Silver City, NM –to- Antelope Wells, NM (Mexican Border)

August 28, 2008

142 on and off-road miles

 

We’re finally coming to the end of our continental divide journey.  After ten days of adventure, long days in the saddle, searching out great meals, daily maintenance and trying to get a good night’s sleep in unfamiliar locations, the Mexican border seems like a “stone’s throw” away. 

 

As we previewed the route and the shaky weather (impending monsoon-type thunderstorms) the route it looked like half dirt and half pavement.  The first portion would be on high desert roads and trails with the last 65 miles shooting down the paved road to the border at Antelope Wells, NM.  More because of the weather, we decided that instead of riding to the border and then BACK to Silver City Larry L would take the support truck to meet the rest of us at the border were we’d load the bikes into the trailer instead of riding them back.  Since the bikes would be loaded, saving more return trip time, we also thought about starting back to Denver but we decided to spend the night in Silver City, find a good dinner, spend the night, and then head for Denver the next morning. 

 

So as Avery, Eric,  Jim and Larry C headed out after a light continental breakfast (how appropriate) while Larry L loaded his XR650L into the trailer and aimed the Duramax for our meeting at the border. Avery had mounted the tracking GPS on his KTM 950SE and would lead the riders today.

 

 

After a brief section of highway to get out of town the route turned onto a sandy dirt road that, at first, crossed several sand washes. Certainly if we had gone through there when water was flowing it would have been a real challenge (like our friend Steve encountered back in 2006 were the water had washed the road out with five-foot drop-offs into the wash). The riding was similar to what some of us had encountered in Baja and we moved along at a pretty good pace – about 55 MPH – until we had a piece of nature remind us to take a break. Avery had a desert tortoise once as a pet and he recognized a tortoise in the middle of the road and stopped to get him out of harm’s way. After all, as Brian Brown said in On Any Sunday when a rider moves a tortoise off the trail, “Desert racers are good people”.

 

 

If you ever get the chance to ride in the high desert, or the wilds of Baja, you quickly understand that these areas are teeming with life. Mammals, reptiles and insects join all type of wild and interesting plants in a pretty unique environment.

 

 

During our break Larry C noticed some very LARGE locusts in the sage brushes just off the trail. During the entire ride we had encountered grasshoppers and locusts, but these guys were pretty big – easily over a couple inches long.

 

 

As the riders were having fun with the ride’s final dirt portion, gassing it up over the rises in the road, Larry was driving the support truck down to Mexico and the last 65 miles on Hwy 9 was desolate and narrow.  Larry L could see a thunderstorm off in the distance (as could the riders) but he got to the border crossing before the riders (but not by much) and he found a place to park just outside the “Restricted Area” which contained the US Customs office and the Border Patrol Office.  Just beyond the truck and trailer was the actual border with the Mexican offices on the other side.  Antelope Wells is a one of the smallest port of entries in the US and is only open to non-commercial traffic, so it was a good place to end our journey.

 

 

While Larry L was waiting in the truck for the others the previously mentioned thunderstorm swept through and drenched the area thoroughly.  As it was letting up the five CDR riders rode in but all were prepared for foul weather and no one got drenched.

 

With the bikes and riders staged at the Mexican border, we took our confirmation pictures.  In fact, we asked one of the Border Patrol agents to come over to take the entire group picture. 

 

 

We got Bob’s helmet out to be included (if you’ve been reading the blog, Bob dropped out of the ride on day 5 with a fractured foot).  We joked about burying his helmet at the border, but we decided Bob might not see the humor in losing an expensive Arai to our hair-brain gesture. 

 

 

Almost two weeks earlier we had touched Canada, rode the Rockies south and touched Mexico and we laughed as Larry C assumed the position as if he was sneaking into the country!

 

 

Back at the hotel we were cleaning up and packing for the truck ride home when the heavens opened up with a strong, pounding rain. It seemed that the rain drops were the size of quarters and visibility across the parking lot was gone. Again, fortune favored the foolish as our choice to trailer the bikes back from the border kept us from having to endure a wet ride back and we would have been on the dirt road when water would have been spilling through the washes.

 

Google came through again and located a great steakhouse near Silver City in the historic town of Pinos Alto which was born in 1860  when three 49ers, Thomas Birch, Colonel Snively and another guy named Hicks, stopped to take a drink in Bear Creek and discovered gold. Birchville, later Pino Alto, later renamed Pinos Altos, was born.  The Buckhorn Saloon now has a fine dining room in what was originally the opera house built in the 1800’s.  Great character and great steaks, and good drinks too (yes, we had a designated driver).  We celebrated our journey and adventure and we were a little sad too as our year long planning and execution was coming to an end. 

 

We still had to get back to Denver, and other parts of the country, so we turned in with full stomachs and satisfied feelings. Swing back again to the blog to read about the trip back home, our post-ride observations and a review of the riders and their bikes.

 

August 27, 2008

Grants, NM -to- Silver City, NM

287 on and off-road miles

 

Following his “I got lost” adventure of the prior day Larry C opted out for a rest day joining Avery and Jim in the support truck. That left Larry L to ride with Eric (in his quest to “Ironman” the entire CDR) for a long day in the saddle. 

 

Avery and Eric had studied the GPS routes the night before and knew that fuel range was critical as the day’s first section was nearly 170 miles to where the support truck was to meet the riders, as there no gas station in the middle of thousands of acres of ranch land.  Even with the 4 gallon IMS tank on Eric’s DRz440S it was going to be close to running out of fuel on that leg.  And Larry's Big Red XR650L was running rich at altitude and had gearing that helped performance, but not mileage, so he would run dry even before the DRz.  So a decision was made to have the support truck meet the riders early in Pie Town, and then top them off about 40 miles later as they crossed the pavement again so they would have enough fuel to get to Silver City.  

 

After a group breakfast Larry and Eric pulled out of Grants early as it looked to be a close to 300-mile day.  They headed south into an area called Zuni Canyon with spectacular rock formations lining the canyon providing great photo opportunities.  Again, the riders were surprised as they didn't expect New Mexico pine forests and high altitude, they had expected deserts.  Rains the previous day had the riders edgy because of the possibility of mud but the timing was perfect.  While it had rained, it dried out enough not to be a problem, in fact providing mostly dust free riding with "sticky" traction conditions. 

 

 

The road into Pie Town was a bit boring, a straight, wide dirt road past numerous "ranches" with plots for sale.  But it was over rolling terrain so it wasn't total boredom.  Meanwhile, in the support truck Jim had the big Chevy Duramax on boil. As would happen often on the CDR, the bikes could get to a certain point a lot faster than the truck as they could travel a more direct route and, on a lot of dirt roads, could run at a pretty good clip. Plus Jim was concerned about getting to Pie Town early be ready for the riders (and the pie!).

 

 

Just miles shy of Pie Town a New Mexico State Trooper’s SUV pulled over and swung around as we approached and passed him. “Daddy’s getting a ticket…” mumbled Jim as soon thereafter the flashing red and blue lights in the mirrors confirmed his statement. The “performance award” was a cool $175 for supposedly exceeding 80 MPH. Those of us in the truck knew Jim had the truck under warp speed, but we also knew the actual speed was less than the “claimed speed” so we silently disputed the trooper’s claim at Jim’s direction.

 

 

Soon we were done with the trooper’s paperwork and condescending manner and back on our way to the Pie Town gas rendezvous.

 

 

As Eric and Larry pulled into Pie Town the support truck was there and the crew was waiting inside the Pie Town Restaurant already eating, what else, pie!  Avery had gone with a peanut butter piece as Jim and Larry C tapped into apple with jalapeño spices (Yee-how!) slices. Eric also selected the spicy “New Mexico” apple while Larry L sampled the blackberry.  The place lived up to it's billing, the pies were excellent!  As the riders cleared their plates, the crew fueled the bikes.

 

 

 

The riders got back to the trail that would again cross with the truck where we’d topped off the tanks and we added an extra gallon of gas in Larry’s Cortech side bag to make sure he had enough to make it the remaining miles to the overnight stop at Silver City.  Using the dual GPS system of the Garmin Colorado and Garmin 76CSX on Larry’s Honda, plus Eric using Avery’s with back-up waypoints the riders had a clear idea of where they were headed – at least at first.

 

Riding through the New Mexico high country and traversing a wide variety of terrain through the Cibola, Apache and Gila National Forests the riders kept seeing what looked like mountain bike tracks and, sure enough, in the Gila National Forest they finally caught up with two riders who turned out to be a pair of young ladies grinding it out up a hill.  The guys stopped and talked to them and learned that Tina and Cricket had been on the CDR for seven weeks!  Pretty impressive since we were only on day 10.  They asked if our riders had any extra food and they gave them their supply of beef jerky and Larry's supply of dried Mangos which went over good with Tina as she was a vegetarian.  Regrettably they had to say goodbye to the courageous ladies and they headed out. 

 

 

The terrain turned to a very rocky road though the forest and pretty challenging.  Larry hit a squared out hole and the Colorado GPS launched out of its holder and augured into the road hard enough to screw up its antenna so it wouldn't acquire satellite coverage anymore. Thankfully there was the back up GPS 76CSX.  The route stayed on the main road we were on all the way to the highway leading into the overnight at Silver City. 

 

 

We finally hit the main highway and turned right instead of left but the route took us to Silver City anyway just  a bit longer way but more scenic as it turned out.  The last little town we rode through before Silver City was a historic place called Pinos Alto which we ended up coming back too for dinner at the Buckhorn Saloon (very old) which at one time was the Opera House back in the day (now it's fine dining with great steaks).

 

The riders overcame some GPS track errors that initially pointed them at the wrong lodging when they came into town, but soon the full gang was together at the hotel. With day 10 in the memory bank that only left one day left; day 11’s ride to the Mexican border.

 

For the first time it seemed like the days had breezed by and we couldn't believe only one day remained of our dream ride.  Come back again to see if we make it to the border and what surprises we’d encounter on that day!

August 26, 2008

Chama, NM -to- Grants, NM

312 on and off-road miles

 

Three riders gassed up for the day:  Larry L (XR650L), Eric (DRz440S) and Larry C. (KTM 450 EXC) with Avery and Jim manning the support truck.  Lot’s of rain overnight made us wary of the conditions as we knew from friends who had ridden the CDR before that extra moisture caused their riders to run into massive mud problems in this section.  Avery was not too keen to subject his 400-pound KTM 950R and his sore throttle hand to a day of mud as it was his turn to be in the support truck anyway.

 

 

The potential long mileage of the day (over 300 miles) caused us to put optional routes into the GPS’s and it was a good thing we did as we got to the first turnoff and realized that the rain had created a mud bog so we decided to ride down the highway to Cuba and bypass the troublesome section.  This turned out to be a safe move, but the 90 miles of highway was extremely boring. It was so boring it was difficult for us to stay awake! 

 

 

While the riders were fighting boredom, Avery and Jim were sightseeing in the support truck. They had driven south out of Chama (after a great breakfast at Fina’s Diner – trust us – that’s the place in town for the first meal of the day) and had stopped at the Echo Amphitheater. Jim’s buddy, John Lautenschlager was a New Mexico native and he said we could not miss this great rock formation. John had met us in Salida a couple of day’s earlier to drop off a inner tube and some other modest supplies, but we knew it was just an excuse to ride his Suzuki V-Strom out from Colorado Springs.

 

 

The Echo Amphitheater is a rock formation that is shaped like the Hollywood Bowl. Is unique shape creates a reflector that is very effective and the echo is not only very clear but is actually amplified. There is a “sweet spot” about 50-yards away where the echo is best and it causes visitors to make all sorts of strange sounds to test the echo’s extraordinary properties. Thanks John for making us aware of this neat formation – and for bring us out supplies!

 

 

The riders finally pulled into gas station in Cuba where the support truck was waiting and we gassed up the bikes and grabbed a quick snack. Avery worked with Larry L. and Eric to update their GPS’s from his laptop. People were staring at us as we had cords connecting the bikes to the laptop as if we were uploading some engine performance software. 

 

 

After leaving the gas stop we rode through high plains country and it began to lightly rain, but it was easy to dodge the really problematic mud-holes.  The rest of the route had good traction with minimal dust.   One long section took us over terrain best described  as “Cowboy and Indian” territory.  The dirt road became more like a trail and meandered like a snake through gulley’s,  washes, and ravines for many miles.  Our shoulders and arms actually got sore from all the turning, but again it was and interesting and scenic route.  What caught our attention (not just on this day but the entire ride) was that someone was maintaining the road just enough to keep it open.  There must have been lot’s of drain pipes under the road to keep the road from washing out. 

 

 

Finally we came out onto a highway and thought we were home free heading for Grant until the GPS’s track turned us off onto a dirt road which again led us up into the pine forest mountains North of Grant.  Near by was a large are being strip mines, complete with large explosions and demolition warning signs.

 

 

But on the horizon, dark clouds got our attention with a new threat of heavy rain.

 

 

Then we “lost” a guy. During the CDR our method of insuring we would all keep together is at each turn the lead rider (Larry L or Bob) waits for the next rider (Eric) who in turn waits for the next rider (who on this day was Larry C, who was the only rider without a GPS) followed by the sweep rider (this was Avery, who was not riding this day, who has a GPS loaded with waypoints as a directional back-up). 

 

As the route turned high up in a forest, Eric waited for Larry C and then headed up the trail where Larry L was waiting at the next turn.  But this time Larry C. doesn’t show up.  So we wait 10 or 15 minutes and head back to the last turn to find him, but no Larry C.  We figure he somehow didn’t see Eric and kept on riding straight, rather than making the turn.  So Eric rides the road we figure Larry C went and comes back with no Larry C sightings.  We wait another half hour and with the signs pointing to our next overnight stop (Grant) we head on in but now it’s really raining. 

 

Between the rain drops, some of them BIG, we find our hotel and still there is no Larry C. Eric, who’s feeling guilty as heck,  jumps in the support truck with a GPS (that has the waypoint of the turn Larry C missed) to head back up to look for him. 

 

Larry L figures that Larry C, who he rides with often in the forests near their homes, is a intelligent rider and will find his way in (if he isn’t hurt).  Sure enough before Eric can head up into the hills they see Larry C. on his orange KTM and we’re reunited.  No harm, no foul.  At dinner we modify our methods to absolutely make sure the trailing rider sees the next rider to avoid being separated. 

 

In Grant, we find a restaurant that ends up just being good, but nothing special.  Most of our meals in strange towns have been exceptional but a few were not up to our expectations but no one complained.  We are down to two days to go and are getting excited about having our pictures taken at the Mexican border completing the CDR ride. 

 

By now we’ve realized that Eric is the only rider to ride every mile so we again adjust the support truck schedule so he will “Ironman” the entire ride. 

 

He has also acquired the nickname of “Cow-Boy” due to his run-in with the Bovine earlier in the ride.  He said “You guys aren’t going to ever let up are you?”  Nope.  We saw literally thousands of cows on the route and at one point Larry L would stop and motion Eric up to him.  “Stay right behind me, I’ll get you through!”  he'd joke.  He'd crack up and followed Larry through.  We even started making up stories that the cow who collided with him was a “hit cow” and since he didn’t finish the job, the word had passed to finish the job.  So each and every cow that looked at Eric was a “sleeper” hit cow.  Don’t worry Eric, sometime in the next few years we’ll lay off.  But for now it’s still funny.

 

 

With the gang still chuckling about the “hit cows” we made it to bed to get ready for the next day in New Mexico, which was to include a trip to the infamous “Pie Town”. Swing back to the blog to find out about that stop as Jim collects a special trophy.