Member Contributer vanion2 Posted June 27, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted June 27, 2009 Valley N.JPG Much to my girl's surprise I pulled myself out of bed a little after 6 am. I had a plan, the Zumo 450 had the route, and I had the itch to see some new places in New Mexico that I had never seen before. I slipped into my riding gear, kissed the girl goodbye and was on the road by 6:45. Saturday morning traffic was practically non-existent and it took me no time to leave Albuquerque behind as I headed south on I-25 with nothing but the smell of fresh air, the scent of a recent rain, and the aroma of cow pastures making thankfully brief appearances. I went into steady cruise mode so as not to attract the unwanted notice of any local LEO's looking to fill a quota and just enjoyed the scenery. I was just passing Belen when I looked east and found my first shot of the day. Omen.JPG We have been getting rained on steadily here and to see the sun finally breaking through the clouds was a welcome sight indeed. With that under my belt it was back on down I-25 to Socorro where I followed the trusty GPS to Highway 60 and headed west. A new road with new views left me smiling in glee as I took the long sweepers there through some mountainous terrain that I would gladly go back to see again and again. I couldn't stop for any shots because I was either having too much fun or there wasn't any shoulder clearance for me to do so safely. Thus I very quickly ended up on my turn off where I stopped for a few more photos and to put the jacket liner in. Hwy 60.JPG Hwy 60 & South Baldy.JPG Now the road heading to South Baldy is paved but barely so. Old pot holes that have been patched time and time again as they keep growing bigger lined the middle of the road. The shoulders were slowly crumbling under wash outs and the surface was anything but smooth. Regardless the sides of the roads weren't too bad and I was able to easily cruise along around 40 mph in the absence of any posted speed limits what so ever. I guess the road conditions were enough to limit anyone's speed. The road conditions were easily over looked though once I got into the valley. There was a dry river bed down off to the east that the road followed so I could just see over the trees to the canyon walls that were just amazing. Mother Nature has man beat when it comes to creating beauty. And then it happened. The pavement ended. End of the Road.JPG EOR N.JPG EOR NE.JPG EOR SE.JPG Now I know most would call it done and head back but I grew up on roads like this and decided I would just take it easy and see if I could make it to the top. The road was graveled and well packed so slipping about wouldn't be a big issue and the over all condition of the road was pretty good so on I went. About a quarter mile up the road though was a cattle guard and on the other side the dirt road there was another story. Single lane, huge dips, and no gravel meant the end of the trip for me. You need a vehicle with some clearance if you are going to venture up that track. Defeated, I carefully turned around and seeing a prime photo op I made a quick stop. Valley.JPG Then it was back to Hwy 60 to I-25 north where I hung a right back on to Hwy 60 east and headed up into Mountainair for a quick fuel stop. I headed north on 55 through some nice scenic mountain roads that were pretty tame. In fact the only adventuresome part of that trek was watching a dually blow a stop sign and cut right in front of me as the highway went through a hard left turn. If I had been 10 seconds faster fueling up I would have been road kill as there was no way that guy could have stopped his truck in time. Idiot. :wacko: Fortunately the rest of that leg was smooth sailing and even people driving in cars were waving at me. It was a nice change from the city where if someone is using their hands it usually isn't a friendly thing. :biggrin: From 55 I headed north on 337 back into my old stomping grounds for a nice descent down the mountain through the twisties and my favorite S turns at the bottom before hitting I-40 and back into Albuquerque. I didn't take any photos of the last half because I have a gut feeling that Action and ZiaVFR are going to be interested in a repeat of this run so I had to save something for the next update. All in all I spent about 5 hours on the road racking up 260 miles round trip. While I didn't get to the top of South Baldy it was still worth it in the end. Now I can mark another part of New Mexico as "Been there...would do it again." :blink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum CEO HispanicSlammer Posted June 27, 2009 Forum CEO Share Posted June 27, 2009 Man you have got to make your way down to T or C and check out hwy 152 into Silver City. I have done it twice and its just fantastic. I call it the Gila Monster cause I thought it deserved a name like the Dragon has. The best part starts at Kingston and goes over Emory Pass. I made a few videos of it in the video area too. It has got to be the best road in NM. One of these days I will have to come down and check out the roads near Cloudcroft and Riudoso. Full Size Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer vanion2 Posted June 27, 2009 Author Member Contributer Share Posted June 27, 2009 I'm working on it. I basically have a 5 hour time limit right now when the girl has to work. Believe me I have a list of routes I am building that go all over the state. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum CEO HispanicSlammer Posted June 27, 2009 Forum CEO Share Posted June 27, 2009 I like the ride to the top of Sandia Peak too. The ride up to Mt Baldy in Santa Fe is ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer vanion2 Posted June 27, 2009 Author Member Contributer Share Posted June 27, 2009 Let me know next time you come down this way. We can schedule another Sandia Crest Fun Run and I will invite a friend who has an MV Agusta to join up with us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer ZiaVFR Posted June 29, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted June 29, 2009 Let me know next time you come down this way. We can schedule another Sandia Crest Fun Run and I will invite a friend who has an MV Agusta to join up with us. Nice report and photos :laugh: We will have to take Miguel's advice and get to the Monster this summer! After watching his video you will see it is a "Must" ride for sure. Keep up the good work :fing02: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 Nice Job! I'm sure you're glad that you went Sat and not Sunday. Looking froward to seeing videos with your new camera. Action Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V4 Rosso Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 Nice trip and great pics. I love the paint scheme, your vtec blends in nicely with the suroundings :beer: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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