New Mexico and Colorado

[Covered in Dust 163]

Our plan was to get on the road at 4:30 am to get thru Riverside before the traffic started, Ken and Tracy came over the night before and we loaded up the bikes.

We had to make a stop in Winslow just to stand on the corner.

or just in the middle of the road.

When we made it to Gallup we had to make a stop at the Fu King smoke shop.

After a great dinner and a few beers (and one drunken local guy wandering into our hotel room) we got an early start (by my standards anyway) from the Gallup airport.

Great start to our ride thru some really nice forest roads and perfect temperatures.

We made a lot of fun little side trips on the ride. Some were worth it others not so much.

Not long after the Ice Caves the topography started to change.

By this time it was damn hot and Trail Boss Ken almost had a mutiny on his hand. Here is is telling us to man up and explaining how he rode thru here in the middle of August on his BMW 800 with no water and he got 9 flats and had to carry his bike for 30 miles (those Ice caves were looking pretty good to me about now).

Tracy and I pulled up our big boy pants and motored on....

and on....

After a long hot ride we came to Grants New Mexico where I had to have Tracy buy a couple of Lime-a-Rita's for me because they wouldn't sell to me because I didn't have my ID on me. Made a nice camp and fire and settled down to tell a few lies. A good end to the day.

CiD

[Covered in Dust 163]

The next morning I woke to a flat front tire. Being the lazy guy that I am I just pumped it up and went riding.

The CDT runs thru some very beautiful country. There were a few guys on bicycles doing the CDT, one group said they'd been riding for 6 weeks/ When I asked if they were having fun the guy said no! On the other side of the mountain going downhill I'm sure he would have said yes.

Must be about a million miles of lightly traveled dirt roads in New Mexico and Colorado.

Made it to lunch at El Farolito in El Rito. This place is sort of famous for it's food, it's been written up in Sunset magazine and gets rave reviews on trip advisor http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g47020-d549095-Reviews-El_Farolito-El_Rito_New_Mexico.html. I think we must have caught them on an off day.

After lunch Ken and I both noticed we had flats. Still being lazy I pumped them both up and we took off down the road. We made it about a 1/4 mile and both tires were flat again. Scouted around for a shady spot to get to work on the tires and both of us made quick work of the repairs.

Once back on the road we had miles and miles of great riding and beautiful country.

We were making our way on a steep winding road and I just happened to look over the edge and saw this old logging truck crashed in the trees about 40 feet below the road. Must have been quite a ride for the driver. Truck looks like it's from the early 40's

Trail Boss Ken lead us to another nice camp over looking a lake. I tried to suggest a few places to camp on the way, but Boss Ken in his dry sarcastic way said I could pick a camp the next day (he said the same thing everyday).

CiD

[Bagstr 287]

Thanks for the back story, some of us are starved for imagined riding. Not to criticize, are you following Ken's line? You hit the Same roofing nail that bounced out off the pickup that repaired the roof of the barn you visited.

You both used your spare tube on the first day. Were you planning on patching the next?

Never doubt Ward. He will get you to the Oregon Territory.

[Covered in Dust 163]

I carry 2 tubes a front and a rear. The front flat was a pinch by the look of it. I kept it and would of patched it if needed. I did patch it when I got home and am carrying it as a spare now. I'll post up day 3 on the trail tomorrow if I get a chance.

CiD

[Covered in Dust 163]

Time for Ken and Tracy to pic up the narrative, but heres a pic from day 3.

CiD

[Covered in Dust 163]

and one more from when we got a little off the trail.

[Bagstr 287]

Chris, This photo seems to show a larger pack-pack. Are you using a larger pack, if so how did it work our for U? I the duffel; do you remember the size/litres?

Keep on Campin',

Dave

[Bagstr 287]

Also, So far this trip could have been ridden on Ken's 800. Could the route have been done on a spacious and relaxing GS?

[Covered in Dust 163]

Yes I carried a larger backpack, it was a pain in the butt. It was forcing me to move forward all the time as it would hit the duffel bag. I finally moved the duffel way back on the GL and I had enough room to move around on the bike, I don't think I'll ever use the big backpack again. In the photo I have my jacket in a stuff sack tied to the backpack also. I learn a little more about packing each trip.

CiD

[Covered in Dust 163]

Day 3 and 4 would have been rough on a big bike. I could have done 90% of the ride on my 950se but I really don't enjoy riding dirt much on anything bigger than my 525's.

[Bagstr 287]

"Day 3 and 4 would have been rough on a big bike."

DynOmite! We look forward to the premiere.

[Covered in Dust 163]

The duffel is Wolfman http://wolfmanluggage.com/products/enduro-duffel-bag . I had my tent and sleeping bag in it plus ground cloth and my little pump for my air pad. It was great to pull it off and walk over and have everything in one bag to get the tent setup.

CiD

[Bagstr 287]

Dimensions:

• Width: 16" / 41cm (across seat)
• Height: 6" / 15cm
• Length: 4" / 10cm (front to back) on top, 8 1/2" / 22cm on bottom.

Capacity:

• 15 1/2" liters

This is similar to my set-up, using GL Mojavi. The bag design may have grown since I bought mine, it appears larger in your photo.

[tlking6 0]

Dirt Bagz

Its not the highest quality but not bad either. It fits my Husky well and has plenty of room. I was self contained and none of the bags were full. I too carried a large backpack but it was empty for the most part leaving plenty of room for the necessary hydration items needed for a happy camp time!

[Dress4Less 162]

and one more from when we got a little off the trail.

Too funny CID!

[Covered in Dust 163]

and one more from when we got a little off the trail.

Too funny CID!

I wanted to see if anyone was paying attention.

[Covered in Dust 163]

I really liked the looks of Tracy's top duffel http://www.dbzproducts.com/extras.htm . I think i will order one and try it with my Wolfman E-10's.

I'd put everything heavy down in the E-10's and then lighter stuff up above. I'm always very tight for space with the setup I'm using if I have to be prepared for both hot and very cold conditions. If it's just hot or just cold I'm fine but having to pack for both makes my current setup just a little small at the start of a trip with snacks and food for 5 days on the bike. Ken and Tracy bought food along the way for a couple of nights which I might think about doing on the next ride.

CiD

[Bagstr 287]

http://giantloopmoto.com/products/rogue-dry-bag/

Opens from Both ends,,,,, The trick in my book is to big large but Not lay on the exhaust. Tough to maintain perfect alignment throughout the day.

I will host a packing seminar this summer.

[tlking6 0]

Tough to maintain perfect alignment throughout the day.

That seems to be the biggest challenge, compounded when you start having to strap your gear on. I try to avoid bungees.

For this trip I tried messing around with a collapsible cooler that easily attached to my cross bag. Yeah it worked but turned out to be too much of a hassle messing around with it in the parking lot. Did keep beverages cold though!

[kkug 146]

Ok back to riding . We are now in CO and trying to work our way to Lake City for the nite. I know of a great camping spot but we got to get their first. We were going to try to go across Elmwood pass but after talking to locals we found out it was closed due to fifty foot snow drifts. So we had to do some slabing. Oh well !

We tried to take a shortcut but were turned back by some mud and snow .( No pictures ). Nice jeep road though till it was blocked .

We finally got to Lake City and Chris stocked up on supplies.

Got to my favorite camping spot --been here three times already.

View from my tent in the morning.

[tlking6 0]

That was a cool campground. Perfect spot to begin the next days total epicness!

I think this might be from that Jeep trail,. I don't think any of us got any pictures of the "mud incident"

[kkug 146]

So our fourth day was going to take us to Silverton and beyond. The weather was perfect so we tried going up the other side of the jeep road ( Hart Lake Rd ) that we got turned around on . Made it to Carson ghost town.

Oh look it is starting to cloud up ????

We came down the Mtn, and started to head to Cinnamon Pass --Mmm raining--time to sit it out for a hour.

Rain delay --more to come !

[kkug 146]

We start heading up. Getting colder-some sleet. Reminds me why I live in Sol Cal. Epic. We did not know what we were going to run into. All is good but we did not spend any time at the top. Kind of Brezzy--like 45-50 MPH winds !!!

I like this one you can see the horizontal sleet in the pic.

My red nose !

Chris and Tracy were dreaming of Cabo and Costa Rica at this point. They did not stick around very long.

So down the hill we went--wanted to get out of the weather and get warmed up..

We passed on the sights-mabey next time . We walked into The Handelbars driping wet. We got the stinkeye from everyone. Screw them. We need food and Facebook !

[tlking6 0]

Cinnamon pass was epic! Snow was blowing sideways but it was nice and dry so not really a big deal!

[Beezzz 6]

Now this qualifies as "adventure riding". From the desert to the alpine. How did the bikes run @ 12.5K ft.? I am surprised the road is "open"? Seems like a snow plow has been busy.