Newsletter No. 31
September 17, 2022

Yesterday, I actually rode the Red One along all of Rim Road to the El Tovar Hotel!

That was a moment to cherish, for sure. I have video from yesterday, but I want to do it justice so it will have to wait. We started in Flagstaff and hauled the bike up to the East Entrance to the Grand Canyon on Arizona Route 64. On the way, we stopped to take a photo at the beginning of my originally planned off-road section. Those rocks may not seem like anything in a truck, but they are not suitable for a hundred-year-old street bike.

From there, I rode to the top of Grandview Road and headed south. In yesterday’s newsletter, I mentioned that Lloyd found the conditions on Grandview Road would not be safe for me to ride, so I dipped my toe in the water (literally) and road maybe a mile or so south, saw enough, was still alive, counted my blessings, and headed back to the Rim Road.

I could not help but recall C.K.’s poetic description of when I reached the Canyon.

From there, I rode about five miles further to a turnout where we stopped for lunch. Glen had cleaned the trailer out so well it was fit to cater the meal Glen prepared in advance!

It was about 10 more miles to the El Tovar. The driveway there is pretty steep and someone blind and I knew there was typically quite a bit of pedestrian traffic up there, so I was a bit nervous, but arrival was uneventful. I stopped the bike under the very same tree that C.K.’s son Charles posed on the bike for me in 2019.

From there, we hauled the bike down to Ash Fork, remounted, and headed west to Peach Springs. On the way, we stopped about 20 miles short of Peach Springs to visit an annual bike meet, the 39th Annual Friendship Run put on by the River Riders Motorcycle Club (thanks for the tip, Mike). The Red One certainly turned some heads, but I politely declined a suggestion to ride a loop around the campground before we left. We hauled there to Peach Springs and spent the night.

On to Barstow tonight via Kingman, Needles, Ludlow, and then Barstow.

Again, here is the live tracking link:

https://share.garmin.com/ND86G

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Thanks again for all your support!