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The sand pockets on this stretch of the road
proved to be a good test of the Metzeler Tourance tires. Even
from a dead stop in deep sand, the Metzelers had enough traction to
push my GS out, as long as I was easy on the throttle. I'm
sure the heavy payload I was carrying helped.
As far as stability in the sand, the Tourances
fell far short of the TKC-80s. The font tire just didn't seem
to have the traction it needed to guide the bike. Despite this
lack of performance, the Tourances still managed to get me through
the several deep sand pockets along this stretch of roadway.
There was a big difference between the road
untouched by the flood and the sections of temporary road
constructed across the floodplain. The untouched roadway was
mainly packed and loose gravel, and would easily support speeds up
to 40 mph - even with the Metzelers I was running. The
temporary roadway forced me to drop my speed to 15 to 20 mph due to
deep sand and large rocks. Needless to say, this road kept me
on the pegs for most of its length as the sand pockets were very
irregular and were difficult to spot from the seat, especially
at high speeds.
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Although continuous with Rainbow Canyon, this
area is called Meadow Valley. Further up the road, I came
upon some abandoned farms. Sprinklers were |
 |
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Carp/ Elgin Road in Meadow
Valley near Lymann Crossing |
still set in fields overgrown with sage and grass, covered with small sand dunes.
One look at the surroundings and it made me wonder why anyone would
even fathom that farming here would be a good idea.
 |
After
several more miles of sand and rough road I came to a fork in
the road. Both forks looked traveled and my GPS indicated
I should continue south, which made |
| Mother Nature 2, Rainbow
Canyon 0 |
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