Adventure begins where plans fail... Cloudcroft, NM. Aug 2012

[wanabeguru]

Wow, Scott! Amazing report/pictures. Thanks for taking a "blacktop only[now thinking of DS]" rider along.

 

[Tourmeister]

Wow, Scott! Amazing report/pictures. Thanks for taking a "blacktop only[now thinking of DS]" rider along.

Not done yet. Still have to finish this day and I have five more days to go!

 

[Jbay]

thought that spot we came out looked familiar, this was coming from trail 5008

 

[Jbay]

 

[John Dirt]

LMAO

 

[Tourmeister]

So we reach the Sunspot Highway and head South. It feels good to get moving and have some serious air flowing through my jacket. I am soaked with sweat, right down to the soles of my boots. You might not think it, but trail riding is hard work... at least for my old out of shape body There is so much air moving through the jacket I actually feel a bit chilled for the first few minutes until the dry air starts to dry out my skin and shirt. Then the air just feels really good, kind of like that feeling in the morning when your sheets are juuuuust the right temperature and getting out of bed is the LAST thing in the world you want to do!

No time for sleeping now. This highway is smoooth and twisty! Now, I have no idea what the highway department folks were thinking when they put up speed limit signs, but... If you want a good idea of what eternal damnation might be like this is it. Imagine being on a superb road and no matter how hard you twist the throttle, your bike will only run 30 mph... The curves are perfectly banked, the sight lines clear, the pavement smooth yet loaded with grip, the sky clear and blue, the sun shining down on everything, you have a bike that handles great with loads of power... PERFECT! Except... you can only go 30 mph

Fortunately, I was not spending eternity on this road and we were pushing a HARD 30 mph... I quickly settle into my groove and the miles just start sliding by one after the other with a silky smoothness like that first chug of caffeine in the morning, making me feel really alive and in that happy place. The last few curves tighten up real good and bring us into Timberon, a small "town" at the end of the highway.

Now Timberon is an interesting place. I think most of the home owners here live somewhere else most of the time. There is a golf course here and a post office. Sometimes there is a place or two where you can eat and maybe buy some gas. But if you count on those things being here, you might be in for a surprise. On our last trip, we sort of happened upon a place to eat that turned out pretty good and just happened to be open that day. "Normal" business hours here are anything but normal. We found gas then too, but had to go inside to get a key on a stick, kind of like how some gas stations put the bathroom keys on big boards. Except... it was the key to the gas pumps! I guess they have drive off issues out here too

Well, I can't remember how to find the place where we had lunch last time we were here. The other guys are behind me a ways so I pull over into a parking lot of what looks like a closed down store. When I see the guys coming, I happen to spin around and look the other direction...

And they're open!!

What luck! I swing the bike around and park. Sure enough, this place is now a "Deli" and we can get lunch. Inside is a nice young couple and their son. The "kitchen" is a corner of the room with one of those stainless steel metal food serving cabinets with the glass over the front so you don't hack all over the food. Drinks are in a small dorm fridge on the floor behind the food cabinet. At this point I am wondering what we might be in for, but I keep the faith. There have been too many times on trips like this where the best food has come from the strangest places! I place my order and head back out to the front porch to enjoy a swing, the cool breeze, some shade, and some company...

This guy is BEYOND friendly! No sooner than I plop my weary bones on the bench swing, he leaps up and sits down right next to me, his tail wagging so hard it's about to beat me to death. I give him some good ear scratching and he just leans in for more. But... like any dog, no matter how well behaved and sweet it is, his breath smells like he just returned from lunch at the cat box Sooo... I send him on his way when I can't take any more. He just hops down and relaxes at my feet, thrilled to have someone to share the porch with.

The young boy comes out, sword in his belt and gun in hand. Sound effects issue from his mouth and he is deep into some exciting adventure. I remember those days. Every tree house was a rocket ship, command bunker, sailing ship, secret lab, a kingly palace, and much much more. Every creek was a raging river to be explored. I had my share of swords, guns, and conquered foes. He makes me reflect for a moment more... I was blessed with a fantastic childhood. We had no riches or abundance of toys that other kids could envy, just loving parents committed to our security and creating a safe place for us to explore our imaginations. It doesn't take much to make kids happy, love and security. Not every kid gets that kind of foundation on which to build the rest of their lives. I watch the boy for a bit longer and wonder where he might be in 15, 20, 30, 40 years...? Will he still be off running around having adventures like I am today, or will he be struggling with baggage from his childhood? He looks like he's off to a good start. I offer a silent prayer asking God to watch over and bless this kid, to protect the innocence of his heart, so that he might be grow up to live a life full of strong healthy relationships, something this world needs a LOT more of...

The view from my front porch seat

Lunch is soon ready and I join Roger and James inside. I got the "small" version of their subway style sandwich. It's huge. Roger is already sizing up his large size sandwich and no doubt it will be gone in very short order. The man can pack it away! As he put it, "I'm kind of like a food camel, eating what I can when I can because you never know when you might not get the next meal" So far, I've never seem him meet a meal he didn't like The sandwich is actually really good and totally hits the spot!

After lunch we start pondering where we might go next. The day is still young and we have many hours of riding left to do. Roger wants to try to find the way out of the Northeast corner of town. The maps show a road heading out that direction. We tried coming in that way on our last visit out here but found nothing but a locked gate at the end of a "road" that did not look like it had seen ANY kind of traffic in a long time. So this time we'll try it from the other end... because... well... we just HAVE to know! So after a little bit of conferring with the local folks, we head out.

The roads in town are all gravel, except the main drag. We pass by the fire/rescue department, loop around what looks like the town airfield and head down a gravel road... and miss a turn. I spin back around and we chug up a steep hill of loose chunky gravel. I turn right, climb a hill, drop down the other side, go left up another long steep hill... and it's a dead end. Apparently the GPS map and reality don't agree on where there are roads in this town. So we go back to the top of that first hill where I turned right. It was a tee so I head across to the far side of the tee, as if we had gone left originally, go right up another hill and then the road starts to get kind of fun! It loses its "grid" orientation and starts to just follow the terrain up and down, around the hills, through some washes, and just as I am settling into a nice post lunch groove...

I think they mean it...

Well... Looking at the map, this is obviously the right road. It shows as NF-160 on some maps. I guess there is just no getting through as there do not seem to be any other roads in this area that cut through. It's a shame too,, because it would lead directly to a great riding area. As it is now, we either have to loop WAY back around West and then North before cutting back East to the area, or we have to loop WAY South, then East and come back up to the North near Pinon before cutting back West into the area. Maybe someday I need to see if I can find out who owns this and see if I can convince them to let us cut through if we call ahead and promise to stick to the road and close gates...

Nothing to do now but turn around... and have some FUN on the way back into town!

[Gotta work... More later]

 

[Tourmeister]

So once we get back into town I pull over next to the fire house. The bike is idling kind of fast and is hard starting. I've been fiddling with the idle speed and idle screw trying to the the bottom end air/fuel just right with the jetting for the altitude here. It seems if I get one thing right, the other goes off. So either it starts okay and idles bad or idles good but starts hard. It is also popping like CRAZY when I come of the gas at all. I describe it to Roger and he makes a few suggestions, I tweak here and there. It fires up without any trouble and idles pretty good. So we're off again.

The plan now is to do the big loop wayyy around to the West back up the Sunspot Highway, then cut back East and generally make our way over toward Weed to look for gas and maybe a late afternoon ice cream... I can't help myself We head North on the Sunspot and once again I slip into the smooth groove almost letting the sound of my exhaust pooping and growling through the corners hypnotize me. I don't think I'd be able to control myself if I had street tires on this bike... as if the knobbies really help keep me in check

We reach Scott Able road and turn East. This is a nice wide and well maintained gravel road that runs through a beautiful narrow valley or "canyon" as they seem fond of calling everything in this area The riding is easy but I forget about taking pictures because I get totally lost in the rhythm of the ride, the feel of the air, and the scenery. Scott Able is not real long, dead ending into FR 64 at the point where I think it becomes Agua Chiquita, which runs Northeast all the way up to Weed. We turn right and start following Agua Chiquita and it is more of the same nice riding.

A few more miles down the road we come to an intersection and I stop to wait for the others to catch up with me. We've been spacing out a bit because of the dust, which isn't too bad. I'm still kind of itching for some riding slightly more technical than these nice graded roads. I check with the others to see if they are up for some more exploring instead of just blasting down the easy road. As always with Roger, "I'm game!" So we turn South on Weed Road and then cut back to the Northeast on what shows to be CR-D007.

CR-D007 is still a road and not a trail, but it is basically a two track road of dirt/rocks with grass down the center. It starts out with a nice short climb, rising a few hundred feet to a small ridge and then drops back down to the East, following a dry creek and just wandering along the base of a short ridge line to our North. I'm really enjoying this road, just plodding along at a relaxed pace. I come around the side of a hill and see...

For a moment I think we might have to turn around, but then I notice the lack of a lock and that little yellow sign, "Please close the gate". That is usually a pretty good indicator that this is just a pasture boundary that lacks a cattle guard and we can pass without any problems. You can also see what the road is like, which is typical for most of the length of this road.

Could you custom order a nicer day!?

The road continues on down through the valley, a little better maintained on this side of the gate. I guess the ranchers come from this side to get to the pasture on the other side and rarely drive all the way through.

A little on further down the road, looking back to the West

A catch pond for when the valley actually has water flowing through it

It doesn't exactly make me want to go for a swim...

We soon come to an intersection that looks familiar... Did we come this way before... I don't remember a gate if we did Of course my memory leaves a bit to be desired sometimes We have arrived a Hughes Canyon Rd. When Roger pulls up I motion to see if he wants to head Northwest back up through the canyon, "I'm game". It's kind of like asking him if his dinner was any good So off we go...

I am not sure when the fires came through the area, but it looked like this when we were here in May 2010.

It might be a little bit greener now than it was then, last time two deer cut across in front of me right here.

I really enjoy Hughes Canyon. The road has a lot of elevation changes and there is nothing out here except mountains, new growth and cows. We do have to watch for the cows. Sometimes they are standing right in the road, but other times they hide behind the bushes waiting to scare the moo out of you! I've learned to watch for those bushes with tails...

At the end of the canyon, the road makes a sharp bend back to the Northeast as it climbs out of the canyon up onto the ridge above. There is an intersection here where we could cut back East on Seep Canyon road but I decide to head West instead, remembering this section of road as being quite fun. It makes the short run across the ridge and then starts down the far side. This section is more like a wide ATV trail that a road. I suspect folks might get up in here in their jeeps/trucks every now and then, but it would be slow going for them. There are a lot of rocks embedded in the ground and it is bumpy. The mountainside slips away pretty quick from the edge of the road, so putting a wheel off the edge would not be good. There are also a LOT of those big erosion berms all the way down to the bottom of the mountain. They're fun on a bike, but would get real old real fast in a truck.

We soon reach the bottom and turn back North on Agua Chiquita road. Time to just run it on into town. Shortly after we start down the road it becomes nicely paved. This is a really fun stretch of road. It twists and winds up and down pretty quick, following the valley all the way back East to Weed. We never made it over here on our previous trip so I really have no idea what I am looking for. I just remember reading something about Green Chili Cheeseburgers at the Weed Cafe. It's not a real big town... so it can't be to hard to find... and it's not. It would appear that the cafe is THE place to eat in town, as in the ONLY place to eat in town, hehe.

Alas!! We are too late! It seems they close at 3:00pm and it is now 3:20pm No ice cream for me.

James is crying his eyes out in disappointment

Hmmm... Now what...?

James is gonna need gas for his 350. Roger and I are probably fine as we have larger tanks and can see that we have plenty of gas remaining. Roger suggests we run up Hwy 24 and 130 to Mayhill. There is a gas station there that is just pumps, pay with credit card only, and no store at all. If that is not open then we can just run back West on US 82 to Cloudcroft and call it an early day. Sounds like a plan and I like a good plan... So off we go.

24 is a very nicely paved highway running mostly North/South in this area. With my low gearing I only run about 55-60 mph as anything more really means revving out the bike and cranking up the vibes. So I just settle down and enjoy soaking in the feeling of being out here in the mountains and woods on such a beautiful day. I feel really sorry for people that never manage to break out of their daily grind to experience a place like this. I am also extremely grateful that I am able to.

The highway crests at a place called Denny Hill and then makes a pretty fast drop down the Northern side of a ridge where it meets Hwy 130.

You can see the remnants of a not to distant fire here on the right

We drop down to 130 and start the run up to Mayhill. There we find the gas station and James tops off his bike. 86 Octane only. While he's taking care of business I check the GPS to see where else we might ride. This late in the day I'm looking for more of the easy stuff and not the really technical stuff. It's our first of six days of riding and there's no point trying to do it all the first day. Besides, James is really wanting to ride the Rim Trail tomorrow, so we need to stay fresh for that. Looking at the map I spot Sixteen Springs Road, which I know is gravel and runs East/West roughly parallel to US 82. I figure we can run up to that, then run it back West to town and start thinking about dinner... Just East of Mayhill is Carr Gap Road, which looks REAL squiggly on the map. I have a vague recollection of maybe riding this road last time we were out here but I can't recall for sure if it was this one or another in the area. Whatever... It looks like fun so off we go!

I miss the turn...

We get turned around and headed up the right road, which starts out REALLY wash boarded right away. It is wide and covered in that white gravel that makes the road look pretty, but makes the bike feel like it is rolling around on ball bearings! I know there are some folks that have the confidence to really ride the front end of the bike through loose corners while hammering the throttle to make the back end hook up to finish the corners. I am not one of those people. Maybe it comes from starting my dirt career late in life and on a BMW R1150GS, which by the way likes to tuck the front end if you really push it into corners on loose stuff. It seems much of my time riding on the dirt is a kind of Jekyll and Hyde thing. Jekyll is telling me, "Go slow and easy, no need to hurry and get yourself and your bike broken". Hyde is screaming, "Go faster, get on the gas, what the heck are you waiting for!?" It can make for some interesting moments depending on which is shouting louder and which I happen to be listening to in the instant...

Carr Gap road is actually a really fun road. It winds up through the forest, passing many great places to camp. Eventually the gravel thins out a bit and is not so bad. Either that or Jekyll has won the day and I've kind of kicked back to just enjoy the ride. We reach Sixteen Springs and turn West heading on up into Sixteen Springs canyon. Eventually this will hit Hwy 244 and we can run that back into Cloudcroft, but I want to stay off the pavement. Near the end of the canyon I check the GPS and see a road running Southwest, coming out on US 82 not too far from town.

The road is Bell Canyon Road. It is good old dirt, not too wide, and covered with trees. The sunlight comes down through the tree branches in long shafts. It climbs up and over the end of a ridge. On the down side I am cruising along nicely when I spy a LONG mud puddle ahead that pretty well covers the entire road, leaving no good way to get around it. Hmmm... I know from experience that just blasting on in can get real ugly, but I also know that if you lose your momentum halfway through... well... things can get real ugly I slow down, drop into second, stand up and get my weight a little back and head in on the right side.

Things start out pretty good. I shift my weight a little further back to let the front end find its way through the ruts I can't see under the surface of the murky brown water. I can see the tops of a few of them just barely breaking the surface and try to keep away from them. I feed in more throttle as the bike tries to slow from the drag of the mud. Water is splashing up on my legs and making a mess. More throttle... steady as she goes... almost there... almost... there...

Adrenalin is a funny thing. Some people can't get enough of it. They will do the nuttiest and most crazy things imaginable to get their "high". Now, I am all for a good buzz, don't get me wrong. However, my dislike of lingering pain generally exceeds my desire for a momentary buzz. I should add that my dislike of being coated in nasty mud and water is pretty close to my dislike for lingering pain. I'm guessing the part of my brain in charge of reflexes tends to agree with that rational part that dislikes pain and being really dirty. As I near the far side of the puddle, having traveled maybe 50-60 feet so far, the back end suddenly breaks loose in a big way and starts looking for a new place to be since it is obviously not happy with where it is now...

One VERY clear thought BURSTS into my consciousness from somewhere down below...

"NO #%^!@&* WAY AM I GOING DOWN IN THIS!!

Instinctively I yank on the bike and feed in a fist full of throttle while shifting my weight to stay on top of everything. The bike kicks and bucks as the rear slides around and the front starts bouncing from side to side in the ruts. Somehow the rear grabs something mostly solid down below and shoots me forward, the bike reaching the end of the water and treading once again on solid ground. My heart is pounding and I am elated NOT to be covered in goo of questionable composition... I slow to watch for Roger and James. I think Roger must have been watching me because he takes a little different line and just comes right on through, slow and steady. James does likewise. I should have gotten out the camera. That would have surely spooked one of them into doing something worthy of a good shot

We run the rest of the road down to the highway and cruise on into town. We park the bikes and pop open a cold beer. It's been a great day of riding. James wants to know what I have planned tomorrow. He REALLY wants to ride the Rim Trail Roger is of course up for it, so why not? We clean up and go grab dinner, then call it an early evening.

Later while hanging out in my hotel room, I get a call from Phil "Toe Jam". He has a home out here and he and his wife are here for a few months. I'd been in touch with him before leaving town and am hoping we might hook up with him to do some riding. I mention our plans to ride the Rim Trail but it seems his sister in Mississippi wants him to fly down there to help her prepare for hurricane Issac, which is now threatening the Gulf Coast. So he won't get to ride with us but would like to meet us. I tell him we'll try to swing by sometime before noon if we can. It just kind of depends on how fast we run the Rim Trail.

I call it another early evening and hit the sack.

 

[jimhaleyscomet]

Scott your reports are killing me! One of these trips I am going to make!

Jim

 

[CeeBee]

Great report Scott! I catch my heart racing as I read the knarly parts. Can't wait for more

 

[GBC]

way cool I wont to go

 

[Tourmeister]

Monday morning arrives bright and early. I did not sleep real well for some reason. Roger tells me he's having all kinds of weird dreams unlike his normal dreams. I don't recall dreaming much at all, which is very unusual for me. I spent most of the night waking up and trying to fall back asleep for no particular reason. Frustrating to say the least...

I gear up and head down to the bikes. Roger and James are getting ready. Today we head for the Rim Trail. I really have no idea what to expect. I don't really have much in the way of single track riding experience. Even the roughest stuff I have ever done has always been two track, or wide enough single track that it could be two track. I've never really developed a lot of confidence with lofting the front end over big roots, rocks, and downed trees. But what the heck, there's always gotta be that first time... right?

It is very cool again. The hummingbirds are buzzing all around us. They are thick in this area and everyone has feeders out for them. The sound of their chirping and buzzing is pretty much non stop, reminding me the ever present and virtually constant background noise of car alarms going off during the few years I lived in Los Angeles. I decide on the two layered shirt approach again, but opt to leave off the rain suit pants. I might be cold getting to the trail, but once there I know I will be hot in no time at all, especially if it is more challenging than what we rode yesterday.

We head down the Sunspot Highway again. I am not exactly sure where the trail head is located so I'm watching for signs along the side of the road. Soon we find a small parking lot. Off to one side there is a closed gate about the width of a gate you'd see in someone's chain link fence to their back yard. Not being real sure if this is actually it, we take a closer look. There is a big lever to operate the latch. Roger gets it open and we pull the bikes through, then make sure it is closed. The path in front of me is narrow, rocky, and rooted. The terrain is steep to either side, making the task of turning around very difficult. Nothing to do now but press on.

The sign at the start of the Northern end of the trail

Roger takes the lead, I slot into the middle, and James brings up the rear

I has been said, and I think rightly so, that to be a good dirt rider, you have to be committed. That is not to say you should be committed because you are crazy and ought to be locked up, but that you are willing to believe that as unlikely as it may seem, if you just get on the gas and point the bike in the right direction it will generally get you from here to there. What you have to put out of your mind is all the potential alternate outcomes from that vision of success. When you are five, you don't generally have commitment issues. First, you aren't old enough to have developed a manly fear of commitment Second, it never even enters your head that you might not succeed, no matter how improbable the success of your plan may actually be. We've all been there as kids... sitting on our bicycle at the top of the highest hill in town, staring down the drop of death with all our friends standing around egging us on, "DO IT! DO IT! I triple dog dare you!!" And you do it, because there is no alternative! Thank goodness no one had video cameras when I was a kid. There's no telling what insanity we might have attempted!?

Well, I got started on this dirt thing kind of late. I can easily imagine all sorts of painful and destructive alternative outcomes besides just getting from here to there. So I developed commitment issues, just ask Beth. It took me almost six years to snap to the fact that I should have married her about 5-1/2 years before I did Riding has been much the same way for me. When I finally do commit, I usually succeed in what I am trying to do. Then I wonder why I ever hesitated Then there are those times where I don't truly commit myself... I kind of go in halfhearted and not real sure about my vision of the outcome. As might be expected, the result is not always pretty...

If you find a map of the trail, right near the start of the Northern end you will see a nice tight hairpin in the trail. I'm guessing we are maybe five minutes into the riding when I see this turn. The approach is pretty steep, as is the climb out. There are abundant rocks in the switchback. If there is one thing I have really struggled with in my limited off road riding experience it is TIGHT turns and maintaining my momentum through them. Sure enough, I get about two thirds of the way through the switch back and lose my momentum. I get my left foot down to stabilize the bike, but when I try to get back on the gas to roll the rear tire over a big rock, my foot comes off the ground and before I know it, the bike is coming over. I step off an let it go down gently... Now I am wondering what I may have gotten myself into...

Roger has a knack for knowing when to stop to make sure everyone gets through a section. He just needs to learn to get his camera out faster Not only does the light weight of the KTM mean the bike goes down softer/easier and with less trauma to me and the bike, but it also means I can get it picked up much easier and faster, with less trauma to my knees and back James waits patiently for me to get out of the way, then I grab my camera... just in case...

The trail goes down behind Roger, between him and that tree

Looking up the trail from the switchback

We spend a little time climbing and then the trail turns to the West and gets really narrow. It seems to be following a section of the ridge that juts out perpendicular to the main ridge. No doubt there is a technical geographical term for this, but it eludes me at present. The bushes really close in and are banging and scraping on the bars and hand guards.

No turning around here...

James... "What's the hold up!?"

Nice and rocky

Roger taking in the view on a spectacularly beautiful day!

The trail continues out to the end of the ridge projection, then doubles back on itself following the South side of the projection back to the main ridge. As it does, it drops down a bit, running more along the slope of the side of the projection rather than up on top of it. Somewhere in here my brain decides to get with the program and my whole body starts to relax and just go with the flow. I can feel the tension just sort of ooze out the bottom of my worn old dirt boots. Hopefully, James doesn't ride through it and get any on him Roger settles into a nice rhythm and I try to just keep him in sight without riding faster than I can process.

Back on the main ridge, the trail narrows down again.

James coming up behind us, the climb was pretty rough and steep

A good portion of the trail is not too bad. I think this is what helps me finally relax. It is a bit more narrow than what I am used to riding, so there is less margin for error, but when we are not bouncing off rocks and roots, it is basically just damp soil with the occasional rock/root and not to steep. However, there are short sections of climbs and descents that can be a little challenging. I just stand on the pegs and focus on keeping my weight neutral so the bike stays balanced. I keep a steady throttle climbing up and engine brake for most of the descents, picking my line to be as smooth as possible.

The first of a few downed trees

Now I know there are people that can pull up to a tree like that one above and just hop their bike right on over it without even hesitating. I have watched videos of those folks doing that kind of thing, but I am not one of those people. Nor am I real inclined to test the waters when I am on a remote trail. Roger, being of a similar mindset favoring caution over bravado stops so we can just lift the bikes over. A botched ride over could easily end up with a bike sliding down the hill side, then a LOT more huffing and puffing to get it back to the trail.

Interlude for pretty flower by the trail No clue what it is

So back to that tree... James grabs a rock and starts trying to chip his way through the tree. His rock breaks. He sees reason and we start lifting the bikes over one by one

James heads back for his KTM 350

James and Roger catching their breath. It doesn't take much exertion up here to make us winded

The view from the other side of the log

The trail starts a nice long climb. It is not real rocky in this section, mostly just the dark soil, but there are a LOT of big nasty roots. Trying to hit all of them perpendicular is almost impossible. I try to aim for "crotches" where the tire hits a V shape so it can't slide one way or the other. Other times I am just hanging on for dear life because my aim is not so good. That is when the bike really saves my bacon rather than slapping me on the ground. One aspect of the KTM that has REALLY blown me away is the difference in suspension compared to the non adjustable stuff on the KLR. It is amazing how much easier good suspension makes it to ride stuff like this without killing yourself and the bike. I think mine is still a bit harsher than I would like for the damping because I still get a pretty good jolt in the arms sometimes. Either that or I need to learn to blip the gas a bit better to lighten the front end before an impact.

James working his way up though a deeply rutted and rooted section

A relatively nice and clean section going on up the hill

The trail keeps climbing for what seems like forever but which I am sure is only a few minutes. My forearms arms are starting to burn a bit from hanging on and not keeping my weight forward and neutral. That is something I really have to work on because I find myself keeping my weight back and then having to pull up with my arms. Basically I am making more work for myself I come around a curve in the hill and see that the trail gets real steep right as it climbs out onto a level area. Roger is waiting at the top. I gas to the top, relieved to be stopping for a break.

James making that last run to the top

And he pops out onto FR 636... which doesn't show on my maps

The trail continues up the hill... the road looks inviting at this point... But we have come to ride the trail!

But first an extended break is in order...

I take this opportunity to shed my jacket and outer shirt. It is amazing how refreshing it is just to remove my helmet for a few minutes. The liner is totally soaked. My shirt is soaked. The insides of my jacket are soaked. I don't think there's a sweat pore on my body that is not working overtime!! While standing around I mention to Roger that I still feel like I am just getting banged a bit on the front end. Soooo....

Time for some trail side adjustments

I am still learning the ins and outs of how to interpret what the bike is doing and translating that into changes in the bike setup that make the ride better. Roger seems to be able to decipher my descriptions and make changes for me that push things in the right direction. He made some changes on the trip out to Big Bend Ranch & State Park last year right after I bought the bike that just made an amazing difference. Now I am down to the tweaking stage... but then... do we ever really get out of the tweaking stage? I really need to go through the bike and check the front/rear sag, then see where I am in the damper range and find out if I might need to make changes to adjust the whole range. Right now I think I am real close to the soft end of the range with little adjustment left and it still feels just a tad harsh to my delicate sensibilities

Cooled off somewhat and the bike setup changed, we set off again. There's nothing quite like the feeling of putting on your sweaty jacket and helmet... We start up the side of the hill, the track narrow and rocky. It climbs and twists and eventually we reach another intersection. The trails and roads are actually pretty well labeled out here, but they don't always show up on the maps. I can find Karr Canyon FR 634, but not 636

Just keep following the arrows and all is good...

A nice section of the trail

Yeah, I take pics of all the signs so I can remember where I've been... ideally...

I've no idea what this sign was for

"Are we stopping for a break??"

There are a lot of places where riders can bail off the trail if needed. I don't think we ever go more than a mile or so without seeing some kind of sign indicating a road or trail head nearby. This is reassuring. So we press on.

Roger stops to admire the view on a relatively level spot after a good stretch of REALLY narrow and rocky trail with a very steep drop off to one side. When I pull up behind him I realize I have a death grip on my bars. I was TOTALLY focused on NOT going off line! In some places the trail was literally about 8" wide, steep, off camber and still had rocks and roots on it. A tire off the edge here would not be pretty. Even if the bike did not go way down the hill, the rider might!

The view

Roger - You can see the steepness of the hillside here pretty well

A wider section where I am able to hop off the left side of the bike onto the hill - no place for the right foot to be put down when the bike is upright.

The ride-able line is about 8-12" wide here

Have to stay off the roots or slide to the down side and the gravel on the other side is real soft at the edge...

Roger asks me how the changes to the suspension are working. It is a definitely improvement. the jolting is gone for all but the biggest of hits to the front end. I am now much better able to just run over whatever might be in my way, which makes picking lines MUCH easier!! We wait for a bit, expecting to hear James coming, but after about five minutes still nothing. I start wandering back up the trail... slowly...

I get maybe a few hundred feet when I hear the sound of James's bike.

I confirm that all is well. He just stopped to take a break after that last real pucker factor section. He's also been having issues with the bike stalling on him at lower speeds in mid climb. That's not something I'd want to be dealing with in that last section where there was no place to put a foot down if things started going over away from the up side of the hill.

While James is stopped I hear barking... Hikers and their dogs maybe? I sure hope there aren't many wild packs out here, but you never know. It sounds like it is coming from up the trail where Roger is still waiting. James takes off and I start the walk back.

A section of the trail where we can "relax"

The sign back by my bike

James

So the barking is two small terrier looking dogs. I see them come running past Roger and heading for me. They didn't maul him so they must be tame. About the time they reach me I see an older gentleman coming around the bend in the trail nearer to Roger. The dogs give me a good barking and sniffing, refuse my ear scratching attempts, and run back to their owner. So far, this guy is the only person we've seen out here. Meeting up with other bikes going the opposite direction could be a challenge to get past each other.

We get moving after another good rest. I find that while I am getting winded, I seem to recover faster today than yesterday. After heavy exertion, I am usually back to a resting heart rate and breathing in about five minutes. So our pace is to ride about 15 minutes, rest for five or so, rinse and repeat as necessary, occasionally going a little longer between breaks.

Looking down what I just came up, washed out, loose and steeper than it looks of course

When James gets to the top he looks over at me, "Everyone is always yelling 'get on the gas!' at me!" We were doing that to him at the Big Bend Ranch &State Park ride last year when he was on his big XR650L and was chugging up some nasty climbs. One thing Roger mentioned to me that I've been working on today is slipping the clutch to keep the engine revving when I start to lose my momentum so that I don't bog and stall. It's hard though because the clutch engagement range on the lever is pretty narrow. If I have the engine revved up and accidentally feed in too much clutch, my bike will start trying to pick up the front end and it can start a real bucking bronco motion. It's one more reason for me to get better at keeping my weight over the bars so I am not holding up my body weight with my arms and can exercise finer control of the levers. Sooo much to think about while riding!

James makes it on up to the top

Not much further up the trail we come to another downed tree. Once again we decide to lift the bikes over rather than trying to ride over it. It is not real difficult, but man it makes us winded! Thank God I am not riding that heavy KLR!!

Taking a rest after lifting Roger's and my bike over

You can hear me hollering at them to watch the shifter lever. I thought they were about to lay the bike over before the lever was on the far side of the tree and then try to drag the bike, possibly damaging the shifter. No worries though. They get it over without any problems and after another rest we are on our way.

The rest of the trail is just a continuous mix of up and down, winding back and forth, soft dirt sections and nasty rocky sections. We run a pretty good way and I break into a straight section where I can see Roger at the bottom of the hill in a clearing. I break out of the tree cover and the road is just below. I know from experience not to let my guard down and think, "I've made it!," until the kickstand is intentionally on the ground. It is FAR too easy to have a lapse in focus with mere feet to go that results in a face plant

James coming down that last little rocky stretch before the road

We stop here to get our bearings. James has a Forest Service map and I compare that to my GPS map. We are on Karr Canyon Rd., not 636, but on 634. This road runs from the Sunspot Highway back NW over to US 82 and is a wide well maintained gravel road.

The trail picks up on the far side of the road. Apparently this is where the trail originally ended and where they continued some time after the first trail was made

That section of trail behind the sign is essentially a wash, where the water comes running down off the hill, carrying away all the loose sand and leaving behind big rocks resting in the V shape of the trail. Right after it vanishes behind that bush it starts climbing steeper and curving back to the left around the side of the hill.

We just came from the left, behind James's bike. That road across the way dead ends into a primitive camping are. Karr Canyon Rd., runs left right (Sunspot Highway to the right).

Looking East toward the Sunspot Highway

Roger takes point again and we head up the side of the mountain. Lots and lots of rocks here. However, it does not last long. As soon as we round the mountain and come down the other side, the trail dumps us out onto FR 64D, also known as Alamo Rd. The map shows Alamo Lookout tower being at the end of this road and that sounds like it might be a cool stop over/break spot. So we head West, passing various camp sites, and some RVs that look like they have just be parked and left here. As we near the end of the road, there is actually a campground with numerous sites. There is also a locked gate It seems that there is a great deal of super secret data acquisition equipment here for the White Sands Missile Range and they don't want people like us playing around it.

We poke around the camp area looking for the continuation of the Rim Trail, but it seems that it is back the other direction from where we came out onto this road. James mentions that he is out of water. I'm thinking maybe we could find water at one of the camp sites. Nothing doing... Not wanting to venture into more of the trail with James out of water, we just start heading back East toward the main highway. It is getting close to noon and we can just head on down to Timberon to find lunch/water and then do some more riding after that.

As we near the highway, the road bends left and drops sharply. Just below the road to my right is a big red barn looking house. Hey!! That's Phil's place! As we come on around the corner I notice that there are people sitting on the front porch. Maybe he's still home and has not left for his Sister's place in Mississippi yet? So I pull in and we find Phil and his Wife sitting on their porch enjoying a nice afternoon snack in the company of what seems like 50-60 hummingbirds!! We make the introductions and ask if he can top off James's Camel-Bak, which he graciously does. I grab a seat and break out some peanut butter crackers and granola bars. Apparently Phil decided his sister expecting him to fly down to Mississippi wasn't the best idea and it would make more sense for her to board up and head this way to avoid the storm. Since he is not leaving town, we make plans to do a ride with him tomorrow on the big bikes. He has a KTM 990 Super Enduro. After a nice break and visit, we decide to head back to the trail and try to finish it off.

[time to go home, more tomorrow ]

 

[wanabeguru]

great report!

 

[Gravel Guy]

 

[The Bruce]

 

[_RG_]

This is just the way we saw it too...fourth day, we're all feeling it and it just flows. Down right spiritual it is...

"Somewhere in here my brain decides to get with the program and my whole body starts to relax and just go with the flow. I can feel the tension just sort of ooze out the bottom of my worn old dirt boots."

Enjoying the ride!

 

[TLRam1]

What did James do when you guys rode the big bikes?

 

[Tourmeister]

What did James do when you guys rode the big bikes?

He took his toys and went home

 

[TOE JAM]

Howdy Phil!

You know these guys? Locals?

Thanks for hauling us around... I'll be getting to that soon

Yes they have been around a long time. I´ve been riding out here off and on for 30 years and I´m the youngster.

 

[Tourmeister]

So we head back West on Alamo Rd., to find where the Rim trail picks up again.

The spot where the North end of the trail drops out onto Alamo Rd.

When we reach the trail we slot back into our order with Roger out front, me in the middle and James bringing up the rear. The start of the trail wanders back and forth in a BIG S curve for maybe a half mile or so, then crosses down through a low spot and starts climbing. It is not real steep, but it is quite rocky and rooted. Not too far from the start of the climb there is a short area where the trail is not really cut into the side of the hill but rather slopes off camber to right with the slope of the hill. I aim for the high side in the hope that if I start slipping, I'll have some room to spare before I start sliding off the edge and down the hill...

The bike chugs on through, not too concerned about the slope or the rocks. The trail then begins to climb a little steeper and get even rougher as it continues going up and around the side of the mountain. The short climbs are usually not too bad, even if they are fairly rough, because I am only exerting for a few minutes at most. These longer climbs on the other hand can get tough just because I get winded and tired after more than about five minutes of constant exertion. If they are long and hard... well... my forearms can start tingling a bit and that is usually my sign to start looking for a place where I can stop for a break without sliding backwards... something that happens on some of the unplanned stops

This is a pretty good place to stop, not too steep and not too rough

No sign of Roger up the trail...

I sit on the bike and wait for the sound of James's bike. I usually try to note the time showing on the GPS just so I can keep track of how long I have been waiting. Sometimes when sitting here panting for breath, ten minutes can feel like two or three and I don't realize how long I've been sitting. I'm panting pretty good right now... After maybe five or six minutes, I still don't hear James and I am starting to catch my breath. About the time I start to contemplate turning around to check on him, Roger comes trundling back down the trail and pulls up next to me. I fill him in and he takes off, leaving me to wait a few more minutes.

It does not take long before I hear the sounds of a motorcycle coming and I figure we are good to go.... except... It is Roger riding on James's bike that comes around the corner... Did they trade so Roger could try out the 350?

"James went off the trail and pulled his hamstring pretty good, he can't keep going."

"Is he okay? Can he ride at all?"

"Yeah, he can probably get it back to the road and then he'll be fine to get back to town."

So we head up the trail a short way to where Roger found a good place to turn around. We head back down to where James is sitting. It's the off camber area. His back end slipped off the edge of the trail and when he tried to step off the bike he got caught up and apparently HE went down the hill instead of the bike!! He assures us that it is a mild pull and he'll be fine, but he is definitely done riding for today. With his bike righted and pointed in the right direction, he starts back down the trail towards the road. Roger and I wait behind a bit to let him get a ways down the trail before we take off.

Roger, "He said to keep riding and not worry about him..."

"Well, to be honest, I'd rather just call it a good day and head back with him. We can come back and finish the rest of the trail the day after tomorrow when we'll be fresh again."

"Sounds good to me!"

I am not worn out, but I am not used this kind of riding and I don't want to wear my self out on the second day of riding. I figure we'll make sure James gets back okay and he can get his bike loaded in his truck, then we can head into Alamogordo to get a nice dinner since James will be heading home early in the morning. We hear James's bike stop so we head on down the trail to investigate. I find him sitting at a spot where it looks like there is a trail going off to the right. He's wondering if it might be a shortcut back to the road. I tell him to sit tight while I go find out...

There is a faint two track trail that heads up a gentle slope covered with damp soil and lots of downed branches. Then I spot a big berm, the kind usually put up to discourage traffic, but just beyond it I can see a big RV sitting in the woods. It obviously did not come from our direction so there has to be a road. I jump the berm and head up another couple hundred feet and break out onto a nice level gravel road. SWEET! Just what we need! I turn around and go back to get the others and we are soon on the road heading back to town.

I pull off at an overlook just South of town. There is a great view of the White Sands desert down below!

Look close and you can see the next mountain range on the other side of the desert

A map of the Sunspot Highway and some of the forest roads

If you look at the map above, Cloudcroft is in the lower right corner. The Rim Trail starts not far from here and then ROUGHLY parallels the highway, running in a North/South direction. The little road that dead ends on the reflection of my hand is Alamo Rd. Phil lives right where that road meets the highway. The Rim trail continues South over to that red writing, which is the Sunspot Observatory. Then it keeps going even further South until it eventually cross the West Side Road (CR91), which is not shown on the map. That intersection would be off the upper left side. Then there is another short section from that intersection South on down to the main highway just North of Timberon. The whole thing is supposed to be around 30 miles or so depending on which map you check or which book you read. So today, we managed to cover about 14 miles. Tomorrow, Roger and I will ride with Phil while James spends about 10 hours driving home and getting REALLY stiff in his truck

Beautiful isn't it...?

We hop back on the bikes and head on into town. We help James get loaded up, enjoy a cold beer, and then start thinking about dinner. On the last trip, we went to an Applebee's in Alamogordo. I bent my fork trying to cut my steak... We decide we are in the mood for a good steak so I head inside and find Ron, the hotel owner. I figure he will have the skinny on where to get a good steak. He recommends a local place in Alamogordo called Peppers. So we load up in the truck and enjoy the ride down the mountains into town... A VERY FLAT TOWN!!

We find Peppers without any trouble. It's closed There is not a single car in the parking lot. It's not quite five yet, but I would have thought they'd at least have staff getting ready for their dinner business if they were going to be open for dinner. Well, we decide to just drive down the street and see what we can find.

Just a few blocks down the main drag we see a place on our right, Steaks and Pancakes... Uh... that looks interesting. Don't ask me what made us to decide to stop here. The building has those hacienda style arches for the windows and looks like it has been here a looonnnggg time. Roger and I walk in while James does his evil crazy guy dragging a bum leg imitation. There are a handful of other folks here, but it is still early yet. We get a table and all end up ordering fajitas. The salsa is good and pretty hot! The food turns out to be excellent and not expensive at all! So after stuffing ourselves we wobble back out to the truck and head back to Cloudcroft.

It's a slow drive because much of route is a "safety corridor", something I've only seen here in New Mexico. Think of it like a construction zone with the double fines, only there is no construction and it is double fines all the time! So it is 45 mph all the way up the mountain... And we do see unmarked patrol cars with people pulled over, so they are serious about it. It is still early in the evening so I decide to stop at another scenic overlook, this one of the famous wooden trestle just outside of town.

Where the old logging trains used to run

It has been restored as a historic site and they've made a small road side "park" for people to pull over and check it out. This was not here last time we visited and apparently has only just recently opened. There is no access for actually getting out on the trestle, people would fall off and get killed and we can't have that!

But... they weren't so safety conscious back in the day... Note the dudes on the roof of the car.

I guess they could jump clear when this happened!

The modern highway, US 82, runs above the rail bed cut out seen in the top image in the above photo. That is looking West back down toward Alamogordo.

The cool dry mountains were a popular destination

Not sure what that lady is holding the mule's tail... unless she'd blind

Imagine working out here 100 years ago... That had to take a special kind of person!

Apparently the kind of person that looks real peeved at getting his picture taken

I hope you can read this

No safety rails, airbags and seat belts here!! People just pile right on top!

Wow $3 for the ride, that was a LOT of money back then!!

You can see the gap intended to keep people off the trestle. I wonder what the fine is if you get caught on it...

After checking out the trestle thing for a while, we head on back into town and hang out at the truck for a bit, enjoying the spectacular evening.

The full moon approaches...

We call it another early evening. I offer James his choice of some Ibuprofen, a mild muscle relaxer or a mild pain killer. He says he's fine. So I head back to my room to see if I can figure out how to get my laptop working with the hotel's wireless. After much gnashing of teeth and forehead smacking, I give up. Roger mentioned having an air card thingy. So I head to his room and tell him what I'm trying to do. He brings it over to my room and within a minute or two I am good to go. I even get a good strong signal after he takes it back to his room. He tells me to just use that for the rest of the week. It is a great relief because viewing the forum on my iPhone really puts the strain on my old worn out eyes and having the big screen of the laptop is nice!

I flip on the tube for a minute, see what I think is some politician spewing nonsense at one of the national conventions and immediately turn it off. No point ruining a good vacation letting that stuff rot my mind. My back is a bit sore from the riding today. I've got a bad spot in the spine that gets all fired up if I try to have too much fun. So after a nice hot and relaxing shower, I hit the sack.

Tomorrow we ride the big bikes with Phil and he leads. It should be fun!

 

[sanderjavant]

We take a nice long break, maybe ten minutes or more, then gear up and keep moving. Next up is T5008, as seen heading South on the FS map shown above. Looking at the GPS topo map, this looks to be a steep drop. As long as it is not any worse that what we just came up, I am not too worried.

Tourmeister I look forward to every new post, you guys covered a lot of ground on some tough stuff. Pictures and video just don't do it justice, nothing like being behind the handlebars....

 

[Tourmeister]

Well, I am going to try to get this done during this coming week. Dad is out of town though, which leaves me running the office and not as much free time at work as I might normally have to work on the report. So I will try to get up as much as I can each day.

 

[Tourmeister]

Tourmeister I look forward to every new post, you guys covered a lot of ground on some tough stuff. Pictures and video just don't do it justice, nothing like being behind the handlebars....

You went WAYYY faster than I did on that trail!!

 

[Tourmeister]

Now if there is one thing I have learned in my few years of riding dual sports, it is that you can't ever really trust someone's opinion of whether they ride fast or slow, or whether a trail is hard or easy, unless you first know a little bit about their riding background. I have found that there are three kinds of riders. There are those that just started, classic beginners that think a smooth gravel/dirt road is tough. There are riders that may have started later in life, but have been riding for a few years and have gained some experience. Then there are those people that started riding when they were really young, maybe 4-5 years old, and they likely raced for a few years along the way. A few might have taken a break to attend college, raise kids, and start a career and are just getting back into riding, and some may have been constant riders all their life. This latter group's idea of a "slow" ride is usually well above what I would consider a fast ride. I have no doubt that they ride slower than they used to ride, but they developed reflexes and processing skills while young that I think people getting a later start never quite develop. I fall into that middle group, having started dirt riding in my late 30's and now having a few years of experience.

So while visiting with Phil yesterday during our break from the Rim Trail, I asked about his riding background. "Oh.... I raced MX for a bunch of years..." "Yeah I ride the Rim Trail by myself fairly often..." Okay, that gave me a pretty good idea of what I am in for on the ride today, a fast slow ride

As I am getting up and getting ready for today's ride, I get a text from James. It seems he has forgotten his wedding ring. He wants me to go look in his hotel room to see if I can find it. I head down there, look through all the drawers in the dresser, around the floor and in the bathroom, nothing. The bed spread is all wadded up on the bed, so I lift it and flip it out, then notice the gleaming reflection of gold. It was wadded up in the bed spread. I send him a text letting him know I found it and that we'll drop it off as we swing back through Waco on the way home next Saturday. I know some folks might say shame on him for taking it off to begin with. But let me tell you, when you have a death grip on your bars, the ring can do some serious pinching at the base of the finger and on the palm. I've had to take mine off as well when riding the Rim Trail.

I head down to meet Roger, top off the oil in the bike, make sure I have all my tools transferred from the KTM, and then we head off to meet Phil. The sun is still behind the Eastern ridge of the mountains and we are riding in the shade. The morning air is crisp and cool. I remind myself that it will warm up soon enough and this sure beats being back in the Texas heat! After a nice ride down the Sunspot Highway, we arrive at Phil's place to find him almost ready to leave. He'll be riding his KTM 990 Super Enduro and has agreed to lead the way today. I've no idea what he has in mind, but I am sure it will be fun!

Phil takes point, I slot into the middle, and Roger brings up the rear as he likes to do when he is not leading. We head North up the Sunspot Highway a short distance to Karr Canyon Road and head West into the woods. This is a fairly well maintained gravel road, with some rough spots and coarse gravel chunks. As might be expected, Phil sets off at a pretty brisk pace. I am still a little stiff and my internal processors aren't fully awake yet, so I am not relaxed enough to really match his pace comfortably. After I get a few miles under the tires, I'll begin easing into a rhythm and his pace will be nice.

After a few minutes of riding, I notice that I don't see Roger behind me. He likes hanging back normally, but I can usually catch a glimpse of his headlight most of the time. We go a little further, and then the surface of the road changes to a broken pavement with loose gravel scattered over it. We stop and wait. After a minute or so we decide to turn around and head back, just in case... We round a few corners and find Roger riding along. I ask if everything is okay and he tells me he just doesn't really have a feel for the big KTM on the DS tires yet. The bike is still relatively new to him and it is not on knobbies, but rather is wearing the more street oriented big block dual sport tires. All's well, so we continue along Karr Canyon.

The road started out around 9200 feet elevation and over the course of about 6-1/2 to 7 miles, it drops down to about 6500 feet, intersecting the town of High Rolls on US 82 West of Cloudcroft. The last few miles of the road are a grey pavement with a fine grey gravel, almost sand. It looks like leftover excess from the "paving". The road is twisty and fun, but it is hard to tell where that gravel is loose and traction might be questionable. I try to keep to the tracks of the cars as these are usually fairly clean. I also resist the urge to "play" on this road. We regather at US 82 and head West a short distance to the start of West Side Rd., also shown as CR 90 on many maps.

90 is a road I've done a few times before. It runs down the West side of the mountains, eventually rejoining the Sunspot Highway North of Timberon. It is dirt/gravel the whole way and has some fantastic scenery. The only real issue with this road is ruts. I remember this from the last trip as well. For much of the Northern half of the road, the ground is a reddish dirt and rocks. Apparently it gets REAL soft when it rains. For most of this section, there are two good sets of ruts running right down the middle of the road. Usually, the ground is good to the outside of them and in between them. They can get deep in places so crossing them can be dicey if I don't pay attention to what I am doing, especially on the heavy 1200 GS.

Phil takes off, again at a nice brisk pace. I am finally starting to loosen up and relax. It takes me little time to find my rhythm. A nice thing about the GS is that its big smooth torque lets me just stick it in third gear and forget about shifting. It will pull through any slow tight corners and accelerate plenty fast down any straight sections between the corners. Engine braking is great as well. This makes it real easy to just settle into a nice smooth rhythm of rolling into the corners and accelerating out of them. I keep about a hundred yards or so behind Phil, missing what little dust comes up off the road and leaving me room to play. I also keep an eye out for Roger, who seems to also be finding his comfortable place on the 990.

The road is quite twisty, following the sides of the ridge line. We run a nice pace for a pretty good while before finally stopping to take a short break. The sun is getting on up into the sky and it is getting warmer now. While the ruts are still here, they really haven't been as bad as they were on my previous trip. For the most part I don't even pay much attention to them. I've mostly been running down the center of the road between them, cutting inside for the blind corners to avoid potential oncoming traffic (of which we've seen none), and then cut back to the center as I exit the corners. The bike is handling great! I eventually find Phil waiting for us.

Phil

One of the straighter sections, you can see the reddish dirt and the rocks

Roger on the 990

Up this trail a few miles is the West end of Alamo Rd,. and then a short run back to Phil's house on the East of Alamo Rd. Maybe on the next trip...

Ruts are not bad here

Looks like Roger and his jacket are having some kind of disagreement

This road has wide open sections and nice covered sections as well

A few miles South of the Alamo trail, there is an intersection where NF 90-A heads due West out onto the end of a long ridge. We went this way on our last trip. It is a dead end, but it is worth the time. It brought us out on a real high point, where there are a mess load of antennas and other fancy electronic stuff. The view was awesome, clear and unobstructed over the whole desert valley below. So if you are out here and have an extra 30 minutes or so, check it out. There are two other similar roads, NF 90-E and B further South again. I've not explored them yet, but they are on the list. The stretch of West Side road that runs between these two intersections is a real hoot, tons of twisty dirty goodness!!

Once South of NF-90E and B, the road opens up some and the speed picks up a bit. Some of the cattle guards make great launching ramps! It takes me back to my years spent as a kid growing up in Copperas Cove, near Fort Hood in central Texas. We jumped our bicycles over and off anything we could find. The more air the better. Maybe that had something to do with Mom never agreeing to let us having anything with a motor that did not cut grass... All those wasted years I missed out on riding until I was in my 30's...

The last stretch of the West Side Rd., is basically a steep winding climb, due East, up to the top of the ridge. It starts out around 7000 feet and peaks around 8200 feet. The road starts out still as the reddish dirt/rock, but soon gives way to a white gravel, averaging maybe 1/4-1/2" in diameter. This makes some of the corners "exciting" if I get into them with a bit too much speed. The momentum of the big GS makes them act like little ball bearings, willing to carry me away to new heights of puckerness...

The high point is right where the road goes out of the right side of the image, also the point where the Rim Trail intersects the road.

Here you can see the white part of the road

Corners like that one on the left of the image are blind and pretty tight, not a place I want to meet a truck/car coming the other way...

The big GS likes to break the back end loose and slide around a lot. My TKC 80s aren't new. They have about 500 miles on them from riding in North Carolina back in May. That ride took about half the height of the knobbies off the rear tire... The front is still good and is holding well, so I just lean the bike into the corners and stay on the gas, letting the rear do its thing. I am cautious though as my 1150 GS was doing this one time and the back end decided to lead the way as I exited a corner on gravel much like this. That... uhhh... HURT! We soon reach the top and stop for a break and to enjoy the view.

The Rim Trail drops down just out of the picture behind Roger.

We run the last bit of West Side Rd., down to the Sunpot Highway. At the highway, we turn South and make the sweet run on into Timberon. Have I mentioned that the pavement on this highway is just about perfect...? We reach the deli in town where we stopped on Sunday. It's closed. Phil takes us around the airport where we went Sunday on our attempt to find a way out the Northeast corner of town. This road takes us out the Southeast corner of town and becomes CR-E012, a nice wide gravel road that follows the Sacramento River valley.

Phil picks up the pace now. I hang back because the dust is thicker and not moving off real fast. I try to hang just on the end of his dust cloud and run a quick and fun pace. Once again, the big torque of the GS makes shifting almost unnecessary. I slot into fifth gear, occasionally dropping into fourth or jumping up into sixth. The first three or four miles are pretty fast sections, but then the river makes a big looping detour to the North before continuing on South. Here things slow down a little. I really like the views out here. It is trending more toward to dry desert and the mountain trees are giving way to the shorter cedars.

In the middle of the loop, there is a road running off to the North. It shows as CR-E013 on my maps. Just a short ways up, there is another intersection and my map shows NF-9602 continuing North and CR-E013 turning East. NF-9602 runs up and becomes NF-9642d. This runs further North and intersects Pinon Draw Rd., which is where we were trying to get when we were heading out the Northeast corner of Timberon. This goes on the list of roads to explore the next time I am out here. My topo maps do not show these two NF roads connecting, but some of the maps do. It would be nice to know for sure and the topo map makes it look like it would be a fun ride!

A mile or two past the big loop, I find Phil stopped in the shade of a tree at another intersection. Here we part ways with the river and turn to the Northeast on CR-E011, which also shows as Surveyor's Canyon Rd., on some maps.

The intersection

Surveyor's Canyon is a fun stretch of road. It climbs up out of the river valley from about 6000 feet to 6500 feet. It starts out nice and twisty as it runs up the canyon, then peaks over a broad ridge and start sloping down to the East toward the tiny town of Pinon, back to about 6000 feet. Phil must be getting hungry because I lose sight of him shortly after we stopped and I don't see him again until I catch up to him at the next intersection He's grinning pretty good when I pull up next to him.

Here we pick up Hwy 24, which runs mostly North at this point. It gently winds its way up through some beautiful green valleys with some really nice ranches and homes. The pavement is smooth and nice. Phil settles into a nice relaxed pace and we eat up the miles, climbing back into the mountains as we go. We are MILES from anything most city dwellers would consider civilization. There is not a McDonald's, Wal-Mart or shopping mall of ANY KIND within miles of here (maybe in Alamorgordo on the other side of the mountains). The sky is clear and deep blue, stretching away forever in all directions. I can see why folks might like to live out here...

As we are heading up the highway, I am constantly looking at the GPS and making mental notes about roads in the area that look like they might be interesting and worth a second look some time. Most are on the East side of 24, an area I've not ridden yet: Chimney Lake Rd., Dog Canyon, Angel Canyon, McDonald Flats, Miller Flats, etc,... I think maybe we'll head this way Thursday when we are going to be riding the big bikes again. We reach Hwy 521, more commonly known as Agua Chiquita Rd., and turn West, arriving in Weed a mile or so later. This time we are in time for lunch!

Weed Cafe looks like what you might expect in a town of maybe a hundred and fifty people, give or take a few. The inside looks clean, but not fancy. Everything has a REAL local feel to it. By that I mean personal, like the photos on the walls are of the locals, maybe family. It also has the look of being the place where people come to hang out, meet other folks, catch up on the latest gossip, talk shop, and it generally just serves as the hub of the community. Sure enough, we get settled in and the group at the table next to us appears to be local ranchers. They talk shop and politics. It would seem they are NOT real happy with politicians right now, at the state or federal level. In fact, they don't seem real happy with EITHER party at the state or federal level. It's kind of interesting listening to them. Like a growing number of people in recent years, they are getting worried about the size, power, and spending of government at every level. Except for the people and companies that are politically connected, it seems to be making business harder.

My ham and cheese sandwich arrives and all thought of politics is lost. It has a THICK slab of ham, cheese on both sides, and the bread is buttered and toasted on both sides! Yeah... it is good!!! The fries are great as well. Then I get my ice cream!! Phil and Roger do the green chili cheeseburger experience. I can't pack away that much and then be expected to ride afterward... After a great lunch we head back outside into the warm, relaxing, soothing, sleep inducing sun... I gotta get the bike moving to keep me alert!

Hunting season is upon us... The favorite dogs get to ride up top and these guys don't seem all that excited about the arrangement, hehe

Our after lunch route is heading West on Agua Chiquita Rd., which starts out nicely paved and after a few miles eventually turns to nice dirt/gravel when it begins bending to the South and starts a gradual climb up to the main North/South running ridge where the Sunspot Highway runs. The pace is quick enough to keep me sharp and the scenery nice enough to demand my attention.

Agua Chiquita Rd., turns back to the Northwest as it approaches the ridge line. Just beyond Scott Able Canyon, we turn off to the North at Woods Canyon. The road climbs up on to a narrow ridge and then runs Northwest again. This is a really fun road, only about a single lane wide. However, it has been recently graded and it appears the forest service has laid down some VERY coarse gravel, much of it 1-1/2 to 2 inches in diameter. Worst of all, it seems they dumped most of the new gravel in the corners, some of which are fairly tight and steep At this point I am following Roger. He has slowed noticeably, which is fine by me because my front end is just plowing right through the gravel, not wanting to make the bike turn at all. When I try to steer the bike with the back end, that torque that is so lovely in other situations makes for some real fun now! The back end of the bike sliding is not so bad. When BOTH ends get to sliding, well... that can get interesting! Still, I am having great fun, REALLY enjoying the 1200 GS as a dual sport for the first time since I bought it a few years ago. Part of that is because I never really intended to use it as a dual sport, but also because I just never really seemed to "click" with this bike like I did with my 1150 GS. This trip, and the one a few months ago to North Carolina have really changed that! The last short section of this road bends West and drops down several hundred feet in elevation. I really have to watch the GS to keep it from picking up speed heading into the corners. Trying to slow down in the chunky gravel is also a bit of an adventure... We drop out onto FR-64 (Davis Road), which is where we would have come out had we stayed on Agua Chiquita. The run up FR 64 to the main highway is fast and fun, running along a high ridge of about 9500 feet elevation. I like getting up where there are more Aspen trees. There is just something about their presence that is soothing

Somewhere in that stretch, we came through a burned out area. I can't remember exactly where it was. Phil probably knows. Here are a couple shots of it.

We reach the highway and Phil turns North. At this point I am thinking we are probably close to being done with the ride because we are so close to his place. I'm thinking a short, fun, fast, and squiggly squirt up the Sunspot Highway and we'll be at his place in no time! But he's not done yet... Maybe a few hundred yards up the road he pulls off to where there is a dirt "road" going over the side of the hill. He assures us it is not too bad... besides, if we want, there is an easy way down just around the corner that will bring us out at the same place. Over he goes... making it look "easy"... you know... like the way those guys that have been riding since they were five and have raced for years can do I look over the edge and while I am sure it is NOT thirty feet straight down, it sure looks that way sitting on 600lbs of motorcycle...

"You wanna try that?"

Roger, "Uh... not really".

Now you know that when Roger doesn't reply with, "I'm Game", the better part of prudence might be to go another way I've ridden with him through enough stuff to get a good idea of what he thinks is easy/hard.

"Look for the easy way?"

"I'm game..."

So there ya go. We're gonna wuss out and look for the easy way down. I run up another few hundred feet along the shoulder and there is a nice normal gravel road heading off to the East. However, a few hundred yards later we arrive at a big clearing and a dead end. Apparently we missed the short cut. As we head back down Phil comes up to find us and show us the little trail we missed that winds down to the bottom. It's a wide single track with big loose rocks, some tightish turns, and branches. After a few moments of debating whether we are ready to call it a day for the dirt and front ends washing out... well... we head down... What else could we do!?

As I am working my way down and trying to keep the GS from just taking off down the hill side, I keep hearing this, "Chunk! Chunk! Chunk!" Well, that is an interesting sound... I manage to make the first turn, bouncing the front tire off a couple nice sized rocks that roll around when I hit them, and then aim for the next not so bad turn, where the hill starts to roll out to the bottom. I release the brakes and coast on down to where Phil is waiting. That wasn't so bad...

Roger gingerly working his way down... and I hear "chunk chunk chunk..."

The start of the trail is in the trees in the upper left corner of the image. The first turn is behind that big tree on the right. Roger is approaching the second wider turn and roll out to the bottom of the hill. I notice his back tire locking and releasing... chunk chunk chunk... OH!!! That's what that sound was!! It was my ABS cycling because I was mashing the snot out of the back brake lever in my efforts to keep the bike from accelerating down the hill

Phil is probably laughing in his helmet as he watches us nurse our bikes down the trail. He obviously doesn't have those commitment issues I was talking about earlier

And off he goes....

The road we are on now is the one I call Cathey's Creek Rd., the one we took Sunday to get to the start of the Willie White trail. This end of it is a fun narrow two track that obviously does not get much traffic. As we get close to the trail head, it gets progressively wider and better maintained.

The trail head. Where the cow is standing was all full of water Sunday morning when we rode through it - it's maybe a 25-30 foot drop from the road to the puddle

The start of the ledge section of the trail, a little over three feet wide in places

The "Big" bikes

We reach Rio Penasco Rd., and head West to the highway. From here it is indeed short and fun run up to Phil's house.

At Phil's place, we thank him for a great ride and then head on back to Cloudcroft. It is still relatively early in the evening, maybe 4:00pm or so. It seems such a waste to just go back to the hotel and call it a day. So Roger and I decide we'll make the run up NM 244 to Ruidosa and back. It's a really nice paved ride and we can easily do it in a few hours and be back in time for a nice dinner.

We get maybe 15 miles or so from town and I notice that Roger is not behind me after I get onto a long straight section where I can see way back behind me. I pull over and wait... and wait... Nothing. Well, dang. I turn around and a mile or so back I find him sitting on the side of the road.

This can't be good...

It would seem that Roger has a flat. He said he was going through a corner and suddenly the back end started feeling like it was riding on marsh mellows. It's a pretty place to break down...

But it's also kind of hot just sitting out here in the sun! I glance across the road a few hundred feet away and spot some trees and a nice grassy spot.

"Think you can get it over there in that shade?"

"I can sure try!"

That's it over behind my bike

With that Roger slowly makes his way across the road so the rear tire doesn't peel off the rim. He manages to get it through the shallow ditch and up into the shaded area. I follow behind and park next to him. The ground is a bit uneven but we manage to get the bikes parked and stable. The ground is kind of soft and we have to put something under his center stand to keep it from sinking into the ground so we can get the rear tire off the ground.

We pause this ride report to being you this picture of a really cool flower...

With his bike secure, he quickly gets the rear tire removed. We use our "heft" to break the bead loose on both sides and he sets to removing the tube. NASTY!! Apparently he had Slime in the tire. I know some folks think it is great, but I don't care for it at all. I'd rather just fix a dry clean flat than maybe have it work and then eventually end up fixing a flat in a mess like this!!

It is an incredible mess and Roger uses up his only rag trying to clean it up so we can do something with the tire. Fortunately, he has a spare tube with him so we don't have to mess with trying to clean this one up enough to get a patch to stick to it.

Have to watch our step... piles of horse poop near the bikes

We make short work of getting the new tube in place and start to air it up. I carry a Slime air pump with me when I am on the GS. I have an adapter for it so I can plug it into the outlet on the GS. It is kind of slow, but it usually gets the job done. We hook it up and let it run, waiting for the tire bead to seat.

And we wait... and wait... and wait...

"You sure this pump can get it done?"

"Well, it has never failed me before"

And we wait... and wait...

The pump casing is getting pretty hot, as is normal. I slip a thin sliver of wood between the tire and the rim, occasionally tugging on it to see if it is getting harder to pull out each time. It is... but VERY slowly...

"Maybe we should let the air out and start over...?"

Me, "Well, it can't hurt anything, so why not?"

Meanwhile several motorcycles and countless cars, trucks and even school buses have gone by while we've been sitting here. NOT ONE even slowed down or hinted that they might be curious as to whether or not we needed help!! I can't believe that many people would be so callous. I can only surmise that we must have been radiating a serious aura of being dudes that knew what they were doing and had everything under control...

"Is it working...?"

"Hard to tell. Looks like it's just doing the same thing again..."

"Let's let it run a little longer this time."

And another car drives by...

"It HAS to be getting to be pretty high pressure in there!"

Still the tire bead refuses to seat completely on both sides of the rim We try bouncing the tire, something I have often heard recommended but have yet to ever actually see work in person.

"Well, I can go get the truck and trailer, but I hate to just leave you sitting here."

Moments pass as we ponder our options...

"Well... it has a tube and it is holding air... and most of the bead has seated. Maybe you can just ride it really slow and we can limp it back to town. Maybe that will even make the bead seat with the weight of the bike on it?"

"I'm game."

So we clean everything up, reinstall the wheel, pack our stuff and get on the road. Roger takes the lead, both of us with our hazzard flashers going. He runs maybe 10-15mph along the edge of the road. I can see the hump on each side of the tire where it has refused to seat. Man, this is going to be a looonnnggg 15 miles! But about the time that thought pops into my head, I notice one of the bulges disappears. Roger pulls off onto a clearing on the shoulder and tells me he felt it pop into place. Cool! Let's see if the other side will do the same. Maybe a mile down the road the other side pops into place. Sweet!! Roger kills his flashers and waves me on by to lead the way back to town. We pull into the hotel and decide that maybe calling it an early day is not such a bad idea after all

Trying to do something with that nasty tube

Our parking area for the week

Well, I think it's time for a cold beer!

We enjoy a cold beer and then decide we might as well grab some dinner. It's back to the BBQ place on the edge of town. They're starting to recognize us. It might be because we look so motley every time we show up

Back at the hotel I spend some time looking over riding options for tomorrow. Not much to think about really. The plan is to head back to the Rim Trail at the point where we stopped Monday and try to finish the lower half of it. In light of our first day of riding the trail and still feeling the high from a great ride today, I'm feeling pretty good about tomorrow. Of course, I have enough experience to remember that when I'm feeling confident is the time to be most cautious... I've learned that from the school of hard knocks

Well, I want to be fresh for tomorrow, so I call it an evening and head for bed.

 

[Tourmeister]

Getting slammed at work. Will try to get up the rest of the Rim Trail section before the end of the week if I can. Don't know why we can't get this busy when Dad is NOT on vacation

 

[Irishcoffee]

Getting slammed at work. Will try to get up the rest of the Rim Trail section before the end of the week if I can. Don't know why we can't get this busy when Dad is NOT on vacation

Great report, makes me mad at myself the more I read.