8.25.06 - The Scenic Route Has Been Washed Out...
The locals call it.."Flag"..Flagstaff. 8am departure just in time--Senic route 89a-south "washed out" for the second time in a week, just before, and right after my 3,000 ft downhill journey through the canyon. Veritcal walls of rock, COVERED W/NETTING, to kept stuff from plumeting onto the highway (or on to a biker's head). 27 miles to tourist-oriented Sedona, dodged some road rocks, no water in the ravine, which TOTALLY CHANGED--Sedona had been WIPED OUT by heavy rains. Main drag thru town was packed with barricades, sand piled up on the blacktop, carving GIANT DITCHES
IN MID-STREET where there used to be a highway. Public crews were working like hell to repair the damage--signs offered immediate employment to able-bodied people to help w/t cleanup. Highway shoulders for miles before and after the town were barricaded with signs warning that to pull over would cost you $125.00. Portions of 89a had no shoulder at all. Good thing I rode through there early--yesterday afternoon, THEY GOT HIT AGAIN, and the town washed out for the second time in a week.
The screaming downhill water damage was incredible..saw infrastructure...pipes, drains, sewers, hanging in mid air under what used to be pavement. Storefront property torn to hell. Sand piled up everwhere...Deja Vu...they got it all over again yesterday-all the done repair work had to be re-started. Nice to live in a canyon, like Oak Creek until...a hard rain begins to fall.
Mariachi Weekend?
Sierra Vista, Az, known to the locals simply as..."Vista", is the new temproary ABM home on the road. Back in '03, encountered "MUD RAIN"--sky turned BLACK, and down it came...raining MUD. have figured out how this happens: Vortex (dust devil) sucks sand up into the clouds. Cloud mass must rise to pass over higher elevation, sheds mixture of rain and dirt, & Baby, the "MUD RAIN", must fall.
ABM is now within 100 miles of at least three boder crossings into MEXICO. (happy hour, 1cent tequilas?)
Border Agent Stupid Questions:
Before leaving Flag', I'm sitting in the morning sunshine, reading the local paper, at the local bike shop, when a BORDER PATROL AGENT pulls up in his OFFICIAL TRUCK, GUN ON HIS HIP, FULLY-UNIFORMED, under the guise of shopping for a used bike, and begins asking me all of these probing questions, (in a friendly,non-pressure way)...
*Do I know any "BANDITOS"? (local MC club with large southwest presence)-Government refers to them as a "gang".
*Have I met "THREE-FINGER PETE" (another Bandito).
*Where am I from, what am I doing here..etc etc..it's got to be my freaky, weird beard.
YOU'RE NOT HERE TO BUY A USED BIKE--do I really look that stupid?
ABM HAS BEEN THROUGH THIS EXACT SAME INTERROGATION PROCESS IN FLAG, DEL RIO, INTERNATIONAL(frostbite) FALLS, MN. We're throwing a lot of money at this Homeland Security effort, how much is being well spent? BIKERS HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH 9-11. We are AMERICANS. Some of us like to wear beards, but that DOES NOT MAKE US SAUDIS. Please leave us the hell alone.
ABM's itching to take a LONG ride into Mexico--it's gotta be somewhere we ain't been.
IN MID-STREET where there used to be a highway. Public crews were working like hell to repair the damage--signs offered immediate employment to able-bodied people to help w/t cleanup. Highway shoulders for miles before and after the town were barricaded with signs warning that to pull over would cost you $125.00. Portions of 89a had no shoulder at all. Good thing I rode through there early--yesterday afternoon, THEY GOT HIT AGAIN, and the town washed out for the second time in a week.
The screaming downhill water damage was incredible..saw infrastructure...pipes, drains, sewers, hanging in mid air under what used to be pavement. Storefront property torn to hell. Sand piled up everwhere...Deja Vu...they got it all over again yesterday-all the done repair work had to be re-started. Nice to live in a canyon, like Oak Creek until...a hard rain begins to fall.
Mariachi Weekend?
Sierra Vista, Az, known to the locals simply as..."Vista", is the new temproary ABM home on the road. Back in '03, encountered "MUD RAIN"--sky turned BLACK, and down it came...raining MUD. have figured out how this happens: Vortex (dust devil) sucks sand up into the clouds. Cloud mass must rise to pass over higher elevation, sheds mixture of rain and dirt, & Baby, the "MUD RAIN", must fall.
ABM is now within 100 miles of at least three boder crossings into MEXICO. (happy hour, 1cent tequilas?)
Border Agent Stupid Questions:
Before leaving Flag', I'm sitting in the morning sunshine, reading the local paper, at the local bike shop, when a BORDER PATROL AGENT pulls up in his OFFICIAL TRUCK, GUN ON HIS HIP, FULLY-UNIFORMED, under the guise of shopping for a used bike, and begins asking me all of these probing questions, (in a friendly,non-pressure way)...
*Do I know any "BANDITOS"? (local MC club with large southwest presence)-Government refers to them as a "gang".
*Have I met "THREE-FINGER PETE" (another Bandito).
*Where am I from, what am I doing here..etc etc..it's got to be my freaky, weird beard.
YOU'RE NOT HERE TO BUY A USED BIKE--do I really look that stupid?
ABM HAS BEEN THROUGH THIS EXACT SAME INTERROGATION PROCESS IN FLAG, DEL RIO, INTERNATIONAL(frostbite) FALLS, MN. We're throwing a lot of money at this Homeland Security effort, how much is being well spent? BIKERS HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH 9-11. We are AMERICANS. Some of us like to wear beards, but that DOES NOT MAKE US SAUDIS. Please leave us the hell alone.
ABM's itching to take a LONG ride into Mexico--it's gotta be somewhere we ain't been.
posted by americanbikerminute at 4:20 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home