The Preparation

The timing of this trip also coincides with my volunteering to help marshal the MS150.  So after wrapping that up, I'm off to New Mexico.

First we lay out what needs to go on the bike.

Then its an early AM ride and for the next two days, help out with the MS 150

...but that's another ride report ... on to New Mexico

The Ride There

Monday morning, I was on my way out of Austin and headed toward the Texas plains.

Along the way...

Eden might be the center of Texas,

but its also the middle of no where...

I was looking out at the road...

...and it was looking back

Finally made it to the border and had to take the obligatory pictures.

Not too far along this route, I came to pass through what looked like a small salt flat.

Finally reaching the end of day 1 of riding, I made it to the KOA I had reservations for on the outside of Carlsbad, NM.

It was very nice, never having stayed at a KOA before I wasn't sure what to expect.

But the Kabin (that's how they spell it) was very comfortable and the critters outside entertaining.

They even bring dinner to you in your Kabin if you pay up front at check in.

I must say it was quite good.

A little tour of my accommodations...

The view from my window.

And the inside.

That's it.  BUT cheap, clean and comfortable.  That's all I needed.

Day 2 - The Ride There

Finally some signs that things might start to get interesting.

Cause its pretty much been nothing but this all the way so far.

Now I thought this was kind of ironic ... I'd just helped to marshal the MS 150 a couple days ago, and here in what seemed to be the middle of no where to me, what do I come across...

Yup, you guessed it.  Cyclist doing some sort of tour ride of their own.

Made it to Lincoln Nat. Forest.

And not far from there, atop the hill, a stop for lunch.

I thought it funny to find a "Texas Pit' BBQ place out in Cloudcroft NM.

Not a very big town either.

This is about it.

Pretty cool old abandoned track line.

And the ride through the park and Cloudcroft was very scenic.

But, alas, it was long before I was back into the abyss of nothingness.

But what was weird to me was those low white clouds.

I would come to learn those were no clouds.  That was sand being kicked up by the wind.

Yes, I'd made it to the white sands of New Mexico.

It wasn't much further to T or C now.

I got to T or C and got checked in.

Looks like the rest of the crew is already there.

The room...

yup...the Kabin was nicer.  Ah, WTF, its just a place to sleep right.

Day 3 - Riding Around Truth or Consequences

The next day I head out to explore this little nothing town .... and I find

Dirt

Lake with a rock in it

A dam which created said lake

Which you can no longer drive across because of the f'n terrorist .

And one weird little store

Not sure I want to know what they do in there.

Getting back to the hotel, looks like DAM got himself some DAMage.

He likes to think he can ride, but...

Day 4 - The Ride Home

Well, looks like those pu**ies that call themselves Texan's are loaded up and ready to go.

Me, I've got a different route laid out to get me home from where I came.

Somewhere between El Paso and Carlsbad NM, I found myself in another salt flat.

I believe this was on Hwy 180.

After another VERY long stretch of nothingness, I started coming into the mountains of Carlsbad.

Of course there's one reason why I even came this way on my return home.

Having never been, I had to go see the cave.

The pictures really don't do it justice.  Its one of those things you must see.

Time to leave the park and get home bound.

Back into the plains of Texas, I pass through the original old town of Pecos.

The sign implies gas and food, but

Good luck with that

Here's where the pictures end for a while.

Again I'm traveling through the middle of the plains of Texas with nothing but old well rocking horses and empty cattle land.

Me and the couple of cars on this stretch of nothingness road are travelling, well lets say, a little above the speed limit.

Now, normally, this is not a problem for the F650, but I'm loaded, running a 15 tooth sprocket, and I've got a tail wind.  So after running wide open for about 30 minutes, my engine overheat light comes on.

CRAP!  NOT IN THE MIDDLE OF NO WHERE YOU SOB! is what I'm screaming in my helmet as I put the bike in neutral and turn off the engine so as to prevent any damage from over heating.

I coast over to the side of the road, dismount, and begin my inspection.

I have spare fuel, oil, and water so I know I have fluids if I need them, but upon inspection I'm not finding anything the matter.

I wait a few minutes for the engine to cool a bit, then mount back up and head down the road, but this time more at the speed limit, hoping all the time that the light doesn't come back on.

Thankfully, it does not.  I can only recon that with the extra load, the reduced gearing, the excess speed, and the tail wind, I just wasn't getting enough cooling to the engine.

Finally I get to I-10 somewhere near Ft. Stockton and begin my super-slab trek homeward.

Those bad-ass tail winds I had at my back, well there was a reason for that.  A front is on the way.  And its getting dark.

I want to make as many miles as I can so I have less to travel the next day, but the rain catches up to me somewhere outside of Ozona.  And this is not gentle rain.  Its cow pissing on a rock rain and hail the size of marbles.  And its fricken cold to boot.

I just got ahead of the storm when I get to Ozona and make a bee line for the only hotel in town.  But yeah, all booked.  By the time I learn this, you guessed it, the storm has caught up and cats and dogs are coming down again.  The nice clerk behind the counter of the hotel calls ahead for me to check if they have a room in Junction, the next town about 80 miles away, and they do and will hold on for me.  Back on the road.

I make it to Junction, but this time I rode the storm the whole way and its still coming down hard when I pull up under the porch of the hotel.

As I stand dripping onto their clean floor, the manager checks me in and even offers up the use of her truck if I want to go back out to get something for dinner.  Super nice lady; A+ for her.

I go to my room and peel off my soaked gear and lay it out to dry; then a hot shower. 

Now that I had life back in me, and the rain storm had just about passed, I walk over to the nearest food joint, which I think was a Church's Chicken, get a meal then call it a night.

Day 5 - Getting Home

I look outside my hotel room and its like it never rained.

The sun is out and the temperature is great.

I make it just outside of Austin and have to stop to get this one.

Then of course there's lunch.  Hmm, what to do.

Duh ... its Texas, you stop for BBQ, what else.

It was probably just another two hours home from here and I'm looking forward to being back home.