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.

Day 11 - Texas ...again

I got on US-90 north this morning and had thoughts running through my head about things to say in my blog this afternoon. But, now at the end of the day with several hundred miles under my belt and hot and sweaty and tired, do you think I can remember all those great pearls of wisdom from this morning? Noooo, of course not!

I remember the way I felt though...it was like I was where I was meant to be...on the road...on the bike with no worries. Life is good.

Got to Texas around lunch time.



Texas has a bunch of little roads all over the state with FM designators. Someone once told me that when Tx had their oil boom and the state coffers were overflowing with oil money taxes, they used their vast surplus to go around and pave all those little farm roads. FM is supposed to mean Farm Road or something. I don't know if this really true but it's cool trivia for around the dinner table [grin].



My tire is doing fine. No one needs to worry that I'm going to get stranded out in the middle of nowhere tomorrow. It appears to still have lots of life left.



This morning was magical. Maybe tomorrow will be more of the same when I get back on US-90 and take back roads to Alpine, TX. I've been on 90 from San Antonio to Sanderson but have never been further. This time I'm taking 90 all the way to the end at Van Horn.

Day 10 - Lousianna

Hi folks! This trip is really doing me some good. I really needed a major change of scenery and this trip is a major change! Merrilou wasn't happy about two weeks apart and I wasn't looking forward to two weeks away from her but I needed some time alone. Can you believe that this is the first time she and I have been apart for this long? Really, it is! I've been to various classes and seminars over the years but they all were for 3 or 4 days at the most. All I can say about this trip is that "longing makes the heart grow fonder."

I didn't start taking pictures today until I got past New Orleans. The freeway was uneventful (always a good thing!) And navigating through New Orleans demanded all my attention. Once I got on US-90 from N.O. to New Iberia though, I started snapping pics. As is usual for my attempts while the bike is in motion, most of them are not worth showing to anyone, but I've posted a few here.

US-90 is soon to be no more. Plans are to convert it to I-49...a freeway. It will be a sad day when that happens. The loss will be great. However, after driving it today, I can understand why. It's currently a high-speed road with practically unlimited access. I suspect there are a lot of accidents.



There is still a lot of character on this road even though most of it has been converted to freeway standards already.



Louisiana has a lot of waterways.



...and spooky-looking woods.



Some of the waterways are not capable of large ship traffic.



Some of the old bridges are still standing.



and there are a lot of trailer homes everywhere.



US-90 is mostly a high-speed road now built to freeway specs. It's too bad really, I'm sure back in the day, this was a great little byway with character and places to stop along the way. Now, though, it has off ramps to anonymous roads that disappear into the woods. Who knows where they go.



My back tire is doing fine. I pumped it up to 47 this morning before I hit the road. It was at 37. Higher tire pressures will make the tire wear slower at the expense of the contact patch. But, since I'm not pushing the performance limits of the tire on this trip, I'm not worried about a smaller contact patch. I'm confident that it will last the rest of the trip. These tires are Metzeler ME880 Marathons. They're supposed to have a harder compound in the center where the tire doesn't need as much traction. They really are a longer lasting tire.

Oh, by the way...if you ever get the urge to clean the bugs of your plastic windshield with a kitchen scrubber (the yellow sponge with a green scrubber on the other side), DON'T! I can guarantee you won't like the results. (You'll probably have to replace the windshield...like I'll have to do.)

Tomorrow I enter Texas...again. It will be freeway all the way from Lafayette, LA to San Antonio. Yes, the dreaded I-10 through south Tx again.

Day 9 - Atlantic Ocean

This was my last day to see the ocean.



Went up US-1 and US A1A, which is the beach road while 1 is more like a major highway.



Went through Daytona during Bike Week but it was pretty cold today. It was 40 degrees when I hit the road this morning and I think it got all the way up to about 57 for the high. Needless to say, Bike Week was pretty sparse when I went through Daytona Beach. There were a lot of bikes on the road and in parking lots but it wasn't crowded at all. It was actually a pleasant ride.



I got to Jacksonville, took one wrong turn, found my way back and got on I-10 west for Marianna. Did I mention that it never did warm up today? I was chilled all day. When I got to my destination, the first thing I did was take a long hot shower to warm up.

Tomorrow is supposed to be cold too. I'll don my full winter gear so I won't stay cold all day like I did today.

Merrilou tells me she opened the window in her Jeep on her drive home this evening and was still hot. [sigh] I won't see warm weather again until west Texas.

One other thing... my back tire is getting down there. I'm hoping it still has a couple thousand miles on it but I might have to get it changed before I get home. If that happens, it will most likely delay my arrival in Abq by a day. I guess I didn't figure on the extra weight when I calculated whether it would last the whole trip. If I make it home without changing it, it will have gone about 15k miles. Of course, the front tire still looks real good.

Day 8 - Key West to Palm Bay

Not much to tell about today. Left Key West on time and went up US-1 to I-95 then stayed on 95 all the way to exit 173 for my stopover. I had originally planned on taking US-1 or 1A for a lot of the way but I didn't want to fight surface street traffic through Miami. I'm just not a crowd person.

Saw a lot of pelicans in the Keys. This shot was into the sun:
Also saw a lot of big black birds with white under their primary flight feathers. I think I have some pics of those that I didn't post. Don't know what they are. They kinda look like turkey vultures or chicken hawks but these guys are huge and they're everywhere. I even saw a great big flock of them up here near Palm Bay which is on the Atlantic coast.

Got checked in early since the freeway is much faster than the beach road, so I went for a ride over to the beach areas. US-1 and 1A look pretty decent so I'm seriously thinking of going that way in the morning. It will be my last chance to see the ocean so I guess I better jump at it.

Will be going through Daytona Beach in the morning. It's Bike Week there so I'm expecting heavy traffic and a lot of bikes. Like I said, I'm not a crowd person but I don't expect to ever be here again for Daytona Bike Week so I'm gonna cruise through and check it out. It's pretty chilly here today. Probably won't get a chance to see any scantily-clad fender fluffs. Oh well.

I'll get back on the freeway at Jacksonville.