From the Caves to the Mountains and Nothing in Between

June 18, 2008

Although this may sound like an oxymoron, but today was a very uneventful eventful day. Aside from the good 12 hours of rejuvenation sleep that I got in my deluxe accommodations at the Motel 6 of Carlsbad New Mexico I was very active. I was also in the dark for much of the day as well realistically and figuratively. So I woke up, packed up my belongings which went about much quicker this morning since I didn't have a tent, sleeping bag ect ect and I headed out to load up ole Maverick. However Mav was looking at little different this morning, a bit to flat for my liking and low and behold that front tire was flat yet again, and this time I was out of CO2. So I pulled out my 2^nd most faithful piece of travel equipment, my blackberry and I proceeded to call MoTow which is my motorcycle towing and repair service.

So I finagled with the good folks at MoTow for a good 2 hours only for them to come to the realization that they really don't offer any service to motorcycling folks stranded in Carlsbad New Mexico. Needless to say for much of the day I was in the dark as to whether or not I would actually be able to fix my bike here in Carlsbad and MoTow would be able to find a towing company to pick me up this far out! Thus I opened the first phonebook I could find went to motorcycles and there it was Alan's Truck and Cycle Supply Shop of Carlsbad New Mexico. I called back MoTow told em that I found a place and they made the arrangements and I hobbled my way 3 miles down to the road to Alan's. I had to plan my route very strategically to get to Alan's it was just three miles but I could only go for about a couple minutes or so until the air leaked out of my tires and I would have to refill again. First I had to roll my bike a block to the first gas station filled the tire with air, and I raced out of there the next station I saw was in the Wal-Mart parking lot but crap I got stuck at a red light. When green came around I was flat and I had to slowly make my way to the air. Ok good I could make it for another couple minutes. The good people (more good people unlike MoTow) at New Mexico Department of Transportation must have been watching me because they gave me greens the rest of the way to Alan's. Good people there, at Alan's that is, not so good people at MoTow. Now Alan's is something like I've never seen before, it was like a virtual Wal-Mart of everything truck and motorcycle related. They had it all from the tire arns I needed in the event I flat out again, to the Teflon tape necessary to keep my oil drain plug from leaking. I was in heaven and they promised to have Maverick back up and running within the hour! So I went for a stroll in downtown Carlsbad, not much to see there.

I stopped by the local visitor's center and got the info I needed for my visit to Carlsbad Caverns. Again much to my surprise I had missed the last trip down to the cave. However if I got there by 5 o'clock sharp I would be able to make the last elevator that takes you down into the 'Big Room'. So after speaking with everyone at Alan's telling them about my trip and where I was going I headed off to the caves. I got there just in time to make the last elevator down, and it was nice because I virtually had the entire place to myself.

I was pretty amazing inside the caverns. They are absolutely huge, you can fit somewhere around ten 747's inside the main cave. Something I found interesting was that everywhere you looked it was incredibly colorful however the national park service uses no colored lights, it's merely the reflection off the stalactites and stalagmites. I got some really great pictures inside the caves which you may just see. Also the cave was a welcomed retreat from the desert heat; it stays a cool 56 degrees year round. So I tour around the cave for a bit, to walk the entire thing is about a mile and a half loop. Then the park rangers start to usher me out since they would be closing soon for the bats. The bats are an entirely different story, and a disappointing one at that.

So every evening in the summer millions of bats leave the entrance of the Carlsbad Caverns cave all at once it's a pretty amazing spectacle and they shoot up out of the cave in a gigantic spiral into the night to eat moths and other insects. Well the bats are very unpredictable, yes they will leave the cave but how many and at what time no one really knows. So I get there at the prescribed 6:30 time as the park rangers suggested and I sat and sat and sat and sat some more.

They were supposed to come out sometime around 7:30 to a little after 8, well none came at 8, then 8:15 or so rolled around and a trickle of bats came out, nothing very impressive, when 8:30 arrived I had had enough, bats were coming out one by one at this point not the promised 100 foot tall black spiraling tornado. So I got up and left as many other peopled did as well. Wow, to drive all this way and not see A.) the entire cave and B.) Those darn bats. Oh well maybe on our next stop of Roswell New Mexico we will see some Aliens, likely I think not.

June 19, 2008

Today… Yup today was a good day of riding, why you may ask, because I finally got out of the desert. Funny I grew up in one of the most arid countries on the planet and I cannot stand the heat. So as the saying goes if you can't take the heat get out of the kitchen well this kitchen I speak of is at 8,000 feet of pure cool altitude goodness. Well since I got into my campsite so late I didn't realize where I was actually staying, I woke up and it was amazing out. I picked a site right on Brantley Lake in New Mexico. The park was not very full as usual with camp grounds during the summer in the desert, however there were some unusual visitors to this particular camp ground. So I was walking to the bath house to brush my teeth and as I'm walking in there is a guy walking out wearing an orange jumpsuit with the words 'New Mexico State Prisoner'. Very well then, I guess this was New Mexico's version of prisoners to campers program or something. He was polite we exchanged a friendly hello; all the while I was thinking man this guy is going to shank me.

Anyways I rush in brush my teeth and get out, after further investigation I see that there are other of his orange jumpsuit friends walking around the camp ground and they are doing general maintenance and cleaning stuff up. I was shocked though for the six or so of them just wandering around the campground there was just one guard. Well no shanking occurred and since I'm tying this right now I made it out safely! So I took it slow this morning and I gave Maverick some much needed TLC. I took off my boxes and propped up the rear wheel to inspect the chain and make sure it was the proper tightness, I also oiled the chain and checked the tires, brakes, fluid levels, ect ect. After those tough days in the Texas desert Mav needed some looking after. I was on the road around 10ish, first stop Roswell New Mexico! Well I have always been very good with filling up the gas tank and well it had been a day since Mav had eaten so I calculated that I would have enough fuel to get me to the first town from the campground, well my math must have been off because I had to switch the tank to the reserve tank which only has about 40 miles of capacity, and I checked my information machine also known as the Garmin and it ironically said 40 miles to next fuel station. Ok then that put me on edge a little bit I was really riding on the cusp of hitchhiking through the desert in search of the illusive red plastic fuel can to fill up Mav. So there I was riding on fumes and hopes and prayers that I would make it to that gas station and that it was open! Thankfully the fuel started giving out right as I was pulling into the gas station and the engine stalled and I rolled myself right to the gas pump. Wow that was a close call! I was sweating more from the irony that I had just enough fuel that I rolled in than from the 102 degree heat! Another close call… hopefully my last of the day, however this was not true. Ok so today was planned as an easy chill day, not too much riding, so first stop Roswell, for two reasons, A.) Roswell has a bunch of alien stuff and it's so touristy that I just couldn't come all this way and not at least say oh hey I was there.

I went to the International Alien Research Library and Museum. I did not take the tour just bought the postcards took my pictures and left. B.) Roswell has one of the largest motorcycle dealerships in New Mexico and low and behold they service and sell Kawasakis! So I make a stop in to get new CO2 and new riding gloves since my beloved Fox DirtPaws succumbed to the desolate Big Bend. Good people there, very helpful and one of the store girls recommended me to go to Sierra Blanca, an awesome mountain at about 11,000 feet from which you can see everything. So I get back out to the parking lot to pack up Mav and head to the mountains, I mount the bike put it in neutral press the ignition…. Nothing, no turn over, nothing. I try again, nothing; check all the necessarys, nothing. Thankfully though Mav decides to break down in the one place I know he can be all fixed up. I assume there must be some short with the battery or maybe the lights were left on who knows. So I go to the shop and ask for a battery tester, the guy comes out helps me take off the side panels and seat to get at the battery and wow this just goes to show you how smart I am. The screws on the battery had come loose, most likely from the intense riding I had been doing in the desert the past couple days. But the shop guy did a full check on my battery and everything looked good, I tightened the screws and Mav was back up and rolling. Wow was I happy. OK on with the adventure. I headed then up into the mountains to Lincoln New Mexico site of possibly some of the bloodiest fighting back in the Wild West. Same place Billy the Kid used to hang out with his band of outlaws.

Lincoln is also the setting for the popular western, 'Young Guns'. As one quote goes, Lincoln was so dangerous that the town Preacher said that he buried 31 men one month and just one of them succumbed to natural causes. Onward I head. Next stop Ruidoso, an awesome ski town where Sierra Blanca is located. I spend a good amount of time just checking out Ruidoso it's also a big casino town due to all the Indian reservations surrounding it. So I make my way to Sierra Blanca it's a 12 mile ride to the top and I get all of 3 miles and a park ranger stops me, and informs me that the Lincoln National Forest is closed due to extreme fire danger, since they haven't had rain in a long time. Bummer. So I press on back to my next stop, Cloudcroft, another small mountain town. On my way there I climb from the desert floor which was a good 107 degrees and within ten minutes I climb about 5,000 feet and I can feel the nice crisp cool mountain air. Wow what a relief from the sweltering heat of the desert that was! On my way up the mountain I also pass through New Mexico's one and only tunnel.

At the top I stop in at Western's which is the only restaurant open but a good one at that, lots of character there, I see two other guys there on dual sports from Texas and Colorado just touring around for a couple days, we exchange stories over a couple frosty beverages and they tell me all the good places to ride. After a filling meal I hop back on my bike and head down the mountain a ways to a hostel I had read about in Let's Go (great guide by the way for those on a budget).

I get to the hostel and I'm greeted by the friendly owner. Since the forest is closed now there are no hikers allowed in the park so business is a little slow. No worries, the place is great and they even have wireless! http://www.cloudcrofthostel.com/ so if you're ever in the area of Cloudcroft New Mexico I highly suggest you take a gander and maybe stay a night. So those are my adventures for today I haven't quite decided what I'm doing tomorrow, we shall see where the road takes me.