Uncle and Nephew Ride the Cousins on NMBDR

[KsTeveM]

Here go JMZ

 

[SpiritAtBay]

loving it.

keep it coming. some of us actually enjoy reading.

 

[KsTeveM]

And so it begins. Pretty good day. Early in my planning I was expecting this to be somewhat of a necessary day vs. a great riding day. These Texas boys were a little cold, it was 28 this morning. The pavement was nice as far as pavement goes, some decent twisties.

We were hacking it out of town and then had issues 30 miles out the gate, lost a chain. Had a spare master link but it wasn’t right for that chain. Worked well enough to get us 40 miles to a shop back into town, lost several hours. New chain and more master links purchased.

After that, got back on track. We deviated from the BDR Dell City express route at Claunch and got in some forest, went up to a lookout and passed through Redcloud Campground area. This was really nice dirt riding through the pines.

After that we picked up the Shadow of the Rockies route east of Corona. Somewhere in here my brain definitely transitioned from necessary to adventure. Epic wide open rolling prairie land with the mountain backdrop. We made some good time through here, 70 and 80 country.

KTMCarhart can seriously out ride me, if there are no hill climbs, sand, mud, river crossings, ditches and/or until he crashes. So I am the pace car generally, and the medic. What do you call the guy that pulls thorns out of another grown man’s butt? Just curious but either way as it turns out, I am not that guy. KTMCarhart has thorns in him from a cactus dance he did three years ago in Big Bend. He doesn’t go for the little jumping cactus to tango with like you or I might. He is patient and waits for the larger Saguaro looking ones, I think they call his name like the girls down by the river on Oh Brother Where Art Thou. For fun on subsequent rides when we take breaks on the side of the trail, he still digs out thorns and lets everyone know he got one, some type of sadomasochism lottery for him. I digress, point being these bikes like to boogie and eat the desert up, we have to make sure we don’t get swallowed. Also had to install an ABS dongle on my bike, I don’t like brakes that think they are smarter than me, had to put a stop to that.

The highlight today so far has to be Capitan Pass area. Rugged mountains and rough semi technical riding. Went from fighting the cold to sweating quickly. Neat to know that this pass is where a bear cub was rescued in 1950 and became the USFS mascot, Hotfoot Teddy. They later named him Smokey Bear. He lived out his life for 26 years in a zoo in DC (is that redundant) and I thought it was cool they brought his remains back to Capitan. These “tweener” bikes are doing good, transitioning from 70 to rocky technical.

We are eating in the town of Capitan at Reene’s that is functional. We will stop at an icehouse as we leave town, 72 ounces heavier, that will be intentional. Hoping we get camp setup in Nogal Canyon, in the dark for sure, sun just went down. 291 miles so far. Will give you more updates a couple hundred miles down the road. Go To Sleep Little Babies.

 

[SpiritAtBay]

 

[StromXTc]

 

[Baja_Bound]

I was so close to having my wife convinced that a hydraulic bike lift is a must to work on the bikes. Twelve months in the making was thrown out the window when she began reading your ride report.

Loving the ride report. Keep it coming.

 

[KsTeveM]

Hey there my riding friends. I am running a day behind on the ride report, sorry about that but actual riding takes priority. This will take a couple uploads. First pics below are from Lincoln NF/Nogal Peak area and our campsite night before last. We did 309 miles the first day and didn’t get to camp till 8pm. Made camp, had a fire and some beverages, stayed up a little late star gazing. All was well, till sleep time. About froze in the tents. Frost was heavy. Had to be in the 20s, it was a long night.

 

[KsTeveM]

Sorry, WiFi isn’t exactly smoking out here, could probably hammer and chisel it faster. Had to move down the road to find better. Back to the report. Next morning we dropped down from the mountains and were quickly out of the pines. Got gas in Carrizozo and did some nut bolt tightening. Then we chevy chased it at the Valley of Fires Park, a “young” 5000 year old lava flow 45 miles long, back to the ride and into some desolate ranch land.

 

[KsTeveM]

Pretty good day, classic wide open lonely desert stuff as we went west. Pic above has an antelope that just crossed my path. As we headed south we skirted the White Sands Missile Range, had lunch. This area is very Big Bendish. Our lunch spot below.

 

[KsTeveM]

Don’t know why everybody likes that atom bomb so much, it’s just an old crapper tank people. Both our GPS were useless again that day, like others have said about the missile range area. Wasn’t a big deal to pick our way through. They started working again in TC. The first day of riding we weren’t so lucky, both were useless much of the day. But we are both pretty good at picking our way with a regular map.

Eventually made it by Elephant Butte Reservoir. Special shout out to KTMCarhart’s wife, we thought of her as we looked at the Butte, she absolutely loves this dam area, and elephants.

 

[JMZ]

Redirect Notice

 

[KsTeveM]

After that we hit Truth or Consequences. According to the map we only went 4 inches, felt more like 4.5. We hit wally world to grab some steaks/potatoes/cold ones for our camp later. We were tired but pushed to Cholride Canyon and setup camp right in the canyon. Lesson for me so far, don’t second guess the BDR folks so much. My thoughts of pushing harder and accomplishing more was starting to turn this into an iron man marathon. If you want to do 300-400 mile days doing dirt like this, not realistic if you are setting up camps and cooking your own food. Couple pics of Chloride Canyon below.

 

[KsTeveM]

Will update more later. We are eating a real meal right now in Reserve, great day so far, more to come. They’re not gonna catch us, we are on a mission from God.

 

[bwdmax]

Keep it coming.

 

[KsTeveM]

So to catch up, we did 243 miles yesterday. We made camp a little early, learning you have to call audibles on these trips. The long day before and sleepless night zapped us. The semi-desert terrain we found ourselves in now was great for our fire wood and temps were so much better than the night before in the pines, and 24 hours helped settle down that cool front. Had some relaxing time to set up camp in the day light and enjoy things, after all we are on vacation right? Cooked Tbones and Potatoes on the Adjust-a-fork I picked up from Joe Motocross, sweet compact tool. It was a good night, camp food was spot on and cold beer in the middle of nowhere was priceless. Seriously, Sandra Bullock could have pulled up and wanted one, would have been a big nope. Regretfully.

 

[KsTeveM]

We both got some much needed sleep. Started the day getting the rest of the way out of Chloride Canyon, the water crossings were all dry, sort of a bummer. First several pics are from that ride this morning as we left camp. The rock formations were dominating and cool. Doing the best i can with the posting and pics, technology not cooperating.

Took a little break by some kind of mining equipment. We were hungry, didn’t make breakfast. Thought we would just zip into Reserve. Turns out, this terrain took a lot longer to traverse than the desert stuff we had hero’d through the day before. More learning. Also hit the hard section like a boss, till we had a rear flat, lost some time but we got it, not easy on these overloaded dirt bikes with no center stand.

 

[KsTeveM]

Then we hit some really sweet pavement, not normally words that come out of my mouth. But it had been some particularly rocky stuff in the dirt, my hands needed a break. Pavement into Reserve was nice.

Got to Reserve early afternoon. KLR 701 was on the primary tank and went 170 miles, 690 was on the Rade tank at that point. We are pretty consistently 10mpg off from each other and the 701 primary tank holds a little more at 3.4 I think. KTMCarhart can make up for it if we get in a pinch with his rotopax. 701 is getting a consistent 55mpg, 690 getting 45mpg, same gearing. I think it is my Opti Spark, just saying. We ate at Eli’s diner, we were starving, they treated us well. Got gas down the street, got silver bullets across the street at a bar. Now we are 10 miles or so down the road at Hidden Springs Inn, last time we saw a shower was Friday morning. This place is clean and has a diner next door. Again, I thought the BDR guys called this day kind of wrong, nope, ending our third day this is just what we needed. Did some maintenance on the bikes. We both have rade tanks that forced open air filters. I bought some cheapy filter skins, that worked out great, trail leader was pretty clean, camera camel was dirtier.

But, they protected well, once skin was removed from my bike it was still super clean, new skin and all was well. Happy with this.

Oiled the chains, checked tire pressures and topped off oil. These bikes tend to burn a little, and we definitely aren’t afraid to tear across the desert hauling the mail. Quarter of a quart each. Our souls are whole again. Ready for some more tomorrow. Thank you sir, may I have another.

 

[bwdmax]

Ah...Poor sleeping, flat tire, not as many miles as planned. Sounds like a good trip so far. I constantly wrestle with the knocking out miles vs being on vacation thing.

How much water were you carrying and how for camp and how? Did you carry it with you all day or try to fill it at last civilization to limit weight all day?

 

[KsTeveM]

Today was an absolute dream ride. We've done right at 1000 miles in 4 days. Only ran into one other group of bike riders. Makes this BDR a little special compared to others I think. Getting the ride report documented each day has been a bit of a pain, curious if it is worth it to you guys to get it each day vs. at the end. Would love to hear feedback from you all. We left the Reserve area early, little chilly at 34 degrees but warmed up quick. Running along ridge lines, saw a lot of wildlife.

The weather turned out great and we ranked this day of riding as one for the books. This picture captures it well.

I think we were shedding layers on this one. KTMCarhart hates my bush wacker shields. I know it looks like an elephant heading for the breeding grounds, but it has been awesome on these 20 and 30 degree mornings. I didn't cry to my riding partner about being cold....just saying.

Left the mighty Gila NF then transitioned into the Apache NF. We went a few miles off the original BDR to the west just to sneak into Arizona, it was cool technical two track. Then right back into NM and steadily lowering into desert land, ranch lands at first. This area reminded me of South Dakota.

Then made our way into Navajo Reservation territory. Quite the landscape transitions, BDR guys out did themselves on this day. This was our lunch spot below at an old Salt Mine. Next picture was coming out of that valley.

Somewhere in there we had some mechanical issues, foot shifter was acting weird, splines were no bueno. We had a spare and were back in business.

We took a “break” and went a little out of the way to check out the El Morro National Monument. We did a hike up the rocks to check out the ruins, occupied by the Zuni people’s ancestors 600 years ago. Makes you appreciate the people that carved out life here.

After that wound down the afternoon through one of the harder tracks, Bonita Canyon, more semi technical two track flowing through the pines. That dumped us back on the normal track into Zuni Canyon which was a treat, digging it. We are getting a rhythm on this nomadic lifestyle. I liked the remoteness of it all and the lack of people. I don't want to be a pirate, but always liked Jimmy's line about being born two hundred years too late. Wonder what a person on horseback loaded down with their gear was thinking about two hundred years ago when they crossed this area. At this point, might have been as simple as a shower, food, beer and a mattress.

Now we are posted up at the Grants KOA. We had dinner in town, got some beverages and back at the KOA, little tired after this 250 mile day and feeling fuzzy but we have a shower, food, beer and a mattress. Good night you princes of dirt, you kings of New Mexico.

 

[KsTeveM]

Ah...Poor sleeping, flat tire, not as many miles as planned. Sounds like a good trip so far. I constantly wrestle with the knocking out miles vs being on vacation thing.

How much water were you carrying and how for camp and how? Did you carry it with you all day or try to fill it at last civilization to limit weight all day?

Water.......We have about a gallon of water between us stored on the bikes for whatever use, radiator or people use. We also have collapsible jugs and water tablets. Bottom line, we don’t use much water at camp, most of my water has hops and grains in it, KTMCarhart’s water usually has bourbon in it. We do top off supplies in the last town whatever that is. We both run 3L water bladders in our backpacks. Meals....we eat meat and potatoes for dinner. Bars for breakfast. We do baby wipes for other stuff, so we just don't need much water.

 

[StromXTc]

this does look cold. Glad yall broke out to the desert areas, looked more comfortable. Yall are reall making the miles. Thanks for all the good stuff! Did you patch or break out the new tube ?

 

[SpiritAtBay]

really enjoying your report. i understand the time and work that goes into a RR.

i prefer to make notes during the trip, then write it up and post when i am back home. however, there is a risk that you'll never post it up- or finish what you've started. so mebbe your method of posting in situ works better.

this is ride i am interested in so really enjoying your account and info like carrying water and fuel consumption are appreciated.

 

[KsTeveM]

Hey there TWT folks, glad to hear you guys are enjoying the report. Tube issues.......we both have front and rear spares, we just threw a new one in there. But I have patches as well if we are in a pinch. In the morning we are going to see if Autozone or Napa have a new tube to get us back to our preference on backups. Fuel and water....this BDR flows well for hitting towns for both. I have only tapped into my Rade 1.5 gallon tank twice. But KTMCarhart has tapped into his more. Just depends on your bike and RPMs. We definitely haul some axx here and there, perhaps too fast, but mostly we cruise at 50mph on the dirt for averages. Obviously the technical stuff slows you down and eats gas. My best mpgs has been 57 and worst 48 on the 701. I am really impressed with this bike. Thanks Trail Boss for letting me bend your ear when I was on the fence on my "big" bike purchase. We talked a lot on this ride about where i thought i was headed, 1090 or AT....me likes the tweener bike. While there is no replacement for displacement, there is also the sweetness of being 10s if not 100s of lbs. lighter.

 

[GrapeApe]

 

[bwdmax]

Enjoying the report for sure. I recognize some of these areas from my trip earlier in the summer.

I understand the effort to do the ride report. I say do what works for you. I have never tried to post up while on a trip, like you mentioned earlier in a post time is precious each day. Riding setting up camp and breaking camp can take a lot of time. This last trip I had paper maps of each days plan and I took notes on the back at the end of each day. This and the pics sorted by days allowed me to recall each day to write it up once back home.