Featured Mt. Lemmon On My Speed Triple Rs

This past Tuesday I rode up our beloved Mt. Lemmon aboard my 2019 Speed Triple RS with a girlfriend (on her Kawi Vulcan 900). Mt. Lemmon is an absolute gem for those of us who live in Tucson! Mt. Lemmon is in the Santa Catalina Mountains--part of the Rocky Mountain Range--which lie just north of the city. I've ridden my bicycle up this road more times than I can count back in my racing days and now solely go up in on a motorcycle (much more fun!!) Our Mt. Lemmon ride is a staple for our Sunday group rides, particularly in the summer when the Tucson temps can be well over 100ºF and the temps up on Lemmon can be 75ºF.

The base of the mountain is at 2,500' (and a mere 17 miles from my front door) and the town of Summerhaven near the summit is over 8000'. The summit itself is over 9000'. The trip up goes through five biological life zones from bottom to top. When my friend and I left on Tuesday morning the temps on the desert floor were about 85ºF and it was 60ºF at Ski Vally which is about a 25 mile ride up from the base. Ski Valley is the southernmost ski area/resort in America. I don't even know how many turns this ride has from bottom to top. Suffice it to say "a lot". It's great fun on any motorcycle--and particularly fun on my Speedy!

The video link I've include is one I found on YouTube and not one I made myself. But it's a great video view (from an auto) of the mountain. I loved watching it myself as I know this road, the Catalina Highway, like the back of my hand from both bicycle and motorcycle rides over the years. If any of you can come to Arizona, I'd love to guide you on a ride up this unbelievably wonderful road!





At "Middle Bear" rest stop between Mileposts 11 and 12 on the way up the mountain. We stopped here to add a layer under our mesh riding jackets as this is where the temps really start to drop.


Ski Valley is a small ski area but its claim to fame, as I mentioned previously, is being the southernmost ski "resort" in the US. I was up there last winter (by car) with my brother and sister-in-law and there was lots of snow on the mountain and skiers on the slopes!




Well, unbeknownst to us, The Iron Door, our usual breakfast joint, is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Oh well. We hung out in a nearly empty parking lot, breathing in the crisp mountain air and enjoying the cool crisp temps.




The view from the Ski Valley parking lot looking NE of the Catalina Mountains.


On the ride down we stopped at a view / rest area known as Seven Cataracts to remove our warm layers for the ride back down to temps in the 90's. Headed to "Poco & Mom's" for a New Mexican breakfast. Well, brunch at this point. 7 Cats, as we call it, is around Milepost 9 and probably about 6000-6500' in elevation.




If I get additional fun photos tomorrow on our ride up Lemmon I'll add them to this thread. :

 

Dave, I'm not sure how someone got the rock to look like that but it's actually a fountain of some sort! It does look like a curled up mythical creature now that you point that out!

 

Here you go, Kenbro! Laura is awesome. We also ride with her husband, Greg. Greg owns a 2008 Triumph Rocket III and a Victory Hammer which is also a 2008, I think. Great friends and a lovely couple.

 

I rode up Mt. Lemmon on my Speed Triple again today (Sunday) with "the guys"--Mr. Sandi and three friends that we ride with regularly. This time around our breakfast joint was open so we had a lovely breakfast together on the deck at The Iron Door at 8000' and 60ºF.

Our friend, Randy, was on his Thruxton and when we pulled into the parking lot what did we see (and park next to) but a Thruxton R. Randy's comment was "birds of a feather..." Three little Triumphs all in a row!




My helmet (which matches my bike, of course) on the restaurant deck railing looking across at one of the ski runs.


The deck area of The Iron Door. The covering over the deck is wood lattice so the lighting is a bit "disco". I didn't get any photos of the interior but there's a beautiful huge stone fireplace which is great in the winter. Our usual waitress, Amber, is great but (like a "few" of us on this forum) she's a bit OCD. Check out her pen collection. She told us that she uses them as equally as she can so they run out at the same time and she can replace them all at once.






There are a half dozen or so hummingbird feeders hanging above the deck railing. There are always a bunch of hummingbirds duking it out for their piece of the pie, so to speak.


On our way back down to the parking lot with full bellies. There were some interesting bikes in the parking lot this morning. A couple of MV Augustas (including a Lewis Hamilton Special Edition Brutale) and a Ducati Diavel and then that Thruxton R with the race fairing. I still liked my Speed Triple RS the best. In this picture, though, those bikes were gone. Oh, the Ducati was "talking" when we parked our bikes. Saying something about OnStar security. It was kinda freaky.


We stopped at 7 Cats to doff our jacket liners in anticipation of higher temps on the desert floor. The clouds were starting to build and rain is predicted for the next few days. The last picture in this post is not one I took but it gives you a good idea of how amazing Catalina Highway and Mt. Lemmon really are!

 

Thanks, Steve! I've ridden to Las Vegas numerous times and love riding to Hoover Dan/Lake Mead--even though the water level is so low it is truly scary. I've also ridden Red Rock Canyon which is gorgeous. But I don't know about Mt. Charleston. Please let me know about both Echo Bay and Mt. Charleston as four of us are riding to Las Vegas Bike Fest in about two weeks and are always looking for fun rides and eats.

 

Yep, Dave, this is definitely the kind of ride that, as you so perfectly phrased it, "really lifts the soul". Worries and troubles simply melt away when riding Mt. Lemmon, that's for sure. What Speed Triple do you have?? I looooove mine! One of the best motorcycle purchase decisions I've made to date.

 

You're welcome, Billy! I wish I could share this Mt. Lemmon ride in person with you guys! I know full well how lucky I am to have a ride like this just a few miles from my home. And I appreciate our beautiful mountain immensely every darned time I ride up it. Especially on my motorcycles vs. my bicycle.

 

Thanks, Joe! I'm so glad to know you're enjoying my posts. I truly do enjoy sharing my adventures and photos! Especially really special places like Mt. Lemmon. As I mentioned in a response to Bad Billy, I'd love to share "my" mountain with any of you guys who could find your way to Tucson. What a hoot it would be to ride up Mt. Lemmon together. Or perhaps one of these days Mr. Sandi and I will find our way to the UK to ride with you guys! You're a peach, Joe. You ride same & free, too!