Ride to Dulce via NM-537

Hi everyone! It's been sometime since I posted anything here. In a previous blog, I wrote about how I wondered if that trip would get it all out of my system. Well, here I am, searching for my rainbow again. Seems I haven't found my niche yet and I'm still wondering if the grass is indeed greener on the other side of the fence.

I got up this morning and didn't have anything on my to-do list for the day and was thinking about doing some yard maintenance when Merrilou suggested I go on a motorcycle ride. I had been wanting to ride NM-537 from US-550 to US-64 ever since Jill blogged about it. I had never been on that particular road before so I mapped out a route to Dulce, NM via Cuba and hit the road.

Route Map on Google Maps

I topped off the Vulcan as I left Albuquerque and took the old highway to Bernalillo, took back streets through town then caught US-550 for Cuba. US-550 is one of those very special roads that some might, at first glance, consider a bit boring and it can be if you're not observant and don't notice the absolutely spectacular landscape that you're traveling through on this route to Cuba.



I pulled into Cuba about two hours after leaving my driveway, found the Shell station and topped off the tank since I still wasn't sure if there was gas in Dulce and I needed to be sure I could make it back to Cuba on one tank...just in case. (Point "B" on the map.)

The Shell in Cuba is part of the "new Cuba" that has sprung up in the last five years or so. The town is really growing and it's attracting a lot of new business. After gassing up, I pulled into a parking spot and stripped out of my gear to go inside. There is a McDonalds on one side and a convenience store on the other. The bathrooms are clean and in good order. I got my usual, a small chocolate milk, and went outside to drink it. I don't like to eat a proper meal when I'm on a day ride but I sure do like a chocolate milk every hundred miles or so! It seems to really satisfy me and give me that necessary "kick" so I can keep going without tiring.

I pulled out of Cuba and continued north on US-550 for about 21 miles to NM-537. This road can sneak up on you if you're not familiar with it but there's a trick to it. You see, there is an Indian Casino at the junction. It's a tent casino called the Apache Nugget. I believe it's run by the Jicarilla Apaches.


A quick right turn and I'm on NM-537 heading north toward US-64 and Dulce. (Point "C" on the map.)


537 is a well maintained paved road that goes through the heart of the Jicarilla Apache reservation. The first half of this road, about 20-25 miles or so, is hot dry desert.



There are several "chickens pecking the ground" through here (oil wells) and there a lot of maintenance trucks with flags and tanker trucks. Must be a mining operation around here somewhere.


Several spots warned of deer.


I soon left the desert and climbed into the higher elevations where the smell of pine forests and fresh air was overwhelming. All along here the rock formations offered some entertainment as I imagined the incredible forces combined with the irresistable onslaught of time that carved out the landscape.


The whole area here is tribal land and well posted. I would assume they're serious.


After a few miles, I spotted a sign for Stone Lake and a paved road off to the right. I figured, "what the hey" and went off in search of it.



I came to a big open area with signs for a celebration of some sort. (Point "D" on the map.) I'm assuming this location is used for an annual Indian Cultural Festival or something. There are a lot of make-shift huts for selling food and crafts plus a couple of big areas for dances and other shows. The general public is welcome but there are signs warning about no picture taking, respecting the land, and, "no motorcycles"! Whoops, good thing there was no one around today!

Stone Lake Information


Stone lake road into Dulce was bad for a few miles then got much better. I was able to keep up a decent speed of 65 or so and still dodge most of the potholes. About half way to Dulce, I hit some new pavement and I no longer had to dodge potholes. All along this road are several small lakes and ponds. Fishing is allowed as long as you have greased the appropriate palms, er, I mean purchased the appropriate licenses.



I approached a site but couldn't tell what it was until I got up closer. It was an airstrip and seemed to be one of those unmanned installations.


Dulce is a bit smaller than Cuba but seems to be more spread out and has a bit more variety. (Point "E" on the map.) They have a decent gas station where I put 1.9 gallons in after riding about 90 miles. Since I entered the town on a back road, I kinda lost my bearings so I asked directions from a small group of bikers. They had just come in on US-64 from Chama. They got me straightened out and I was on my way back.

I took US-64 southwest to NM-537 and headed south for US-550, Cuba and eventually home. The ride back down 537 was quicker then the ride up. Even though I had just been on this road, it still held my interest on the way back. Isn't it funny how the very same road can look so different from the other direction?










I made record time (for me) to 550 and into Cuba. I stopped to top off my tank and get another chocolate milk at the same Shell.


Outside of Cuba, on the way toward San Ysidro, I spotted the first landmark to indicate I was back in familiar territory. Cabezon Peak is recognizable from any angle. It's rather unique, isn't it? There's another name for it but this is a generally G-rated blog so I won't repeat it here.

Merrilou and I have explored the desert around Cabezon Peak extensively. The Rio Puerco River runs close by it and there are several ghost towns out there. It's definitely Jeep territory. You can usually get through fine in any high-clearance vehicle without 4WD but sudden downpours will leave you stuck in that sticky, slimy clay snot that you can find all over New Mexico. Merrilou and I were bebopping down a well maintained dirt road one afternoon when such a downpour caught us. It took no time at all for the back end of the Jeep to attempt to come around and lead the way even in 4WD! We had to slow way down to about 10 mph to keep it in a straight line.

The rest of the ride back to Albuquerque was uneventful as it was through territory I'm intimately familiar with.


As I approached Bernalillo, however, the skies started to look pretty ominous. It looked like it would open up and pelt me with an afternoon thunderstorm like we are so well known for this time of year. But, I was lucky and made it all the way back home without getting wet.

• Total miles: approx. 330
• Total Time: 6 hrs, 15 min (door to door)
• Satisfaction Factor: score of 4 out of a possible 5 (Hey, any ride is a good ride, it's just that some are better than others!)
• Recommendation Factor: Highly recommended!

In Search of Aliens!

I had Good Friday off and RR suggested we ride to Roswell and look for aliens. This sounded like an excellent idea so we went.

Round Trip Route from Albuquerque to Roswell

We met up at the Chevron at Central and Tramway. I pulled in about 9:15 am and RR pulled in a couple minutes later. We chatted for a bit and waited to see if anyone else would show up. No one else had expressed interest but sometimes more people show up for a ride that was expected. No one else came by so we pulled out about 9:30, got right on I-40 and headed east to Clines Corners.

It was cold. Temp was in the 30's all the way to Clines Corners and we were doing 75-80. I was halfway prepared for a cold ride and David was too so we were chilled but we survived. Riding in cold weather is an attempt to keep from freezing. It's not really possible to stay warm, just not so cold that you start to stiffen up. We got off I-40 at Clines Corners and got on US-285 south. Our speed dropped a bit but we still kept up a good pace. Went through Encino which doesn't have much anymore. As Dot and the Thursday gang from AMRG found out, there is no longer any gas in Encino. The town has pretty much closed down.

Our first gas stop was in Vaughn. This town is still thriving. It has two gas stations and both also have a convenience store. There's an Allsups in the middle of town and Lalo's on the far east side of town. We stopped at the Allsups, gassed up, used the bathroom and got some refreshment. I had my usual chocolate milk. We met a guy there who was hitching his way to Kansas. Said he had a new job there. He was traveling very light, nothing but a small backpack that was stuffed full. He was a talkative fellow and was genuinely interested in hearing all about our bikes. Eventually we had to get going. We wished him good luck and took off down 285 for Roswell and, we hoped, lots of aliens.

Diner in Vaughn

The road to Roswell is all high-speed highway. There are no routes that take you on slower back roads. Even so, it was a great ride. I'm always glad to get out on the open road on the bike and let random thoughts wander in and out of my head. It's kind of refreshing in the same way that dreams will refresh your mind. When you're out on the open road on a motorcycle, there is no conversation with others like you have in a car and since I found out I don't like to listen to music when I ride, there is total solitude. I need that from time to time.

The Long Road

Windmill pic for Merrilou

David rides a Honda CBR1000. For those that don't know, it's fast! Much much faster than my old Honda GL650. David was nice though, he kept to a sane speed for the entire ride. He said he touched 90 a few times but backed down as soon as he noticed it. There were only a couple times when he hit the throttle and became just a speck in the blink of my eye! I want a sport bike but I know I'll just get into trouble with it. First there's the purchase price. Second is the cost of insurance. Third is the ever rising cost of insurance as I rack up the speeding tickets. I think I should be happy with my GL650 and it's top speed of just 105. Do I really need a bike that can do over 150 mph? (Yes, but...)

David and his CBR1000

We pulled into Roswell at about 1 PM or so. We stayed on the main drag all the way through town just to scope out all the options. We wanted to find a place to get some lunch and visit a couple tourist traps to search for aliens. Most of the food options were national chains but there were two places that caught my eye. One was Cattleman's Steak House and the other was the Portofino Italian Restaurant‎. Portofino's won the toss and we turned around. Portofino's was casual but nice. I would say that David and I, in our motorcycle attire, were the worst dressed in the place but we weren't too far from the norm. No one stared. I had a friend in the Navy who was from New York city and he used to tell me stories of being stared at all through the meal if they showed up out of character in any way. I'm afraid the fine italian food at Portofino's was lost on me though. I'm not familiar with the fare and although I'm sure it was good italian, I'm not the best one to judge. I had a lunch sandwich of some sort with a fancy italian name. It had chicken in it plus an italian sauce of some sort and it was served in a kind of "bun" that had a continuous crust on the outside and a soft bread on the inside that was only a half-inch thick overall. I'm afraid I'm showing my ignorance here. It was good though and very filling. We left very satisfied and the visit was easy on the wallet too.

We got back on the main drag and headed up the street a bit to a tourist trap I spotted on the way in. We ended up at the Official UFO Museum. We didn't really have time to go through the museum portion and asked if we could just go into the gift shop. Of course, we had to get "stickered" before they would let us into the gift shop. David got a t-shirt for his mom and I got a stuffed alien for Merrilou. On the way back to the bikes, we played tourist and took pics of every alien we could see and there were plenty!

The excuse, sorry I meant reason, we came here.

David got lucky and caught a real UFO on camera trying to steal our bikes!

Next stop was the gas station then the highway back to Vaughn. The ride back was uneventful. Had lots of solitude time to let the thoughts wander. I passed the time by chasing tar snakes. Good stuff.

The long road back...

We gassed up in Vaughn then continued north to I-40 where we joined the throngs of people headed west. We kept up a brisk pace, at least 5 over the limit all the way. As we got closer to Albuquerque the sky was looking pretty ominous. I thought it was going to open up all over us but we made it home ahead of the storm. (Turned out the actual storm didn't hit until after midnight sometime.)

Nasty-looking storm clouds

We stayed on I-40 al the way to the Big-I then took I-25 north. I got off at Osuna waving David on as I passed him. He lives in Rio Rancho and was probably going to take Paseo Del Norte a couple miles further up I-25.

I pulled into the garage at about 6:30 pm and gave Merrilou her furry little green thing [grin]. She loved it!


It was a good day.

A Sunday Ride

Merrilou needed some quiet time to study on Sunday so I called DM and we decided to meet at Tingley Beach and talk about where we wanted to go. At first we thought it might be nice to just bounce around town for a few hours but drivers were really crazy that morning and we felt it would be safer to get out of the city limits. We decided on the East Mountain Loop. Here's the route we took:

Sunday Ride

The leg up North 14 was pretty chilly so we stopped at Frost Road (B) to see if we really wanted to keep going. We did. The next stop was in Edgewood (C) to warm up. Had lunch at The Ponderosa (D) then came down the hill on South 14. South 14 is usually a really cool ride with all the twisties and all but today there were three Sheriffs at the top and lots of traffic on the way down. We were able to tear it up for a little bit but soon the heavy traffic slowed us back down to sane speeds and we followed traffic down to the bottom.

Once back in town we stayed on Central and played tourist/Sunday rider. David asked me if I was feeling ok. I don't usually like to cruise Central on the bike but I knew he did so ... Ended up at the top of 9-mile hill (E) where we stopped for a bit then went our separate ways. Total time from leaving the house to returning was about 5 1/2 hours and I had put about 130 miles on the bike.

It was a good Sunday.

Trying not to get lost

Pine Hill Road Ride
March 20, 2009

Google Maps Route


Prologue

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away...oh wait, wrong story.

It was a long time ago though. I used to work for a broadcast engineering company in Los Lunas back in the 80's. They sent me to work on a radio transmitter out in the boonies once. Seems the specific failure they were having would only happen between 11PM and midnight so I was planning on camping out on the hilltop where the transmitter was located and wait for the problem to happen. The transmitter was in Ramah, NM (the old Ramah on BIA-125, not the tourist trap on NM-53). I got out there, got settled in, set up my monitoring equipment and waited. It was so quiet out there. I couldn't hear anything but the wind rustling the leaves on the trees and the ringing in my ears (tinnitus). Well the problem showed up on schedule and I was able to pinpoint the cause. I got done early and decided to head out in the middle of the night rather than sleep and leave when the sun came up. Ah, the wonders of a young body and the amazing things it can do. Anyway, I dropped off the keys to the transmitter site in town and hit the road. The map showed that if I headed south I could wind my way back around and into Gallup. I did find my way to Gallup but it took almost four hours. I guess I got little lost . Along the way to Gallup I listened to Samba Para Ti by Santana on the cassette deck. It was mysterious and magical and very emotional to be listening to that while driving along a deserted road out in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night. I played that song over and over that night.


Heading out.

I've been wanting to go back and find that same route again for a long time. I figured it would be easier on the wallet if I went on the motorcycle even though I seem to remember some dirt roads along the way. So I found what I thought was the same road on the map and headed out. I left Albuquerque about 8AM and took I-40 west to Grants. As I was going through Abq I saw several hot air balloons in the sky. The temp wasn't too cool and the sun was shining. It was going to be a good day.

(I'm sorry, I didn't take any pictures on this ride. Since I played hooky from work to go on a motorcycle ride, I completely forgot my camera. So, I'm going to try to make it up by being extra descriptive here.)

I wasn't dressed for really cold weather and the freeway ride to Grants was pretty cool. It started clouding up as I left the city and the temp dropped as soon as I hit the top of 9-mile hill. It stayed cool all the way to Grants where I stopped at the truck stop to get gas and warm up a bit. I should have got a hot-chocolate but instead I had my regular, a cold chocolate milk. These seem to keep me going pretty good on my all-day rides. I'll usually chug a small one at each gas stop.


El Morro

Got on NM-53 and headed down toward El Morro. El Morro is a big sandstone rock with a reliable water hole hidden at its base. The significance of this big rock is that it was a campsite for ancestral Puebloans and Spanish and American travelers who carved over 2,000 signatures, dates, messages, and petroglyphs for hundreds of years. Anyway, just about 2 miles past El Morro is BIA-125 (Point A on the map). I turned left there and went south about 4 miles through the reservation. All of the maps I've seen, including Google Maps, say that the first community you encounter is called Pinehill but that's not so. The first small town, a collection of houses really, is Old Ramah (point B on the map). I'm not even sure it's really a town, it's so small. Be careful in here, the speed limit is really low. Once past the first community I continued heading south on 125. 125 is a very well maintained paved road with good markings and shoulders. It stays this good all the way to the real Pine Hill which is about 13 miles from NM-53 (point C on the map). This is the real Pine Hill. It even says so on the sign! It's quite the little community with a health center and schools. As soon as you get past Pine Hill, the road goes to pot. It's still paved for a few more miles but it's full of pot holes and some of them aren't patched.


Hit the dirt!

I don't remember exactly how many miles later but BIA-125 eventually turns dirt. However, it's well maintained and appears to have been bladed recently. The gravel was kinda deep in the beginning and the bike was fish-tailing a bit for the first mile until I got onto the harder part of the road. From here all the way to NM-36, it's just a bladed dirt road. Not bad really but if you dislike dirt on the bike, avoid this.


What to do, what to do.

At about 22 miles from NM-53, I came to a Tee in the road (point D on the map). I had a choice...right...or left. I consulted my GPS for the answer. Zooming in showed me the road I was on and the Tee. Zooming out I could see NM-36 and Fence Lake to the south and via several turns and loop-arounds, NM-36 a little further north...eventually. If I went left, the road would eventually hit 36 and it was the direction I wanted to go anyway. I went left/south and hoped the map in the GPS wasn't too out of date.

According to the map, I was still on BIA-125 after I turned left. Of course, there are no road signs at this point. Evidently, this road is also called Pine Hill Road and also County Road 34. Anyway, it's still dirt here but not as well maintained. I now had to decide if I wanted to ride in the ruts or try to stay out of them. I tried it both ways depending on the road conditions. Worked out well that way.

I have to say, my Honda GL650 doesn't do too bad on dirt but it is kind of heavy and it's top-heavy to boot. If I bear down on the pegs so that I lower the center of gravity, it seems to do a lot better. Heck, I could put some dual-sport tires on it and start getting on some of those fire roads we have all over the state.


I was being watched.

The road seemed to go forever but I suppose that was just because I was in unfamiliar territory and was still unsure of my decision back at the Tee. Eventually I started to get into ranch country with big ranch homes scattered here and there. one of them was a Llama ranch. A couple dozen Llamas watched me intently as I rode past slowly. Several were in the road but they're pretty skittish and got out of the way long before I got there.

A couple miles later, I hit NM-36 (point E on the map). Yay, I was on a paved road again! Total distance on dirt was probably about 15 miles. The ride from here into Quemado was uneventful. The weather was warm, the traffic was very light and it was very pleasant. I pulled into Quemado, turned right onto US-60 and headed to the gas station. Oops, all the gas pumps had signs anouncing they were out of regular so I rode over to the other gas station to see if they had gas. They didn't. The guy there, probably the owner said he's been waiting eight months to get someone out. Meanwhile, he runs a garage and has several vehicles around in various states of dis-assembly. Evidently business is good despite the lack of gasoline. He told me that the station down the street did have regular. They were only out of premium. I guess I misunderstood the signs. I went back, filled up and got on US-60 eastbound to Socorro.


I'll take my half out of the middle.

As I was coming down out of the higher elevation in Quemado, the road has many gentle sweepers. These sweepers are much more fun if you're doing at least 80mph. The speed limit is 60 through there. As I was coming down a hill with a gentle sweeper, there was an 18-wheeler coming up and a 4-wheeler was passing the truck. The 4-wheeler wasn't making real good progress passing and I started to move over toward my right shoulder while paying close attention to the car. All of a sudden, the truck driver must have realized what was happening because he swerved sharply onto his right shoulder. I thought that was good idea so I did the same. The car went up the middle. No harm, no foul. Everyone missed each other with room to spare.

Once I got down into the valley, the road straightened out, and I do mean straightened out. It just went on and on and on. I kept it at about 80 and I was passing everyone. Seems most drivers out there obey the speed limit. Except for when I went through Pie Town and Datil, I kept that up until I hit Magdelena. Traffic from there to Socorro was a bit heavier so I just laid back and went with the flow. When I pulled into Socorro I put 3.6 gallons in the Honda. It has a 4.3 gallon tank and that last run was only about 110 miles. That works out to about 30 mpg. Not too good. Must have had a heck of a headwind 'cause I wasn't really going that fast.


Heading home.

The last leg of the trip was north on I-25 all the way to the Jefferson exit. Not much to say about this part. Freeway, ya know. Pulled into the garage about 4PM. That made for an 8 hour ride. Not too bad.

The End

As I was getting ready this morning I had mixed feelings about today. I was looking forward to the ride and seeing the rest of US-90 and I was looking forward to getting home to Merrilou. However, this was going to be the last day of my journey and I really didn't want it to end.

Will this journey finally get it all out of my system? My sister, who is wise beyond her years, doesn't think so. I don't either. I will always be looking over the next horizon searching for a rainbow to chase. I know there's one out there with my name on it.

Southwest Texas via US-90

What a great road!

Left San Antonio this morning on US-90. It was freeway for a few miles but then switched to a 2-lane blacktop with speed limits from 55 to 70. I kept it at 55-65 most of the way. I left a bit early and I had plenty of time to get to Alpine.

This road is mostly southwestern landscape with all the big-sky openness that goes with that. Temp in San Antonio was a pleasant 57 degrees so I dressed for summer. A few miles down the road the sky started to cloud up and the temp dropped a bit. It was cooler but still not cold so I kept going.

Hondo was my first gas stop. I saw this place across the tracks and turned around to take a pic when a freight train decided to go by. It was a long one. Ten minutes later, I crossed the tracks and took this.



Since the border is so close to US-90, it gets patrolled heavily by the Border Patrol. I saw a lot of these guys.



Merrilou and I have been to Del Rio before. It hasn't changed. It's still a small town dominated by national chains. The temp had warmed up nicely by the time I got here.



Who would have thought there would be this much water in SW Texas! (Amistad)



90 has a lot of open stretches. Gave me lots of time to think.



It's funny, I brought my mp3 player on this trip and it's loaded with all my favorite music, including a couple gigs of the blues. I listened to it for a few hours on the first day but realized it was just cluttering up my head so I put it away and haven't used it since. Still carrying a ton of spare batteries though [grin].

Merrilou will recognize the Pecos River. Work was being done on the bridge. It was one lane with signal lights to control traffic across.



Every once in awhile, 90 threw up some gentle sweepers.



Sanderson was my second gas stop.



A few Hell's Angels pulled into the gas station with me. They were from the Hobbs chapter.

Saw a lot of these. (For you, 'lou.)



Marathon wasn't a gas stop but it was a very small town with lots of character.





Finally got to Alpine. It's fairly big for a small town and it's a college town to boot.







Tomorrow I get home. The rest of the trip will be all freeway once I hit Van Horn. I really doubt I'll take any more pics but I'll try to post up something here just to complete the blog.