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Ride Report: CA to OKC in 48hrs on a BMW
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<blockquote data-quote="Nanotech9" data-source="post: 822967" data-attributes="member: 676"><p>I get into Tres Piedras and shortly on the other side I decide that everyone in New Mexico owns over 100 junk cars and lives in a funny looking house. Apparently theres a few dozen junk yards in the area. I look at the GPS and realize that I’m still traveling at 7000’ and higher&#8230;. Dessert at 7k. WOW. The roads are so straight for so long that a 10deg change in direction requires about a half dozen warning signs about “turn ahead” etc etc. In the middle of what seems like “nowhere” I come across an odd gathering of people and a randomly placed bridge. Apparently I’ve come across the mighty Rio Grande. Had no idea I would be crossing it. Its depth is staggering. Not even close to the Grand Canyon, but still mighty impressive. From a quick look at the topo maps its about 600’ deep. That’s farther than I want to fall.</p><p></p><p>I see lots of tourists but no traffic so I ride to the middle of the bridge to take some pictures, carefully securing the cameras wrist strap to my wrist as it would be a shame to loose all my pictures. I snap a few and realize that the bridge is trembling horribly. While I’m not deathly afraid of heights and have no general fear of bridges, the bridge was shaking enough to give me the heebie-jeebies. A quick look to the east and the cause became clear. A large dump-truck type vehicle was about 1/3 of the way across and the shaking was getting worse. I decided that the bikes suspension would absorb most of this so I hopped back on and got her rolling again. Much better.</p><p></p><p></p><p>One of the many junkyards... this one's specialty seemed to be busses.</p><p><strong>[Broken External Image]</strong></p><p></p><p>Straight... Bike is on "autopoilot" and i'm bored so i take pictures.</p><p><strong>[Broken External Image]</strong></p><p></p><p>Yep, still straight... about 20 miles up theres a turn.</p><p><strong>[Broken External Image]</strong></p><p></p><p>600ft deep... Rio Grand!</p><p><strong>[Broken External Image]</strong></p><p></p><p>Wish i had a picture of the bridge from the side. It was really cool looking but shook like a wet dog on a cold day.</p><p><strong>[Broken External Image]</strong></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>More high-altitude dessert. Lots of boring nothing. Can see for miles, no brush to hide large animals, no cars. I decide to fight boredom and sleep by taking pictures on my i-Phone and post them on Facebook, while moving. Not the smartest or safest idea in the world, but its got to be better than texting in the middle of rush-hour traffic on I-35, and safer than falling asleep while on the bike (I’ve done this before on the way back from Denver once &#8211; kept dozing off slumped over the tank). It keeps me awake and my mind active. The hole in the index finger of my dirtbike gloves I’m wearing works perfectly to run the touch screen on the phone which is Velcro’ed to the tank....</p><p></p><p></p><p>Finally, I’m at Taos! Yay. (anything is YAY after high-altitude dessert). The GPS wigs out for a bit and looses signal for some reason. I’m “lost”. Holy Hippie-Ville! Only in Taos do all 500 residents start walking the streets right at noon, as well as they all get in their cars and intentionally cause a traffic jam. Yes, bumper to bumper “rush-hour” traffic in the giant city of Taos, for what seems like 3 miles. Un-fricken-believable. No worries. I realize I’ve still got great signal on the i-phone so I take the time to punch in a “route” to Raton on the map module. At least the adobe-like houses and businesses are cool to look at.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I keep rolling through Taos and head on over to Agua Fria through the Carson National Forrest. </p><p></p><p>The only explanation for this section of road is&#8230;. Ggiggidy!</p><p></p><p>I was more busy riding than taking pictures, sorry. This was the “hardest” 20 miles I’ve ridden the entire trip, and even took a few opportunities to pretend I was back on a sportbike and hang my butt off the sides of the seat, at some points switching from one side to the other while still exiting the first corner. Many corners transitioned immediately into the next corner w/o any straight-of-way.</p><p></p><p><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=carson+national+forrest&sll=36.684389,-106.221313&sspn=0.443821,0.891953&ie=UTF8&ll=36.399455,-105.394249&spn=0.111365,0.222988&t=h&z=13&iwloc=B" target="_blank">This overview from Google maps should explain it all.</a></p><p></p><p>Make sure you let traffic get a good ways ahead. </p><p><strong>[Broken External Image]</strong></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nanotech9, post: 822967, member: 676"] I get into Tres Piedras and shortly on the other side I decide that everyone in New Mexico owns over 100 junk cars and lives in a funny looking house. Apparently theres a few dozen junk yards in the area. I look at the GPS and realize that I’m still traveling at 7000’ and higher…. Dessert at 7k. WOW. The roads are so straight for so long that a 10deg change in direction requires about a half dozen warning signs about “turn ahead” etc etc. In the middle of what seems like “nowhere” I come across an odd gathering of people and a randomly placed bridge. Apparently I’ve come across the mighty Rio Grande. Had no idea I would be crossing it. Its depth is staggering. Not even close to the Grand Canyon, but still mighty impressive. From a quick look at the topo maps its about 600’ deep. That’s farther than I want to fall. I see lots of tourists but no traffic so I ride to the middle of the bridge to take some pictures, carefully securing the cameras wrist strap to my wrist as it would be a shame to loose all my pictures. I snap a few and realize that the bridge is trembling horribly. While I’m not deathly afraid of heights and have no general fear of bridges, the bridge was shaking enough to give me the heebie-jeebies. A quick look to the east and the cause became clear. A large dump-truck type vehicle was about 1/3 of the way across and the shaking was getting worse. I decided that the bikes suspension would absorb most of this so I hopped back on and got her rolling again. Much better. One of the many junkyards... this one's specialty seemed to be busses. [b][Broken External Image][/b] Straight... Bike is on "autopoilot" and i'm bored so i take pictures. [b][Broken External Image][/b] Yep, still straight... about 20 miles up theres a turn. [b][Broken External Image][/b] 600ft deep... Rio Grand! [b][Broken External Image][/b] Wish i had a picture of the bridge from the side. It was really cool looking but shook like a wet dog on a cold day. [b][Broken External Image][/b] More high-altitude dessert. Lots of boring nothing. Can see for miles, no brush to hide large animals, no cars. I decide to fight boredom and sleep by taking pictures on my i-Phone and post them on Facebook, while moving. Not the smartest or safest idea in the world, but its got to be better than texting in the middle of rush-hour traffic on I-35, and safer than falling asleep while on the bike (I’ve done this before on the way back from Denver once – kept dozing off slumped over the tank). It keeps me awake and my mind active. The hole in the index finger of my dirtbike gloves I’m wearing works perfectly to run the touch screen on the phone which is Velcro’ed to the tank.... Finally, I’m at Taos! Yay. (anything is YAY after high-altitude dessert). The GPS wigs out for a bit and looses signal for some reason. I’m “lost”. Holy Hippie-Ville! Only in Taos do all 500 residents start walking the streets right at noon, as well as they all get in their cars and intentionally cause a traffic jam. Yes, bumper to bumper “rush-hour” traffic in the giant city of Taos, for what seems like 3 miles. Un-fricken-believable. No worries. I realize I’ve still got great signal on the i-phone so I take the time to punch in a “route” to Raton on the map module. At least the adobe-like houses and businesses are cool to look at. I keep rolling through Taos and head on over to Agua Fria through the Carson National Forrest. The only explanation for this section of road is…. Ggiggidy! I was more busy riding than taking pictures, sorry. This was the “hardest” 20 miles I’ve ridden the entire trip, and even took a few opportunities to pretend I was back on a sportbike and hang my butt off the sides of the seat, at some points switching from one side to the other while still exiting the first corner. Many corners transitioned immediately into the next corner w/o any straight-of-way. [URL=http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=carson+national+forrest&sll=36.684389,-106.221313&sspn=0.443821,0.891953&ie=UTF8&ll=36.399455,-105.394249&spn=0.111365,0.222988&t=h&z=13&iwloc=B]This overview from Google maps should explain it all.[/URL] Make sure you let traffic get a good ways ahead. [b][Broken External Image][/b] [/QUOTE]
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