Author: Oliver

Alamogordo to Santa Fe

After the chain adjustment on Diane’s bike (see the ‘High Speed Wobble’ post for details) we were on our way to Santa Fe. We were leery of the afternoon since that’s when the thunderstorms start to form. Our route was very tentative with an intermediary destination of Mountainair, NM – at which point we would decided to either take the scenic route through the mountains if the weather was cooperating or head straight for Santa Fe.

Continue reading Alamogordo to Santa Fe

Midland to Alamogordo

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. Continue reading Midland to Alamogordo

Santa Fe, NM

Just a quick update. We are in Santa Fe, NM – getting ready to eat dinner. Yesterday we rode from Midland, TX to Alamogordo, NM. The theme of this trip so far: Chasing the rain. In the last two days we have ridden through rain in the late afternoon forcing us to cancel our camping plans for Cloudcroft, NM. Today we had reservations for a Rancheros De Santa Fe campground. It rained when we arrived but was clearing up so we stayed. Pictures to follow…

The Journey has started

What a difference a day makes. We woke up to bright blue skies with no wind, perfect riding weather.  After going through our final checklist of items we were on the road towards Fredericksburg by 9:00.  After a brief stop at my parents with a quick snack of fruit and cookies (thanks mom!) we were on the road agin by 11:30 heading north on 87 towards Mason, Brady and then San Angelo.
Continue reading The Journey has started

Rain delay

With a 40% chance of rain forecast for today we decided to take our chances and head out. Yesterday, however was spent on the assumption that we wouldn’t leave until Thursday because of the weather. Moving up our departure date caused the morning to be a whirlwind of activity – between getting our gear and the bikes ready and loaded, the house prepared for an extended leave we were quickly running out of  ‘morning’. By the time we were finally winding down it was noon time, just in time for  thunder and cloud cover to roll in :-(. Sure enough, within half an hour we had pouring rain with more in the forecast for the area we planned on heading to.

Continue reading Rain delay

Preparations Continue

The big task for the day was getting the bikes ready. Although Diane’s bike isn’t scheduled for another oil change for 3k miles we decided to do go ahead and change the oil since that will extend our time on the road so we don’t have to worry about it (6k miles). My bike calls for a valve check/adjustment at 12k miles. Same theory, I only have 10k on the odometer but doing it now will mean I’m good for 6k miles.

Continue reading Preparations Continue

Shake down ride

Going on a long trip without first trying out all the new gear and processes is risky at best so we decided to go for a short day ride, camp over night, and return home the next day. Despite being a short trip, it would give us a chance to try out our equipment as well as experience camping first hand since it had been over 20 years since I camped :-o. Though we had pitched the tent in the backyard, fired up the stoves and gone through our checklist of items to bring it’s not the same as actually camping.

Continue reading Shake down ride

Stay tuned…

Yes, the site has changed and it’s bare. We’ll be updating the blog and adding content in the days and weeks ahead. As a small teaser, here are some pictures of the motorcycles we will be using for our trip.