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May I Ride in the Mountains

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Be patient with Stevo he is probably engaged in some high level math.

He's trying to figure out if his back tire or back side is going to wear out before he reaches home.
 
I’m doing pretty good today, couple hundred miles under my belt. Got a decent start to outrun some big cells in west Texas. Big spring storms in May, who knew? Good weather so far and temps. Grabbing some lunch in Brady.

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Steve, no kidding on the Texas storms this year...maybe a little more dramatic than normal. While I was out in Utah for those 3 weeks, people back home were reporting heavy rains, storms, wind, and hail...fortunately no hail for me. We've needed the rain in my home area, so they all told me to go away more frequently and stay away. I think...at least I hope...they were referring only to the rain issue and not something else.:ponder:

Steve, in your report your mention of storms...was that on Saturday when you were heading in? I left Capitan going toward Roswell that morning, and I was tailing this big, visible rain or storm event. Wind was whipping my toy hauler pretty good. I could tell that on radar this was going to go on for quite some time as it was large. Exit stage south at Roswell and head to Monahans state park for a cowardly retreat.
 
@TNC my Texas storm stuff was yesterday-Sunday. Saturday I was fighting weather in the Taos Angel Fire area. Today I threaded the needle decently on the rain. I just made it home, will work on the rest of the report as I can this week. I have to go now to clean up, Mrs. KsTeveM usually overtakes me when she comes through the door after being separated from me this many days!

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TNC said:
Steve, I have some coat hangers I can heat up and beat you with if you're looking for more excitement. :duck:

I was coming home from Utah yesterday, maybe about the same time you were around Snyder. I'll tell you how big a wimp I am. I was in a toy hauler with the XR nice and comfy tied down in the back. I would have been home Saturday upon leaving camp in the Capitan, NM BLM camping area, but I kept nipping at the backside of a rain storm that had strong wind...not fun pulling the toy hauler. I looked at the weather forecast for my home area near Abilene, and it showed a strong thunderstorm coming through about the time I arrived home.

You know what?...I don't need any drama, and I don't "need" to be home Saturday. I veered south and spent the night at the Monahans state park for a nice, peaceful evening...followed by an uneventful drive home in 3.5 hours on I-20. It's nice to be the king...uh, I mean to be retired and unencumbered by schedules, a job, and other such annoyances.:trust:

Steve, I would never contemplate a trip to the arctic hinterlands this time of the year like you did, but I am not the he-man you are. I salute you...and am also sending you some references of a few respected guidance counselors.:lol2:

And Steve, in response to your constant berating of my lack of pics associated with my trips, I folded like a cheap suit on this trip and actually took a few pictures of my southern Utah outing that I will somehow make a lame attempt at a ride report...which will obviously fail miserably in comparison to your Ansel Adams and "War and Peace" travelogs".

However, I will take a moment to rub it in a bit comparing our recent trips. Over a three week period, I never lost a day of riding due to weather. Temps during the day ranged from sunny high 60's to high 70's. Crowds were non-existent and camping spots were awesome...and I slept nice and comfy in the hauler with cool nights...no trailer parks or hookups for a he-man like me.

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Another wordsmith among us!
 
I did ok on the cold. My layering worked well. My lower half, Forma ADV boots, Klim socks, Fox baselayer, Fly XC Patrol pants in boot. Upper half, LD Comfort long sleeve, MSR Armor Shirt, Jersey, an old MSR transformable light jacket. If it was really cold, threw on my rain gear to block wind, bottoms are some cheapies, top is Fox. In the coldest sections, I wore two neck gators kind of spread out and also had on a balaclava for my nose the first day in Empire area for that 20 degree snow stuff. Gloves, Alpinestars Apex V2 Drystar, they did really well. With this kind of semi cheapo setup, I was worried the cold would overtake me and I would have to stop at gas stations and go inside to warm up, but it wasn't necessary. If my hands and feet are doing well, the rest can usually cope. So my conclusion, I can wing the cold with my hodgepodge stuff as long as it is not all day 20s and 30s. Also helps if you get offroad and start working a little, which is also usually slower going (less wind chill) and sometimes more terrain cover than blasting pavement. That first day, temps ranged 25-70. Layers came off and stored decently on bike. A little suffering the first 20% of a day is worth it for the 80% of lighter less restrictive travel the rest of the day. This is the way.

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Dang Steve!...remember, I have those hot coat hangers ready any time you are. :lol2:

Oh...did I mention in my earlier post about the weather I had in southern Utah at the same time as your trip?...mid 60's to mid 70's?...sunshine and no rain? Just wanted to make sure you didn't miss that.:-D

Was that mean? I feel bad.:angel:
 
I'm jealous of your time off for sure. I would love to have been in Utah instead. Just was trying take advantage of a long weekend and the free drop off in Denver. I knew I could make an adventure of it. I did that!!
 
Sometimes it's all about maximizing a smaller amount of available time. I'd say you definitely did that.
 
gixxerjasen said:
Sometimes it's all about maximizing a smaller amount of available time. I'd say you definitely did that.
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For sure. I'm good at that. I'm not always good at maximizing relaxing! I learned some more lessons this trip. About the time I have this stuff mastered, won't be able to ride anymore!
 
KsTeveM said:
I'm jealous of your time off for sure. I would love to have been in Utah instead. Just was trying take advantage of a long weekend and the free drop off in Denver. I knew I could make an adventure of it. I did that!!
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Well, you know I'm just jazzing you, because you are a very bad man when it comes to riding distance, riding in tough conditions, and picking awesome locations. We've talked on the side about riding together some time if opportunity arises, and frankly I'm probably not up to your standards or gnar anymore. I rode some stuff with RideFreak on this trip at the 3-Step Hideaway get together on my trip that I probably had no business riding at my age and on my XRL...almost bit off more than I could chew...and no, at 71 I don't have dentures. :lol2:

You are a tough rider and I know you're more than tough enough to take my harassment.:thumb:
 
Alright, let me catch this report up some more. Having completed two really cool days in Colorado/New Mexico over Friday and Saturday, now I needed to get home. I could meet back up with my buddy somewhere along the way and throw my bike in the truck bed to get home as he travels back south on Monday…..or I could just start to ride home on Sunday. I’ve always wondered just how terrible, for me, the trek across this part of the world would be on the kinds of bikes I ride. I decided to make a route that still mixed in some dirt when I could/made sense and get part way home somewhere. Here we go, leaving Bad Bob’s in Angel Fire.

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Slipped south out of town on pavement. Its cold but doable.

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Started going southeast on some dirt……

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…….and got to see a herd of elk, not too shabby of a start! In the first pic below they are above my bike. As I rounded the corner and head their way, they run right in front of me, no doubt New Mexico species.

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Little more canyon carving.

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Luckily the moisture I saw in the forecast wasn’t getting me. Shed a layer here in celebration.

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I liked this old building and the setting. I could see myself living there, fixing it up. I would only need a twin bed I was thinking….as in I would be single!

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Blasted out some pretty prairie pavement regularly seeing pronghorn.

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Got gas in Wagon Mound and kept going east down into the Canadian River Valley.

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Pavement through Roy and on to Mosquero.

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I sniffed out some dirt here. Hoping it didn’t play out, I took off.

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So far so good. Lots of cool geology out here and for the most part I’m trucking along at a pretty good pace.

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It kept getting better and better. I still had that nagging feeling of getting deep into it and coming to a locked gate. Nothing you can do about stuff like that, just deal with it if it happens. For now, enjoy the scenery.

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And….how about this scenery!

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Dang, I was on this dirt route a good long while and it just kept delivering. Beautiful desert riding, the two of us are at our best in stuff like this.

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Blissful. I just looked back, this section of dirt was 52 miles long. Good way to break up the pavement as I eased southeast.

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I stopped here to shed some layers and contemplate the rain I could see in the distance. And enjoy a cold Dr Pepper!

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This was an all day deal, studying the horizon and plotting my moves. I hit the fringe of that particular rain cell, it was perfect for cooling things down and the awesome desert smells. That gets us to about noon that day. More to come……

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Boss: Well well well Steve, glad to see you are done playing on your motorcycle and back here at the job. Maybe now you can finally get some work done.
Steve: SHhhhhh, I've got a ride report to write!
 
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