Overnight ride to Silver City
Wednesday/Thursday, 1/21-1/22
Leader Bill Flannery
The calendar opened up for this rather spontaneous overnight ride to Silver City. The weather forecast was also perfect for the two-day ride with clear skies and temps in the 70's before rain was expected to roll into the area the day after the ride would be completed. We had a total of four riders: Bill Flannery, Clayton Stevens, Darrell Conklin and Sam Halgren. A HUGE THANKS to Clayton, Darrell and Sam for making the overnight ride so very enjoyable and memorable. Additional details:
Day One: Tucson to Silver City
- Route (281 miles): https://maps.app.goo.gl/6Hym8v1XfFAFVBR96
- Relive video: Silver City ride day 1: Tucson to Silver City | Relive
- Notes:
We met up at the Roadrunner Market and headed down to Sonoita, through Elgin then a pit stop in Tombstone. We also stopped in Douglas at the Speedway gas station for gas and a break but after getting gas discovered the bathrooms were closed. As we all know the ideal stop when riding motorcycles requires three things: gasoline, bathrooms and refreshments/snacks. This simple requirement results in efficient, productive and enjoyable stops for the entire group of riders. We simply got gas and headed to Portal for lunch.
Portal is a great little town with the historical Portal Peak Store & Cafe. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch there. I stayed in Portal one evening when on an impromptu solo ride several years ago. I discovered they have a small motel behind the store, so I checked in and enjoyed an evening of wonderful live music, great food and cold beer with many locals in the outdoor stage area. A nice memory.
After lunch we rode a short distance just outside of Portal to Cathedral Vista which involves a short uphill hike to a very, peaceful viewpoint with spectacular scenery.
From Portal we headed to Silver City. Another motorcycle ride requirement: At the end of each day, we must stop to fill up the bikes with gas and buy some beer for a happy hour get together before going to dinner. Well, the gas station we planned on stopping at in Silver City didn't have any gas and the other gas station in town didn't have any beer. So, we had to visit two different gas stations to fulfill the end of day requirements.
We checked into the Murray Hotel in Silver City, enjoyed our happy hour and a great dinner at the Little Toad Creek Brewery. Oh, and we stayed at the restaurant for quite some time enjoying our conversation and solving all the world's problems.
Day Two: Silver City to Tucson area
- Route (322 miles to Sahuarita): https://maps.app.goo.gl/PzWA9R6NMAND1jME8
- Notes:
We enjoyed a nice continental breakfast at the hotel then saddled up and left Silver City at 8:30 am after temps warmed up into the 40's. We headed up through Buckhorn and Mule Creek then stopped at the scenic overlook on Rte 78 near Blackfoot Campground. Awesome, fun twisty road with beautiful scenery.
Shortly after getting on Rte 70 to Safford, we encountered a massive piece of mining equipment being towed with a police escort (both in front of and in back of the equipment) and several pilot vehicles. The equipment easily took up 3/4's of the two-lane road. Fortunately for us, after several miles of slow going, the equipment convoy pulled off and stopped on the side of the road, and we were able to pass it all. We got to Safford and made a pit stop at the Circle K. We got back on the road heading to Globe when as bad luck would have it, we caught up to the equipment convoy. It apparently passed us while we were in the gas station. We followed the convoy at a slow pace all the way to Globe. We were hoping and praying that the convoy wouldn't turn South on Rte 77 because that was the route we were taking back to Tucson. Well, as bad luck would have it, the convoy did indeed turn onto Rte 77 South. At that point we decided to stop for lunch in Globe and Clayton recommended a great little restaurant in town: Irene's Real Mexican Restaurant. We enjoyed a great lunch.
After lunch we headed south on Rte 77 and as bad luck would have it, we caught up with the convoy immediately. It must have stopped for at least an hour and a half which was the amount of time we took for our lunch stop. We followed the convoy for what seemed like an eternity and its pace was extremely slow. All oncoming traffic had to pull off onto the extreme edge of the road and wait for the convoy to slowly pass. It was a painfully slow ride for MANY miles with NO opportunity to pass officially. If not for the police escort, we would have considered passing the convoy when we had the chance. However, none of us wanted to end the ride in handcuffs so decided to simply follow the convoy. The good news? This was the first time any of us thoroughly viewed, enjoyed and experienced the awesome scenery along the route as we had never ridden that road so slowly. Somewhere between Winkelman and Mammoth the convoy finally pulled off to the side of the road and police stopped all oncoming traffic to allow us to pass the convoy. It's all "part of the adventure" as we often say on our motorcycle rides/adventures, eh?
All in all, it was a great, fully enjoyable, memorable ride with great company and friends in perfect weather. All is good...
Thanks,
Flan
