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Highway
93 2024
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Today
I am going to benefit from the local knowledge of the Loker boys - Jeff
and Jon - who will take me on a 'guided' tour of the highlights in Tucson.
Because of the coming heat I am meeting them at my motel at 5:30 AM before
the temps get up high. |
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They
are right on time and on their ST1100s (they each own multiple motorcycles)
and we're off across Tucson like a dirty shirt. |
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The
sun is just coming up over the mountains and makes a lovely silhouette of
the cactus. |
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We are
headed for Mount
Lemmon, the highest point in the Santa Catalina Mountains at 9,159
feet. |
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I get
some incredible views of Tucson as we 'climb' the mountain. |
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They are setting
a good pace, being familiar with the road, and I do my best to stay with
them. |
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Some
of the rock formations are almost like they came out of a fairyland tale. |
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As we
go higher and higher, the temps get a lot cooler which is a welcome relief. |
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It's a lovely run
with lots of twisties and I am really enjoying it. Once again I am the beneficiary
of riders with local knowledge. |
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We pull into a place
they know of near the top to get a bite to eat. I get a picture of those
fair haired boys I've been chasing up the mountain. According to Jeff, he
got the brains without the beard, and Jon got the looks with the beard. |
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There's a cool old Ford truck
left over from the lumbering days on the mountain. We take a little walk
down a little bit to local restaurant and get some breakfast grub that
is pretty tasty. Jeff insists on paying for my stuff and I tell him with
a grin -
"Well, if I'd known that
I would've bought something more expensive!"
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When we get back to the bikes,
Jon has a church function he needs to get to, so poor Jeff is stuck with
me. He asks me -
"You want to go to the
top?"
I'm up for it so away we go
to even higher elevations.
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The
views get even more amazing as I am looking down on some pretty tall mountains. |
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There's not a real; good place
to park near the top, just a gravel lot so Jeff asks me -
"You want to stop or roll
on?"
After all my unpleasant gravel
experiences in my Alaska trip, I try to avoid it as much as possible.
So I tell him -
"Let's just roll on"
and we do.
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As we
head back down the mountain, I can feel the temps heading upward. |
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But there are still
some incredible views to take in while we are in the process. |
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As we get back down
into the heat I really appreciate the wisdom of leaving out early to avoid
as much of it as possible. They tell me that out here during the summer
months, you pretty much want to be done riding by lunch or you can bake
- just like meat loaf in the 100+ degree heat. |
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Jeff has time for
lunch so he takes me to one of the places he really likes. |
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It is
absolutely wonderful as they make up the salsa fresh at your table. I am
a bit worried about the preload on my suspension after cleaning this plate
of vittles. |
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Jeff kindly guides
me all the way back to my motel in the blazing heat though his home was
not far from the restaurant. I give him a big hug and thank him and Jon
for putting up with me for the day and then he's off. Tomorrow is a short
day and I plan on attending a local church. Then I'll head to Apache Junction
where Mark and Chris have graciously offered to put me up. With a full belly
and a full heart I hit the rack and make my way up the Mount of Slumber
pretty quick. |
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