Wind and rain characterized the day. First we had wind and gusts from the South as we were crossing West Texas and Eastern New Mexico. We had to lean into the wind, constantly having to correct the steering inputs to stay straight – very tiring. If that wasn’t enough, as the afternoon progressed huge thunderstorms developed, lightning, wind gusts and rain…lots of rain. We thought we outran the storms but they caught up with us about 40 miles East of Cloudcroft, NM as we were entering the mountains. Not fun. Pouring rain, wind and no place to take shelter plus twisty mountain roads. On a sunny day they are fun to ride, much less so in the conditions we encountered.
The rain forced us to change our camping plans for Cloudcroft. We decided to head down to Alamogordo to get a hotel. We were both wiped out, mentally and physically exhausted from a long and difficult day of riding. We ended the day with a quick meal at Chili’s and some beer.
This is the route we took.
Miles: 287
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Midland, TX outside the hotel
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Midland, TX outside the hotel
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Alamogordo
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Alamogordo
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Alamogordo
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Alamogordo
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Just outside of Midland
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Just outside of Midland
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Just outside of Midland
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Just outside of Midland
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Just outside of Midland
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Just outside of Midland
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Hobbs, NM
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Hobbs, NM
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Hobbs, NM
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Hobbs, NM
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Hobbs, NM
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Artesia, NM
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Artesia, NM
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Artesia, NM
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Artesia, NM
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Artesia, NM
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Getting closer to the Mountains, about 40 miles East of Cloudcroft on 82
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Getting closer to the Mountains, about 40 miles East of Cloudcroft on 82
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Getting closer to the Mountains, about 40 miles East of Cloudcroft on 82
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Getting closer to the Mountains, about 40 miles East of Cloudcroft on 82
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Getting closer to the Mountains, about 40 miles East of Cloudcroft on 82
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Getting closer to the Mountains, about 40 miles East of Cloudcroft on 82
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Getting closer to the Mountains, about 40 miles East of Cloudcroft on 82
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Alamogordo, having fun with the point and shoot
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Alamogordo, having fun with the point and shoot
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Alamogordo, having fun with the point and shoot
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Alamogordo, having fun with the point and shoot
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Alamogordo, having fun with the point and shoot
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Alamogordo, having fun with the point and shoot
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Alamogordo, having fun with the point and shoot
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Alamogordo, having fun with the point and shoot
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Alamogordo, having fun with the point and shoot
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Alamogordo, having fun with the point and shoot