Day 8: A love story

I started out my day in Prescott where I stayed at Clark and James' place. Destination was the Apache Trail out in the desert. I've only seen the Apache Trail on video and the scenery looked awesome. The Apache Trail is a gravel road starting from the Rosevelt Dam and goes for about 22 miles.

On the way to the Apache Trail I stopped by a restaurant and bar to eat lunch and hydrate myself before I head deeper into the desert. This is where I met Rico, a musician who rode a Harley. He soon found out that I came from Toronto and talked about where I was riding to. He mentioned that this was a long trip and one of the questions he asked me was "What if you fall in love?" I wasnt too sure how to take it, its not the first time love was mentioned on my trip. Out in South Dakota, I stopped at a gas station and talked to a gas station attendant who was trying to figure out why in the world I would ride so far. One of the things she asked me was "Are you going there to see a girl?" If I was, I'd admit, it would be a good story. Something that you'd see in movies. Maybe its an American cliche to travel the country to find that one love. I'm sure its happened before, but not as common today with the internet and plane travel. Who knows, maybe I will live out that story. Unlikely though, this adventure is not about finding love, its about enhancing my love for riding. Enough with the love talk, lets get back to my ride.

I made it to the Rosevelt Dam where the Apache Trail started. I knew that there would be 22 miles of gravel road and that the scenery would be amazing but I was quite caught off guard when the whole 22 miles were pretty much washboard. I've never ridden such a bumpy road in my life. By the time I got there, it was about 40 degrees celcius and riding in full gear was not an option. I usually ride all the gear all the time but I made an exception. When you're going a maximum of 50km/h in 40 degree desert temperatures, you have to make a decision of whether you want to risk scrapes and bruises, or heat stroke.













Going through the trail, I got many thumbs up and head nods. I guess they dont expect to see a sportbike go through. Going through the midway point of the trail, I did have a scary moment. It wasnt motorcycle related, I rode through a swarm of wasps only wearing a t shirt. I tucked in behind my windscreen and rode a little faster. Getting a wasp in my tshirt or helmet would be very bad. Near Fish Creek Hill which is the most dangerous but most scenic part of the trail, I got a wave from a group of travellers in a van who stopped to take pictures. I was ready to take a break so I stopped to take pictures and chat. It turns out that one of them used to ride a V-Storm and was pretty happy to see a rider on the Apache Trail. They were an interesting group and before we left, I gave them my blog address and email. If you guys see this, post a comment!



The fun was over and I was to make it to the Los Angles area by the end of the night. This ride was the most difficult ride I've ever had to do. 40 degree temperatures and 600 kms through the desert was not fun at all. I had one of my pant legs pulled up and the wind on my skin felt like I was in a convection oven. I just wanted to get the hell out of there and 100mph sounded like a good option since I did not see a cop in the desert the whole day...at least in the Arizona desert. I eventually made it to revrandy's house at 11:30pm California time (2:30am Toronto time) and I just hit the sack as I got there. I made it to California!