NM: Land of Tarantulas and Insanely Low Speed Limits

[SpiritAtBay]

4oct21 1030p

We’ve traveled a little over 500 miles to this basic motel room in Silver City NM. Driving John’s old Mazda pickup with 2 motorbikes trailing behind. Starting tomorrow, we have four days to explore New Mexico and maybe dip into Arizona a bit.

We will leave the truck and trailer here in Silver City and ride light; a minimum of clothes, the usual supplies of water, snacks and tools. We will find hotel/motels along the way.

Early October in New Mexico. We anticipate warm, sunny days and cool nights. For instance, today’s high in Silver City was 73 and the low tonight is 52.

Gibson’s for ice as we leave Kerrville. (my sheepskin is covered with white plastic in case of rain.)

Lulu Motel, Silver City (recommended)

Monday, 5oct
Leaving Silver City, we hop on North Star Mesa Rd. This gravel road is part of the Mountain Bike Divide Ride and we would see a number of cyclists today. And see their snaking tracks as they muscled up the steep parts. Hats off to y’all, but I’m very happy to have a motor!!

North Star Mesa Rd. Brief stop to air down our tires.

A lost sole on North Star Mesa

North Star starts out wide and easy. In fact, last year John got bored with it and we turned off on a side road and had an adventure that way. Today we stuck with it and things soon got more fun.

We gained elevation and could look back on the way we had come.

More to come

 

[JT]

Here is a screenshot of our first days ride, 169miles.

 

[RedPill]

Great pics.

 

[tejasbusa]

Looks like a lot of fun

 

[SpiritAtBay]

Great pics.

Thanks! JT takes some good ones

Looks like a lot of fun

It was!

 

[SpiritAtBay]

More fun on North Star Mesa

Visited with this little guy when we stopped for a quick snack and drink. Funnily enough, we saw several baby horny toads a year ago near Cloudcroft. Texas needs to step up it's efforts to save these lil critters.


I’ve decided that New Mexico posts the ridiculously low speed limits not only as a revenue stream from out-of-staters but also in order to save money on signage. Think about it. Hwy 52 is posted at 35 mph. They only have to post signs for curves rated below 35.

No pic, but a coatimundi loped across the road ahead of me and i was able to watch it for a good distance as it ran into the woods. I’ve only seen coatimundi’s in Costa Rica and those were begging for handouts so, in my book, they didn’t really count as a wildlife sighting. This was one large and dark reddish brown. Was super cool to see it. I didn’t even know they ranged this far north. A quick google search later confirmed they do.

Here I am, trying to look bad***

Just some fun pics

Arrived Truth Or Consequences in late afternoon and secured an efficiency room at The Pelican Inn. Every time we are in T Or C, we end up at the Pelican. (We like the place, but we did scout other motels in town but they were either closed or full.)

Mileage for the day: 169

We walked down to local brewery and were imbibing there when we got a little hungry. The brewery didn’t offer much in the way of food. John had noticed some fellow imbibers receiving a food order brought in by delivery guy.
Humm... i call El Faro, a restaurant less than a block away. Me: “Hey, can y’all deliver?” Answer: “Only to the brewery.” Me: “Great, that’s where we are!” Skeptic, “You’re at the brewery right now?” Me: “yes.” Skeptic: “Where are you sitting?” Finally convinced, we placed our order and were dining in 20 minutes. Awesome!

 

[notyou83]

The lost sole pic made me laugh. I'm curious to hear about the speed limits there. Last time I was in New Mexico was 1998 or 1999. That was just passing through and my diabetes caused me to black out at the wheel which ended in a pretty bad wreck. Since then I haven't liked that state.

 

[SpiritAtBay]

The lost sole pic made me laugh. I'm curious to hear about the speed limits there. Last time I was in New Mexico was 1998 or 1999. That was just passing through and my diabetes caused me to black out at the wheel which ended in a pretty bad wreck. Since then I haven't liked that state.

I guess we shoulda gotten some pix of the speed limit signs and the environments NM state considers necessary to lower the speed to 35 or even 30mph. Smooth asphalt, two lane highways out in the country, good visibility--35mph. Yeah, right. Whatever, NM! LOL

Sorry to hear about your accident. Hope things are better now.

 

[Thrasherg]

JT, How did your ankle take all the riding, glad you had a great time..

 

[Old Rocket]

I'm glad that you and JT got to take this adventure. It looks like great fun with very good views. Horned frogs were part of my youth and are notable to my County of Eastland. Google Old Rip and Eastland County Courthouse to see the story. Thanks for sharing the ride with the group!

 

[cdc]

Next chapter . . . .

 

[SpiritAtBay]

I'm glad that you and JT got to take this adventure. It looks like great fun with very good views. Horned frogs were part of my youth and are notable to my County of Eastland. Google Old Rip and Eastland County Courthouse to see the story. Thanks for sharing the ride with the group!

I did and what a great Texas story!

 

[JT]

JT, How did your ankle take all the riding, glad you had a great time..

Hi Gary, thanks for asking. My ankle was not injured, just all the other smaller bones. The only time it really bothers me is if I dont have a stiff enough sole. I had ridden most of these roads before. But they are so good, they are worth doing over.

 

[Texas T]

Smooth asphalt, two lane highways out in the country, good visibility--35mph. Yeah, right. Whatever, NM! LOL

I feel the same way when I take 60 east out of Arizona. As soon as you hit that state line... boom! Slow it down. Unfortunately for me, there's a NM Highway Patrol office between the state line and Quemado and there's usually at least one trooper patrolling that area.

 

[grumpy48]

I like reading riding adventures such as this. Looks like an awful amount of fun you guys are having

 

[dukey33]

Coati and 'roo crossings?!?
It's like a whole 'nuther country there....

 

[kubotamiketx]

Fantastic ride report, you and JT need more of these types of trips. I truly enjoyed that entire area when a bunch of us did the NMBDR a couple of years ago.

 

[M38A1]

...'dat sky. wow.

 

[KsTeveM]

No pic, but a coatimundi loped across the road ahead of me and i was able to watch it for a good distance as it ran into the woods.

I was stationed in southern Arizona in the mid 90s and the first time I saw one out riding my XT350, didn't know what it was, I said it looked like a 4wd racoon!! Glad yall had a good trip!

 

[madmaxd]

Great ride report! I love that area, I've done a lot of ds riding there in the past. My younger son and I would go out and meet my older son from Phoenix in Silver City. We met some local enthusiasts that showed some great riding both north and south of SC. Your pics bring back some great memories. Thanks again for the report!

 

[dannyboy]

I did and what a great Texas story!

Gina and JT - Judge Rex Fields in the Horned Toad article (Old Rip and Eastland County Courthouse) is the nice guy that rode with us the first day on the Hill Country 500.
He was riding he red and white Tenere 700.

 

[humanrace]

Hi Gary, thanks for asking. My ankle was not injured, just all the other smaller bones. The only time it really bothers me is if I dont have a stiff enough sole. I had ridden most of these roads before. But they are so good, they are worth doing over.

Maybe that "lost sole" was trying to tell you something.

 

[humanrace]

Enjoying

 

[M38A1]

4oct21 1030p

A lost sole on North Star Mesa

If I recall correctly, that's not your first Lost Sole?

 

[ntklr650]

Thanks for the report. Thats close to home for me. Sadly I have not ridden that area much.