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The Crosses Desert Ride

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I’m always anxious to get going on the first day of a ride, pre-run excitement. I feel like a kid waiting for his parents to wake up Christmas morning. Add to the scenario cold temps, wind….and snow this morning, we had to stall out a bit before braving (whining) the cold.

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We finally skipped out of town in formation.

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We were already down one solider, Craig said he wasn’t having the cold. Then Chad’s bike got a flat on the way to the trails….and his counter shaft seal appeared to be leaking. He bugged out to take care of bike stuff. Then there was 5.

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I guess Sander gets to be Philo Beddoe, dadgumit. So I guess I’m Clyde? Go Orange!!!!

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And more making our way to do the dirt. Couple funky bridges.

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I was hoping for some good technical desert stuff to get warmed up. Philo is pretty good at delivering.

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Remember that saxophone sound when those gang dudes were riding in the movie? I can’t get it out of my head.

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I just realized the 2 stroke bikes outnumber the 4 strokes this run……four 2 stroke bikes and three 4 stroke bikes. Wait a minute, if you measure the strokes, thumpers actually win! You know what they say about 2 strokes…..never mind, Thumpers are nice guys.

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2 Smokes with little gas tanks.....we made a pit stop. Gotta loves it.

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Time to take our movement underground.

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Lots of sand riding today.

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And don't ask about this scene.

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And I promise we weren’t laying down on the job.

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Derek routinely was riding up some hard stuff for his own entertainment, I guess ours as well. Sherco 300 4 stroke. Me likey.

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And there were some dirt naps taking place here and there. This ride is not called Easy Enduro.

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I like this shot below. You are in some big country out here. There are bikes down in that wash.

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And look at this handsome devil!! You're such a good boy.

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Lunch spot. Pretty nice place to chill out and down some trail side grub. Just have to eat quickly, before the sand blows into your craw.

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Snagged a cool pic of Mark punching up a little ledge garden.

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And Derek popping up another ledge system. Not the best quality image, I tried, with two different cameras.

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And some more random pics from today for your viewing pleasure. It turned out to be a really good riding day. Highs in the 50s.

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We went up this trail, but it was Every Which Way But Loose. Ha ha!!!! Sander was taking us into the breach, once more. For no other reason than to turn around, we weren't going that way. Derek punched up it pretty far.

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I gave it the old college try, I threw in the towel at the below spot. It was pretty gnarly. But it was a good view.

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Shortly after that, we made a pit crew stop. Jim's tubeless was going airless. Sander had some Slime for him, half a bottle for only $79.95. They are still negotiating about it. It did do the trick btw.

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Shadows were starting to get long, time to mosey our way back to the house.

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We are back at Desert HQ now. Good day had by all. We just had some evening fellowship over some italian grub and are now probably imbibing ibuprofen in our respective rooms?

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And that's about all I have to say about that. Wait, one more parting gift. Do you have that super twangy theme song in your head while reading this ride report? You do now, Ha Ha. Catch you on the flip side!!!

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We’re up and moving. Temps are still cold this morning, but no snow and no wind to speak of compared to yesterday. We are letting the temp settle down, or up, with a 9amish departure Mountain Time.

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Couple pics from yesterday……my last post was maxed out.

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This one is for @SpiritAtBay, she has a thing for hotel art. This one ain’t too shabby.

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We are presently lining up the iron horses and about to take out looking for trouble. Yall ready for some more blah blah blah, pic here, pic there, desert everywhere?

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Shoot, that hotel room art is nice. How about the eats? @KsTeveM you can't go to Cruces without eating good food????
 
ntklr650 said:
Shoot, that hotel room art is nice. How about the eats? @KsTeveM you can't go to Cruces without eating good food????
Click to expand...

Sander is our tour guide and restaurant picker. First night we went to La Posta De Mesilla, it was ok. Last night we went to an italian place, Zeffiro's I think, calzone was pretty dang good. Tonight I was a rebel, loner I guess. Going for a ride weekend just seems like you should grill out, so I did. Not as much fun by yourself, but it was pretty good eats. I think the boys were going somewhere called Iceshack? Now back to hard enduro?

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We rolled out of town headed for the Donna Anna Mountains today. Full house today with Chad’s bike fixed and joining us, Craig happy with the good weather and joining us…..and a new to us guy named Rob from Albuquerque on a 500. We like 500 Rob. Seriously, obvious bike intelligence aside, he was a really nice guy and solid rider. So we headed out with 8 bikes!!

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On the way to the trails Craig’s bike pulled an all stop. He just did a new top end recently, so he was sweating it on the side of the road. New top end, new plug, and plug looked ok. But when you have a 2 smoke, you always replace the plug when it pulls a stunt like it did. Like a good boy, Craig had a new plug with him and the means to fix himself. Fired right up. No harm no foul…..with a new plug!!!

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Onward. I would like some dirt and dust in my face please. Here you go.

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We hit a lot of good stuff today. Really sweet single track that was new to us.

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Some Moab type stuff here and there we got to rock crawl on.

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And some of us were trying hard climbs and descents, traction was pretty good out there. And the weather, super nice!!

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I heard Philo yell “Clyde, scrap the Sherco”

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Derek noticed his bike was a little oily smelling. Took a little look, oil is not showing on sight glass….and can see some oil coming from up high somewhere. Group discussion, head for the house or investigate? Might be something simple, so we pulled the gas tank and sure enough, the bolts on top of the valve cover were pretty loose and oily up there. The bike had had some maintenance work done, not sure if the bolts didn’t get torqued or Derek just rode the snot out of it, causing them to back out?

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We got it tightened up/buttoned up and considered adding 2 stroke oil to his bike, that was all the group could produce in the middle of nowhere….and what a pretty spot to work on a bike, spot below. But while we were working on the bike, the oil settled a little bit, you could see it at the bottom of the sight glass. Ride saved!! And so we planned a route to eventually hit a gas station for oil and he would just back off the afterburners, supposedly, although I couldn’t tell 😊.

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Back to the riding. Sander was carrying us all day and making sure we were getting it done. As always, ol Philo is a pretty good trail boss.

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We got in a lot of good washes. For the below wash I was behind Rob and it was fun chasing him and hitting it hard. Good solid ridin!!!

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Right turn Clyde!!!

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Our lunch spot wasn’t very glamorous today but we were ready for a break after coming off some technical single track. So we just made it happen. More to come…..I’m still playing with pics and stuff…….

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KsTeveM said:
Sander is our tour guide and restaurant picker. First night we went to La Posta De Mesilla, it was ok. Last night we went to an italian place, Zeffiro's I think, calzone was pretty dang good. Tonight I was a rebel, loner I guess. Going for a ride weekend just seems like you should grill out, so I did. Not as much fun by yourself, but it was pretty good eats. I think the boys were going somewhere called Iceshack? Now back to hard enduro?

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Click to expand...
Yea, la posta is mostly hype in my opinion. It's been years though but back in college there was a lot better places to eat. Dicks cafe was a heart attack in a bun and one of the best places. They burned down after a grease fire in the kitchen. Looks like they rebuilt but not sure it would taste the same.
Dick's Cafe
(575) 524-1360
maps.app.goo.gl

Dick's Cafe · 2305 S Valley Dr, Las Cruces, NM 88005

★★★★☆ · Restaurant
maps.app.goo.gl maps.app.goo.gl
 
Some more single track. Had to be the highlight of the day. Stand up, stay loose, and single track your rear off.

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You have to get up these hills Any Which Way You Can. Sometimes it was deceiving, not a crazy climb but the sediment just let go and you buried yourself to the swingarm. Have to regroup, lift the rear of the bike out of the hole you made, sometimes go back down. And then laugh when the next guy comes behind you and struggles!!!

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Sometimes it is every man for himself!!! I had my line picked out and Derek said nope, I've got the good line, ha ha. I made it up that cliff to the right, so it was worth it as I like that pic with the three of us on the obstacle.

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Some random shots from the day that grabbed my eye.

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Wish I had a better camera, this was a cool hill climb, with the moon.

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We got into some really flowy stuff, everybody was hitting it pretty hard and fast, super fun and good way to wind down the ride.

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Back at HQ looking at pics......another day in the books. Smell yall tomorrow.

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This was my all time favorite restaurant back in college. Not sure if the food is still any good but it was a beautiful ride out there on a summer evening.

Chope's Bar & Cafe
(575) 233-3420
maps.app.goo.gl

Chope's Bar & Cafe · 16145 NM-28, La Mesa, NM 88044

★★★★★ · Mexican restaurant
maps.app.goo.gl maps.app.goo.gl

Thanks for sharing the pics. Fun seeing the old stomping grounds.
 
humanrace said:
I haven't ridden with Sander for 35 years, but I could have told you he could RIDE. Nice report.
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No doubt!!

I got up and headed out before the sun for a solo ride. Will blab about it more later. I’m loaded up to head east.

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