OFMC 2018: Into The Heat . . . And The Craziness
Ride we must.
Leaving Angel Fire, we got an early start to beat the heat, and cruising down New Mexico 434 was sweet with the extremely narrow—barely more than one lane—and very twisty and sometimes amazingly steep sections. But the state is “improving†this road so it may not be so sweet for long. Go ride it soon–it’s a nice road.
We reached Las Vegas (New Mexico) and it was getting warm. A quick jog on I-25, then off on U.S. 84 and just start burning miles. At times, for no discernible reason, the speed limit drops for long stretches from 65 to 55. But all the traffic was screaming past us so we did 70, too.
Lots of drivers were absolutely blasting, passing us and continuing at 90 to 100. And one guy in a big pick-up hauled past us but not in time to get all the way past when another car approached from the other direction. He could have pulled in between two of us but he chose to stay in the oncoming lane and forced the guy coming to swerve onto the shoulder. Insane.
By the time we were getting within 100 miles of the day’s destination, Ruidoso, the temperature was hitting 100. So glad we started riding when the temp was about 60.
At a gas stop at Vaughn we were approached by a group of Christian Motorcyclists Association folks, who were doing their thing and asked to do a blessing of our bikes. I stood off to the side and when one of them approached me I said, “I’m not a Christian.†He said, “That don’t matter,†and I replied, “It does to me.â€
We got into Ruidoso and I was leading the group to our hotel and as I came to an angular intersection, on a slope, I had my head turned way, way to the left to look for traffic and just dropped the V-Strom right there. Now, all the guys were there to help me lift it right back up, and there was no damage at all, so it was essentially a non-event. But it was annoying. That’s twice now in just a couple days I’ve dropped that bike. Still, if that’s the worst that happens on this trip I can live with that.
And then we arrived at the Inn of the Mountain Gods, and as we were checking in they brought us complimentary margaritas. On this blazing hot day that was truly a nice touch.
There was no travel the next day. We stayed two nights in Ruidoso and played golf and gambled and I hit the biggest win of my life–$280 on a single 60-cent spin. I’ll take it, thank you. This was the first day in 18 days that I did not get on a motorcycle.
Biker Quote for Today
Some will walk through the Pearly Gates and some will ride.
