Big-D
Well-known member
After talking with and listening to people discuss the Heat we Zonies face living in Arizona, I thought now would be a great time to explain a little about this great and wonderful, yet very hot and unforgiving state we call home.
When a ride is planned and you decide or at least think you'd like to be part of this ride, certain things must be considered. OK, lets face it, many of us Zonies live just this side of Hell when it comes to our daily summertime temperatures. Hot? You bet it is. Usually by June 1st, Lake Havasu usually doesn't drop below 100 degrees even in the middle of the night. During the day, we can easily reach temps into the 120's. And the temps you see on weather reports, well you have to take into consideration that those temps are recorded at our ittle airport which is directly across a very large body of water, making the temp being recorded much, much cooler. And Phoenix and its surrounding area, is about 10 degrees cooler than Havasu, but if its 122 here, then 112 in Phoenix isn't exactly time to pull out the jackets either.
So lets get down to some basics. Most people when they come here for a motorcycle gathering, they ride through the heat complaining all the way. Then they say something like "on Sunday when we head home, we will get up bright and early and beat the heat". Forget it, there is no beating the heat. Remember, chances are it'll alreasdy be at, above or real close to that hundred degree mark by the time you load your bike. Taking the ride from Silver City into consideration. Lets say you live in sunny California and in order to beat the heat, you are up at 5am, showered and loading your bike by 05:30 and on the road by 6am if you skip breakfast. But if you have breakfast with the gang before departing, it is now 7am or later by the time you hit the road. So you leave Silver City heading West on I-10, its a 200 mile trip to Tucson, about 3hrs. You hit Tucson by10:00-10:30 because you stopped once for fuel and maybe a pit stop. It feels nice in Tucson, warm but not bad. You start convincing yourself you've beat the heat. In reality, you don't realize tucson ranges from about 2600 to 4500 feet in elevation, of course its cooler. Kind of like the calm before the storm. So maybe you fuel up again in Tucson and grab something to drink and stretch your legs before head "North" on I-10 towards Phoenix. Now Phoenix is about 115 miles from Tucson. Because the road from Tucson to Phoenix is usually pretty crowded with traffic and LEO, it will take you a good part of 2hrs and that is provided no accidents. So now you are pulling into Phoenix between 12;30 and 1pm. Now you've just riden Down to Phoenix and you are entering the 4th largest city in the country that is over 50 miles wide and on most days will take you a full hour to cross. So right about now you are realizng that the heat you thought you were going to beat, not only caught up to you, but its beginning to beat your ass. So combined with the heat and exhaust fumes, the sweat running down your head under your helmet, all you can think of is getting through Phoenix so you can pick up the pace a little bit to get home. Surprise, as you head West, you are now heading in my direction, the temp is raising and although it may only jump 10 degrees, it will feel like it climbing at least one degree with every mile. By the time you reach Quartzsite 129 miles or about 2hrs later, you are pretty much wondering why you didn't trailer your bike and you'd be sitting in the A/C watching all of the other fools ride by knowing exactly how they are feeling and what they too are thinking as they pass you looking at your smiling face holding that cold drink in your hand inside the cap of your air conditioned truck. Well, at least you'll be crossing into California or SOCAL in only another 30 minutes into Blythe, CA. What a relief as you see the sign, "Welcome to California", but now you only have another 120 miles or 1hr 50min to reach Palm Springs where it has been just as hot as Phoenix was. About this time you're thinking "what the hell was I thinking when I signed up for this ride in New Mexico? Now I remember the torture I went through last time I rode to the Grand Canyon in July and told myself I would never do that again. How time helps us forget. Anyway, the 500-675 miles you just covered to reach home really seemed like 2,000 miles because most of the trip the heat was really getting you down.
Are there things you can do to minimize the effects of the heat? Of course, to some degree anyway. I remember times when I would stop at a gas station or store and turn on a hose and soak myself down nice and wet. It felt great in that heat, however, within fifteen minutes of being back on the bike, I was completely dry. Sometimes you'll see rain in the distance and rush towards it and watch as it fades away. You can buy those soaking things that you either wrap around your neck or wear like a shirt, but regardless of what you do, when the temp is above 110 degrees and the humidity is under 15 percent, whatever you wet is going to dry almost as fast as you can wet it down.
Don't try to beat the heat, because you can't. The lower desert heat is there and nothing is going to stop it or slow it down. The worst time of the day is when the sun start heading towards the ground. But being the days last a very long time during the summer, that makes the worst time to be crossing the desert on a motorcycle is between 1pm and 6pm, with 2-5pm being the absolute worst time. It will kick your ass. And if you are heading West into the sun, expect the misery to be two-fold, beause that sun is relentless and very unforgiving, especially when its punching you in the face with no remorse. So what do you do. Actually its really knid of simple. You look at where you're going and when you are coming back. get out the maps and figure the best way to ride very early, but not past 10am, or ride in the evening after the sun breaks, or you head for the high country. people tend to think Arizona is nothing but desert, not knowing we, along with New Mexico have hundreds of miles through beautiful forests and mountains. On this upcoming SWFOG bike trip to Silver City, NM, myself and two other riders will depart Silver City about 9am heading into the mountains with our first target is Flagstaff, where its cool and crisp. From there we will (unfortuniately) jump on the freeway (I-40) heading West, arriving in Kingman about 7pm. Kingman, being only 60 miles from Havasu is a lot cooler. And come June 1st, it won't get dark until well past 8pm. I say this because Bambi and all of her relatives LOVE the Arizona mountain areas, so riding just before dark or just after sunrise in our mountains requires extreme vigilence being on the lookout for Bambi and her friends. So as we leave Silver City on our roughly 600 mile journey home will take about 11 hours, but we will stay cooler and enjoy the ride, the views and be able to totally take our time and arrive home in the light by 8pm. The only area that might be still pretty warm will be from Kingman, AZ to Lake Havasu City, AZ which is 60 miles. And although it might very well be at or above 100 degrees, once that killer sun settles behind the California mountains, it actually feel really good blowing over you. So the Heat cannot be beat, but it can be mostly out smarted.
Just Saying, Enough Said!
When a ride is planned and you decide or at least think you'd like to be part of this ride, certain things must be considered. OK, lets face it, many of us Zonies live just this side of Hell when it comes to our daily summertime temperatures. Hot? You bet it is. Usually by June 1st, Lake Havasu usually doesn't drop below 100 degrees even in the middle of the night. During the day, we can easily reach temps into the 120's. And the temps you see on weather reports, well you have to take into consideration that those temps are recorded at our ittle airport which is directly across a very large body of water, making the temp being recorded much, much cooler. And Phoenix and its surrounding area, is about 10 degrees cooler than Havasu, but if its 122 here, then 112 in Phoenix isn't exactly time to pull out the jackets either.
So lets get down to some basics. Most people when they come here for a motorcycle gathering, they ride through the heat complaining all the way. Then they say something like "on Sunday when we head home, we will get up bright and early and beat the heat". Forget it, there is no beating the heat. Remember, chances are it'll alreasdy be at, above or real close to that hundred degree mark by the time you load your bike. Taking the ride from Silver City into consideration. Lets say you live in sunny California and in order to beat the heat, you are up at 5am, showered and loading your bike by 05:30 and on the road by 6am if you skip breakfast. But if you have breakfast with the gang before departing, it is now 7am or later by the time you hit the road. So you leave Silver City heading West on I-10, its a 200 mile trip to Tucson, about 3hrs. You hit Tucson by10:00-10:30 because you stopped once for fuel and maybe a pit stop. It feels nice in Tucson, warm but not bad. You start convincing yourself you've beat the heat. In reality, you don't realize tucson ranges from about 2600 to 4500 feet in elevation, of course its cooler. Kind of like the calm before the storm. So maybe you fuel up again in Tucson and grab something to drink and stretch your legs before head "North" on I-10 towards Phoenix. Now Phoenix is about 115 miles from Tucson. Because the road from Tucson to Phoenix is usually pretty crowded with traffic and LEO, it will take you a good part of 2hrs and that is provided no accidents. So now you are pulling into Phoenix between 12;30 and 1pm. Now you've just riden Down to Phoenix and you are entering the 4th largest city in the country that is over 50 miles wide and on most days will take you a full hour to cross. So right about now you are realizng that the heat you thought you were going to beat, not only caught up to you, but its beginning to beat your ass. So combined with the heat and exhaust fumes, the sweat running down your head under your helmet, all you can think of is getting through Phoenix so you can pick up the pace a little bit to get home. Surprise, as you head West, you are now heading in my direction, the temp is raising and although it may only jump 10 degrees, it will feel like it climbing at least one degree with every mile. By the time you reach Quartzsite 129 miles or about 2hrs later, you are pretty much wondering why you didn't trailer your bike and you'd be sitting in the A/C watching all of the other fools ride by knowing exactly how they are feeling and what they too are thinking as they pass you looking at your smiling face holding that cold drink in your hand inside the cap of your air conditioned truck. Well, at least you'll be crossing into California or SOCAL in only another 30 minutes into Blythe, CA. What a relief as you see the sign, "Welcome to California", but now you only have another 120 miles or 1hr 50min to reach Palm Springs where it has been just as hot as Phoenix was. About this time you're thinking "what the hell was I thinking when I signed up for this ride in New Mexico? Now I remember the torture I went through last time I rode to the Grand Canyon in July and told myself I would never do that again. How time helps us forget. Anyway, the 500-675 miles you just covered to reach home really seemed like 2,000 miles because most of the trip the heat was really getting you down.
Are there things you can do to minimize the effects of the heat? Of course, to some degree anyway. I remember times when I would stop at a gas station or store and turn on a hose and soak myself down nice and wet. It felt great in that heat, however, within fifteen minutes of being back on the bike, I was completely dry. Sometimes you'll see rain in the distance and rush towards it and watch as it fades away. You can buy those soaking things that you either wrap around your neck or wear like a shirt, but regardless of what you do, when the temp is above 110 degrees and the humidity is under 15 percent, whatever you wet is going to dry almost as fast as you can wet it down.
Don't try to beat the heat, because you can't. The lower desert heat is there and nothing is going to stop it or slow it down. The worst time of the day is when the sun start heading towards the ground. But being the days last a very long time during the summer, that makes the worst time to be crossing the desert on a motorcycle is between 1pm and 6pm, with 2-5pm being the absolute worst time. It will kick your ass. And if you are heading West into the sun, expect the misery to be two-fold, beause that sun is relentless and very unforgiving, especially when its punching you in the face with no remorse. So what do you do. Actually its really knid of simple. You look at where you're going and when you are coming back. get out the maps and figure the best way to ride very early, but not past 10am, or ride in the evening after the sun breaks, or you head for the high country. people tend to think Arizona is nothing but desert, not knowing we, along with New Mexico have hundreds of miles through beautiful forests and mountains. On this upcoming SWFOG bike trip to Silver City, NM, myself and two other riders will depart Silver City about 9am heading into the mountains with our first target is Flagstaff, where its cool and crisp. From there we will (unfortuniately) jump on the freeway (I-40) heading West, arriving in Kingman about 7pm. Kingman, being only 60 miles from Havasu is a lot cooler. And come June 1st, it won't get dark until well past 8pm. I say this because Bambi and all of her relatives LOVE the Arizona mountain areas, so riding just before dark or just after sunrise in our mountains requires extreme vigilence being on the lookout for Bambi and her friends. So as we leave Silver City on our roughly 600 mile journey home will take about 11 hours, but we will stay cooler and enjoy the ride, the views and be able to totally take our time and arrive home in the light by 8pm. The only area that might be still pretty warm will be from Kingman, AZ to Lake Havasu City, AZ which is 60 miles. And although it might very well be at or above 100 degrees, once that killer sun settles behind the California mountains, it actually feel really good blowing over you. So the Heat cannot be beat, but it can be mostly out smarted.
Just Saying, Enough Said!
