Day 9 - I'm in New Mexico

I finally made it to New Mexico. Oklahoma is a great state, and big, and windy. Lots of working people, not the ones with the job, the ones feeding the rest of us.

I entered New Mexico, rode to town named Guy (which is not there, but on map), and then took another trail named Shadow of the Rockies which goes from Colorado down to El Paso, Texas.

By the way, may point-n-shoot camera broke last night, right after I called it piece of shit. The lens would not retract back into the body. It gives me an error and shuts down. No problem, I have another point-n-shoot camera, which was supposed to be my video camera filming in HD, but my netbook would not process HD clips so I quit the the first night. It's got 5MP still camera built in as well. I can also attach it to the bike but haven't done it yet.

The day was great, not counting a couple of some scary encounters - remember - Adventure. No videos for today, but some pictures.

Once I took the southbound trail I had like 85% of fuel in the tank. I wanted to get to Logan, NM for refueling, man did I miscalculated. I did not run out of fuel and was not caught stranded in the middle of a desert, but it was a close call. You will see later on the pictures.

Then my GPS took me through some fields again, but there were no roads. I tried to follow but ended up at the closed gate.

At some point I noticed that something is knocking when I was riding rough roads. I checked the panniers and found out the it's frame broke right at the weld.So, now I need to find a welder. For now - you'll see on the pictures to follow.

Here is trip report from GPS.

By the way, I'm in Fort Sumner at an RV place. No attendant Put $20 in mailbox and you're good to go, or wait until 8:30AM next morning for collection. I'll do one of the other

Also FYI, NC Concealed Handgun Permit is not recognized in NM, but you can transport it.

If you get a closed gate,open it, pass through and close behind.

That's where I almost ran out of fuel. I went through some sandy roads, gut stuck a couple of times and burnt too much gas. My fuel tank capacity is 5.8 gallons, see how much I filled up when I actually got to a gas station.

You don;t want to be stranded somewhere in NM, or you're walking some 20-30 miles to nearest soul.

That is what happened to the pannier frame and the way to temporarily fix it.

Duct tape always helps.

That;s how I'm going to spend the night, just through the sleeping bag and enjoy the Sky - no tent.

Day 8 - continue, Ride Video

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Oh, I hope all that deadly weather has gone and I will have dry roads.

Day 8 - still in OK

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Another day of windy Oklahoma. 25 to 35 MPH with gusts up to 45 MPH - WTF. All day today I was riding west with Northwest strong crosswing. The roads were very good. If not for the wind, the ride would be perfect. But, OMG, that winf ruined the whole pleasure of riding. Well, it an adventure after all... Adventure my ass.

I had to get a good rest a slept till 8AM. The night was quiet ans warm. I cleaned and lubed my chain (everyday routine) and stopped by the closest gas station I filled up the tank the night before to wash of the bike. Nice pakistanian gas station attendant let me use his water hose.

I'm telling you, the (let me open another beer)... roads I rode today, and people I met were all nice. But that f..ing wind. It blew the shit out my bones. Riding leaned to one side is not a good idea when you can hit patches of sand or gravel. You ride on dirt road with three tracks. You gotta ride in the middle, if a gust of wind hit, you just go to the one on the opposite side, if wind quits, your bike jumps on the wind side. Some times it throws you right on gravel patchs, then you do a cha-cha streaightening the bike.

I had to make frequent stops to rest and excercize the other groups of musculs of my body to I don't get some underdevelopment in some parts. Well, still, my entire body is aching, starting with wrists, hands, shouders, back... and ass. I could not even ride standing today, you stand up and create even more wind resistance.

I rode 300 miles today (could've made to New freaking Mexico if not for the wind) with overall average of 29MPH for the trip.

Here are some pictures from the ride.

What a beautiful country. Peaople, get adventure bikes and discover America, there are some many great places you would not nitice driving or riding highways.

I guess you can recognize which pictures were taken by SLR camera and which by point-n-shoot piece of shit.

Will be one more hour behind tomorrow.