopah, Nevada during a Jim Butler Days event. Jack originally started out playing harmonica, moved into banjo and finally took up guitar. He then moved into mandolin and last time I was there he had taken up the do-bro (not sure how you spell that). His wife Linda has started playing a four string base guitar. When Jack goes to play he usually just loads up his trailer with the instruments and off they go around town.

Jack says that there has become quite a bike trailer community developing in Salida. He thinks there might be maybe a hundred bike trailers in town now. One of his good friends is a contractor and has a really heavy-duty trailer for his bike and uses it to haul construction materials. I really liked the community of Davis, California where Tova went to school. Almost everyone in town rides a bike and the streets and parking lots are designed for them. It just seems to make so much sense for moving around town. I like the little bicycle delivery businesses that some of the handicap guys have in Miles City for running errands and getting groceries for some of the shut ins and older folks in town.

I finally called Helen Suby to see what it would involve for going on down into Mexico. I wanted to see Tom and Ernie and check out their house they are working on as well as visit the really nice hot spring that is near by. First thing I walked over the border and checked in at the Auduna (customs) to see what I would need for myself and bike. Tom’s place is down below the ‘free zone’ where I would need a visa and import papers for the bike. I finally got all my documents copied and had all the paperwork filled out by the nice women at the office. Then it was time for them to look at the bike and I told them that it was still across the border so I had to go get it. The cost would be just under forty bucks but I needed insurance for the bike too. I went back over the border and hunted up an insurance office and bought insurance for a week. That cost $37.50 for seven days but would have cost $60 something for six months. I stopped in at a little Mexican restaurant and had a wonderful spicy meal. I will have to say that it seems like the closer you get to the border the Mexican food gets better and that restaurant was only a couple of hundred yards from that border.

After that meal I charged across the border with the bike and brought in my papers along with my credit card, which is necessary rather than cash. One of the gals came out and I showed her the numbers stamped on the frame up on the fork head. The number stamped there is seven numbers with R80GS as the type of model it is. Well, the VIN number that is on the registration papers is about four inches long and must be the line number when they make the bike telling about it being blue and high fender with knobby tires or something. The last seven numbers of that long string is the VIN number that is stamped on the frame. Well that wasn’t good enough for her and we went in and there was a huge discussion (all in Spanish I might add) with two other women in there. Finally what must have been the head lady came out with me and looked at the numbers. Still a no go with her. I then had the idea that maybe the numbers punched into the sticker on the bottom  of the frame might convince her. Well that might have worked by she would have had to get down on a knee and look. That was NOT her style. I offered to throw the bloodhound on its side but no, she needed that big long number and letters to be stamped on the frame head. SO, I couldn’t get across the border. Damn….

That really bummed me out but there sure wasn’t anything I could do so I rode back to camp.

I was in the pod feeling gloomy and heard something outside. When I walked out a little puppy came running up to me. Wow! A puppy!!! He didn’t mind being picked up and held. There were three guys on the edge of my camp looking over a little trail that starts there. They asked if I knew of any rock climbing routes near by. They were here to do some rock climbing but didn’t know where to go. I drew a little map in the dust and headed them to the little trail that Sheila and I were on when we met a couple of climbers coming down. I told the guys that one of them was a little scratched up. They said “no problem, that just makes it more interesting.” Man, I sure hated to let go of that puppy.
 

Before I left the area I stopped at this little store with the cherry tree blooming is heart out. This store is owned by Mennonites and they have some really nice food on the shelves. The thing I really like is that they have a lot of bulk food all bagged up in small bags ready to go. I stopped in and picked up some of those bags. When I was leaving last year I bought a pile of stuff to go too. The girl this time wondered what I was cooking up but understood when I told her I was stocking up for my trip home to Montana. There is a community not far away called the Kansas Settlement that is a farming area where most of them live. I was talking with one of the young men there and asked him if it was his store. He said he just worked there. He came from a family that had three boys and he said the farm wasn’t big enough for all of them to make a living on in it so he left. What I thought was interesting is that he is the oldest boy. Usually the oldest boy in Montana families get to stay on the farm and usually get it when the parents die. The younger ones have to go off and make their own way. I don’t know maybe this guy didn’t want to farm, I really don’t blame him…… He was really interested in my motorcycle. I think he is a kind of guy that could get on one and really get his eyes opened.  

On the way back to my camp south of Globe I had to stop and take a picture of the California poppies turning the hills Golden…..   it is spring time in the desert and with all the rain this year it should be spectacular.

After I got back to ‘my’ `camp above Dripping Springs I took a walk up the hill for exercise. Wow, the flowers were really starting to hit it. These California poppies aren’t open yet as it was just after sunrise. It takes those Californians a litte time to get going.

This is a small field of those little lilies that the old Indians used to dig for use like onions. They are growing all over and even in the road tracks. For some reason this area if perfect for them. 

These are some of the shade trees in camp. The cattle like to hang out here and fertalize the place. You can see the plants are about a foot high. Almost all the ground is now covered with little green plants that are with small flowers.

The days are now just so PERFECT that I have to take a ride everyday. I took off and went down to Winkleman and then on up to the Ray Mine. There was a nice overlook to the huge open pit mine and for the last couple of times I was here it has been closed. This time it was open and changed a little.

I was going to try to do a panorama photo but it takes about five pictures that would have to be stiched together and that really doesn’t work well. So here is a central photo. One of the posters at the visitor center says the mine is three miles long and a mile and a half wide.

As I was reading the posters I heard a huge WOOMP!!! I turned around and could see the cloud of dust from the blast.

The posters said that they drill 75 holes 10 5/8” in diameter and fifty feet deep. It is really hard to imagine how big some of this stuff is. You can see the shovel down to the right and that thing loads 25 tons per scoop and I think the little trucks take 5 scoops to fill them. they have a couple of really big trucks and I think they haul 450 tons each load. It was shift change evidently and the only activity was this blast but I could see these really tiny yellow school busses that were probably delivering workers to their equipment.

This was the road from Kerny to the Ray mine.

I turned off on the way back and was going to take the dirt road from Kelvin to Florence. As I rode along I spied this railroad construction crew puffing up the tracks. This machine was stuffing new ties under the rails. I guess this machine or another one grabbed the old rotten ones out before he started.

These guys scooped the gravel over the new tie as well as one guy positioned the metal plate that goes under the rail to protect the tie.

This guy was really nice. He wanted to know where I was from. When I told him Montana, he said he had never been there and wanted to go visit. I told him to visit in the summer, he would like it better than winter…..J. This machine lifts up the rail and allows him to stuff the plate under the rail and on the tie.

This guy came along next and picked up the old ties and stacked them on the little flat bed car.

Here comes the BIG guy and they are nailing the track down through the plates. It grabs the tie in the center and hold it up while the machine pounds the spike in. This is a very cool machine.

After the big machine goes by these two guys pound in the loose spikes.

Ahh, I love these kind of signs…..

I went over the mountain pass and over towards Florence where the road flattens out and isn’t so interesting. I turned around and came back as it was getting later in the afternoon now.

A nice little patch of lupine along the road. The road had recently been graded and he had knocked off the washboard and made the road fantastic. It seems like most of the dirt roads in Arizona are well maintained and fun to ride.

The next day I decided to head down to Tucson to see about getting some tires for my puppies. I really like this guys work truck. It is always nice to see someone keeping these old guys out on the road and working.

I stopped again in Mamoth and got a better picture of the this miner at the rest stop in Mammoth.

I stopped at a little library on the way down and opened up my email and found one from Bob. It had a link to a tire suppilier in Tucson and when the mouse went buy it, it asked if I wanted to find it. well, sure, that is why I am down here….. A nice little map popped up and I looked at it and thought it would be easy to find. Well, I looked where I thought it might be and couldn’t find it. I did find a couple of cops on bicycles and they didn’t know where it could be either but they directed me to a motorcycle shop near by. Well this turned out to be a chopper shop but I braved it as I was wearing my Bob’s Motorwerks tee shirt. it is really getting ratty looking and sort of greasy around the neck with small holes so I thought I be able to sort of blend in with the greasy black leather and chain guys. Well. I was met by this really cool little Schnauzer who was happy to see me and likes pets. Wow, what a master eh? Yeah, she was really nice and posed for this picture. Too bad she didn’t take off her top as she had an amazing tattoo showing around the edges on her back. The little dog is a scooter dog and I guess just loves to go for a ride. Anyway she actually printed out a map of directions to the tire guy.

I ended up buying two sets of tires for the bikes. The tire guy (swmototires.com) is a  really nice guy. He is a big guy too and there are photos of race bikes all over the walls. I asked him if he races and he said yeah, actually he won the Baja race twice. Now he is building a race truck to win the race in it too. He said he was getting too old to do it on bikes anymore. He said he has all the business he wants and doesn’t advertise at all. Actually he says he has too much business and tries to scale down. He said that as we were talking his wife was just going through her first chemo treatment. Oh, shit……

I stopped at a restaurant that Sheila and I found and picked up a really nice all meat green chile burro and packed it on over to the grave yard along the main highway on my way back. It was a nice place to lunch as it was nice and quiet as well as shady and cool. It was just starting to get warm and the forecast said it would be high 80’s.

I stopped at a little turn off that said it was a parking area for the Arizona Trail. I had always wondered what the Arizona trail was and I guess it is a hiking trail that runs from the north border to the Mexican border. In most places it is far away from roads. It would be nice if it would be for motorcycle too but no such luck.