So I finished the day in Grants, NM. The hotel has a computer so I can type a decent post today.
My first stop today was at Russels, and they had a sticker. It didn’t stay on either, but I picked up gorilla glue later and glued it on along with my sticker from yesterday. So Helga’s getting her decorations!
The place had a free car museum, thats where I found the sticker and they had something called a lubester. So of course I had to take a picture.
New Mexico is actually kind of pretty, and there started to be hills and roads that twist. Actually it’s funny 5 minutes after hitting New Mexico it did seem to just magically get more beautiful. In that somewhat sterile way that nature can be beautiful when it’s winter and a desert, but those mountains gave me something to aim for, and riding through them was nice, if cold.
Today’s ride was cold. Started at 37 degrees, and got to 55 for all of abouyt 30 minutes. I spent most of the ride watching clouds and rain ahead and to the west of me. Trying to avoid Bugs Bunny’s constant conundrum, I went straight at Albuquerque. However, when I stopped just past Albuquerque, the rain caught up to me. I should have known, the temperature had dropped 10 degrees and it was getting very cold. That kind of temp drop in temp usually means rain is imminent. Pro-Tip listening to Parliament makes it feel 5 degrees warmer.
A few drops hit my helmet, so I skipped the gas and headed west. The hotel I planned to stay at was only 50 miles up the road, and I was not backtracking to Albuquerque. So I raced the clouds, most of the were behind me and mostly to the west, so I kept it under 100, but hauled ass before the roads got wet. I was literally racing the rain. At one point, 4 trucks were poking along passing eachother at 60 and had me slowed up, after a bout 5 minutes, the rain started hitting me again. To be fair it was just a drizzle, but there were visible drops on my helmet visor. Just as I was thinking maybe I should just pull over, the trucks finally opened up a lane, just as Rancid came over my headphones. So, back up to 90, and a couple minutes later it’s dry again.
Not only did I get my first rain, but there was actually snow on the ground in some places. No idea where it came from, and none on the road, but little patches on the northern face of hilles interspersed with the scrub brush. Of course the amount of snow will grow in later tellings. Here’s hoping I don’t actually get snowed on this trip. Rain is probably inevitable.
Today was a great ride. My aching body realized it was in for the long haul so my hips and knees stopped barking and resigned themselves to the occasional grumble. Despite the cold, I got to just ride and experience the world. It’s just so much more “Be Here, Now” than a car, the smells, the feel of the road, seeing and feeling every bump in the road. Even having the same conversation with complete strangers 5 times in a day was a nice casual touch point with humanity. In case you don’t know the conversation:
“Hey, nice bike.”
“Thanks.”
“Yeah I” sometimes the words used to belong here “ride.”
“Cool, brother”
Then usually I smile and suit up, or head in for a coffee or what have you.
“Ride safe, there’s lots of idiots out there.”
“Thanks, safe travels to you to”
I’ve ridden with others, and this convo always seems to happen with European bikes, not so much with harley’s or rice burners. Of course I haven’t seen any biker gangs that ride BMW’s so that might be part of it. It’s not like I’m tooling around in a vest and patches.
So the hotel also has a hot tub – so I’m gonna go hit that so I have time to dry out my shorts in the hotel laundry tonight.
Methinks I better wear my helmet tonight.