Category: travel

Slowly but surely working working our way north. Started the day with an amazing ride on state road 128, just outside of Moab, that takes you through a canyon along the river. The price we paid for that was forty odd miles on IH-70 :-(. Once off the freeway we headed north on US 191 towards Duchesne, UT. Continue reading Moab, UT to Starvation State Park, UT

People started to avoid us, turning blue in the face when they talked to us. At first I thought it was because Diane forgot to put on deodorant but when we caught a whiff of ourselves [really, just me] we came to same conclusion: time to do laundry. Driving through the desert in protective clothing will get to your gear after a while no matter how high tech the gear is ;-).

Laundry was only one reason to stop. We also needed a mental break after riding for six days. That plus catching up on e-mail, the blog and the fact that Moab had two microbreweries was purely incidental ;-). We enjoyed the day and even took some pictures.

Getting ready for departure in the morning takes a while. No, not because we are surfing advrider.com but rather because we have to make breakfast, clean dishes and break everything down and pack all back up small so it will fit into the panniers and our blue duffle bags – unlike car camping where one can often loosely pack and just toss it all into the trunk. Today it took us a little over two hours before we were on the road.

Continue reading Blanding, UT to Moab, UT

Blue skies and cool temperature. Some puffy clouds in the distance but nothing threatening. Time to ride :-). The ride to Cortez through Durango was very scenic, high alpine meadows and forest with gentle turns. A fun and relaxing ride. We stopped in Cortez for lunch before heading out.
Continue reading Pagosa Springs, CO to Blanding, UT

We got a late start leaving Santa Fe. Breaking camp took longer than expected so it wasn’t before too long that the dreaded thunderstorm clouds started forming again. Yes, I know I sound like a broken record but afternoon thunderstorms can really take the fun out of riding. Based on weather forecasts it looked like the chance of rain was reduced further north. Continue reading Santa Fe, NM to Pagosa Springs, CO

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

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

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…

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