Memorial Day Weekend Ride: 840 Miles Of Southwest Fun

[Guest tonyfugere]

It all started out with replacing a REALLY bent inner fork tube for the VFR. Check it out... <sarcasm>Can you see where it is bent? I'm not sure that it is pronounced enough.</sarcasm>

Tamara and I fixed the bike up together and went on a ride to Western NM and Eastern AZ over the Memorial Day weekend holiday. Check out all of the photos here:

2008 Memorial Day Weekend Ride

Map of the ride

Day 1 (Friday): 80 miles to Socorro

We left after work around 6:15pm and headed to Socorro. The wind was a bit high and we were heading into it. The one hour drive to Socorro couldn't go by fast enough! An annoying start to the ride. We stayed at a Howard Johnson that was strategically placed across the street from Socorro Springs Brewery. They have the best beer and pizza in the Southwest! This would be our only stay in a hotel, too.

View from the Hotel and Socorro Springs

Day 2 (Saturday): 280 miles to Bill Evans Lake

The 280 miles to Bill Evans Lake outside of Silver City involved a beautiful drive to the Bosque del Apache just south of Socorro on NM1 and then across Emory Pass on NM152. We traveled north on NM35 and NM15 to the Gila Cliff Dwellings. The day was growing late from taking our time at the Bosque and then stopping at overlooks on the way over the pass. We wanted to try to find some hot springs in the mountains, but did not find any (that were free to the public at least). We ate dinner at a fine dining lodge called the Breathe Inn (ha!). It was in the middle of nowhere, but the food truly was fine. We had brie cheese with a strawberry glaze and chile rubbed shrimp cocktail for appetizers. Then, stuffed chicken and blackened ahi tuna with a fruit salsa! Pretty neat little stop in the middle of nowhere. We made our way to Silver City and decided to press on instead of stopping for the night just north of town at a campground. We found a public man-made lake (Bill Evans Lake) that had free camping and we called it a night there.

Bosque, Emory Pass, Cliff Dwellings, NM15

Day 3 (Sunday): 320 miles to Sawtooth Mountains in Cibola National Forest

Unfortunately, we did not bring the proper sleeping gear for the weather. We got a bit cold. This time, dawn couldn't come fast enough! As a matter of fact, I woke up once at night and thought dawn was coming. I was very anxious for it to show up. Then a few minutes later, Tamara got up to go to the bathroom, and I hear her say, "Awe crap! It's the moon!" HAHAHA, we got a great laugh out of that the next morning... We got out of camp around 8am and headed West to Arizona. We made Clifton, a mining town, at around 10am and grabbed breakfast at a very busy local hole in the wall. We met up with two BMW riders from Phoenix that were also going north on US191. They had made the trip before and told us some pointers. We kept up with them for the first few miles, but we wanted to stop at overlooks and they didn't. So we lost them. Then, we met up again at Hannagan Meadow Lodge at Hannegan Meadows (not sure what happened to the spelling here, but the green mileage signs said Hannegan Meadows... Anyways, the BMW guys shortly after we arrived. They were trying to get all the way back to Phoenix that night! They were high mileage riders. We made it back to New Mexico after a lunch stop in Alpine, AZ. We pressed through Apache Creek (our original stop) and then tried to find food in Pie Town. Unfortunately, everything was closed... They were supposed to have good pie, too. We went back to Quemado (40 miles round trip). Oh, did I mention that there were 40MPH winds, too? Yea, it was really windy. It really beat us up good! Tamara found the "World's Largest Chicken Fried Steak", and it really wasn't that great... We had fully bellies, which helped our attitiude as we fought the wind again to get to the Cibola National Forest for camping. We found a great spot tucked off an unpaved Forest Service road (FR-6A) that had a beautiful view of the Sawtooth Mountains (pretty, but not the same as Idaho's.

Bill Evans Lake, US-191, Sunset at Sawtooth Mountains in Cibola

Day 4 (Monday): 160 miles to Albuquerque

Again it was cold, and we were cold and dawn couldn't come fast enough. We slept later after the sun began to warm the tent nicely. We headed to the VLA, and took the walking tour. Got up close with a dish and saw the service repair building. Then, we fought the wind to Socorro before heading north to home trying to avoid the interstate wherever we could. We found NM-47 which goes from Belen to Albuquerque along the river. It was a great road and much nicer than the interstate.

VLA

ENJOY!

All the photos can be found here:

2008 Memorial Day Weekend Ride

[Guest]

Great write up! Sounds (and looks) like a wonderful trip. The wind in NM can be a bear...... :rolleyes:

I'm planning a week or so long trip to Santa Fe from Tucson in early July and am taking a similar route. My goal is to avoid the freeway at all costs.... :biggrin:

How about that road to the Gila Cliff dwellings.....!!! One of my favorites....did you stop at the Buckhorn Saloon on yer way out? There is an opera house attached where they use the stage for local musicans, plays and the like....very cool, very historic.

[Guest]

Great write up! Sounds (and looks) like a wonderful trip. The wind in NM can be a bear...... :rolleyes:

I'm planning a week or so long trip to Santa Fe from Tucson in early July and am taking a similar route. My goal is to avoid the freeway at all costs.... :biggrin:

How about that road to the Gila Cliff dwellings.....!!! One of my favorites....did you stop at the Buckhorn Saloon on yer way out? There is an opera house attached where they use the stage for local musicans, plays and the like....very cool, very historic.

Thanks! Have a great and safe trip yourself. Both NM-15 and NM-35 to/from the Gila are spectacular! NM-15 south of NM-35 is about 1.5 lanes wide and really brought back memories of a ride I did through Europe.

We got to Pinos Altos around 8pm or so and had eaten dinner already, so we didn't stop and look. The Buckhorn Saloon was open, but everything else was closed. Lighting was not great for pictures, so I didn't take any. We were ready to get to a campground, needed some supplies from Silver City, and pushed on south. We'll have to go back through there sometime with better timing to stop and see what goes on there. Thanks for the info!

[Guest]

Great write up! Sounds (and looks) like a wonderful trip. The wind in NM can be a bear...... :biggrin:

I'm planning a week or so long trip to Santa Fe from Tucson in early July and am taking a similar route. My goal is to avoid the freeway at all costs.... :rolleyes:

How about that road to the Gila Cliff dwellings.....!!! One of my favorites....did you stop at the Buckhorn Saloon on yer way out? There is an opera house attached where they use the stage for local musicans, plays and the like....very cool, very historic.

Thanks! Have a great and safe trip yourself. Both NM-15 and NM-35 to/from the Gila are spectacular! NM-15 south of NM-35 is about 1.5 lanes wide and really brought back memories of a ride I did through Europe.

We got to Pinos Altos around 8pm or so and had eaten dinner already, so we didn't stop and look. The Buckhorn Saloon was open, but everything else was closed. Lighting was not great for pictures, so I didn't take any. We were ready to get to a campground, needed some supplies from Silver City, and pushed on south. We'll have to go back through there sometime with better timing to stop and see what goes on there. Thanks for the info!

Ya, you bet.....and if you ever need a hotel in Silver, I highly recommend the Silver Palace....somewhat renovated historic inn in the heart of downtown Silver, where all the action is.... :rolleyes: Wine bar, GREAT restaurants, interesting and quirky locals, nice galleries, great local jave....all within walking distance. Did I mention a room (or suite) is dirt cheap?

If you get out that way again, check out Glenwood and the catwalk....a nice little diversion with water feature....there is also a living ghost town just outside of Glenwood...a bit of a hairy ride, but very cool and worth it.

So, how did the VFR handle with camping equipment and 2-up? I'm probably going to ride my Moto Guzzi, so probably won't load her up with to much gear. Was considering the VFR though if I decide to camp along the way....ahhhh.....to many decisions.... :schla15:

[Guest]

Ya, you bet.....and if you ever need a hotel in Silver, I highly recommend the Silver Palace....somewhat renovated historic inn in the heart of downtown Silver, where all the action is.... :rolleyes: Wine bar, GREAT restaurants, interesting and quirky locals, nice galleries, great local jave....all within walking distance. Did I mention a room (or suite) is dirt cheap?

If you get out that way again, check out Glenwood and the catwalk....a nice little diversion with water feature....there is also a living ghost town just outside of Glenwood...a bit of a hairy ride, but very cool and worth it.

So, how did the VFR handle with camping equipment and 2-up? I'm probably going to ride my Moto Guzzi, so probably won't load her up with to much gear. Was considering the VFR though if I decide to camp along the way....ahhhh.....to many decisions.... :rolleyes:

More info! Sweet! :biggrin: Was thinking of doing the catwalk, but didn't think we'd have time. Next time, I'll do US-180 instead of 191 and stop in Glenwood. Read about Mogollon Ghost Town, too. I don't mind gravel at all. Plus I'll be upgrading (or downgrading depending on your POV) to a '02 VStrom that should handle that road just fine!

I've made a two rides now on the VFR 2-up and loaded about the same as you see here. The bike does not seem to mind too much. The rear suspension would probably be happier if it were more stiff (preload is cranked all the way). I lean about 50-66% of my 1-up lean and about 33-50% of my track day lean. If I am feeling spunky though and lean a bit more, the pegs drag sooner (as expected). I had my boots hanging wide as feelers, and I was scraping my toes just a few inches before the pegs would have hit. Other than that, the bike doesn't seem to mind at all! I need to do something else with the saddlebags though as they wore down the paint on my rear plastic a bit.I didn't trust most of the roads we were on to lean that far anyways... good amount of gravel out there that weekend. I also refuse to ride very hard with my fiancee on the back. We had a few slippery spots and hot turns (but it was just because I didn't want to lean more, I wasn't worried, but it scared her when I ran one wider than usual). That's about all I can think of right now.

[cruzinaz]

So, how did the VFR handle with camping equipment and 2-up? I'm probably going to ride my Moto Guzzi, so probably won't load her up with to much gear. Was considering the VFR though if I decide to camp along the way....ahhhh.....to many decisions.... :fing02:

:rolleyes: :biggrin: :rolleyes: :schla15: you got Guzzi on your mind tooooo much

[HispanicSlammer]

Edited to feature 191 photo on homepage, nice trip - done almost all that route myself (in two trips) - emory pass I call it the "Gila Monster" sort of like deals gap west! Love that road! Havent been on hwy 32 or that section from Alpine to Reserve though so thats somthing to do on another trip. strait up from silver city to reserve isnt so bad either. We did it in an hour HEH - go do the math and figure that one out.

[Guest]

Edited to feature 191 photo on homepage, nice trip - done almost all that route myself (in two trips) - emory pass I call it the "Gila Monster" sort of like deals gap west! Love that road! Havent been on hwy 32 or that section from Alpine to Reserve though so thats somthing to do on another trip. strait up from silver city to reserve isnt so bad either. We did it in an hour HEH - go do the math and figure that one out.

Thanks for the feature! I agree. It certainly is comparable to the dragon! Hwy 32 was a great little drive through the Apache Nat'l Forest to Quemado. I had planned to just do NM12 up to Datil to get to some camping, but we were ahead of schedule by 60 miles and NM32 looked good.

Google Maps of Silver City to Reserve!

Hmm 100miles in one hour... Hmm... HAHAHA nice! :biggrin:

there is also a living ghost town just outside of Glenwood...a bit of a hairy ride, but very cool and worth it.

Back to that comment, mentioning of NM32 and Reserve reminded me that there are great (unpaved) roads south from there that go to Snow Lake and then southbound to that Mogollon Ghost Town, then west to Glenwood. REAL Hairy and about 60 something miles... maybe not such a great ride for a VFR though... :rolleyes:

[Guest]

Edited to feature 191 photo on homepage, nice trip - done almost all that route myself (in two trips) - emory pass I call it the "Gila Monster" sort of like deals gap west! Love that road! Havent been on hwy 32 or that section from Alpine to Reserve though so thats somthing to do on another trip. strait up from silver city to reserve isnt so bad either. We did it in an hour HEH - go do the math and figure that one out.

Thanks for the feature! I agree. It certainly is comparable to the dragon! Hwy 32 was a great little drive through the Apache Nat'l Forest to Quemado. I had planned to just do NM12 up to Datil to get to some camping, but we were ahead of schedule by 60 miles and NM32 looked good.

Google Maps of Silver City to Reserve!

Hmm 100miles in one hour... Hmm... HAHAHA nice! :warranty:

there is also a living ghost town just outside of Glenwood...a bit of a hairy ride, but very cool and worth it.

Back to that comment, mentioning of NM32 and Reserve reminded me that there are great (unpaved) roads south from there that go to Snow Lake and then southbound to that Mogollon Ghost Town, then west to Glenwood. REAL Hairy and about 60 something miles... maybe not such a great ride for a VFR though... :rolleyes:

Yeah, that's definitely on the list, but you would need a dual sport or dirt bike. A couple friends of mine with there on there KTM's a few weekends ago. They couldn't get much further than the Mogollon Ghost town due to snow!!!!

BTW, have you ever stayed in Truth or Consequences? Was also wanting to check out Elephant Butte lake....but really want to hit Taos on the Santa Fe trip...maybe I just need to quit my day job.... :goofy:

[Guest]

So, how did the VFR handle with camping equipment and 2-up? I'm probably going to ride my Moto Guzzi, so probably won't load her up with to much gear. Was considering the VFR though if I decide to camp along the way....ahhhh.....to many decisions.... :blink:

:rolleyes: :warranty: :goofy: :goofy: you got Guzzi on your mind tooooo much

oh Kent, you're just jealous..... :biggrin:

BTW, I really did enjoy that route I took on Saturday to Vaca (ON THE VFR!!).....next time we meet up down there, I'll take ya on a tour. Was really fun and great to discover little gems of roads that I was unaware of.

[BonusVFR]

191 one of the best! Great report.

I like those daily mileage numbers - works for me. All too often I start pushing the pace and riding time and the trips are just not as much fun.

[Baileyrock]

Nice, thanks for sharing! :biggrin:

[dr.toto]

Just an afterthought. In my part of the world, we've had an ugly spring. Wind, wind, and more wind. My town has missed all the rain and the hail and the tornadoes, though. No matter where I go, more wind on high velocities.

[V4 Rosso]

Looks like the both of you had a great trip.

Nice pics too :warranty:

What era were these houses made and who live in them?

[Guest]

Looks like the both of you had a great trip.

Nice pics too :warranty:

What era were these houses made and who live in them?

Thanks! We had a blast.

"Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument offers a glimpse into the homes and lives of the Mogollon people who lived in this area over 700 years ago."

- Taken from: Gila Cliff Dwellings

I didn't dive into it, but I found a link to the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument: An Administrative History