Uraling to Alaska - Day 2: Bryce Canyon and the Grand Staircase Escalante Monument

April 6, 2013

A rather disappointing day in terms of obtained pictures, and then Valencia's clutch starting acting up late in the afternoon.

Woke up before the crack of dawn, and briskly got some coffee going as it was a cold 25 degrees farenheit in the campground! Still in the dark, I left on Valencia, heading once more through the open gates of the Bryce Canyon National Park. I was, by far, not the only one with ideas to take pictures of the rock formations during sunrise!

There was a whole group of folks at the overlook site named fittingly Sunrise Point. Lots of expensive looking cameras abounded, and then there was me, with my point and shoot. I hope they got better pictures than I did.

Sunrise Point, at Sunrise....

For the above shot, I hiked down the trail....hiking back up was "strenuous"

After I got my breath back, Valencia and I rode to the other scenic overlook sites, taking pictures where the sun favored it. Not too many turned out in this effort either but I did get some nice riding in within the park.

I was back at the camp by 10:00 AM and was ready to go by 10:30.

I spent most of the day riding on Utah State Highway 12, labeled a scenic ride as it crosses through the Grand Staircase Escalante Monument. It took way longer than I thought but the views were fantastic.

Escalante Overlook

At the fuel stop after the above picture was taken, I noticed that Valencia's clutch seemed to be hanging, the rig wanting to move even with the clutch lever fully depressed.

I tried adjusting the clutch cable to no avail. There was riding to be done so I kept going, just having to manually raise the idle a bit at stops as the motorcycle wanted to keep going, until I could put it into neutral. Rather annoying.

What was even more annoying was the tremendous head winds I encounter throughout most of the afternoon as I neared my overnight destination of Provo, UT. They caused Valencia to struggle mightily on the uphills, more than usual anyways, and at times had me wondering if there was something mechanically wrong!

When the wind would let up or change the angle it was hitting me at, Valencia would perform fine.

I got a bit mis-oriented at times but finally found my way to Interstate 15 and headed north on it towards Provo. Upon arrival, got myself a room in Orem, which is the next city along I-15. Luckily traffic was pretty light since it was Saturday and I was just able to toodle along at 60 mph! The winds never did let up for more than a few minutes if at all. I felt quite beat-up by the winds and Valencia's clutch behaviour.

I checked into the hotel, too tired to camp, and then after unpacking went to fiddle with Valencia's clutch cable after a discussion with fellow Uralista Darrell S. After some back and forth discussion, I decided to leave things alone for now and to call the URAL dealer in Oregon on Tuesday to schedule an appointment to have the clutch checked out.

Of course, after that decison was made, I tried starting her up to go get something to eat. Wouldn't you know it, the damn clutch was working just fine! I wonder if it was a heat related issue? I'll feel better once the dealer gives it a check in Salem, Oregon.

Previously: Uraling to Alaska - Day 1: Zion National Park