- Joined
- Nov 29, 2006
- Messages
- 90
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- southwest, Central, and West Texas
- First Name
- Michael
- Last Name
- McSpadden
Big Bend Loop Day 1 & 2
This is ol’ Mike McSpadden, aka Skyrider, and now…roughrider maximus for the sake of TWT forums and such.
Richard and I got back from West Texas a few days ago, and I thought I’d write and help augment his story with my own, and assist with some of the pictures I took while we were there. Man, did we have a blast! So, lets see…how did all this start? Oh yeah…I remember.
Several months ago Richard sent out some e-mail asking who wanted to go with him on a trip to Mexico, and that there was room for 4 total people. Several of our group responded, and we were looking like a full house. Then one day Randy needed to cancel because his shoulder was in a severely painful predicament, and it did not look like he was going to be able to go. No problem says we, we will just need to manage…just us three!
So the dye was cast for our little sojourn into Mexico. Richard kept in good contact with me, and was always checking to insure I was in good condition, had this or had that, etc., etc. About 6 weeks before we were to leave, I sprained my right ankle and left knee. The ankle was all right and would heal well in that amount of time, but the left knee was a killer! I was worried it might upset our plans for the trip. Slowly but surely I worked with it, but to no avail. I could not post in the saddle, nor could I hold the Knee straight for too long. However I was determined to go.
I had arranged with the husband of my ex-wife, to use his new 16ft. trailer to load and transport our 2 KLR’s to Terlingua (weird huh?). I picked up the trailer in Spring Branch on Thursday the 16th, went back to San Antonio, loaded my bike and equipment, and waited for the 17th. Friday morning I took off for Austin at about 09:00 to go get Rich and his equipment. Getting there about 10:30, his friend and I got the bike loaded about the time Rich showed up. He helped get his bike done, loaded his equipment, and it was off for B-B-Q in Austin behind Albertsons off of highway 290. Rich and I left for West Texas on or about 13:15 on this day, but needed to stop and get filled up on jerky at Whittingtons jerky in Johnson City. I got the regular beef, and the garlic beef. Mmm-Mmm good!
Whittingtons Jerky in Johnson City Texas. Both KLR’s locked and loaded.
Richard and I didn’t have much to do except talk about the trip and other things. I think I about drove him crazy with my weird mumblings before we arrived in Terlingua at his Uncle’s place around 21:30. It took us about 9 hours to get there. Anyway, we went right to bed, and surprisingly slept well.
We woke early to the loud booming drill sergeant voice of Richard’s Uncle Roger. How can a man his size have such a loud voice? I was remembering basic training at Ft. Polk La. As I stumbled to the front door and looked outside to see this:
and this:
I thought this was quite impressive, so we moved smartly to unload the trailer and gear, get cleaned up, and move out for breakfast. When all was all said and done at camp we headed for Kathy’s Kosmic Kowgirl Kafe for a GREAT breakfast around a morning Kampfire! If you are there in the near future, try Kathy’s AWSOME Frito Burrito for a change. It’s good for you. You’ll like it.
Left: Roger with his Wee-Vee Right: Richard with his KLR.
Sitting around the fire at the KKKK.
It was the night before when I had made my crushing decision not to go into Mexico. I knew that the other 2 guys were counting on me to go, all was prepared, packed and ready. However, I could not justify going with so much pain in my knee. I did not want to end up being a liability to my friends if something went terribly wrong with my knee.
Roger gave me a list of do’s and do nots for his place, and how to and who to reach if I needed something. He told me about the best bars and people to hang with, if I wanted, and some places for casual rides around the Big Bend area….actually a very LARGE area! So we were set, and off to Presidio we headed. The border crossing is in Presidio, with the town of Ojinaga Mexico on the other side of the border.
Left: Richard Right: Uncle Roger. Looking toward the border station.
Looking into the Texas state interior from the border crossing.
As Rich and Roger disappear into the depths of the border crossing, I find that my escort duties to Mexico have ended.
What else is there to do on Saturday the18th.? One might surmise that this poor crippled guy might just go home and go to bed. There is nothing for him to do may say someone else. Oh how contraire mi amigos! How contraire! NO One can say there is nothing to do in this country; ESPECIALLY if you are on 2 wheels; MOST DEFINATELY if you are on a DS bike!
However today, and the coming days, I must be careful riding the dirt roads because of my knee.
Did I mention that we drove to Presidio Texas in the early morning on State route 170? Highway 170 is a MUST to ride. It is by far one of the premier motorcycle roads in the State. If ever that way DO NOT miss it. I am lucky today, because later I get to ride it a second time to go back to camp.
I decide to go to the North toward Marfa on Highway 67. This route will take me through the old ghost town of Shafter. This was an industrious silver and mercury-mining town in the early part of last century, but most of the silver dried up and the town slowly died. Less than 50 people live there today.
Part of the old ghost town of Shafter.
Historical marker at the old ghost town.
Several miles south of Shafter is a historical marker. You will see it going north, and it is at the top of a hill right off of the north bound side. If you stop and look out on the range over the fence, you may see the large one hump camel that grazes there.
This land is so vast and different, that one finds oneself always wanting to see what is on the other side of the hills or mountains. A person could live in this region for several years, and never ride all of the dirt roads and trails in the area. A good do-it-all dirt/street bike like the KLR pictured above is the absolute ticket to this type of adventure. That’s one reason why I love this lifestyle so much.
Leaving Shafter, I decided to go back south towards Presidio and explore the town and area a little more in detail. Before I could get there though, I took a side trip to the town of Ruidoso, north and west of Presidio on Highway 170. Ruidoso is a store, a ghost church in ruin, and the remnants of an old bar; the later of which I do not know of its present day use. Here I turned around and went back to Presidio, 30 something miles the way I came. This part of 170 is really a kick! It travels mostly up and down in small rises and falls, much like the fast run up and downs of a roller coaster. A couple of times at a high speed that I will not admit to, I was able to get air! Like I said, it was fun!
I had been noticing a buzzing noise on the KLR, but did not give it much mind for a while. When I arrived to Presidio, I decided to take a look and see what the noise was.
Always remember that these large singles are strong and powerful, but will tend to vibrate themselves loose in some areas, and can be a hassle if one does not pull AT LEAST a visual and audio check on the machine daily, and a good tightening every other day or so. I do not like to be caught in the middle of nowhere with a problem that cannot be fixed because I did not do my maintenance or I did not have the right tool to perform a certain job. More on this later.
After inspection, I found that a bolt on my "add on" armor had broken near the steering head, and the piece was vibrating terribly on the frame. Luckily, there was a hardware store in Presidio, and with a little bit of patience and skill, coupled with a large amount of luck, I was on my way fully repaired in no time. A little bit of Locktite on many of the nuts and bolts of these machines goes a long way.
Colorado Canyon looking west along the Rio Grande river.
Colorado Canyon looking east and south along the Rio Grande river.
After looking around Presidio and trying to become familiar with the area for future reference, I decided it was time to get on back to the Terlingua area. Do you know what that means? It means I get to ride Highway 170 AGAIN! That’s right. Once in a day is wonderful. Twice is gravy, breeze! Above are a couple of shots of one of the canyons on this road. Below are more photos.
Looking west on the Rio road near the top of a mountain pass. Shadows are thrown from the Mexican mountains in the background.
Looking east toward the mountain pass.
Well, I suppose I have written enough for day one, so I’ll just mosey off and take a break for now. There will be more to come, and more pics as I explain each day of my stay. Total miles for today were 252.
This is ol’ Mike McSpadden, aka Skyrider, and now…roughrider maximus for the sake of TWT forums and such.
Richard and I got back from West Texas a few days ago, and I thought I’d write and help augment his story with my own, and assist with some of the pictures I took while we were there. Man, did we have a blast! So, lets see…how did all this start? Oh yeah…I remember.
Several months ago Richard sent out some e-mail asking who wanted to go with him on a trip to Mexico, and that there was room for 4 total people. Several of our group responded, and we were looking like a full house. Then one day Randy needed to cancel because his shoulder was in a severely painful predicament, and it did not look like he was going to be able to go. No problem says we, we will just need to manage…just us three!
So the dye was cast for our little sojourn into Mexico. Richard kept in good contact with me, and was always checking to insure I was in good condition, had this or had that, etc., etc. About 6 weeks before we were to leave, I sprained my right ankle and left knee. The ankle was all right and would heal well in that amount of time, but the left knee was a killer! I was worried it might upset our plans for the trip. Slowly but surely I worked with it, but to no avail. I could not post in the saddle, nor could I hold the Knee straight for too long. However I was determined to go.
I had arranged with the husband of my ex-wife, to use his new 16ft. trailer to load and transport our 2 KLR’s to Terlingua (weird huh?). I picked up the trailer in Spring Branch on Thursday the 16th, went back to San Antonio, loaded my bike and equipment, and waited for the 17th. Friday morning I took off for Austin at about 09:00 to go get Rich and his equipment. Getting there about 10:30, his friend and I got the bike loaded about the time Rich showed up. He helped get his bike done, loaded his equipment, and it was off for B-B-Q in Austin behind Albertsons off of highway 290. Rich and I left for West Texas on or about 13:15 on this day, but needed to stop and get filled up on jerky at Whittingtons jerky in Johnson City. I got the regular beef, and the garlic beef. Mmm-Mmm good!
Whittingtons Jerky in Johnson City Texas. Both KLR’s locked and loaded.
Richard and I didn’t have much to do except talk about the trip and other things. I think I about drove him crazy with my weird mumblings before we arrived in Terlingua at his Uncle’s place around 21:30. It took us about 9 hours to get there. Anyway, we went right to bed, and surprisingly slept well.
We woke early to the loud booming drill sergeant voice of Richard’s Uncle Roger. How can a man his size have such a loud voice? I was remembering basic training at Ft. Polk La. As I stumbled to the front door and looked outside to see this:
and this:
I thought this was quite impressive, so we moved smartly to unload the trailer and gear, get cleaned up, and move out for breakfast. When all was all said and done at camp we headed for Kathy’s Kosmic Kowgirl Kafe for a GREAT breakfast around a morning Kampfire! If you are there in the near future, try Kathy’s AWSOME Frito Burrito for a change. It’s good for you. You’ll like it.
Left: Roger with his Wee-Vee Right: Richard with his KLR.
Sitting around the fire at the KKKK.
It was the night before when I had made my crushing decision not to go into Mexico. I knew that the other 2 guys were counting on me to go, all was prepared, packed and ready. However, I could not justify going with so much pain in my knee. I did not want to end up being a liability to my friends if something went terribly wrong with my knee.
Roger gave me a list of do’s and do nots for his place, and how to and who to reach if I needed something. He told me about the best bars and people to hang with, if I wanted, and some places for casual rides around the Big Bend area….actually a very LARGE area! So we were set, and off to Presidio we headed. The border crossing is in Presidio, with the town of Ojinaga Mexico on the other side of the border.
Left: Richard Right: Uncle Roger. Looking toward the border station.
Looking into the Texas state interior from the border crossing.
As Rich and Roger disappear into the depths of the border crossing, I find that my escort duties to Mexico have ended.
What else is there to do on Saturday the18th.? One might surmise that this poor crippled guy might just go home and go to bed. There is nothing for him to do may say someone else. Oh how contraire mi amigos! How contraire! NO One can say there is nothing to do in this country; ESPECIALLY if you are on 2 wheels; MOST DEFINATELY if you are on a DS bike!
However today, and the coming days, I must be careful riding the dirt roads because of my knee.
Did I mention that we drove to Presidio Texas in the early morning on State route 170? Highway 170 is a MUST to ride. It is by far one of the premier motorcycle roads in the State. If ever that way DO NOT miss it. I am lucky today, because later I get to ride it a second time to go back to camp.
I decide to go to the North toward Marfa on Highway 67. This route will take me through the old ghost town of Shafter. This was an industrious silver and mercury-mining town in the early part of last century, but most of the silver dried up and the town slowly died. Less than 50 people live there today.
Part of the old ghost town of Shafter.
Historical marker at the old ghost town.
Several miles south of Shafter is a historical marker. You will see it going north, and it is at the top of a hill right off of the north bound side. If you stop and look out on the range over the fence, you may see the large one hump camel that grazes there.
This land is so vast and different, that one finds oneself always wanting to see what is on the other side of the hills or mountains. A person could live in this region for several years, and never ride all of the dirt roads and trails in the area. A good do-it-all dirt/street bike like the KLR pictured above is the absolute ticket to this type of adventure. That’s one reason why I love this lifestyle so much.
Leaving Shafter, I decided to go back south towards Presidio and explore the town and area a little more in detail. Before I could get there though, I took a side trip to the town of Ruidoso, north and west of Presidio on Highway 170. Ruidoso is a store, a ghost church in ruin, and the remnants of an old bar; the later of which I do not know of its present day use. Here I turned around and went back to Presidio, 30 something miles the way I came. This part of 170 is really a kick! It travels mostly up and down in small rises and falls, much like the fast run up and downs of a roller coaster. A couple of times at a high speed that I will not admit to, I was able to get air! Like I said, it was fun!
I had been noticing a buzzing noise on the KLR, but did not give it much mind for a while. When I arrived to Presidio, I decided to take a look and see what the noise was.
Always remember that these large singles are strong and powerful, but will tend to vibrate themselves loose in some areas, and can be a hassle if one does not pull AT LEAST a visual and audio check on the machine daily, and a good tightening every other day or so. I do not like to be caught in the middle of nowhere with a problem that cannot be fixed because I did not do my maintenance or I did not have the right tool to perform a certain job. More on this later.
After inspection, I found that a bolt on my "add on" armor had broken near the steering head, and the piece was vibrating terribly on the frame. Luckily, there was a hardware store in Presidio, and with a little bit of patience and skill, coupled with a large amount of luck, I was on my way fully repaired in no time. A little bit of Locktite on many of the nuts and bolts of these machines goes a long way.
Colorado Canyon looking west along the Rio Grande river.
Colorado Canyon looking east and south along the Rio Grande river.
After looking around Presidio and trying to become familiar with the area for future reference, I decided it was time to get on back to the Terlingua area. Do you know what that means? It means I get to ride Highway 170 AGAIN! That’s right. Once in a day is wonderful. Twice is gravy, breeze! Above are a couple of shots of one of the canyons on this road. Below are more photos.
Looking west on the Rio road near the top of a mountain pass. Shadows are thrown from the Mexican mountains in the background.
Looking east toward the mountain pass.
Well, I suppose I have written enough for day one, so I’ll just mosey off and take a break for now. There will be more to come, and more pics as I explain each day of my stay. Total miles for today were 252.