I knew this was going to be a hard ride (really hard), that is why I had been putting it off for so long. (Decided to attempt it over a year ago.) I never expected what I ran into.
Here is Ladron peak from US 60, it sits there so lonely.
There are stories of an old Confederate retreat into these hills and the burial of two cannons, one has been recovered but the other is probably still in there.
These hills were also know as bandit country due to its solitude and the ease of which to see approaching law men.
I am assuming that old US 60 went through the hills, but it is now BLM Wilderness. Now all that is left of the old 60 is this metal bridge.
Continuing along, you are forced right onto NM 12, a gorgeous dirt road that goes and goes and goes and goes... you get the idea.
Good time to check the map, don't want to be forked out here...
Woops, I guess we have been getting a bit of water.
This one had a nice little bank I had to climb up. Good practice for later.
You can almost see how dirty she is.
Oops.
Turned around, off the hill. (Lifting the front wheel up in order to do so, the rear was dug in too deep.) Stopped in the middle of the stream bed and waited for the water temp to lower.
After getting through three more of those, I stopped at this abandoned house to let the adrenaline levels lower.
As the adrenaline goes down, it skyrockets back up. I saw a small wash in the road right after cresting a hill. Seeing how extensive it was, I attempted to stop and locked the front wheel. Noticing that I was going anywhere but over, I aimed for the middle mound hoping to hop skip right over. Gassed it and held on in hopes that I would be on the bike, still rolling on the tires, on the other side. Got over the other side only to have a bad speed wobble where I wasn't really on the seat any more. Got a hold of the tank with my legs, gave her gas and release as much as I dared of the bars. 50 feet later, I had regained control and composure.
When I stopped the bike, I had only two words to repeat... HOLY ****. It worked and I am amazed I didn't screw anything up. You can see the impact of the my wheels in the center.
My front tire skid mark.
All done... no wait, I still had 20 more miles of dirt. Dirt roads riddle with deep ruts and a few mud bogs. I lost several screws off the bike today, the belly pan was dragging for a bit and you can see the damage on the tip. It is currently held on with bailing wire from a nearby fence.
Through all of the bad things I have done to her, she keeps going and keeps making me happier. (I need a supermoto with dirt tires, I want to do that wash again with a bike made for it.)
190 miles, 80+ on dirt and enough adrenaline to keep this junky happy for a while. Where to next?