From the Editor: Sep Oct 2006

Ft. Worth, Texas is known as “where the West begins” and we believe that is a very apt moniker.

East of Ft. Worth lies Dallas, East Texas and Shreveport, Louisiana, these are all fun places to visit and they have some wonderful areas to ride. But they are not “western” by any means.

Ft. Worth has long been a cow town. From the earliest days when the ranchers started gathering their cattle in pens on the open range to show them and trade them, Ft. Worth has been about cattle and ranching – and oil. The open range cattle shows eventually evolved into the Ft. Worth Stockyards – one of the most important cattle trading centers in the country.

Head west from Ft. Worth and you will increasingly find the West. The rides and trips featured in this issue will take you on a tour of the heart of the Old West. Not only Ft. Worth and vicinity, but travel across New Mexico and discover roads and sights that you didn’t know existed. Old mining towns, challenging mountain roads, and

Follow our riders as they venture across Arizona and get their first view of the Grand Canyon.

Cut across Arizona and on into Utah. The Bryce Canyon is everything they hoped it would be and more. Then, when they thought they had seen the best that Utah had to offer – Zion National Park and Boulder Mountain.

No trip in this area would be complete without visiting Four Corners, the only spot in the country where a person can stand and be in four states at once. If the scenery in this area looks familiar – it is where Forrest Gump decided to stop his cross-country runs and go home.

Texas, New Mexico and Arizona all offer their own segments of the Historic Route 66. No trip in this area would be complete without getting your kicks on Route 66.

Enjoy the articles and the photos of the featured areas, but more importantly plan your own trip. Reading about someone else’s trip will never come close to what you will experience when you pack up your bike and “get on the road again”.

Ride safe.