MuddyButt part 1

A few years I did a Saddle Sore. From NC up almost to New York City & back. Rush hour Washington DC. Lunch hour Newark. I-81 all afternoon into the night. Still, it went fine, and I got my 1158 miles in under 20 hours. What next?

A Bun Burner Gold, of course! I have been planning various trips for years, but never found the time & money at the same time to actually do it. Until...

I was assigned to put on a training course at a power plant in Joseph City, AZ. Funny, one of my planned BBG trips was to Tucumcari, NM, which was actually just over 1500 miles from my house. And, guess what? The route had absolutely zero toll booths, and was about 95% higher limit freeways. So, as long as there were no major complications, or big construction backups, it should not be a problem.

3:30AM that Sunday, I got up, got on the already packed & checked bike, and went looking for a police officer to sign my witness form. At the headquarters, the dispatcher radioed for an officer, he came, saw, signed, and left. That task accomplished, I filled up with gas, got my receipt, and took off.

It was a very uneventful ride. Ride, gas, repeat, over and over again. I had a water bladder, some munchies, and a flip-up helmet. At gas stops, I only had to replenish fluids and take care of bodily functions. This allowed me to keep most stops well under 10 minutes.

Somewhere in central Tennessee, I lost one of my mufflers. Between earplugs and wind noise, I didn't notice it until I slowed down for a gas stop! Now, the bike sounded kind of like a Harley running 8000 rpm. Oh, well, I'll have to take care of that later.

Coming into Oklahoma, the sun was directly ahead of me, right in my eyes, seemingly forever, with no clouds to hide behind. It finally slipped below the horizon during a gas stop, and it got dark as I rolled through Oklahoma City. I made an extra gas stop in western Oklahoma to make sure I could get to Amarillo if the truck stop in Shamrock happened to be closed at 10PM on a Sunday. It wasn't, and I rode uneventfully across the panhandle and into New Mexico.

At Tucumcari, I had to go to the next exit to find gas. There are some interesting people in Tucumcari after midnight on a weekend. Unfortunately, I couldn't find two lucid people at the same place anywhere I looked. I flagged down a police car, trying to get a witness, but instead of stopping he squealed off after some miscreant. Giving up on a late-night witness, I got the manager (& wife) of the motel where I stayed to verify my odometer in the morning. Hopefully, that will be adequate for the IBA, combined with the fuel receipt. (note: it didn't happen. what with all the subsequent crap, the paperwork was never sent in. oh, well.)

MuddyButt part 2

In the morning, I poked about Tucumcari for a bit looking for a muffler. Not surprisingly, I came up empty. So, I headed out towards Las Vegas (New Mexico, that is). A bit more than 100 miles later, I had passed exactly one vehicle, a trash truck heading out to the resort. I followed I-25 south to Albuquerque, looked for a muffler again, then took I-40 over to Joseph City.

The training went well, and commuting on a bike was nice except for the fact that I had the sun in my eyes morning and evening.

Then, I packed up and headed home. I was going to visit my parents in Missouri, so I had a different route back.

MuddyButt part 3

Heading east, I made good time into New Mexico, and headed off the highway at Thoreau. The roads were not extremely interesting heading north from there, but I was heading towards Tierra Amarilla, intending to take US 64 over the mountain passes.

I just missed the fateful turn onto NM112 into El Vado, but made a quick u-turn and headed north again. This road is about 45 miles with nothing in between but mountains. About 25 miles into it, the road turned to dirt.

No problem, I think, I can do dirt.

A little bit later, I see a sign: Travel Discouraged When Wet.

No problem, I think. It's just wet enough to settle the dust.

A little bit later, the dirt turns to snot, then before I can get slowed to an apporpriate speed, the snot turns to ruts with snot, a rut catches the front wheel, and down I go at ~20 mph.

So ended my easy morning, and so started my ordeal.

No injuries of any sort, thanks to my now muddy AeroStich riding suit. Now, to just see what's involved in getting the bike back on the road . . .

The bike is lying exactly on it's side, on top of the saddlebag, and when I try to lift the top of the bike I can just get the tire down to earth then it stops. (for information on picking up a heavy dropped bike, read Skert's page)

Oh, have I mentioned that the road is so slippery that I almost can't stand up? After removing the other saddlebag & Givi trunk, I manage to just barely get the bike upright. Hurdle one overcome.

Now, I have to get it back on the "road". The front end is down the slope towards the ditch, and it's all I can do to move it an inch or two, after which it rolls right back. So, after a few trials and errors, I end up in front of the bike, leaning against the headlight at about a 45 degree angle, with my feet dug into the dirt, and my hands on the handlebars. By pushing against the headlight with my chest & belly, then grabbing the front brake lever as soon as it moves a little bit, I am able to inch the bike back onto the road, where underneath the snot it is firm enough to put the sidestand down and try to catch my breath.

Next, to assess the damage. The bulb is popped out of the driving light, the fairing is muddy & scratched, the footpeg is broken off, and the saddlebag antler is broken at the latch. As I get things fastened back on, a pickup comes sliding by from the other direction.

The driver stops, and we talk for a bit. He finds out I'm ok, and I find out that I'm about halfway through the bad stuff, and conditions are improving. Given that it's well over 100 miles to go around the other way, I decide to continue.

DOH!

It turns out that the pickup driver was having some fun at my expense.

Eventually, enough mud packs in the front fender to lock the front wheel and dump me again, this time at ~5 mph. On the other side, of course.

After fruitlessly digging mud from between the fender & tire, I took off the front fender hoping to continue unimpeded.

Most of the time, when I can make progress at all, I am moving at a walking pace. I am having to slip the clutch, then eventually increase throttle to keep moving. The bike bogs down, and I stop to explore the cause. I find packed mud oozing from between the saddlebags & frame, and resign myself to another cleaning session. I usually manage a tenth of a mile or two, then have to stop and spend 10-20 minutes cleaning mud from around the tires. And yes, you can pack enough mud between a tire and the bare forks to keep it from turning.

Just to make things more "interesting", every hour or so another rain shower would pass through, just to make sure I didn't make too quick of progress.

Every hour or so, another vehicle will slither past, some stopping, some not. A couple go by in a clean (figuratively speaking) 72 Blazer. They say that they are on their way in to town, and will check on me again when they return.

Just as it is getting dark, I finish another mud clearing session to find zero engagement from the clutch. None, nada, zip, zilch. My riding trip is over at this point, so now what do I do?

Another half hour passes, the couple (Billy & Liz) returns, and offer their flat-bed trailer to take me into town. He works at the fish hatchery, and takes me by there to blow some of the mud off with a pressure washer, then find a motel room for me in Chama.

In the morning, I wander down to the info center, log onto the web, and find out the U-Haul wants $1158 for a 10' truck back to NC. Ow! So, I grab a few papers and walk back to my room to look at alternatives.

Billy & Liz had offered me an old car they had for a small sum, but I hadn't taken them seriously. I called them back for more details. It was an 84 Rabbit with unknown miles, for $250. They called around to no avail trying to find a local trailer I could buy, then delivered the car to me Saturday afternoon.

Boy, was I miserable watching the bikes go by. I saw more decent riding suits than I had seen since my last LDRiders gathering. I later realized I had been seeing riders from the Land of Enchantment long distance motorcycle rider's rally.

So, with an old, unknown car with no tags & no proof of insurance (my insurance company will cover me for 30 days on any new vehicle I purchase, but I didn't have any paperwork for my car policy with me), I headed the 80 miles into Espanola to try to find a trailer. Three times I am passed by LEO's (a sheriff, a state police, and an unmarked), who don't appear to even blink that I don't have any license plate on. I manage to get a nice 5x8 trailer with tilt bed at a Ford dealer there, and wiring & straps at an auto parts store, then head back to Chama.

Did I mention that it is an absolutely stunningly gorgeous day, in beautiful country with the brilliant sun shining on the mountains & cliffs, with a few dark clouds just to give striking variety? Just something else to add to my envy of anyone lucky enough to be still on a bike.

Long story made shorter, the little old Rabbit got me and my bike home in a bit more than 2 days, not using any oil, not overheating, and getting 20-25 mpg while towing the bike on the highway.