Two Words.
Ruby Road Rocks.
Man it was cold last night. How do I know? I was sitting in the dark out in front of the coffee house uploading pics at 11 pm and freezing. Only place I could get wifi. I gotta tell ya, these reports are a lot of work. Each time I do one I swear I won't do another, then enough time expires between rides and I forget. :)
Was up early and outside looking for coffee at 6:30 am. Problem was the entire town was still asleep and the coffee house was still closed so I wandered around aimlessly and shot a few pics before the sun came up. A rancher sat idling in his pickup outside the grocery market, so I wandered down there and about 7:15 they opened the door. The two of us gang rushed the door for coffee, but were beaten to the machine by the clerk who said she had to have coffee before she would help us.
Sleepy Patagonia
Rumor has it this place has great pizza
Finally got a cup and asked her who was open for breakfast. She said the hotel restaurant "usually" was open at 7. They weren't, so she sent me down the street to Mercedes Mexican food. The waitress was talkative and friendly, and I ordered Huevos Rancheros and stared longingly across the street at the coffee house, anxious for them to open so I could get wifi
The best Huevos Rancheros on the planet
Sorry for all the food pics in the report, but it ain't easy padding these things out ya know :D
They didn't have change for a $20 bill so she tried to comp me the meal, but I told her I'd be back with the money later. Planning on riding Ruby Road and having heard the warnings the day before, I asked if she'd heard of any bad activity recently and she said no, but then proceeded to explain the generalities. She said I was likely to encounter two types of folks in the remote roads, one being those simply trying to get into America, and the second being the drug mules. She said the illegals may try to stop and ask for some money or water, etc., but the drug mules would rob and kill you. In either case, she said, "You shoulden stop! Do na stop and wander off de road!" I appreciated her warnings, and did not tell her my plan had always been not to stop. El Cerdo Rojo del Diablo would plow over and kill anyone EVEN IF I was trying to stop...
From there I finally got to the coffee shop and getting online was a problem (I swear I've had more trouble getting a good connection on this trip - you'd think I was in Mongolia) and it was getting late, so I packed the bike and went to return the key and get a receipt, but of course the owner lady wasn't there and no one in town knew where she was... same as the night before, and after wasting more time, blew off the receipt and dropped the cash for breakfast off before heading south.
The hotel courtyard - honestly, I can't recommend this place
WARNING - Skip over this if you hate whining and sniveling… I was a little miffed from the day before and then having lost so much time in town the day before and this morning, I was a bit grouchy. Lemme splain. The day before I left Kerrville, my speedometer drive gear failed. I called the BMW dealer in Tucson to see if they could slap a new one in when I got there. No problem, but to get the part in by Tuesday or Wednesday so they could fix the bike while I was in AZ, I had to pay a 15% rush fee. Fine.
So they connect me to parts and immediately the kid has no idea what I'm talking about and tries to order an entire speedometer. I carefully explain the part, the reason it needs to be there by Tuesday since I'm riding all the way from Texas to Tucson and need it installed. He “understands clearly” he says, and yes, BMW has 21 in the US. We do the deal and he assures me it will be here by Tuesday so they can fix the bike and he will call me Tuesday to let me know. Great.
I get no call Tuesday morning, then later in the day when I get back into cell coverage I call them. The parts guy is excited because he remembers and tells me the part came in that morning. Cool! I tell him to let service know so I can set up the time to have the bike in Tucson. Silence on the line. Not a good thing. Then he tells me he had just mailed the part out to my address in Texas by U.S. Mail. Let's see, I live in Texas, order a part from BMW to be sent to a dealer in Arizona and pay 15% rush shipping, so that they can have it there first thing Tuesday morning when they open, so that he can then mail it by U.S. Mail to me in Texas. Makes perfect sense. If you're a crackhead. Need I say more? Whine time over - back to your regular scheduled program...
Anyway, the whole morning I'd felt bad mojo in the air, so it felt good to get moving again. Heading back south towards Nogales I caught the River Road over to I-19 and then continued on Ruby Road.
Hmmm hmmm hmmm... la de da...
Very quickly the paved road began twisting its way though hills covered with golden grass. The road was absolutely fun to ride, twisty, hilly, with tight switchback curves and heading deeper towards a range of mountains.
That little blacktop road was absolutely a fun ride, and after a few miles ended abruptly in dirt. If you're in the area and on a street bike, take the ride till the asphalt ends - it's a good road and you'll enjoy it.
A sign had said 32 miles to Arivaca and when the asphalt ended the fun began. The road was rougher and narrower then the Duquesne road and immediately started to climb, with sharp switchbacks, blind corners with steep drop-offs, loose rock and heavier washboard and rain ruts. I could tell this was gonna be fun!
The views were great - golden colored hills and rock formations, with the road a narrow cut on the side of the ridges and mountains. It was very tight and twisty and quickly took you back into raw wilderness. I kept stopping for pics, nervously so, as the corners are blind and it would be easy to get hit by a truck.
As I got further in I was aware that this was more remote and even less traveled than yesterday's ride. With the terrain and so many blind corners, I was thinking it would definitely be a good place for a hijack, as there is no way to see ahead in most places. With that thought fresh in my mind, I stopped at an edge for a pic down into a canyon and suddenly was buzzed by an Apache helicopter overhead. The chopper had come out of the canyon behind me and up over the ridge I was on, hovering and looking at me for a moment. I froze at the sudden sight of an armed helicopter poised and pointed at me, afraid to move. After a few moments he swung away and I watched him go low overhead and maybe about a half mile in front of me where he pulled around and hovered over an area for a bit, definitely looking at something. He then wheeled away and vanished.
Nothing like a little drama to add to my ride. Still 24 miles to go.
I wasn't excessively worried about "bandidos" or getting robbed, since I know how incidents get blown out of proportion, but I also know to use caution and common sense. Still, I kept thinking, "Dang man... if they need an armed Apache helicopter to deal with stuff out here... and what was he looking at further up the road right where I'm going?"
Anyway, it was kinda cool and added to the atmosphere.
The Ruby - Arivaca road is a great dual sport ride, not really challenging and a bit rough in some areas, but the pig took it in stride and I was having a blast riding a little faster than I should have. At one point, I sat down for just a moment and hit a deep pothole hard and fast. It was a situation where the sun was behind me and the light flattened all texture and dimension, making the pothole invisible. It jammed my back and I hurt for quite a while after, just one of these things, but the pain took away some of the enjoyment.
At some point you drop down off the higher landscapes into a sheltered canyon and I started to feel like it was an area to be careful in. To be honest, I felt a little uneasy and increased my speed, riding faster and harder. Not too much further along, it happened.
I came around a tight corner, and there, right in front of me standing in the middle of the road, was a Mexican guy. I was going fast, but our eyes met and I don't know which of us was more surprised. He was very dark from the sun, wearing dark blue pants and a dark short sleeved shirt, looking like he'd slept on the ground for days, dirty and sweaty. He stood there in sandals, holding a small duffel bag in his right hand and a clay jug in the other - I remember it was clay pottery with a piece of hemp rope tied around it. There was no look other than staring at me wide-eyed as I shot past him not three feet away. It happened so quick there wasn't time for a reaction by either of us. Drug Mule or just a man escaping Mexico - I dunno, but I have to hand it to anyone who can make it that far in that kind of terrain. Kind of spooked and glad my sixth sense had worked, I rode quickly out of the canyon.
Another mile or two down the road, I passed the area known as Ruby - it appeared to be several small buildings behind a locked gate.
Here and there on the route, there are old road signs, but some have painted markings on them. One had a spray painted blue hand, another some thing else. I assume they are signals to illegals but I'm not sure.
Eventually, I began getting into areas with more signs of humanity and shortly came up a hill to a cell tower. There was a spot to pull over and I climbed off the bike to pull off a layer of clothing and drink some water.
When I looked back, my tail bag was missing. One of the cross straps must have broken and I lost the case, which contained two spare fuel canisters, two tie downs, baling wire, zip ties and not sure what else. Just for a moment I contemplated heading back, but God only knows where it flew off. I was going faster and harder in the rough stuff than I should have, so I'm not too surprised it bailed. In addition, I blew a front fork seal from some impact.
Sooooo, maybe some rider will run out gas on the road and while wondering what to do, will see a black pouch in the bushes and discover 2 pints of gas miraculously waiting for him.
I took the remaining straps off to put them in the side case, when a sudden gust of wind caught the case lid, and yanked it back, snapping the plastic hinges in classic BMW GSA case fashion, the lid hitting the ground with a clang. Both side case lids had safety wire straps to keep that from happening but the wire was evidently broken by the force of the gust and lid. Sheesh! If that's not a sign from God to order the aluminum aftermarket hinges I don't know what is!
Ok, I'm beginning to wonder what's next, so I drive into Arivaca and gas up. It was an interesting little wide spot of a town and full of characters, which I enjoy mucho
This guy was crazy about Christmas, and told me hadn't even started decorating yet!
With my bike still getting poor mileage and beginning to suspect that the fuel gauge is acting up as well, I decided I'd feel better replacing the two lost MSR fuel bottles as soon as possible. I decided to head up I-19 to hit Tucson and catch Mission San Javier on the way.
Mission San Javier, which is still an active church from the 1600's if I heard right:
Indians selling fry-bread outside on the plaza
Mission San Javier was great - would love to have had more time to explore, but I needed to ride. I was feeling like it was time to begin heading back towards Texas and debated whether to just head on for Las Cruces after Tucson, or to return to Tombstone for the night.
In Tucson, I found a Sports Authority and picked up a couple of MSR's plus a fanny pack to use as a tailbag for them. I jumped on I-10 and headed east to Benson where I stopped to refuel the bike and bottles. Someone laughed that I was so concerned about having extra gas when the places I rode were so dangerous. It was simple really - I was far more likely to run out of gas than I was getting killed…
I debated heading on east, but decided to go for Tombstone instead since it had been a long day and I didn’t want to end up riding in the dark for a few more hours.
Tombstone after dark
Patrons in the Crystal Palace Saloon
All in all, a fascinating day and Ruby Road is my favorite ride! What a great road. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day and not sure where I'm heading…
See ya my friends!
The route and elevation:
