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10th Annual Smokey Bear Dual Sport Motorcycle Ride 7/30-8/3/18 Cloudcroft, New Mexico

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Plated and well sorted by the previous owner. I really want the TPI version but couldn't drop that clutch. Yes 2T, I'll be carrying oil and extra plugs. That torquey motor should be able to lug around the extra weight. I've owned two other plated 2 strokes, a Gas Gas 250 and a KTM 250, I can't remember why I sold them...
 
That thing 9nly weighs like 225 lbs or so, you will be able to just jump the creeks in the hill country on that one. Maybe you can get some packs and take it on the big rides too.
 
If I can figure out how to get my DR into my truck, I'll try to make it over for a day ride.

BTW, check out the August issue of Rider for my Continental Divide Ride 'Favorite Ride' article. Submitted it over a year ago, finally made it.

BUT, I'm in Ruidoso and the magazine is in Texas so I can't read my own article until I get back there!
 
A group of us rode there last year and one day we road a trail with a nice twisty dirty steep uphill, it was fun but never thought much about it. The second day it rained like heck in the morning but that didn't stop Vinny and I. When we hit that same section it took us over an hour to get up that one stupid hill. It became a point of honor for us. You couldn't even stand on the mud it was so slick and snotty. Every exposed root became your personal enemy!

Wow we had a lot of fun, but everything took a lot longer after the rains :)
 
Yep, I've been seeing great pictures of rain on FB. I may need to think about putting some mud-worthy tires on the old dual sport.

Trails get pretty muddy?

Yes, they get muddy, like Mike says. However, they drain incredibly fast. We had rain all last weekend on and off. I went out Sunday morning on the MTB on the Rim Trail and I was barely leaving tire prints, until a huge storm hit at 9 AM.

Look up one of RG's old Cloudcroft reports and you will will see what epic mud looks like. Probably about four years ago. I was helping lead that one and to this day there are a few folks that won't ride with me anymore. Ha. I actually had two visitors this past Saturday evening that dropped by that were on that ride. They told me that did not ride Saturday because it had rained a bit and they were having flashbacks to our mud ride four years ago.

We have very little surface water in the Sacramento Mountains. The water drains very fast because of the porous ground surface.

True mud or specialty soft terrain tires won't make much difference. You are better off with a good all around medium terrain knob. Now, if you have true dual sport tires, then yes change them to knobs.

Like Vinny said one time we were caught out in a July Cloudcroft ice pellet storm, and soaked from head to toe--"It beats sitting at work and watching the heat waves rise off the pavement". Amen.
 
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Normally, that's the keyword, rain is hit and miss. And there are plenty of rocky trails and roads, we just ride those after a shower. The West Side road is to be avoided when wet. I never seen it muddy but I've heard the horror stories. Also avoid Heart Attack trail when wet.

I ridden up Alamo Peak in a down pour and Old Cloudcroft trail just after a hard shower with no problem. And as mentioned above, I ridden the Rim Trail when it looked wet as a test and my tracks were minimal at worst. But conditions vary mile to mile.

+1 on the MotoZ Mountain Hybrid!

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ohqheoS9bE&t=2s"]Dual sport ride to the Old Cloudcroft Highway Trail (T5002) via US82 through Cloudcroft, New Mexico - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xJ8a0YqHgA"]Alamo Peak Trail T109 up - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXyTypwiYpI"]Lincoln National Forest Road 265 above Sacramento, New Mexico 1 - YouTube[/ame]
 
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If it is a complete wash out for an entire day, load up and go to Red Sands about 12 miles south of Alamogordo. There is a ton of area to explore and if you know where to go there are some technical and tight areas. Mostly just really fun pure desert, and if you catch it wet it is downright epic.

Dirt bike only. Wouldn't be fun on a dual sport.
 
If it is a complete wash out for an entire day, load up and go to Red Sands about 12 miles south of Alamogordo. There is a ton of area to explore and if you know where to go there are some technical and tight areas. Mostly just really fun pure desert, and if you catch it wet it is downright epic.

Dirt bike only. Wouldn't be fun on a dual sport.

Sounds like a must do for me.
 
If it is a complete wash out for an entire day, load up and go to Red Sands about 12 miles south of Alamogordo. There is a ton of area to explore and if you know where to go there are some technical and tight areas. Mostly just really fun pure desert, and if you catch it wet it is downright epic.

Dirt bike only. Wouldn't be fun on a dual sport.

Great tip. I grew up in El Paso and miss desert riding. Good to know there's a backup plan nearby for a rainy day.
 
I said Red sands is 12 miles but it is really about 20 miles south. Figure 45 minutes from Cloudcroft. Probably five years ago maybe more, we got completely rained out up in the mountains. I had heard of Red Sands but never ridden there. We found it and happened to see one rider unloading a KTM from the back of his truck at the staging area. He was a local guy and showed us around the property. It was perfect conditions and we had so much fun that everyone still talks about that day. We surprised the local guy too. He didn't expect to host four gung ho lunatic dirt bike riders when he loaded up that morning for a solo ride, but after we were done he said that was the best day he had riding in a long time. We kept telling him to show us the hard stuff and each time he did we were like "no the HARD stuff".

It is BLM land and bordered by the White Sands Missile Range on one side. I had a ton of GPS tracks from that day, but when my Husaberg got stolen last year, my GPS got stolen with it. I never had gotten around to downloading them out of the GPS.
 
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Starting to get fired up about this ride. Had a little downtime at work so I re-read this entire thread and watched the videos Sander put up. My favorites so far in no particular order:

Lucas Canyon
Benson Canyon
Dry Canyon
FSR's 162 & 5583
Red Sands

Rim Trail looks like fun but I'm not sure my teenager is ready for it. He's pretty good at Hidden Falls so we'll see.

Should be a fun week of riding. Now if I can just get work handled between now and then! :rider:
 
I just moved up here to Mayhill from Central Texas, and will make it out for at least a day or two - work starts this week for me. For restaurants I highly recommend Dave's on Burro Street, the Texas BBQ, and the NEW Cloudcroft Brewing Company that just opened a couple of weeks ago. If you are not camping I highly recommend the Mountain Park Hostel in High Rolls! Book it through AirBnB. They have single bunks in a four man room (also a room for just women) for like $19 a night, and the largest family room which sleeps 3-4 is only about $47. That's where I have been staying a lot recently. Check it out!
 
Plated and well sorted by the previous owner. I really want the TPI version but couldn't drop that clutch. Yes 2T, I'll be carrying oil and extra plugs. That torquey motor should be able to lug around the extra weight. I've owned two other plated 2 strokes, a Gas Gas 250 and a KTM 250, I can't remember why I sold them...

Jetting info should be easy to find. No need to carry plugs these days.
 
I just booked my room at spruce cabins. I'm driving up Sunday morning and going to have to leave Tuesday afternoon. I've got a couple of oil changes and carb re-jets to do between now and then. Looking forward to some cooler weather (its 106F in Midland right now)!!

I'm bringing my CRF450X and my CRF230F. Just got the 230 plated and I'm not sure if it is a keeper or not. This trip should help me figure that out.
 
I just booked my room at spruce cabins. I'm driving up Sunday morning and going to have to leave Tuesday afternoon. I've got a couple of oil changes and carb re-jets to do between now and then. Looking forward to some cooler weather (its 106F in Midland right now)!!

I'm bringing my CRF450X and my CRF230F. Just got the 230 plated and I'm not sure if it is a keeper or not. This trip should help me figure that out.

I would like to ride down Dry Canyon on Tuesday morning if you are interested. I need to get acclimated on Monday to whatever bike I'm bringing.

Still not sure, the KTM is misbehaving, antifreeze in the oil...prepping the 22 year old XR400 just in case I can't get the 300 back together.
 
There is major road construction on 82 for about 25 miles on the east side of Artesia. Depending on the timing, you will encounter one lane with escorts. I have seen as few as one as as many as three different ones in this stretch. The speed limits are as low as 35 mph and not much room to pass.

With the increased oil field traffic, and it pretty much runs 24/7, the lines get pretty long. It has been two weeks since I have gone that way so I doubt much has changed since then. May not be many options to reroute for you all that are coming from the south but just fyi.
 
Stars are lining up for this trip and my son and I may be able to get there earlier than we thought. Hope to be in Cloudcroft on Sunday in time for the get together. Fingers crossed.

Sander, do you usually pack some rain gear with you on each ride just in case?

Lows for next week around riding time are in the low sixties so we're not planning on bringing much by the way of cold weather riding gear. :trust:
 
Looks like ~50% chance of rain first part of next week. They even has a NWS flood advisory today:

* At 243 PM MDT, Doppler radar indicated heavy rain due to
thunderstorms. This will cause arroyo and small stream flooding in
the advisory area. Up to two inches of rain have already fallen
southeast of Ruidoso.

Looks like it may be a bit wet - Westside road and 162 north of High Rolls are that red clay that is super slick when wet. I usually end up using those as loop connectors on the West. I may have to find some additional interior or Eastern routes...
 
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