LarryGreesen
06-19-2005, 12:54 PM
I posted this on the Two wheeled Texans board after asking about places to go, ride etc. in New Mexico. My apologies to anyone who has read it on the other boards.
Below is my post.
Friday the 10th of June Ed Winters (GW) and I (ST1300) left for New Mexico, heading out from SA on I10 to Ozona hanging a right on 137 to Brownfield and left on 82 into Roswell. It was overcast and eventually got into a rain storm between Ozona and Brownfield that kept us at the DQ in Big Lake for about an hour. After the storm passed, it was a warm but not uncomfortable ride into Roswell.
Next day, on to Taos thru Santa Fe. We rode the Enchanted Loop to Angel Fire, stopping at the Viet Nam War Memorial. On to Red River for the night. It rained on and off, but turned into beautiful weather mid morning. Completing the Loop, it was on to Chama with some of the most beautiful scenery so far riding thru Carson National Forest and into the San Juan Mountains. Lunch in Chama and on to Pagosa Springs (named by the Native Americans meaning 'healing waters' We spent the night soaking in the supposedly 108* natural spring waters. Ed said he now knows what lobsters go thru! We met a retired couple from the Austin area that are moving to Cortez, Co. as soon as their house sells in Texas. They said "don't miss the ride to Silverton, Colorado". The next morning, we were eating breakfast and a couple came in with a TexSTOC shirt on. and noticed my TexSTOC shirt and had a good conversation. They were from Ft. Worth, he on a WeeStrom, her on a BMW K75. They were following the same route as us!
Temperatures are now in the forties in the morning, warming to 60 during the afternoon, so we are wearing our 'lectrics. The ride to Silverton was spectacular, also 39*. I felt sorry for the Harley riders with only leathers and doo rags. We also passed 15 or so Things. They were having a Thing rally (more on that later). We lunched in Silverton and walked the main street. I got a little nauseous, probably altitude sickness (10,000 ft.). From there it was on to Ouray. This is a must do for anyone liking 15 mph switchbacks. I liken it to running the Dragon, only longer, scarier, and higher. (If you run wide on the Dragon, at least they can find you! We pulled into Ouray and met up with our TexSTOC friends. She said after the last 30 'white knuckled' miles, she was ready for ice cream. We talked over ice cream cones for a while, and the four of us were off to Telluride. They split to parts unknown at the turnoff, and we rode thru Telluride and on to Cortez for the night. We pulled in to the Tommahawk Motel (or something like that) and lo and behold, all the VW Things were there. All the women were in the room next door having happy hour, while the men were all standing around showing off their (farkles, or whatever they call their cushions that cover the cheap oem seats, and their CB radios). Reminded me of the TexSTOC rallys. This was a most enjoyable day.
Next day was a big mileage day heading diagonally back towards the center of N.M. disecting Albuquerque and Santa Fe, mostly on 550. We turned on Biway 126 at Cuba trying to find a scenic route, only to be turned back after 10 miles in with road construction and fresh gravel ahead. Back to 550 to try 165 off of I25 and missing the exit. We doubled back on the Turquoise Trail, which was quite scenic, taking us to Moriarty for the night. We roomed next to a couple from Florida with a heavy foreign accent. I asked them where they were from, and they said "Alabama...with a laugh. Actually, we are German, but our friends said to tell anyone who asks, Alabama. I asked them if they had heard of the Coneheads. They hadn't, so I dropped it. They were both glider pilots, there to compete in a sport gliding competition. I was surprised that gliders can go four or five hundred miles at altitudes of 12,000 feet (up to 28,000 ft. with permission of the local air controllers) after being towed only up to two thousand feet by the tow plane. Interesting folks.
Next is was south thru Ruidoso to Cloudcroft. After lunch in Cloudcroft, we headed down towards Alamagordo, but stopped just past the tunnel at the overlook, paid a quarter to look thru the telescope at the White Sands, felt it would be a 100* ride, turned around and headed to Mayhill. Halfway there, we ran into a large thunderstorm that made us change into our raingear on the side of the road. The temperature fell from 82 to 59 in a matter of minutes. Eventually, we had to stop and let it pass over us. Pulling out of the Lincoln Nat'l Forest the cloud cover kept us cool, but twenty minutes later we were changing back into our Joe Rocket mesh gear. It was in the 90's when we got to Artesia for the night. The next day was back to SA. We both charged our cooling vests and knew it would be hot.
Thru Hobbs it was nice as we were under a large cloud, but as soon as we got to Texas, it was time for the vests. We followed 87 back to Fredericksburg with the temperature topping out at 100* (according to the air temperature readout on the ST1300) at 4:00 just south of Mason. Temps from Fredericksburg to SA stayed at 95*. Arrived in SA at 6:00 and after the 2500 mile ride, I immediately jumped into the pool. Relaxed for a while and watched the Pistons stomp the crap out of our beloved Spurs. Was asleep by the start of the 4th quarter dreaming of where I had been the week before.
Larry
Below is my post.
Friday the 10th of June Ed Winters (GW) and I (ST1300) left for New Mexico, heading out from SA on I10 to Ozona hanging a right on 137 to Brownfield and left on 82 into Roswell. It was overcast and eventually got into a rain storm between Ozona and Brownfield that kept us at the DQ in Big Lake for about an hour. After the storm passed, it was a warm but not uncomfortable ride into Roswell.
Next day, on to Taos thru Santa Fe. We rode the Enchanted Loop to Angel Fire, stopping at the Viet Nam War Memorial. On to Red River for the night. It rained on and off, but turned into beautiful weather mid morning. Completing the Loop, it was on to Chama with some of the most beautiful scenery so far riding thru Carson National Forest and into the San Juan Mountains. Lunch in Chama and on to Pagosa Springs (named by the Native Americans meaning 'healing waters' We spent the night soaking in the supposedly 108* natural spring waters. Ed said he now knows what lobsters go thru! We met a retired couple from the Austin area that are moving to Cortez, Co. as soon as their house sells in Texas. They said "don't miss the ride to Silverton, Colorado". The next morning, we were eating breakfast and a couple came in with a TexSTOC shirt on. and noticed my TexSTOC shirt and had a good conversation. They were from Ft. Worth, he on a WeeStrom, her on a BMW K75. They were following the same route as us!
Temperatures are now in the forties in the morning, warming to 60 during the afternoon, so we are wearing our 'lectrics. The ride to Silverton was spectacular, also 39*. I felt sorry for the Harley riders with only leathers and doo rags. We also passed 15 or so Things. They were having a Thing rally (more on that later). We lunched in Silverton and walked the main street. I got a little nauseous, probably altitude sickness (10,000 ft.). From there it was on to Ouray. This is a must do for anyone liking 15 mph switchbacks. I liken it to running the Dragon, only longer, scarier, and higher. (If you run wide on the Dragon, at least they can find you! We pulled into Ouray and met up with our TexSTOC friends. She said after the last 30 'white knuckled' miles, she was ready for ice cream. We talked over ice cream cones for a while, and the four of us were off to Telluride. They split to parts unknown at the turnoff, and we rode thru Telluride and on to Cortez for the night. We pulled in to the Tommahawk Motel (or something like that) and lo and behold, all the VW Things were there. All the women were in the room next door having happy hour, while the men were all standing around showing off their (farkles, or whatever they call their cushions that cover the cheap oem seats, and their CB radios). Reminded me of the TexSTOC rallys. This was a most enjoyable day.
Next day was a big mileage day heading diagonally back towards the center of N.M. disecting Albuquerque and Santa Fe, mostly on 550. We turned on Biway 126 at Cuba trying to find a scenic route, only to be turned back after 10 miles in with road construction and fresh gravel ahead. Back to 550 to try 165 off of I25 and missing the exit. We doubled back on the Turquoise Trail, which was quite scenic, taking us to Moriarty for the night. We roomed next to a couple from Florida with a heavy foreign accent. I asked them where they were from, and they said "Alabama...with a laugh. Actually, we are German, but our friends said to tell anyone who asks, Alabama. I asked them if they had heard of the Coneheads. They hadn't, so I dropped it. They were both glider pilots, there to compete in a sport gliding competition. I was surprised that gliders can go four or five hundred miles at altitudes of 12,000 feet (up to 28,000 ft. with permission of the local air controllers) after being towed only up to two thousand feet by the tow plane. Interesting folks.
Next is was south thru Ruidoso to Cloudcroft. After lunch in Cloudcroft, we headed down towards Alamagordo, but stopped just past the tunnel at the overlook, paid a quarter to look thru the telescope at the White Sands, felt it would be a 100* ride, turned around and headed to Mayhill. Halfway there, we ran into a large thunderstorm that made us change into our raingear on the side of the road. The temperature fell from 82 to 59 in a matter of minutes. Eventually, we had to stop and let it pass over us. Pulling out of the Lincoln Nat'l Forest the cloud cover kept us cool, but twenty minutes later we were changing back into our Joe Rocket mesh gear. It was in the 90's when we got to Artesia for the night. The next day was back to SA. We both charged our cooling vests and knew it would be hot.
Thru Hobbs it was nice as we were under a large cloud, but as soon as we got to Texas, it was time for the vests. We followed 87 back to Fredericksburg with the temperature topping out at 100* (according to the air temperature readout on the ST1300) at 4:00 just south of Mason. Temps from Fredericksburg to SA stayed at 95*. Arrived in SA at 6:00 and after the 2500 mile ride, I immediately jumped into the pool. Relaxed for a while and watched the Pistons stomp the crap out of our beloved Spurs. Was asleep by the start of the 4th quarter dreaming of where I had been the week before.
Larry