Tired is a small word that when ascribed to a state on the heavy end of it seems small in comparison to what it is used to describe. I have been on the road for three days and I have just over 2,000 miles on the clock since leaving Cleveland.
I got in late last night and went to work on my posting because I knew it would be an early morning and I did not want to fart around with a weak internet connection when there was riding to be done. With only about four hour sleep I woke up to a beautiful blue-sky morning in Tucumcari. I got ready for the day and when I took the side bags down to the bike I picked up a cup of coffee, a couple of boiled eggs, a banana, two toasted waffles and a little cinnamon roll. I ate the waffles alfresco, outdoors, watching the sun light up the sky as it teased the horizon with the promise of a new day. It was in the 50’s and the weatherman called for a chance of thunderstorms along my intended route of travel. No worries, I got packed up and headed out of town on route104 towards Las Vegas, NM. I left a little before 6:00 am and in the first half forty-five minutes I saw three cars! Talk about desolate!
The scenery reminded me of the Great Rift Valley in Kenya with grass, shrubs and hearty yellow flowers alongside the road. Rising up on either side were sheer escarpments of rock ranging in color from tan to a deep, vibrant red.
This is a photo of one of the escarpments north of Tucumcari on the way to Las Vegas.There is also the smell of the arid lands that I really like in the morning. I think the plant is sagebrush but I probably have that wrong. It smells like one of those ornamental smelly dried plant things you get at Pier One but a lot better out in the open. Anyway, as the rising sun warms up the plants and the dew begins to evaporate, the scent of the plants is released into the air and provides a pleasant sensory accompaniment to the scenery.
In addition to the scenery, I got a wake-up call when I happened upon an antelope of some sort minding its own business munching dew-soaked plants by the side of the road. It was, thankfully, not startled enough to run and the hard braking turned out to be a practice run. I continued along the grassland until the road ran right to the foot of the western escarpment and twisted up. I stopped at a turn-out on the way up to take a couple of photos and check out the bike.
In checking out the bike I got down flat on the ground so that I could get a good look underneath. Just doing that and getting back up had me panting like I had climbed a few flights of stairs! Ah, yes, back in the mountains! I really did not realize that what had seemed like a trek along a valley floor was actually a steady climb to altitude.
I tried to get this done last night but I was so exhausted I almost fell asleep on the keyboard!
This is the photo I took half way up the escarpement looking south towards Tucumcari. This is also where I checked out the bike and got winded just getting back up.
I crested the escarpment to find lush grassland out to the distance which was lined by a snow-capped mountain range. It was quite a contrast to the tough scrub of the lowlands. There were a couple more spots where I rode past strange-looking deer enjoying their breakfast by the road. I stuck to the posted speed limit, ever ready to hit the brakes.
A view of the distant mountians after I crested the escarpment.
On reaching Las Vegas, in the foothills of that previously distant mountain range I took route 518 north towards Taos. After about twenty miles or so I saw a pull-off with a pretty good view of the snow caps and there was a fellow BMW rider pulled off to the side for a smoke. I stopped for a chat and learned he was from Austin, Texas just out riding the mountains for the holiday weekend. He had also ridden through the rain storm the previous night and so we chatted briefly about how that, tires and good roads.
There goes the guy from Texas with the mountains ahead of him! My turn next.
He took off while I was finding the perfect spot for my photo. That done I continued up the road as it climbed towards the pass that would take me over the top. On way up I looked back down the valley at one point and saw a pretty good view so I found a spot on the road with decent visibility in both directions (mind you, this is a curvy road going up a mountain) and decided to execute a U-turn. Now, in preparation for the trip I clocked thousands of miles tearing through West Virginia and the hilly portions of Ohio so I arrived here ready for a good challenge and some brisk riding in the twisties. Well, one thing I did not figure was the difference a load makes. When I travel to WV I normally only have just a water bottle for a day trip or just one night’s worth of clothing. A week’s worth of clothing, shoes, water bottle, rain gear, tool box and a host of other stuff weighs a whole lot more and thus changes the handling dynamics of the bike. Not having thought that little detail through as I began to execute the U-turn, I was unprepared for how quickly the bike leaned over and, yup, you got it ....... I laid it down flat on its side in the middle of the road!!
My first thought was s--t, it’s going down, the next thought was, you f---king idiot as I stepped clear and hit the kill switch. I quick look up and down the road revealed that there were no cars coming from either direction so the next order of business was to figure out how to get my fully laden bike back upright. The first try failed and if I did not get it up on the second I would be pulling bags off the bike and surely there would be cars waiting for me to clear the road! Thankfully, I got it up on the second try and then pushed over to the side of the road where I leaned it over on the kickstand! Now remember a little while ago I got winded just getting up off the ground? Well, I was now about two thousand feet higher up and pushing a 500 pound fully loaded bike up hill to the side of the road.
I was winded and pissed off! Thankfully, the folks who design touring bikes anticipate this sort of stuff so with the exception of a couple of scratches on the left saddle case the bike was fine. Me? The cockiness fueled by all my hill riding leading up to this trip had just been dope-smacked the hell out of me.
I got the bike turned around and went a little ways down the hill to a pull off to take the damned photo and examine the bike a little more closely. The picture did not turn out very well but the bike was fine and my ego would recover.
One good thing about this happening is I was now fully cautious, as I should have been in the first place. At every point where I saw the “Elk Crossing” sign, my fingers were ready for the brake and I became more vigilant than I had been on the blind corners.
This is the shot I had turned around to take when I dropped the bike. The U-turn was more dramatic than the shot!
Up over the top I took a couple of roads that got me pretty good views of Truchas Peak, 13,102 ft. and Santa Fe Baldy at 12,622 ft. These were the southernmost of the snow covered peaks I had seen from the top of the escarpment earlier.
There is no way I can finish this without burning up a good portion of the early morning so, I am off to the mountains, again and I will work on it in Flagstaff.
Well, I am finally in Flagstaff after quite a day of riding. The state motto for New Mexico is the “Land of Enchantment. After having spent a couple of days there I have to say it is quite enchanting. I entered the state in a drenching and frightening rain storm, rose from high plains to snow covered mountains, out of the mountains into the desert, out of the desert, into the high plains, back up into a different set of mountains and then on out into Arizona for the second half of today’s ride. But, more on that in the next posting. I have to finish this one first.
Next on the agenda was a decision, do I go to Taos and ride the enchanted circle or do I do a reverse routing of my original plans to ride some other roads? Chose the latter so that I could see roads I might otherwise not see. The first part of the new plans was an exercise in frustration. The roads were narrow and the speed limit was only 40 MPH which is a royal pain when you are trying to squeeze in as much as possible in a day.
Once I was through the populated area the road opened up to some nice sweeping turns and rapid changes in elevation taking me to the views of Truchas and Baldy The ride to those views went from high alpine forests with amazingly green pastures that had crystal clear streams, which I assume were melt-water from the snow caps, to small farms and dwellings. From recreation areas to a place where it looked like people make part of their living from the earth. The homes looked similar to small-holder plots in Kenya.
The mountain in the background is the south shoulder of Santa Fe Baldy with the smallholder plots in the middle ground.
Truchas Peak from the west side framed by an abandoned roadside kiosk.
From a high vantage point in this high farmland I could see across the valley of the Rio Grande to the Jemez Mountains on the other side. My plan was to cross the Rio Grande and ride through the Jemez Mountains and the on to Taos in the afternoon. The descent into the Rio Grande valley was adorned with dramatic views of the mountains I was leaving, the valley into which I was descending and the mountains into which I planned to climb. Part of the ride down was along a ride line with Truchas and Baldy to my left, green with snow caps, the arid and dusty Rio Grande valley to my right against a purple backdrop of the Jemez Mountains. It was a challenge to pay attention to the road while catching glimpses of all the scenery around so I stopped from time to time just to take it all in.
On the way down I was moving along at a decent clip, passing cars that were plodding along, not being able to take corners like the bike. I was however surprised when some kid on a dirt bike came screaming past me and left me in the proverbial dust; that bike was MOVING!!
Looking across the Rio Grande valley at the Jemez mountains.
A close up shot of the terrain on the descent into the Rio Grande valley.
I stopped to get gas in the valley on the road leading up to Los Alamos where they have the National Research Lab. At the gas station it was pretty easy to pick the scientist from the truly local folks. It was an easy climb out of the valley and then up around Los Alamos through ponderosa pine forests. I have always heard of ponderosa pine but I had yet to learn how to identify it. The tree is beautiful, the bark has the heavy texture of an oak tree but it is about the color of oak furniture with a deep honey stain. The cracks between the bark is black, providing an interesting contrast even when viewed from the road. The forest had the typical pine smell and that just added to the moment. I wanted to take a photo but there is no way a digital, or, even film camera could capture the subtlety of the texture.
I rode on westward and the further I went the less traffic I saw. Most of the vehicles on the road were some awesome bicycles. I really miss my bicycle and thought how wonderful it would be to have this as a cycling route.
The ride over the top did not provide grand vistas but the road was great. It rained a little at the top but that only lasted for about five miles and as I started the decent on the other side the rain soon stopped and the temperature went from the low fifties into the nineties within a distance of about twenty miles.
Time was moving along faster than I had planned so I nixed the initial plan of riding all the way to Taos for lunch as it was already noon and the ride to Taos would take another couple of hours ....... at LEAST! After my close passes with large four legged beasts earlier in the day I thought it best that I not be on the road after dark so not only did I nix lunch, I also took Taos off the plans for the second time in a row – last year I did not make it to Taos because I killed half a day waiting for a new tire. I guess I have unfinished business in New Mexico which simply means another trip out here either later this year or sometime next year.
Having had a rather light breakfast I was starving and wanted a good and hot lunch rather than the trail mix that I pretty much live on during the day when I am traveling. The first decent sized town was Jemez Springs and there were two prominent restaurants right across the street from each other. Not knowing which would be better, I let the availability of parking dictate where I ate and it turned out to be pretty good.
I learned that there is such a thing as green chili and that it is good. I cannot remember the name of the dish I ate but it was pretty much a burger patty with the top part of the bun under it, spicy fries around it, the two of those smothered in the green chili and that was topped with lettuce and diced tomatoes. Man, was it good! If I am back in Jemez Springs some time in the future I know where to grab a great meal!
A small church in Jemez Springs about a hundred yards from where I first had green chili!
This is a close shot of the rocks above teh church.From there I went north along 550, back in the desert and temperatures in the 90’s. I kept my layers on because I knew I would need it crossing back over to the Rio Grande valley further north and rather than go through the hassle of pulling it off only to have to put it back on in about 30 minutes I just sweltered a little for about half an hour.
Cliffs on the drive up 550 after lunch in Jemez Springs
The ride back over was along the Rio Chama River that appears to form the dividing line between the Jemez and San Juan mountains. This run was nothing close to as beautiful as the Jemez Mountains route but it was still beautiful, climbing out of the desert into the lush highlands.
The descent into the Rio Chama river valley offered some nice views of meadows and hills.
I liked this pasture along Route 96 between Gallina and Arroyo del Agua.
This is a cliff just before the drop to the Abiquiu Dam where I would turn south towards the Rio Grande and on to Socorro for the night.
Back along the Rio Grande I stopped for gas and also to remove some layers as the rest of the trip was going to be in the hotter lower plains. Lower is a relative thing because the plains have an elevation of around five thousand feet or so!
The ride through Santa Fe was frustrating because of the lights. By this time I was exhausted, hot and hungry and all I really wanted to do was get to my hotel, grab a meal and hit the sack. Once on the freeway things improved dramatically; the speed limit is 75 and there were people doing 85 – 90 so I tagged along and that made quick work of the miles. Between Santa Fe and Albuquerque the winds from the south picked up the poor bike had to work hard to get back up to speed if, for whatever reason, I had to slow down. All along the drive to Socorro there were beautiful mountains to the east with plains to the west.
When I got to Socorro, I gassed up the bike checked in, found a restaurant a couple of doors down that actually serves alcohol and enjoyed a couple of beers with what the waitress said was pretty standard fare for local food. After dinner I walked back to the hotel and tried to write this entry but my eye lids did not allow me to complete it.
It was my plan to write both days up today but I am tired and I will just post this and some photos from the ride and leave today’s posting for tomorrow. So, like my last trip, the postings will lag about a day behind.
Speaking of night, it is time for me to hit the sack. I have looked at the intended route for Memorial Day and cut about 150 miles off it just so that I can spend a decent amount of time enjoying the Grand Canyon. It looks like I will be back in this part of the country in the future so that I can finally get to see Taos and then the parts of Utah that are now cut out of the route for tomorrow. Anybody want to come along?
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