days 16 and 17, and back at the Ranch

Days 16 and 17, July 24 and 25

From Golden, Colorado to Lakewood, NM

I’m back in SE New Mexico -- 17 days and 3,586 miles later. 12 nights sleeping in a tent, 3 nights with my niece in Golden, and last night in a motel in Las Vegas, NM

I left Renee’s on Thursday, July 24 and headed south -- frustrated because there were so many roads I’ve yet to ride and some that need to be ridden again. But my time was running out. I took Hwy 285 SW out of Denver, over Kenosha Pass at 10,001 feet and through Fairplay, at 9,933 feet. It’s amazing that people live up that high. In Buena Vista, I stopped for a buffalo burger at the same truck stop Clif and I hit on our way north. Then I took Hwy 24/285 south to Salida and into the basin that is home to the Great Sand Dunes National Park – beautiful, awe inspiring, unexpected. Eighty foot tall sand dunes – the tallest in North America – are created by a whirling action of wind. A place to spend much more time than I had on this trip. On the way out of the park, I stopped for yet more pictures along the road, and the wind was blowing so hard that I couldn’t keep the bike steady with just my feet and legs; I gave up trying to get a good photo and settled for keeping the bike upright. http://picasaweb.google.com/gypsyjudgefjr

There were thunderstorms building on several fronts, but I wasn’t too concerned. Weather in the mountains can often be a small cell, one through which you may or may not ride. And if you do hit it, the cells are often fairly small so you ride through rather quickly.

I headed south on Hwy 285 and passed a motorcyclist on the side of the road, obviously doing some repair. I turned around to see if he needed any help (laughing because I don’t have a mechanical bone in my body but I do have a cell phone). He explained he was fine, was heading home from Alaska (9,500 miles in 3 weeks), and that he had to stop and lube his chain every 150 miles because of corrosion from the materials used on road repairs in Alaska. We talked for a while, and Denis explained he was going to Carlsbad (that’s about 20 miles south of where my RV is parked.) He suggested we could ride together, but he was going to stay on hwy 285 and finish on Thursday (he has a one-year old and three-year old at home, worth the extra push). I wasn’t interested in riding ‘til 10 or 11 at night, and I wanted to ride Hwy 64, the Enchanted Circle, stay at Coyote Creek State Park, and have breakfast in Las Vegas, NM, before riding in on Friday. As it turned out, I should have ridden on with him.

Denis waved as I turned east on Hwy 64 at Tres Piedras. The clouds were blacker in places, and the ride was pleasant. I stopped at the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, just west of Taos, and the winds were really picking up.

I needed to eat and planned on staying the night at Coyote Creek State Park that is close to exactly nothing. I had ridden through a light rain for maybe 30 minutes when I stopped for supper in Angel Fire. Next I filled up with gas, still a light rain. Now, I’m wondering – I do not want to set up a tent in the rain. So do I ride by Coyote SP and stay instead at Storrie Lake SP in Las Vegas? I turned south off Hwy 64 onto Hwy 434, one of the prettiest rides in the state – long valleys of green that reach up to tree-covered mountains, and great twisties. But the rain was picking up a bit more. And it was getting dark, fast. Hwy 434 crosses that beautiful valley and then dips into the trees – the ones that grow on the mountains – on an easement across private land. The road is less than two lanes wide; it has no centerline and no markings on the shoulders. That’s appropriate though because there are no shoulders. The road drops off, kerpluck, three inches here, three feet there, and then ten feet down to the creek, but who’s looking because you have to focus on the road to stay on the road. And since it’s in the mountains, the road twists and turns, all without the benefit of signs or other hints as to what’s going to happen next. Oh yeah, since it’s private land, you cross a cattle gap coming in and going out, and share the road with the owner’s cattle. All of that generally makes a great ride, but did I mention it was getting dark? As soon as I was totally committed to this dark, twisty tunnel of trees, the bottom dropped out of the sky and the thunder rolled. And now it’s pitch black. I rode about 15 miles in first gear at 10 MPH, and passed only one vehicle in the downpour. I hydroplaned two times, both briefly but enough to keep one focused. The second time was when I got to the section where they painted a center line (double yellow, no passing). In the curves – which was most of the distance - I’d been riding down the middle of the road because I couldn’t see the edges of the road in the midnight black. The road, and the world, was so black I didn’t realize I’d come to the painted lines ‘til I started sliding on them. I managed to stay on the road, and gingerly passed the entrance to the State Park, relieved because I knew the road would quickly improve. It did, but the weather didn’t. And it was still a long ways down to Las Vegas.

It was still raining when I rode into Las Vegas at 10 pm. I stopped at the first motel and gladly paid them $85. I left everything on my bike and peeled off my wet gear. After a long HOT shower, I was asleep. Slept in ‘til 8 AM this morning, passed on the cold bagels at the motel, and went to Charlie’s, my favorite restaurant in Las Vegas, for the long awaited breakfast. Then I headed south towards Lakewood. I reluctantly watched the mountains flatten out as I headed back into the desert.

Back at the RV Park, I switched over to my truck and returned to Artesia to pick Grace up from the kennel.

I wondered when I left if the sugar would begin to get bitter, if the time would come when I was ready to head home, if I’d want off the bike. And the answer was – no. Though I got tired, I didn’t get tired of the bike, or even tent camping. I’d have been happy to just keep riding. There some things I’d like to change – get a custom seat, add highway pegs, maybe a bigger windshield. Next time.