Ever since a kid , Zoe Cano has had a passion for travel . Trekking the Amazon , walking the Great Wall of China , and even rowing the Thames weren ’ t enough . She jumped on Triumph Bonneville T100 and rode the ‘ roads less traveled ’ of the USA . Three successive rides exploring the back roads of America has seen a trilogy of acclaimed books : Bonneville , Go or Bust ; Southern Escapades ; and Chili , Skulls and Tequila . Zoe lives in London , but is always looking for that next adventure .
After a cowboy breakfast , I set out . Before anything else , my main concern is once again to check the tyre pressure . I ’ m sure for most of you bikers it sounds stupid but for me it was far from that . Even though I ’ d kindly been given a gauge to measure the pressure back in Oklahoma , I ’ m still petrified . What would happen if I can ’ t pump the tyres , create the right pressure , or worse still somehow permanently deflate them !
But once again , driving alongside the Colorado River , I know that with the forecasted ominous weather arriving , wet slippery roads ahead and long miles of unknown terrain , I ’ ll have no other option . I need to face my demons , to check and inflate those bloody tyres .
Arriving into Moab the rain is already starting to come down . I pull up at the first gas station , stop , look around but can ’ t even work out where their air pump is and I ’ m too embarrassed to ask ! So , I drive to the next gas station on Main Street . There I see the air machine . I nervously park the bike next to it , take the measuring gauge out and amazingly complete the task . A small task but a big achievement ! My tires are now ready to go the distance and thankfully prepared for the weather conditions that at this stage I can ’ t even imagine will come my way !
Hardly getting past The Arches Park entrance , the rain starts to come down first with only small spots but with the ever-blackening sky it just gets heavier . And I thought this was the summer ! Before it ’ s too late , and with the mistake I made in New Jersey about a month ago , I need to stop and put on my waterproofs on . I also put on my leather jacket and gloves not only for rain protection but simply because it ’ s getting a lot colder . Now I ’ m feeling a lot better and a lot more organized . I continue up through the flatlands with very little traffic .
At Crescent Junction , I turn westbound onto the main Interstate 70 . Visibility is getting increasingly worse . I have no other option but to reduce my speed mainly due to the fact that the ever-enormous trucks are back to haunt me , coming down on me and creating rivers of water either side of the poor Bonnie . I feel like Moses is opening up the Red Sea .
Very soon , I pass Green River and turn northwards onto Route 6 which looks to me on the map pretty simple , going straight and all the way up to Salt Lake City . But naively and unfortunately on today of all days , I haven ’ t done my homework . I hadn ’ t properly studied the topography of the map and the altitudes I ’ d be climbing . But
Moab - Thursday 5 July . The rain still hasn ’ t arrived but the sky is threateningly
dark on this cold , early morning , and there ’ s now a feeling inside me that I need to get out onto the road as soon as possible . Needing to cover more than 250 miles ( 400km ) today , the route seems pretty direct and straight forward so I ’ m pretty confident . But I think I might have already told myself that before on the journey !
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