Aug 29

Adventure strikes

adventure, motorcycle, photo Add Comment (5)

I’m sore tonight. I left Los Alamos in the pouring rain and headed over the Jemez around 3pm. It rained pretty hard in the first part of the Jemez, there were rocks washed down in areas I have never seen before. I rode through this no problem, though, as all my gear is waterproof. I made a vow that if State 4 was dry by the time I hit the turn off to 126, I would take 126, otherwise I would go the long, paved way.

State 4 was dry as can be miles before the turn off, and the radar map had showed that the rain was to the south of where I was to go, so, I headed down 126. The first part was great, dry, but not too dusty, my new tires doing a good job with the little rocks and etc. One guy in a Subaru stopped me, and asked how far it was to the highway back the way I had come. He looked frazzled. There was a bunch of little girls in the back seat.

Continuing on, the road turned from ‘tuff’ (volcanic ash) to a clay. I came up over a hill, and found just a little bit of mud, and the next thing I knew, the front end washed out, and I was down. I got off the bike and turned it off and looked it over. No real damage to the bike, but my side case was shattered. Ah well. I managed to stand it up, and move it to the side of the road, and move all my clothes and etc into a different bag.

I left a bit of a divot on the road. Whups.

I continued on, taking it easy. It was sprinkling lightly, but the road was drying out. I came up around a corner a few miles down, and found a long, muddy downhill. I came to a crawl, first gear, feathering the clutch, feet out, and managed, slowly, to make it all the way down without incident. It was a lot of physical work, though. At one point, just to prove a point, a Suzuki car drove past me with a mom and two kids in it, all big smiles for me. Hurray.

I got to the bottom of the hill, made the left, and the road was drying up again, so I sped up a bit. I turned a tad, and the front tire skidded, and I was down again on my side. This time a pickup coming behind me stopped. Guy jumps out saying, ‘I’m coming man!’ and helped me set it back up, and asked me how I liked the bike. He was looking to buy the same model. A truck coming the other way stopped, guy got out. I asked how far back to the pavement, about a mile. First guy says, ‘Cops are right behind me’, and sure enough, a black and white Blazer pulled up behind, with the light bar and everything. A woman got out and came and talked to me, and offered to drive behind me in case something happened.

It turned out she was not a cop, I don’t think. She had gov’t plates, but no markings on the vehicle, and she was not in uniform. I started out, but the bike was acting really odd. It felt like I was plowing really hard. Looked down. Front tire is not turning.

Turns out, the tire is packed full of clay between the wheel and the fender. I get out some tools, and attempt to remove the fender, but I don’t have the right stuff. Ah well. Claw out most of the clay, and then I deflated the tire so I could make it move again. Got out my little air pump, and put 20 PSI in it, and headed off again. Doing well.

About 1/2 a mile I hit a muddy patch in the shade of some trees, and…. I’m down again. Hurray. I bent a bar end and broke part of my left mirror. The lady got out and helped me set it up. I take a minute to rest, get back on, and take off, taking it easy. Lot of work. At one point, I am going up a hill, and the bike is trying to go toward the bar ditch, and I’m trying to not go that way. Managed to stay on the road, though. Finally, I hit the pavement. The lady in the gov’t vehicle followed me the 15 miles on the pavement to Cuba, and gave me the broken bits I had her save. She pointed out where the car wash was, and added, ‘You should goto Bruno’s and get a margherita and just stay in Cuba for the night, after all that’. Hehe.

I went to Subway to meet Chris. I am now two hours late. Chris is gone. Call him, he is 20 minutes out, so he turns around and comes back. I eat, and then we went to the car wash. I swear, there is still some clay up in there. I fueled up and aired my tires back up.

Eh, a few new scratches on the left fairing. Ah well, such is life. I knew it was a risk. Besides, I didn’t like the side cases I have. Now I have an excuse to replace them, hah.

So, I am in Farmington at Chris’ folks fancy new place. Going to sleep here tonight, and then ride up to Utah in the morning. Regardless, Adventure always finds me. Let’s hope tomorrow is not quite as much of an adventure, haha.

Sore and tired, I’m headed off to bed soon. Huzzah.