I LOVE THIS STUFF...

The Resort, now privately maintained and owned.

BY definition, the whole point of Dual Purpose, street trail, Adventure touring is this... the ability to explore multiple surfaces, pavement, gravel, tracks and trails.



I love this stuff!!

Not being confined to a specific road or route... not having to be concerned if you come across a construction zone on your ride, having the choice of veering off the hard pack onto that fire road heading into the hills.



Granny Smith in hand.

 Going back to many of my earliest memories riding bikes, I've always been fascinated by that dirt road leading away from the path well travelled.  I would ride my 1968 Suzuki A 100, which was nothing more than a street bike with a chromed high mounted exhaust pipe, across cow pastures, down gravel roads to little lakes, charging around back lots. 


Choices.

 During a summer visit from my Hungarian uncle, Julius... we rode my '68 Yamaha 305 Big Bear* scrambler from my home in Edmonton to Fort MacMurray, he was amazed at the length of the ride.  In one very long day, we had practically rode the entire depth of Hungary, more than half of it on dusty gravel roads.  Nearly 300miles!  For a guy that had a simple two cycle Csepel 125, with dual solo seats and a 3 speed transmission, a long ride being the home in Jaszkiser to Szolnok 40 miles away, it was quite the experience!

Living in British Columbia, riding in southern AB or down in Baja or here in the vicinity of Phoenix... you will never explore all the countless back paved or unpaved roads.  NEVER!  You will die long before your book of journeys is completed.  If I get another chance at another lifetime, and I don't come back as a hedgehog or stripper's pole, I am going to ride every chance I get!  There is nothing like it.


Target practice!

 Leaving the Hot Springs grounds, I follow a FORD pick-up truck, hauling a trailer with cattle and horses in it.  He was picking up and dropping off livestock at various small ranches along my route.  Quite a contrast between horse and stetsons vs my Yamaha and Nolan helmet.  Almost two very distinct yet somehow similar lifestyles don't you think?

I've ridden much of the Castle Hot springs, Humbug creek, Crown King and Cow creek roads in this area, and I am still fascinated finding places I have not seen or been.  Even on this fall trip to Glendale, I wasn't going to be able to get everywhere.  Simply not enough time.

I took Buckhorn road north.  Thinking I remembered on the morning Google map that this route would ultimately connect me with the NW end of the Cow Creek.  Dropping into the dry riverbed, following that truck yet again, the road became quite challenging sand and very loose pea sized gravel.

Normally I would relish such a challenge, but this trip south I was suffering from an aggravated left shoulder.  Of course this shoulder suffered a substantial injury when I was rear ended in Calgary in 2002. Lifting weights just before leaving Canada, I had overworked it one day and as a result, lost much of my already reduced range of motion.  To make matter worse, there was little strength and acute pain whenever I tweaked it.



Dual purpose anyone?



By it's very nature, the type of riding I was doing right now did nothing but tweak an already painful injury! 

*The Big Bear was named after the city and area around Big Bear California where some of the hairiest off road enduro/scrambles took place.