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AZ Tour Of Honor SS1K

Texas T

LD Rider
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Location
Sun Lakes & Show Low, Arizona
First Name
Brian
As posted to the TOH site last week. I just forgot to put it over here as well.


Up at 5 am on Thursday after about 4 hours of sleep and a 13 hour work day. First receipt was at 6 am in Chandler. From there it was up to the Forest Service Firefighter memorial in Lakeside. I probably could have navigated to this one with my eyes closed as my mother spends her summer months at the RV resort right down the street and I've seen this statue every year since it was put up.
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I head due north to Holbrook and the original County Courthouse to grab my next photos.
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Now it was up to the AZ/NM border to what I think was the most moving and beautiful site, the Window Rock Navajo Code Talkers memorial. Many people (including me) do not know that this mission was not declassified until 1968 which means that many of these patriotic natives took their secrets to the grave, never telling friends or family. It's good that they finally did get the recognition they deserve.
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Now, from one edge of the state to the other I traveled I-40 to the Colorado River separating Arizona from California. Here you will find the Arizona Veterans Memorial on the edge of the river. The gate was closed to vehicular traffic but there was enough room next to the gate for the dirty fat girl to squeeze thru, and after some luxo dual-sporting we wound up on a bit of pavement in front of the memorial for the photos.
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I made sure that I left a nice financial donation in their blue box and I took the time to get a little sunset shot.
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With the sun down and me heading into higher elevations it was time for the clear shield, heavier gloves, and the heated jacket. I was back on I-40 going east this time toward the middle of the state so that I could drop down to Prescott and the home of the Bucky O'Neill Rough Rider statue. Since there are more trophy elk taken out of Arizona than any other state, night riding in the higher elevations at night presents its own unique set of challenges. Fortunately for me, I saw neither deer nor elk on this trip, just two coyotes and one jackrabbit. Arriving at the courthouse square I found that the statue is not illuminated at night so the photos were not good at all. You can just barely make out the statue in the top center of this shot.
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Now it was back down to Phoenix, just about 40 miles north of my house. The location was the National Cemetery and while I was expecting it to be closed the gates were open and I rode on in. The memorial in question was again not illuminated but I was able to point the bike at it and at least get a photo of the lower portion of the tower.
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Okay, six down, one to go. And where is it? Of course, it's at the very bottom of the state a few miles north of the border with Mexico. I'm going to be deep in Border Patrol territory but I probably see less than six trucks on my entire trip. However, that doesn't count all the blacked out trucks sitting in the desert that I couldn't see from the road. A few hours later I pull into Old Bisbee, park the bike, grab an ATM receipt and stop the clock at about 3:30 with a cushion of just 1.5 hours. This was without a doubt the toughest SS1K I've ever ridden. Total miles up to this point are 1,235, the most I've ever ridden on a SS.

Now with the clock stopped it's time to get that memorial photo and head for the barn. But wait... where's the memorial? Hmmm... I know I'm going on just 4 hours of sleep in the past 48 but I should be able to see a stinking monument, shouldn't I? Out comes the description page again along with the Google Map. It's supposed to be in a little parking lot.
Parking Lot? Check

It's supposed to be across the street from a restaurant.
Restaurant? Check
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There's supposed to be a crosswalk leading from the restaurant to the parking lot / memorial.
Crosswalk? Check
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Memorial? No joy.

So what does one do when the target isn't there? :o

One takes photos of anything and everything to show that you were at the designated spot and the target did not exist.
The previous photos show that I referenced the descriptions provided. This shows that I rode there.
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This shows that the motorhome the bike was parked in front of was indeed the Bisbee Bus to show that I had ridden to the right spot.
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And finally, you document where the target was supposed to be. I took this photo from in front of where the monument used to be and it shows the parking lot beyond it.
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Done.

Or am I?

I still need to get home and/or get some sleep. I head north and go through the BP checkpoint. Being on a motorcycle you may get asked if you are a US Citizen but this morning (like many other instances) they just wave me on through. I guess they figure that it would be pretty tough for an illegal to fit themselves into my trunk or a saddlebag. With the checkpoint behind me and the sun coming up on my right rear I can up the speed a little bit and I do so just in time to see one of Wile E's cousins run pell-mell across the road in front of me and keeps on chasing the roadrunners in his mind. 40 miles up the road is my sister's place and a warm bed awaits me. 150 miles up the road my wife awaits me. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Faithfulness plays its hands and I point the silver beast onto I-10 and to my waiting bride. Five miles before my exit I-10 is shut down in BOTH directions with rollover accidents at the same riverbed crossing in each direction. So back to the last exit, and then zig zag my way home through massive traffic. I download some photos, send an email regarding the Bisbee situation (they said the city moved the monument and the description page HAS been updated with the new info), and start gathering paperwork. A shower, a bite to eat, and then to bed. Keep in mind that I've had four hours of sleep since waking at 5 am on Wednesday and now its Friday morning. So I sleep the sleep of the dead... for an hour. :?

Just as well. I've got another 100 miles I need to tack on before 6 pm so I can file for a Bun Burner, so I load the wife on the back and down to Picacho Peak for some ice cream, a gas receipt, and then head for home. A final gas receipt and I close out the ride at a shade over 28 hours and 1,537 miles.
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A bite to eat, a recap to write (this one) and I can feel my eyelids getting heavy. It shouldn't be too much longer now and I'll probably sleep 12+ hours tonight.

A big thanks to Steve Brooks for putting this thing together. Another thanks to the state sponsors for the job they do finding these sites for us to ride to. And an attaboy to AZ sponsor Matt Hogan who once again has challenged us to step up our game (last year's SS was just over 1100 miles) with his selection of this year's sites. I had a great time. If I can manage the time, perhaps I'll nail the NM sites as well this year.

Ride well, ride hard, ride long, and be safe.

Brian


Addendum:
gcope (Glenn) is a TWT member and Texas resident who took the 1st Place trophy for both NM and AZ. I rode all seven sites a couple of days after him and took 2nd.

Here is my SPOT map. I started in the middle of the state, rode to the eastern border, then the western border, then the southern border, and back home again.
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