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Just Ride.
- Thread starter Jim
- Start date
Windshield on a XS2! Think of the children! Ride it like when men were men and bikes were bikes.
Doesn't look bad tho.
Doesn't look bad tho.
Nice photos, Bob !Sunday morning, depart 9:30 am , 57 degrees and sunny, headed for the Vulture Mountains and open desert.
Throwing the windshield on was a last minute decision.
It’s the solitude that appeals to me. Out here you will see the occasional car, but not too often, I passed more cows than cars, it’s not the fastest way to get from point A to point B, this road just meanders.....perfectly. Mild temps and recent rains have greened up the desert, in a couple of months it’ll be the color of dry toast.
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At the edge of the desert, I came across this place, a solar electric farm owned by the utilities company. We have many of these in Arizona, this is a tiny one. Some are absolutely gigantic. The satellite photo shows me as the blue dot.
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Beyond the deserts edge I enter farm land, mile after mile of it. Here they are growing alfalfa and hay for the nearby dairy farms. Irrigation is the name of the game for growing anything in the desert. I also passed fields where workers were harvesting onions, you can smell that operation before you can see it.
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And back in the barn. 130 miles clocked today. Today was a good day.....windshield was a good choice by the way.
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“The best thinking has been done in solitude, the worst has been done in turmoil.” Thomas Edison
Later,
Bob
I really like the red reflection you achieved in this one (my apologies for modding your pic!)
Im telling you buddy, you need one of these. Especially if you’re going to do any more of those marathons!
Ha! Purely accidental, never even thought about it. That would be my wife’s red Toyota reflecting off of the cases.
Hey Rudy,
For this trip I took highway 60 from Surprise Az NW to Wickenburg. From Wickenburg turn South on Vulture mine Rd ( this is the scenic part) all the way south to Buckeye.
For this trip I took highway 60 from Surprise Az NW to Wickenburg. From Wickenburg turn South on Vulture mine Rd ( this is the scenic part) all the way south to Buckeye.
So jealous Bob, aching to see some green round here. But we are just starting the season of mud.
Ahh....all too soon I’ll be looking at the photos coming from back East, beautiful little two lane roads under a canopy of leaves and I’ll be the jealous one, hiding in my air conditioned house. In the summer I pretty much only go out at sunrise or after the sun has gone down.
That's one of them op-pickle Illusions! I've seem them before in the bottom of my shot glass but not on such a grand scale!
Springtime in the desert Southwest.
In my quest to avoid all humanity, I rode off into the mountains North of my home , with Lake Pleasant in mind as a destination. I took the meandering route, knowing that weeks of heavy rain and mild temperatures would mean that the desert would be green and wildflowers would be blooming.
In a few weeks, the cactus will start blooming, the saguaro ( our state flower ) , prickly pear, and the tall skinny ocotillo. Later when it starts to get hot, all the palo Verde trees will bloom and the mountainsides will all turn yellow.
Snow on the Bradshaw mountains about 50 miles away.
There’s an entrance into the lake, that’s way in the back, off the beaten path, that sometimes doesn’t have anyone manning the toll booth. Well, not today, they nicked me $7 just to ride in. It was absolutely beautiful today, temps about 60 degrees and sunny.
When I go on these rides, I always say, all roads lead to lunch and today is no exception. I ride up the hillside overlooking the lake to the ramadas . The restaurants may all be closed and you can’t go near anyone, so I brought a sack lunch. But you can’t beat the view!
Till next time, I’ll see you on the road.
-Bob
In my quest to avoid all humanity, I rode off into the mountains North of my home , with Lake Pleasant in mind as a destination. I took the meandering route, knowing that weeks of heavy rain and mild temperatures would mean that the desert would be green and wildflowers would be blooming.
In a few weeks, the cactus will start blooming, the saguaro ( our state flower ) , prickly pear, and the tall skinny ocotillo. Later when it starts to get hot, all the palo Verde trees will bloom and the mountainsides will all turn yellow.
Snow on the Bradshaw mountains about 50 miles away.
There’s an entrance into the lake, that’s way in the back, off the beaten path, that sometimes doesn’t have anyone manning the toll booth. Well, not today, they nicked me $7 just to ride in. It was absolutely beautiful today, temps about 60 degrees and sunny.
When I go on these rides, I always say, all roads lead to lunch and today is no exception. I ride up the hillside overlooking the lake to the ramadas . The restaurants may all be closed and you can’t go near anyone, so I brought a sack lunch. But you can’t beat the view!
Till next time, I’ll see you on the road.
-Bob
Mailman, I hate you! Just beautiful country! 
Now that I think about it, I remember you saying you don't ride when it's real hot, which it does get out there. gggGary has coolers on his bike...( Looks like it's on life support, 
) but I'm sure it does a fine job! I'm already worrying about the Texas Summer heat. Will be the first summer for the me and the XS.
Now that I think about it, I remember you saying you don't ride when it's real hot, which it does get out there. gggGary has coolers on his bike...( Looks like it's on life support, ) but I'm sure it does a fine job! I'm already worrying about the Texas Summer heat. Will be the first summer for the me and the XS.
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Yeah, fall, winter and spring are all good here, summer not so much. I can get out briefly in the early morning and sometimes a rain will come in and I get a brief window of opportunity to get out. But I’m not complaining, we all have our off seasons. Glad you liked the photos.
Mailman I look and look in your pics for a Roadrunner !
there's a challenge for you lucky desert rider !
there's a challenge for you lucky desert rider !
Mailman I look and look in your pics for a Roadrunner !
there's a challenge for you lucky desert rider !
Ha! They are around, I see them frequently out in the desert. I did get a photo of a Red Tailed Hawk circling overhead this morning! It was a beautiful bird.
Thoughts on the taller gearing now that you've had an extended ride?