Day Twelve: Riders on the Road

This sign almost makes you want to get out a marker and go at it – but the red rock formations were way to beautiful just as they were.

Today was another 600+ mile day which means I am just 430 miles from home. Tonight I am enjoying my first KOA Kampground experience. It is a little more expensive than the State Parks I have been frequenting but has proven to be a great example of logistical design. I like that!

This entry was originally going to be titled “Pink Mist” which was replaced by “New Mexico, Land of Disaster.” I have seen no real accidents this entire trip – only a couple cars here and there pulled over from a small fender bender. Just a few miles into NM a deer jumped in front of a truck running about 1/8 mile ahead of me. Hence the “Pink Mist.” Perhaps Vegematic would have been more appropriate as the poor deer was sliced and diced by the impact and then the truck’s tires. I had to complete a few trick swerves to get around the chunks. No Nate, I did not stop and pick it up. Yes, I know fresh road kill of a healthy animal is a good source of meat but I really did not have a good way to transport that rear quarter that looked so appetizing!

Not more than 30 minutes later I see a trailer’s rear tire lock up causing it to swerve suddenly into a passing mini van. Now I am steering around tire and car debris but can see that everyone appears OK. I continue on.

Aside from those two incidents, the day was progressing quite well. Then I hit Albuquerque. Some kind of maintenance required that the four lane highway be reduced to one lane. There I sat in a large traffic jam at 12:30 – with the sun beating down on me in this heat wave. Why couldn’t this be CA where lane splitting is legal? By the time I got through the traffic there was no choice but to park. I was feeling quite ill from the heat. After about an hour of drinking Gatorade, snacking on trail mix, and just sitting in an air conditioned building with a wet towel around my neck, I was feeling up to giving the road another shot. Guess God was looking after me because the perfectly clear sky now had big puffy clouds which provided merciful relief from the direct sun. I was able to get back in the swing and comfortably reach my destination.

So now we get to the Riders on the Road. Sure I have been seeing other riders over the past several days with their bikes packed up for a road trip – but they were all on the highway. Today I crossed paths with 4 other distance riders at gas stations. Three of us ended up at the same gas station at the same time, even though we were all headed completely different directions. We all kicked back a while and shared our story of where our travels were taking us. I was feeling pretty good about myself as the other two were not taking on the miles that I am on this trip. We parted with good wishes.

Later I meet a young man on a perfectly set up GS Adventure. I believe his name was CJ. CJ appeared to be in his mid to late 20’s and is an engineer managing some project on Alaska’s North Shore. Seems he works two weeks then has two weeks off. What to do with two weeks off? Flew to Portland and picked up his cycle which he is now riding to Florida. Then I guess he flies back to Alaska for two weeks before flying back to Florida to grab his bike and drive to a different location. That is a great set up! I have now been put in my place.

In case I am still feeling a little smug, I meet one more rider just East of Flagstaff. This man is a true Iron Butt rider. For those not familiar with the term, Iron Butts are the guys that ride incredibly long distances without stopping. This guy considers anything less than 1,000 miles a day to be a waste of good riding time. Geesh, my butt is hurting and I think I am doing really good with a couple 600 mile days! A couple weeks ago this guy went from California to Washington, DC, and back – allowing only two days travel each direction. This weekend he is just doing a quick loop through Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. I learn that he lives within 30 minutes of me. Doesn’t matter, we will NOT be riding together!

I have had the opportunity to see a good slice of our nation over the past few weeks. Somehow this 50 mile stretch of road through Flagstaff and Williams, AZ, has drawn me in. Williams was added to a short list of places I would consider living a few years ago, sight unseen, due to a post on some on-line bulletin board. Then in May I passed through here on the way to the Overland Expo just South of Flagstaff. Hmm, looks better than I pictured. After miles of desert in each direction, the tall pine trees in this region add wonderful fragrance to the cool air. It is time to close tonight’s blog and crawl into my bivvy to enjoy my night in Williams.