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Best-Mex: New Mexico Backcountry Discovery Ride

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Buda, TX
First Name
Rich
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Gibbens
Update: May 8, 2020 - change to Monday evening plan - we are staying at the Hidden Springs Inn, not the Frisco Lodging Co. See note at the bottom of this thread.

A few friends and I are planning a loop ride of most of the New Mexico backcountry discovery route, Saturday, June 6 - Saturday, June 13th, and we are extending invitations for other teams to ride the same route at the same time.

Our plan is to trailer to Ruidoso, NM on Saturday, June 6th. Leaving our truck/trailer in Ruidoso, we will begin on Sunday morning, June 7th and ride a six-day clockwise loop of the New Mexico BDR (sections 2 - 6 and a small part of section 7), returning to Ruidoso on Friday, June 12th. Trailer back to Texas on Saturday, June 13th.

NM%20BDR%20June%202020-L.jpg


Cost: $0 There is no cost or registration for this ride. Just show up and ride.

Schedule

Saturday, June 6 - travel to Ruidoso, NM
Day 1, Sunday, June 7 - 195 miles, overnight in Truth or Consequences, NM
Day 2, Monday, June 8 - 165 miles, overnight in Reserve, NM
Day 3, Tuesday, June 9 - 218 miles, overnight in Grants, NM
Day 4, Wednesday, June 10 - 221 miles, overnight in Espanola, NM
Day 5, Thursday, June 11 - 103 miles, overnight in Bernalillo, NM
Day 6, Friday, June 12 - 214 miles, overnight in Ruidoso, NM
Saturday, June 13 - travel back to Texas

Logistics - For this event I am not organizing groups for riders to join. You will need to organize your own riding group and meet up with them on Saturday, June 6th in Ruidoso. If you already have a group of buddies you ride with, then get them to attend and you are all set. If you are new to the sport, or don't have a group you normally ride with, use this thread as a resource to find others to join your group. I am providing a suggested route in gpx format for use with your GPS, a suggested riding schedule, and the name of the hotels I'm staying at. Beside that, everything else is up to you and your group.

Sleeping: I'm planning on staying in a hotel every night. However, don't feel compelled to do the same. I believe there are ample camping opportunities along the route but don't know any details. If your group is planning on staying in a hotel, make your reservations right now! You can always cancel your reservations if something happens. Note that there are very limited hotel options in Reserve, NM - if you wait to reserve a room/cabin/house you may end up camping. Here is where I'm staying each night:

Saturday, June 6 - Ruidoso, NM - Quality Inn
Sunday, June 7 - Truth or Consequences, NM - Comfort Inn & Suites
Monday, June 8 - Reserve, NM - Hidden Springs Inn
Tuesday, June 9 - Grants, NM - Quality Inn
Wednesday, June 10 - Espanola, NM - Rodeway Inn
Thursday, June 11 - Bernalillo, NM - Days Inn
Friday, June 12 - Ruidoso, NM - Quality Inn

Dinner: Group dinner on Monday, Thursday and Friday night, 6 pm all nights
Monday, June 8 - Hidden Springs Inn
Thursday, June 11 - Filiberto's Mexican Restaurant, Bernalillo
Friday, June 12 - K-Bob's Steakhouse, Ruidoso

Fuel: According to the New Mexico BDR map, the longest section without fuel is 153 miles. I recommend carrying 200 miles worth of fuel.
Day 1 - Ruidoso to T or C, one gas stop
Day 2 - T or C to Reserve, one gas stop
Day 3 - Reserve to Grants, 2 gas stops
Day 4 - Grants to Espanola, 120 miles to first gas in Cuba, NM
Day 5 - Espanola to Bernalillo, multiple gas stops
Day 6 - Bernalillo to Ruidoso, multiple gas stops

Weather: The BDR folks recommend June and September as the best weather months to ride the NMBDR. My guess is that morning temps will be high 40s to low 50s at elevation (for example, Ruidoso) and afternoon highs in the high 70s to low 80s. Lower elevations will likely be a little warmer than that. Dress in layers. Be prepared to ride in brisk weather for the first few hours and then shed layers as the temps heat up to the 70s or 80s.

Bike: From the NMBDR website: Any bike that has a license plate, can run knobby tires, is set-up to carry the gear you plan to bring, and has the fuel range to make the distance between gas stops. Most adventure or dual-sport motorcycles will be suitable for the trip. Choose the bike that you are the most comfortable riding in desert and mountain terrain.

I will be riding my KTM 500 EXC. The other guys on my team will be riding similar type bikes. I suspect that if you are an average or better dirt rider that you could do this ride on one of those ginormous adventure bikes. As I understand it, the BDR folks design these routes with the big bikes in mind. I haven't ridden this route before so I can only go by what I've heard.

Map and GPS: Send me an email at richgibbens1@gmail.com and I will email you the route in gpx format. I strongly recommend buying the paper map sold by the fine folks at BDR. Here's the link.

Hidden Springs Inn: I spoke with Jenn, the owner of both the Hidden Springs Inn and the Frisco Lodging Co. and we agreed on the following. I originally planned on staying at the Frisco Lodging Co in Reserve. Instead, we are now staying at the The Hidden Springs Inn, located on 40 beautiful acres of land 6 miles outside of Reserve, NM.
You can rent a room or camp. Jenn is allowing camping for our group at $10 per person, which includes the use of a shower.

She is also providing a steak dinner for $20 per person. She is providing the meat and sides, you will cook your own steak on the grill upon your arrival (this way you will have a hot steak cooked to your liking when you are ready to eat it). Email Jenn at jennswen30@gmail.com to let her know if you want a steak dinner. Pay upon your arrival.

You can arrange for her to bring alcohol for you/your group. For example, let's say you want a 6 pack of Coors beer with your meal. Place your order with Jenn via email at jennswen30@gmail.com and she will have a cold 6 pack for you when you arrive. Simply pay her for the cost of the beer (she is not selling it at a profit to you).

Hidden Springs Inn
2134 Hwy 180, Reserve, NM
40 acres of land, 2 ponds
camping $10, includes the use of a shower
meal - $20 - steak and sides (you will cook your own steak on the grill when you arrive) - email Jenn at jennswen30@gmail.com to let her know you will be eating so she buys enough steak and prepares enough sides.
alcohol - email Jenn at jennswenn30@gmail.com and place your order, she will have your drinks when you arrive
 

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Super cool! Can't swing the schedule but definitely interested in hearing the tales and seeing the pics! In the midst of reading a book on the Anasazi right now so very much have New Mexico and the Four Corners area on the mind. I'm planning a trip out there this year with my wife in the Jeep in late May early June for a couple of weeks and we plan to do some camping and hiking in the Utah/NM area.
 
You're killing me! Lost my peripheral vision on my left side since the stroke, not sure if it will ever come back. Probably wouldn't be a good idea for me to ride any mountain roads. Maybe someday before I get to old?
 
I have been looking for rides I could do this summer, I had not planned on this many days but I am going to try to make this, I really want to do the NMBDR!
 
very cool... will be interesting to see how this develops. Might be in if I can talk some others into it...or find a group here.
 
Hotel rooms booked, looking forward to this :)
 
I may be willing / able to lead another group. Just have to find the time for a top to bottom prep of my DR650 or XR400. May be time for a 440 kit for the XR...it is 24 years old.

Great opportunity to do a ride like this. I hope to make it happen. Trying to limit the someday I want to...to doing it.
 
I may be willing / able to lead another group. Just have to find the time for a top to bottom prep of my DR650 or XR400. May be time for a 440 kit for the XR...it is 24 years old.

Great opportunity to do a ride like this. I hope to make it happen. Trying to limit the someday I want to...to doing it.
As Warren Miller used to say...“If you don't do it this year, you will be one year older when you do.”
 
Has anyone here done this route, or parts of it? How does the pace look? That seems like a lot of off-road-miles-per-day on some of those stretches. But I've never ridden off-road in NM.
 
I’m also very very interested but not sure if I can keep up with @sanderjavant and his crew (judging from Saturda’s ride lol). Are you guys thinking small bikes only?
 
I don't think this is intended to be a high speed ride. I am sure there will be a few places were we will be tempted to wick it up a bit. I will be riding my KTM 1090, it is way more comfy than the Husky 501. A quick search on YouTube and you will find great videos of each section. Sure it will be a blast. Looks like some days will be longer than others, but overall should be a relaxed ride...
 
We did the Queen to T or C section of the NMBDR in 2016. This gives some ideas of that section.

More NMBDR specific general information.
 
More like a marathon., I don't have the stamina or the $.

And y'all will also get to where the bdr badge of honor :thumb:
 
If you are thinking about this ride, I suggest purchasing the video from BDR it has good video but also gives some very good info, and a better look at you are getting into, I purchased it last year but I am rewatching it.
 
You guys won’t be disappointed. I rode the NMBDR in full a couple of years ago and last year did the COBDR. This year in June I will be doing the UTBDR and September I’ll be doing the AZBDR. I would love to do the New Mexico one again, it has a lot of amazing riding. We had some rough sand around Grants for a wile. The except only section after Chloride Cannon May be a bit rough on a big bike LOTS of lose baby head rock when I was there. Below is the video leaving the small town right after T or C. Hope y’all have a safe and good time. I have videos for the rest of the NMBDR if it would help also.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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Great videos, thanks for sharing. Should be a lot of fun!
 
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