Day 1: Cloudcroft to Carrizozo

We woke up at 6 from the Airbnb cabin in Cloudcroft, hoping to head to breakfast around 6:45 – well, that didn’t happen. Once again, the sky opened and dumped for 15-20 minutes. After a bit, we eventually made our way to a little place called Big Daddy’s Diner in Cloudcroft and had a fantastic breakfast. We topped off on gas in town and started messing with our radios. We had difficulty getting all 3 radios to send/receive for a big chunk of the day. Two radios would be good, but the third had issues. From there, we started the trip. The day consisted of fast dirt/rock mountain trails, steep switchbacks, and blacktop. I don’t exactly remember where we were, but there was a moment when Ron had his first bike dropped off during the trip. The funny thing is I was right behind him when it happened. I pulled up, put my stand down, and realized the ground right of the bike was lower than the left. When I put my right foot down, there was nothing there, and in turn, down went the second bike. It made for a great photo op and a few laughs. First thing in the morning, Jeff noticed his bike would sound like the rear suspension was bottoming out on the most minor bumps. It got a little worse as the day went on, and then there was a point where an additional noise came from the back. We found shade behind a gas station in Ruidoso so he could get into the bike and see what the problem was. At first glance, he noticed the rubber knobs of the rear tire had chunks of rubber sliced off them. Then, the chain was dug into the chain guard on the left side. First, he took some slack from the chain, fixing the additional noise he heard. The big issue was that when the suspension would compress, the tire would collide with the inboard side of the muffler, slicing rubber during each compression. The aluminum band holding the heatshield on acted like a big knife. A couple of reasons for this. First, the rear tire was a hair wider than a stock one, and second, it appeared the slip-on muffler was more inboard than most bikes have. As the guys were diagnosing the problem, Jeff sent me to Ace Hardware with the stock muffler attachment bolt to see if they had one 3/4 inch longer. This extra length, combined with 10 washers used as spacers, created just enough clearance to where the tire no longer hit the muffler. It’s not pretty, but it fixed the issue. We all packed up and continued on. We rode for numerous miles through remote wooded mountain areas, and the elk hunters and a handful of campers were out in full force. Most of the path was fast but had a handful of loose rock areas. After that, the tracks led us to the highway, and we ended up at the Four Winds Motel in Carrizozo, NM. We checked in, unpacked, and walked to a little diner across the street. We still need to review the bikes, check for loose bolts, and ensure all is good. Tomorrow is going to be a sketchy day. We will be on the west side of the White Sands Missile Test Range. This is the sand day. I haven’t had the Yamaha on sand yet, so it will be interesting, to say the least. The good news is that my Garmin GPS decided to work again, which will be massive compared to trying to follow a little line on my phone.