Adventure Motorcycle Blog

We started the day just east of Cuba, NM at Clear Creek Campground. Today was rough on the bikes and on us. We had two red sections (if you ski or snowboard it’s the equivalent of a black diamond) around the Santa Fe National Forest. Actually, if I remember correctly (it’s all a blur) one of the blue sections was more technical than an average red and we are thinking it was mislabeled in the gps tracks we bought. I think I dropped the bike 3 times today trying to go over some of those obstacles. Matt probably did the same. There are 10s of 1000s of rocks ranging from golf ball size to others as big as a laundry basket. Mix that with steep inclines/declines and massive ruts created by recent rains and that makes for an interesting run. The ruts not only go in the direction of the trail, but also across. Some of the ruts going across were a foot to 2 feet wide, foot deep and at different elevations. Either had a drop down or step up and this was going up and down hill. Cracking the throttle in 1st/2nd and pulling up on the handle bars were key for those. Not too many lines to follow so you just go for it and hope for the best. The plastics around my radiator guard ripped off so I had to punch 4 holes in the plastic and zip tie it together. Good as new! Both hand guards are scraped up and the left and right pannier bags are taking a beating as well but at the same time act as big cushions for when the bike does go over. It’s amazing what that little 250 can do when modified with a different gear set and heavy duty race suspension. Beyond impressed with its 1st and 2nd gear capabilities; especially with all the weight we have on these things. It’s about applying constant torque, keeping momentum, following the least shity line and keeping the rubber on the ground. That bike is a damn mountain goat. I bounced off the ground a couple times, but it’s all part of the adventure. Nothing Advil can’t take care of plus it makes for some great GoPro vid. We were probably 3 minutes outside of Abiquiu, NM when it started to sprinkle and then right when we pulled up to get gas it just started pouring plus lightning/thunder to the extent it knocked out the power a couple of times while we were there. Needless to say we hung out there for awhile to wait it out. It was more of a general store so they had a little of everything so we didn’t mind hanging out. We sat on a bench out front and finally had a chance to play on our phones plus we tracked the storms on radar and researched campgrounds for the night. The storm finally passed so we geared up and took the road to a place the gps said was a campground, but nope no campground so we kept on riding. Matt had the gps map up for the campground and I had the real time weather radar up on mine. It looked like we were going right between two storms as we rode. We left the hard pack and jumped back on the trail and eventually found an established campground at 9800 feet. We talked to the camp host and he set us up with a spot for the night. While on site we walked down to a nice little mountain lake on a path through the forest. The views were just amazing. After that we went back to the site and setup camp. While we were setting up, the skies got dark, the thunder rolled in and it started to sprinkle. No more than two minutes after I closed my right pannier bag the rain came in so we each went to our tents and called it an early day. Didn’t get to start a fire or heat up dinner. Think I had trail mix, water and a Kind bar instead. No idea when I passed out, but it was early. The sound of the rain hitting the tent was calming and I fell asleep. It’s now 3:57 am and I’m wide awake. This seems to be my norm on this trip. Perhaps I’m still running on EST in my head. This is when I work on the blog, go through all the pics from the prior day, swap out SD cards, make sure everything is charged, study the map for the day and figure out possible fuel stops. As each day goes by we are getting a little better and quicker breaking down camp and loading up the bikes. Loading the bikes is all about even weight distribution and having frequently used items on top for easy access such as tools, first aid kit, shoes, etc. It’a no doubt an art you only learn by doing it over and over and over. Today we should hit CO. Right now my Garmin in-Reach says it’s 47 degrees with a 30% chance of rain. Knowing it rained all night we are expecting slick and muddy trails ahead. Thinking the bikes are about to get dirty again. I’ll post this later today once I have a cell signal. I could use a shower, the baby wipe camping kit is wearing its welcome out.