Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126610
beautiful and warm , but in the afternoon th ings got miserable. It got cold , the clouds rolled in and the heavens opened up for two hours. If this wasn't bad enough , we were heading over Red Mou ntain Pass which tops ou t at 11,120 feet . Upon arrival in T elluri de .. a wond erfully rus tic old m ining town that an yone could fall in love with and never leave .. some were just cold, some wer e wet and cold and a few were chilled to the bone . Our accommoda tions were in a lodge set at the base of a mountainside surrounded by aspens and gave all a view of cloud shrouded mountains. That wasn 't the best pan · . everyone got to thaw out in the Jacuzzi. Now , that was a good time. The Colorado pan of the trip focused on the natural scenery a nd history of the area with stops in towns that made their names in the days of the miners like Cripple Creek, Silvenon, and Telluride. Plus there was Royal Gorge, Mesa Verde National Park and the Colorado National Monument to see. Once in Utah , the focus was on the beauty that nature has wrought over eons past. There was Dead Horse Point and Canyonlands National Park, Arches National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, and Monument Valley. There was also Lake Powell , a place of breathtaking beauty and a monument to bureaucratic disregard to nature. A dam on the Colorado River created Lake Powell out of what had been Glen Canyon, an area many believed to be more beautiful than the Grand Canyon. The run through Arizona was from the flat la nd of the Navajo Indian Reservation .. and Ca nyon de Chelley .. up to the high land of the Apache Indian Reservation before heading C\J 00 0') . ...... - ..... ~ 0- < Western Adventures met the 6th Annual Colorado 500 trail ride in rustic Silverton. Colorado. down to the cactus and sunshine of Tucson. It was here that you had a chance to sample some really serious twisties. The Coronado Trail is 2,000 turns joined together to form a serpen· tine trail down to Tucson out of the Gila National Forest. "Heaven, " one of the riders called it. When you spend 14 days with a group, it no longer seems to be made up of just 24 people. Really, as the days wore on it was more like a big fami ly .. everyon e taking pictures for everyone else, riders lending other riders bungee cords, carrying items for each ot her and lending gea r where needed. Perhaps that's what I remember best .. the camaraderie. It wasn't a tour , it was an outing that everyone strove to make work. What would I change on the tour? I thi nk a couple of the early days on the road could be lengthened to give more time in some of the Colorado mining towns . I would also like to see a bit more opportunity for souvenir hunting. But that's really little stuff. All in all , the tour really clicked due in no small pan to Volker Beer. There are few who can conceive of a dream and then make it come true. Volker is one of those people. n addition to the Tucson/Denver and Denver /Tucson two week tours , Western Adventures also has one and two week tours originating and ending in T ucson plus two week tours from T ucson to Las Vegas and retu rn. For inform ation on da tes and rates contact Weste rn Adventures, 6141 Camino Alm onte, Tucson , AZ 85718 or call 6021299 ·4691. • q The bridge over Royal Gorge swayed in the w ind. It was a rainyday in Hangtown. Ten thousand soggy fansjammedthe fences. Cheers and hunks of mudthe sizeof pigeons filled the air The first round of the 1982 AMA National Motocross Championship was underway. From out of the muck,RickJohnsonemerged to take first place.Andhe did it on a stockYZ250. Just likethe one you can buy. How did an ordinary, stockyz beat out all thoseexotic, hand-built, tricked-out works bikes? We think Rick Johnson deserves a lotof the creditAnd he thinks we do, too. Our exclusive Yamaha fuwerValve System gave himan extra kick. Ourrising-rate Monoshocksuspension gave himfewer kicks. And our new water-cooling system kept himcool all the wayto the checkers. The next stop forRick and his trusty Bob Oliver wrenched yz is the second roundof the series in Orange. He expects to do just as well there. Which would put him a good two feats ahead of the competition. YAMAHA nIE WftNIT SHOUlD BE 41