Five…. Nine….. Eleven…
All significant numbers as it pertains to today’s ride.
And, may I just say, it was a terrific ride, both in destination and conditions. Our predetermined time of departure was 7:00 am from the Chevron (as is our custom). And given our recent attendance numbers, we had a good turnout. There were FIVE bikes ready for departure and NINE riders eager to head up on the rim for our breakfast run. Today we will be checking out a recently opened eatery in Heber, one recommended to me by Golden Vista Park Manager, Larry Martin.
Dennis McKinney had been designated as our leader and Dale Keyes was responsible in the Shotgun position. Mike and Charmaine LaGrange rode in the rocking chair, Wanda and I were in third position and Blue and Char filled were content to be in the fourth position. The morning was beautiful. It was a comfortable 82 degrees as we headed West on 60 up to the 202 and then North over Usary Pass. As we neared the Hunt Highway and got away from the pavement of the city, it cooled down to about 78 degrees and remained that most of the way up the Beeline Highway to Payson.
We made a short stop at the Giant Station in Payson before heading up on the Mogollon Rim, past Forest Lakes and over to Heber. We were more than ready to stop for our morning coffee and breakfast meal by the time we reached the Black Canyon BBQ & Café. There, waiting inside to meet us was Dalton & Ramona Dulaney which made us ELEVEN for breakfast. The Dulaney’s summer over near Show Low and it was so nice that the agreed to join us today.
I want to go on record saying that the recommendation to go there was an excellent one. The facility is clean, the service was terrific, the breakfast was excellent and the prices were acceptable. I had bacon and eggs. The bacon was excellent and the hash browns were as good as they get. Yummmmmmmmmmm!
Did I mention that as we approached the top of the rim, it did get to be a bit on the breezy side? Well, maybe windy would be a better descriptive and when we prepared to depart back towards home, it had picked up its game a bit. We made a short stop at Forest Lakes and took advantage of that to visit with Chuck at the Jerky Shack. They are now living in the spot where Blue and Char used to summer. I understand that they have made some nice improvements to that area.
Broker led us down the mountain and we stopped for fuel at Payson after which we headed home. The route home was via Roosevelt Lake and Globe, where we again stopped for a pit stop (as the Shell Station). The final leg of today’s outing took us West on Highway 60. It was still a little breezy and the temperature was somewhat warmer. It had reached triple digits in Payson and stayed pretty close to that all the way home. The warmest I recorded was 102, so was certainly ready for the cool of our A/C when we reached home. It was 3:00 as we drove into the parking spot for the bike.
Today, you will find that all of the pictures are taken at times when the bikes were not in motion. As we began our trip out of town, the Bookkeeper whispered into the intercom that “Oops, she had forgotten her camera”. She was certain that this would be the day we would see herds of elk or other things that would make me cranky that we did not get pictures of. We did not, and I would not get cranky anyway. I do appreciate her taking the moving shots and hope you enjoy them, but it is ok for her to just sit back and enjoy a ride without those responsibilities. JUST SO IT DOES NOT HAPPEN AGAIN!
Today’s GPS data:
Miles ridden: 312.4
Average Speed: 57.2 mph
Time riding: 5 hrs 27minutes
My maximum speed: 82.3 mph
No decision has been made on next Saturdays ride but I will let you know later this week. It was so nice to have Char back on the ride with us. She is hearing so much better now and that makes us all very happy.
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