Cruising into Ouray.

We took off from Silver City this morning in the cool and made good time. We went through some nice farming and ranching land and then got into the Apache National Forest and went up and down and winding around through some beautiful country. And it stayed cool. Early in the day we stopped at a tiny little place and found they had ice cream so 10 a.m. was ice cream hour on this day.

Then we continued north and ran into more chip seal. This road was not all twisty like the one the day before but the chip seal went much longer. It’s about 38 miles from Apache Creek to Quemado and we hit the chip seal after about 5 miles. This was where the work was going on where the overlay was the freshest. It got progressively better–more embedded with less loose stuff–as we went along and toward Quemado it had even been swept, although none of it had been striped yet. I explained that while planning the route I had consulted Chipseal.gov to find where all the work was planned so I could route us through as much as possible (wink). Dennis noted that I had done a fine job in that regard.

By lunch, though, it was hot and the land was still nice but not as nice. These New Mexico highways have 55 mph speed limits and, in the lead, I generally ran at about 65. But later in the day, on a highway with zero traffic, I kicked it up to 75-80 just to burn through these very straight miles. We reached Gallup and found our hotel and kicked back with some beers.

Friggs was feeling amazingly good this morning, considering his crash yesterday. He had expected at least a sore shoulder but didn’t even have that. It’s pretty amazing. The one really telling image though is his helmet. This top quality, expensive helmet is absolute trash, though he will wear it home. All you need to do is look at the side of the helmet and then think about the side of his face and there is nothing at all to be said. No words can ever say as much as that image.

Leaving Gallup the next day we had a long, straight, relatively uninteresting ride north to Shiprock. Yes there are some big rocks around here sticking up hundreds of feet from flat ground but the area is mostly flat and very brown and barren. Then east to Aztec and north to Durango. It gets prettier as soon as you get into Colorado and I was surprised to find that it is only 33 miles from Aztec to Durango.

North out of Durango it gets dramatically beautiful quickly. Up to Silverton over Molas Pass and then to Ouray over Red Mountain Pass. The Million Dollar Highway. There was construction in places on U.S. 550, so at times it was pretty slow going. Of course, if you were behind Friggs—which I was—it was all slow going. After his crash the other day, Friggs is spooked and not at all confident on the mountain curves.

Then there were the idiots. We got behind a tanker truck over Red Mountain Pass and traffic piled up behind us. We’re not crazy, nor did we have any reason to rush, so no problem. But several idiots sped past us and then proceeded to pass the truck on blind curves with double yellow lines. If someone had been coming the other way there would have been slaughter. It was only luck that kept everyone alive. What is wrong with people?

Reaching Ouray, our day’s destination, we found our motel and awaited the arrival of OFMC co-founder John, who was missing his first ride in our 30-year history. Health issues have forced John to give up riding but he lives just a few miles north of Ouray so he came to join us for the night. The first thing Friggs did when John arrived was to tell him about his crash and how he has decided to give up riding after we get home. This was the first time Friggs had stated such an intention, though I had wondered if he was having thoughts of that sort.

In discussion, however, John mentioned that he had thought about continuing to come along, in his truck, but didn’t think driving alone was all that appealing. But if Friggs would like to ride with him then by golly, the two of them could be right back with the group again next year. Friggs jumped at that suggestion so that may well be the way we go next year.

Biker Quote for Today

Motorcycles: more spacious than a car.