Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

1Ribiug wqt m ts t (@u .A ~qnt!ltriug By Jim Watson WIl1le lying around the fireplac e toasting your toes this winter why not start malcing that dream cycle trip a reality! It needn't be as expensi ve as you tbin.k 11 you use a little ingenuity to cut expense s where you can. My brother Tim and I decided to get away from Kerman near Fresno, Califor nia to see what there was to see. On our me&gllr student budgets, we decided not to take a tent. Inquirie s had led us to believe the weather would be good on our circula r tour of seven western states. our decision was Influenced by the fact that space was scarce, especia lly since our own six and a halt foot frames filled the seating capacity comple tely. But just in case, we did carry three five-foo t by seven-f oot sbeets of plastic for emerge ncies. Front and rear turn signals made of 3/4 incb electrical conduit were added to make in-town navigation safer and easier. The total cost was $12, a cbeap price to keep some aggress ive motoris t ott your back. Nearly all our gear was packed Into surplus canvas back packs of conveni ence. The two packs - one with cookwa re, the other with toiletrie s, plus a chain to lock uP the bike - were attached to the top of the front turn signals and tied back against the bottom of the windshield. Another good and convenient place to carry things Is on top of the gas tank. You can buy leather touringb8gs for moutlng on the top of the tank. Some of these have a nitty little map window in the top to hold a map of the area you're travelin g in. These bags are well worth the price and some can be quickly detache d from the tank and carried with you. However, not feeling that a map window was worth the possibl e risk of running ott the road, and not being able to afford one in the first place, I made mine out of heavy canvas. This gave room to carry an extra bike chain, a first aid kit, two pair of motorcy cle gloves, sunglas ses, wallets, Chap Stick (whicb I highly recomm end, since there Is nothing as bothers ome as dry and crackin g lips), and a large assortm ent of maps in a pocket in the lid or flap. The flap was zippere d aroWld all but one side. Total cost was less -than two dollars , and It included a soft cloth liner. Since my Triump b TR6 came with a tank-moWlted rack, I secured the bag to this. Low Back Rest A back rest was added to the luggage rack to make my passeng er a little more comfor table. It was kept low to make getting of! easy in case we dumped the bike. This was made out of a small section of conduit with appropr iate bends, a piece of plyWood with some foam padding glued to It and covered with vinyl plastic. The whole unit was then bolted to the rack. This kept "little" brother from leaning directly against the load and pushing itbackw ard, and gave him some much-n eeded back SuPport. After an overall check of the bike and a tWle-uP we were ready to go. We got a late start on August 5, our first day on the road. We only made It to Yosemi te from Fresno. But that first night we began to appreci ate the two-bur ner gas stove we'd taken. We'd ridden late into the day and it was almost dark before we pulled into our camp. Fortuna tely we didn't have to fumble aroWld in the dark gatherin g fire wood at this hour; we simply got out the stove. The stove proved well worth the extra height it added to the paraphe nalia on the back. WIl1le In the kitchen departm ent, it's worth mentioning the one pound, two p_oWld, and three pOWld coffee cans with wire bandles attached . Place inside one another , the total space Involved. Is only that of a three pound can. With these and a skillet we handled all our cooking and washing chores. To carry larger amount s of water I used a device that Is free 11 you find one. It's the milk contain er used In coin-op erated vending machin es. A twolayered plastic bag with screw-o n cap, it has a long, flexible , small diamete r plastic spout. Unscrew the cap, pour in as much as five gallons of water, replace the threade d cap and tie a knot In the plastic spout. Presto - you have a large SuPPly of water. When empty fold It up and pack it away. As our Immedi ate goal was the Grand Tetons via Salt Lake City, we got an early start the next morning . Nevada Is a pretty barren state. After the first few hours of sage brusb boredom sets in. As the day wears on motorcy clists face a real problem . A combination of monotony, the steady blast of warm afternoo n air in the face and the continuous drone of the engine, provide the making s of a disaste r. The eye lids begin to get beavy and before you know It, you're almost in a trance. Before this happens, stop the bike, get ott and walk around. Freshen uP a bit to break the monotony. Otherw ise you may become a road marker or hood orname nt. Looking Around , A good place for a break In Nevada Is near Ely. Five or six miles northwe st of Ely Is the small mining town of Ruth. Here Is one of the largest open-pi t copper mines in the world. As we stood on the edge of the gigantic hole, looking down at the ant-like equipment, we admired the beautifu l orange and yellow tints of the rocks and soil in this man-ma de wonder . Time went fast from Ely to Wendover and across the 40 miles of salt fIats Into the Mormon cl ty. Temple Square In the heartof theclty lsa must for any traveler In the area of Salt Lake City. Tours of the grounds and Taberna cle are given every halt hour. A beautifu l visitor' s center and the calm and frlendly atmosp bere add uP to make It an Interest ing and relaxing visit. We headed north from Salt Lake City, through Logan Canyon and on to Idaho on one of the most scenic section s of the trip. From the town of Logan, the road winds down hill through green valleys and grain farms all the way to Bear Lake, Idaho. Scattere d throughout the hills are long-abandoned log cabins. Late the fourth day we had reached the Snake River in Montana and were heading north toward the Grand Tetons. There is no mistaki ng these monarc hs; their Jagged and snow-cl ad peaks stand high above the surroWldlng country side. Since it was late when we reached the Tetons, we headed directly for a camp ground at the Gros Ventre Landsld e, one of the largest earth movem ents in the world. This slide Is Just east of the Tetons and Is well worth the short ride_ Much to our disappo intment , the following day was overcas t. Clouds hWlglowaround the mountains, hiding the peaks. A ligbt drizzle fell as we rode north past beautifu l Jackson Lake and on to Yellowstone. Leaving the Tetons the road stralgbt ened out but the rain staried falling harder and traff1c increas ed. The road appeare d to be covered with a low layer of fog as rain bounced off the ground and the warm exhaust from the cars rose in front of us. After entering the park we stopped to dry ott at the village of West Thumb on the bank of Yellowstone Lake and visited with two cyclists from Souther n CaliJor nia. We soon headed east from Yellowstone toward Cody, Wyoming, hoping It wouldn't be raining there. Near Cody we broke enough spokes In the rear wheel to make further travel Impossi ble. A farmer was kind enough to let us store the bike In his barn over night. That evenlng we ordered some spokes from Great Falls, Montana and conside red the possibl e causes of the break-d own. It was apparen tly due to three things. One: my lack of concern over one broken spoke at the start of the trip. Two: the weight on the bike (about 600 pounds). And Three: several rougb section s of road. We spent two rainy but interest ing days in Cody, explorin g the museum s and enjoying the western atmosphe re. The spokes came the next day and later that afternoo n we were ready to go and plannin g an early start. Tbe next day was one of the most beautifu l we'd had. The air was clean and the sky clear. Within an hour we were back in Yellowstone for the first of two wonderful days. Yeliowstone Is unbelie vable in its variety . It otters the visitor everyth ing from its famous hot springs , boiling pools, mud volcano es, geyers and steam vents to animals and deep, intricat ely-car ved canyons . The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone Is the granddaddy of them all. The campgr ounds are large and are almost always full during the summe r months. I recomm end "rough Ing It" and driving outside the park where overnig ht Iacllitle s are more readily availab le. Firewoo d was SuPPlied free and movies shown every night at West Yellowstone. We'd purchas ed a Golden Eagle, a sticker allowing entry into all Federal parks. The cost of seven dollars was covered by the number of times we entered Yellowstone alone, not to mention sev~ral other parks on the trip. Unfortu nately, I've heard it may be disconti nued after March of 1969. The park roads are excellen t and with their large, sweeping curves. With a heavy throttie band it's easy to get into trouble, especia lly with all those fourwheeled monste rs stopped on the road while their passeng ers admire the abundance of wIldliIe and magni1lcent scenery . Occasio nally we see a bear, paws on a car's side, peering in at the occuPants safely behind their windows. However, since we aren't enthusl astic about seeing his teeth close up or shaking his pa w, we ease out to the left around the cars in front and soon are on our way again. We didn't find ourselv es envying the car drivers when it came to parking . They had to look far and wide for parking spots at points of Interes t - which Is most of the park. We could always find a place to squeeze into. We got a good, concent rated look at Yellowstone in two days, before it began to rain again. Once again we

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