Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona in a week.

Wyoming fades into Colorado and Utah and we start to ride through canyons of sandstone. It is difficult to capture the scale of America. Some of the canyons are vast and tower over us as we ride through them mile after mile. In two days we can ride the equivalent of Lands’ End to John O’Groats and pass only a few small towns, each of a few thousand people. At one point we follow signs for 30 miles for the town of Cisco. When we ride through it is no more than a dozen abandoned wooden homes a railway siding and two or three motorhomes, which don’t look like they have turned a wheel for a long time. Yet it is still the only town for the next 40 miles.

Having followed the Green River for many miles as it winds though valleys of sandstone we arrive in Moab. Adjacent to the Arches National Park it is a lively and friendly town with a distinct aged hippy feel about it. No cowboys here! A day off gives time to explore the park and to catch up on laundry and bike maintenance. Moab does have the best laundry of the trip as it I connected to a bar called the watering hole. Wash, Beer, Dry, Beer, Fold, Beer, oops spilled beer on this shirt – start again.

From one National Park to another. A hot days ride (22C at 9am is always a promise of a hot day to come!) to Mesa Verde where we are staying in the park. Mesa Verde was unique when it was founded because it was established to protect “the works of man” not the natural environment. The scenery is worth protecting but the real purpose it to maintain one of the most northerly habitats of the Pueblo Indians. They carved out of the sand stone cliffs a town for over 700 people and lived there until 1000 years ago. The cliff palace is an amazing site knowing it was all made by hand. Historians believe the Indians all left the site within a 20 year period having lived there for hundreds of years. The swift exodus could have been due to a drought but no-one knows for sure.

The park also has an unusual weather system sitting high on its green plateau. It very rarely rains as the heat evaporates the rain as it falls and yet it is subject to an average of ten lightning strikes a day. It has had some massive fires in its history and so keeping watch from Park Point and other sites is a full time job. I am not sure the park ranger peering through her binoculars really appreciated the face pressed against the glass of the lookout tower as she scanned around, but she didn’t through the culprit out of the park so she must have seen the funny side.

Heading on we enter the desert proper for the first time. This won’t be the only time we ride through desert and scrub on this ride. We visit the four corners monument where four states meet at a single point and manage to put a foot and a wheel into New Mexico as well. Although we are not 100% sure as they have moved the monument in the last two years and there are still arguments about if it is in the right spot! We take a circuitous route to ensure that we ride two of the best dirt roads in the region. The Moki Dugway is a gravel descent of four hundred metres done in three miles of gravel hairpins. The views from the precipice at the top are once again enormous and will not be truly captured by our cameras, although that does not stop us trying.

Once we have all safely negotiated its twists and turns we head though the Valley of the Gods. Aptly named as the mountains of weathered red rock tower over us like Gods. The road is thoroughly enjoyable gravel and a bit of sand with dry creeks and washes providing a whooping rollercoaster effect in places. This sets us up in a small town ready for Monument Valley the next day. Nearly all the group are up and out for sunrise. The red rock monoliths are dark and sultry when we arrive but behind us an orange strip of light is spreading across the horizon. Over the next hour in the quiet of the desert the sun appears and the sky, clouds and rocks change colour and change again, as they are hit first by the beams of daylight and the shadow line of the horizon moves down the rocks. Then the clouds start to cast shadows, while they themselves still have an orange tinge to them from the early morning sun. We ride back for breakfast full of awe for mother nature. Some-one commented that you hear the word “awesome” a lot in the USA, but this morning it was apt.

Then back through the valley in daylight and on further into Arizona proper. “The Grand Canyon State” the signs proudly proclaim and this is where we are heading. Not to the touristy south rim but to the north rim to stay in quiet cabins tucked away in a haven of tranquillity in the woods. Our location allows us to ride out to the canyon either on a tarmac route or on a challenging but rewarding 120 miles dirt track to a remote and un developed view point.

The group splits and some riders opt for the shorter day on tarmac and some for the longer dirt riding day in 40+C. All have a great day and the views from the quiet lookouts we visit are bigger than we could have imagined. Three thousand feet straight down and no safety rail give even the most hardy souls a touch of vertigo.

Then all too soon we are on our final days ride for the first section of Trans Am 2011. A big, hot, long day into Tucson where we are resting up for a few days while John and his great team at Iron Horse BMW service the bikes ready for the adventure ahead. It is time for a service, new Metzelers, re-stock on red Scottoil for the hot days ahead, pack all the cold weather gear right at the bottom of the panniers and bring out the short sleeve Craghoppers Nosquito shirts and shorts.

Central America is on our doorstep. First we must cross the Mexican border and put some fast miles between us and it. The border is the scene of frequent altercations between smugglers and authorities. The temperature will rise, the humidity will rise and the challenges facing the riders and their bikes will rise. I am sure they will all rise to it!