- Joined
- Nov 7, 2004
- Messages
- 17,418
- Reaction score
- 5,563
- Location
- Sun Lakes & Show Low, Arizona
- First Name
- Brian
The new season has begun. Anyone else from here riding it? Check out all the details at www.tourofhonor.com
I managed to trophy again this year, but I wound up in 3rd place. I staged in Las Cruces thinking that I could go in any of the compass points from there, but the first site was in Lordsburg and I had to backtrack 100+ miles to get the site, then return back east to head to Tularosa; a waste of 200+ miles and 3 hours of time.
I missed out on 1st place by just 42 minutes, so if I had staged in Lordsburg "as I had originally planned" I would have aced it. Oh well. Live and learn. The couple that took 1st and 2nd live just 25 miles from Lordsburg so they were at the first site within the hour of the locations being release.
I did earn an Extreme SaddleSore 1000 for getting all 7 state sites within the 24 hours - took me about 19 hours - so there's that too.
Lordsburg was just a little sign in the middle of nowhere; very difficult to see and find at 1 in the morning.
https://scontent.frir1-1.fna.fbcdn....=ed7b7e8d62a7418c2317931e039f685d&oe=5B320FDA
Next up was a small Veterans park in the small town of Tularosa.
https://scontent.frir1-1.fna.fbcdn....=39e62efd508676d8c141c4a89b1edbd9&oe=5B680359
Then it was on to Albuq for a daylight shot. I stopped at the Rio Salado Rest Area on my way north and slept for about 45 minutes so the sun was already up when I woke up. They have covered picnic table areas with 6'+ benches which make for a perfect Iron Butt Motel nap. The ABQ photo has the memorial in the background behind the flowering trees.
https://scontent.frir1-1.fna.fbcdn....=64e4a79f764890311847275e84a3aacb&oe=5B3B6AF5
Next up was the Veteran's Cemetery in Sante Fe. This is a very nice final resting spot for our vets.
https://scontent.frir1-1.fna.fbcdn....=5d024542e2a1526d84eb94b13d77051b&oe=5B340A20
Then it was on to the Vietnam Vets memorial in Angel Fire. This is one of those rare memorials that makes it to the list year after year, just because it is so darn good. Please follow the link to read more about this site.
https://scontent.frir1-1.fna.fbcdn....=bf5767bfb24efe302c491ec8cad8782e&oe=5B3A0E51
Grants was next and this too has been on the list before.
https://scontent.frir1-1.fna.fbcdn....=0e299d47db97a746ceec966b06308bb3&oe=5B2C730B
Last up... Gallup. Downtown Gallup. Drug and alcohol addicted downtown Gallup. I'm sure glad I hit this one during daylight hours because I wasn't off the bike for 30 seconds when some crack w... errr... lady of the evening approached me. I just told her I had earplugs in and couldn't hear anything she was saying, but the way she was eyeing my GPS I was afraid that she was going to try to grab it off the RAM mount and run.
https://scontent.frir1-1.fna.fbcdn....=279662059390080c89fbf3867157c01c&oe=5B2CE4AB
I finished in Gallup with about 1005 odo miles, and since I have a run-flat car tire on there that reads faster than actual I was concerned I wouldn't have enough legit miles, so I back-tracked 18 miles to a Love's truck stop, got a receipt, and then rode another 15 miles back toward Gallup for my final fill-up and receipt.
Gallup is a scummy town, but if you ever have to stay there I recommend East Gallup on the north side of the freeway. There's fuel, a Denny's, and about a half dozen decent hotels (Marriott, Comfort Suites, LaQuinta, etc). The LaQuinta gets high marks from me because they "told" me to park my bike on the sidewalk next to their office. I normally ask to do this, but they didn't even wait to be asked.
This morning as I was checking out I discovered that they are a multi-year supporter of Run For The Wall, and the rider participants stay at that hotel. They will get my business in the future should I ever "have" to stay there again.
On the way to/from Angel Fire I passed this doe on the side. She was fresh, as were the locked up tire skid marks on the road, so it happened either that morning or the prior night. I'm just glad that I wasn't the one to encounter her. She had been shot in the head so I can only assume she lived past the accident and then was put out of her pain. She was small; roughly the size of my Wing.
https://scontent.frir1-1.fna.fbcdn....=2386ec22914cdea9cc0a1f0d1e3690d5&oe=5B701830
So all in all, a good weekend for me. Brenda and I will be riding a charity event rally in two weeks that will cover 4 of the AZ sites, and then she and I will take a long weekend and hit the 7 sites in Gallup so that she can get her points.
Oh, and just a reminder. This coming Saturday is the First Saturday In April. In other words, it's one of the two days in the year that you can gain entrance into the Trinity Test Site; the location of the very first Atomic bomb detonation. It's only open from 8 till 2, so if you're going make sure to check out their web site and plan your day well.
Thanks for reading.
I managed to trophy again this year, but I wound up in 3rd place. I staged in Las Cruces thinking that I could go in any of the compass points from there, but the first site was in Lordsburg and I had to backtrack 100+ miles to get the site, then return back east to head to Tularosa; a waste of 200+ miles and 3 hours of time.
I missed out on 1st place by just 42 minutes, so if I had staged in Lordsburg "as I had originally planned" I would have aced it. Oh well. Live and learn. The couple that took 1st and 2nd live just 25 miles from Lordsburg so they were at the first site within the hour of the locations being release.
I did earn an Extreme SaddleSore 1000 for getting all 7 state sites within the 24 hours - took me about 19 hours - so there's that too.
Lordsburg was just a little sign in the middle of nowhere; very difficult to see and find at 1 in the morning.
https://scontent.frir1-1.fna.fbcdn....=ed7b7e8d62a7418c2317931e039f685d&oe=5B320FDA
Next up was a small Veterans park in the small town of Tularosa.
https://scontent.frir1-1.fna.fbcdn....=39e62efd508676d8c141c4a89b1edbd9&oe=5B680359
Then it was on to Albuq for a daylight shot. I stopped at the Rio Salado Rest Area on my way north and slept for about 45 minutes so the sun was already up when I woke up. They have covered picnic table areas with 6'+ benches which make for a perfect Iron Butt Motel nap. The ABQ photo has the memorial in the background behind the flowering trees.
https://scontent.frir1-1.fna.fbcdn....=64e4a79f764890311847275e84a3aacb&oe=5B3B6AF5
Next up was the Veteran's Cemetery in Sante Fe. This is a very nice final resting spot for our vets.
https://scontent.frir1-1.fna.fbcdn....=5d024542e2a1526d84eb94b13d77051b&oe=5B340A20
Then it was on to the Vietnam Vets memorial in Angel Fire. This is one of those rare memorials that makes it to the list year after year, just because it is so darn good. Please follow the link to read more about this site.
https://scontent.frir1-1.fna.fbcdn....=bf5767bfb24efe302c491ec8cad8782e&oe=5B3A0E51
Grants was next and this too has been on the list before.
https://scontent.frir1-1.fna.fbcdn....=0e299d47db97a746ceec966b06308bb3&oe=5B2C730B
Last up... Gallup. Downtown Gallup. Drug and alcohol addicted downtown Gallup. I'm sure glad I hit this one during daylight hours because I wasn't off the bike for 30 seconds when some crack w... errr... lady of the evening approached me. I just told her I had earplugs in and couldn't hear anything she was saying, but the way she was eyeing my GPS I was afraid that she was going to try to grab it off the RAM mount and run.
https://scontent.frir1-1.fna.fbcdn....=279662059390080c89fbf3867157c01c&oe=5B2CE4AB
I finished in Gallup with about 1005 odo miles, and since I have a run-flat car tire on there that reads faster than actual I was concerned I wouldn't have enough legit miles, so I back-tracked 18 miles to a Love's truck stop, got a receipt, and then rode another 15 miles back toward Gallup for my final fill-up and receipt.
Gallup is a scummy town, but if you ever have to stay there I recommend East Gallup on the north side of the freeway. There's fuel, a Denny's, and about a half dozen decent hotels (Marriott, Comfort Suites, LaQuinta, etc). The LaQuinta gets high marks from me because they "told" me to park my bike on the sidewalk next to their office. I normally ask to do this, but they didn't even wait to be asked.
This morning as I was checking out I discovered that they are a multi-year supporter of Run For The Wall, and the rider participants stay at that hotel. They will get my business in the future should I ever "have" to stay there again.
On the way to/from Angel Fire I passed this doe on the side. She was fresh, as were the locked up tire skid marks on the road, so it happened either that morning or the prior night. I'm just glad that I wasn't the one to encounter her. She had been shot in the head so I can only assume she lived past the accident and then was put out of her pain. She was small; roughly the size of my Wing.
https://scontent.frir1-1.fna.fbcdn....=2386ec22914cdea9cc0a1f0d1e3690d5&oe=5B701830
So all in all, a good weekend for me. Brenda and I will be riding a charity event rally in two weeks that will cover 4 of the AZ sites, and then she and I will take a long weekend and hit the 7 sites in Gallup so that she can get her points.
Oh, and just a reminder. This coming Saturday is the First Saturday In April. In other words, it's one of the two days in the year that you can gain entrance into the Trinity Test Site; the location of the very first Atomic bomb detonation. It's only open from 8 till 2, so if you're going make sure to check out their web site and plan your day well.
Thanks for reading.
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