Hello Inmates, and welcome to POTW number 17 for 2022. This week our Featured Photo has@Dirtylewey在欧洲巡演登上他的雅马哈,700 (nd a friend on a CB500X) in April. “Spain and Portugal north to south picking up the Portugal ACT on the way, freezing cold snow on the Picos mountains to the balmy Mediterranean.” The photo does a nice job of conveying the joy of travel on a motorcycle, and who doesn’t want to leap onto a wall and spread his wings over a picturesque background for an ADV selfie? Below more shots from Dirtylewey’s trip.
Mountain loop
Dave calls the road that he traveled this spring in the Pacific Northwest a “mountain loop” and says it was a “beautiful April day with snow, hail, heavy rain, and killer blue skies.” Gotta love those killer blues!
Favorite part is all the forest service bridges…. Always stop for a quick view. I always carry a trash bag, that I sometimes secure to the outside of my bags, I’m always picking up trash and debris, every campsite is cleaner and better after I leave (yes I was a Boy Scout from Fayetteville, West Virginia).
A good riding day, but snow turned him around several times.
Don’t shoot!
@Old Queenslandersends us this shot of his 2016 Triumph T100 parked near an anti-aircraft gun a few weeks ago. We’re pleased to tell you that motorcycle and rider survived the encounter.
Good riding country
Here is a 2004 Suzuki DR650 ridden by@Nytraineron an overnight trip last year to the Allegheny National Forest in Pennsylvania. “Miles and miles of dirt and seasonal roads. I wish that I lived closer!” Well, don’t we all, Nytrainer, don’t we all.
Time out
The 2017 KTM 690 Enduro R in the photo below was photographed by@GISkeva week or two ago while on a break from work in Utah.
Sneaking out of work a few hours early to go explore old mining roads in Utah’s West Dez is always scenic. This area is a top choice for our local psycho’s to get rid of bodies that they don’t want stinking up their shop space. Easy solution is to throw them down a mine shaft! FIXED!
Hot ride
On a “quick overnight solo camping trip” from Dubai to the northern part of Oman on the Mussandam peninsula @oilerjet encountered temperatures of 40°C, which is a little over 100°F. The campsite shown below with his 2021 KTM 890 Adventure R basking in the shade of a tree was situated in a cooler location: about 1,500 meters up, which almost certainly made for more comfortable sleeping. He says the temp dropped to 19°, which is room temperature for fans of the Fahrenheit scale.
Ride home saw some strong winds and big waves, creating some natural air conditioning.
Adventures of Popeye
Spike says the 2015 Suzuki V-Strom 650 Adventure below, named after a famous sailor-man (“toot-toot!”) was on the island of Andros in the Cyclades islands of Greece when the photo was taken a couple of weeks ago as the bike enjoyed a view of the island’s main town.
That green stuff around the V-Strom in the photo below? What is it, you ask? Well, long story. It turns out that Popeye had decided to go on a solo trip around South America a few years ago, and while exploring the coastal desert surrounding Lima in July 2018, learned that “whenever the elevation gets to be more than a few hundred feet” around there, the “sea fog along the coast condenses out of the atmosphere.” So, there you go. Right, no, it doesn’t answer your question, but it’s all we’ve got. Next picture!
For more of Popeye’s adventures, see sp1ke.substack.com.
Along the Borderlands
@Spkr说他是骑在southe边境墙rn Arizona, west of Nogales, when he shot the photos below a couple of weeks ago. That’s his 2020 Moto Guzzi V85TT, which he says is a “great bike, nimble, plenty of torque but would benefit from tubeless 21″ front wheel and 18″ rear” and he asks “Are you listening Mandello del Lario?”
Several openings in the wall to allow monsoon rains to pass through swales. Many areas where terrain precludes the ability to place the large structured wall pieces. Beautiful and desolate area, with unforgiving terrain, sand, rocks, cacti, blowing winds and extreme heat coming in a few weeks. Straightforward adventure ride on the Guzzi.
Off to the races
On a recent trip to the April MotoGP in Austin, Texax,@Squid22enjoyed the scenery along the Lost Coast, at Big Sur, Roosevelt Lake, Arizona, and Death Valley and Lassen, California, aboard that good-looking 2021 BMW 1250 RT. Notice how well the snow is camouflaged? It almost disappears behind the bike!
Misty morning
Here is@Nytrainer’s2004 Suzuki DR650 a few years ago on an early morning ride up Rattlesnake Hill near Dansville, New York.
And here, also a few years ago, on a steep downhill section near a ski slope in Swain, New York. You’ve got to wonder, just how steep is that hill, anyway?
Time for a break
And a beer! This is@Mak’inBaconwith his 2021 Honda CRF300L Rally in the middle of April, on a 3,081 mile ride from Phoenix to Cabo San Lucas and back with a buddy. “Great riding, scenery, cultural experiences and food and drink. This picture is at the end of the day on the way back. Entering the Hotel Los Vientos, a couple miles north of Bahia de Los Angeles. A box of well deserved Indio beers netted onto the back seat and great view of the Sea of Cortez. Excellente!” We couldn’t agree more.
I’ll be up in a minute!
The shot below is another picture of@Wajonwith his 2015 KTM 1190R Adventure a few months ago. He’s waiting to start up the Shafer Trail switchbacks in Utah. But why do we say “another” picture? Because we hada shot of him on the same rideback in POTW 13—he reminded us of this fact when he submitted the photo below, and we thought you might like to see it again.
Washington—the Tulip State
Here is Sneaky_Dingo’s 2021 Honda CT125 on its first big ride by the Tulip farms of Skagit Valley.
To temple, or not to temple
Good question! In fact, says@Tjilpi, what appears to be a Khmer-style temple is in fact “an abandoned resort project at the Mae Kachan Hot Springs on #118 between Chiant Mai and Phayao, northern Thailand.”
The story I obtained from a local is that the developers ran out of funds a few years ago (well before Covid) and the site is now a sad rundown hint of what it could have been.
Tjilpi shot the photo while riding his Honda Rebel 500 more than six months ago. And below, his Africa Twin RD07, “around 2010 I think, in the hills of northern Thailand heading for the Mekong River to cross into Laos for a loop there.” We can’t speak for you, but every once in a while, we wish we were Tjilpi!
Lost Coast, again
But not with the same Inmate—that was Squid22, but this picture is from@Layzrider, who with his Yamaha T700 enjoyed “riding the Mattole road on the northern California coast” a few months back. “The road,” he tells us, “goes through an area called the ‘Lost Coast’.”
Well read
Here’s a young lad who loves the sound of a 2016 BMW R1200 GSA. Though, asGrandpa @Right Turn Clydetells us, that wasn’t always the case. His explanation’s a bit long, so we’ll put it below the photo. Cute kid though, don’t you think? And reading such advanced material at his age!
“La La, La La, La La!” That’s what my firrst grandude says every time his folks bring him to Nana and Papa’s house. What does he want? To be carried out to the garage, press the On button on my big “La La” (aka, The Red Barchetta), reach far over the tank, and push hard on the magic starter switch. “BAROOOM!” she comes to life again with a roar that scares and thrills and never ceases to put a smile on both of our faces.
J-dude was, at first, scared almost to the point of tears when the boxer roared to life, and it took longer still for the smile to start creeping across his face as the throttle was gently blipped. But the smile came. And now the call to go see the La La is as certain as death, taxes and . . . well, the smile I get each time the Beemer starts up.
So, it was obvious who had to pose with the inaugural issue of ADVRider’s rag when it arrived in the mailbox. And although it’s not yet a bedtime reading choice for him, my guess is that we’ll at least soon be pointing at the pictures. And you know what comes next if you’ve read any Usbourne books! We start saying,”Where’s the GS? . . . THERE IT IS!!”
April snows …
… don’t bring anything, never mind the May flowers. The 2022 KTM 1290 Adventure R in the photo below—sadly, the last photo for this week—is ready for@MT Hillbilly’sride home after work, “but . . . when it’s 22 degrees out and they are forecasting snow . . . it sorta feels adventurous. . . .” Just take it easy on those snowy corners, okay?
All right, Inmates, it’s time to go. Thanks ever so much for dropping by, and come again, please. And if you happen on any corners with snow on them, do the right thing!
