Cochiti Lake Run

[vanion2]

It's been a heck of a summer. It seems everyone in Albuquerque had been out for work and family. Then the weather has been completely shutting down the weekends when everyone was in town. I thought the days when I could meet up with ZiaVFR and go cruising were a fading memory. Then some new riders in the area started posting up and once again my plan to attack some Colorado roads were literally washed out (Sure HS got a nice ride in but watching a video of him going up Black Canyon in the rain and his description of the chilly weather sure made me glad I had held off). I decided, what the heck. I pulled out a route I had tried to put together at the beginning of summer and put it out there to see if anyone in the area was interested. I am glad I did because it turned out to be the perfect day for a ride. Sunny, cloudless skies, dry roads, and plenty of beautiful scenery.

Messages flew back and forth and suddenly we had a plan. ZiaVFR and his wife, rangemaster, and myself met at the usual starting point for breakfast. Good old Bagel Brothers.

Starting Out - Rangemaster, ZiaVFR and his wife

Around 9:15am we headed up North 14 for a nice cruise through greenest mountain country I have seen in some time thanks to all the rain we had been receiving. The weather was cool and nary a wind to disturb the nirvana of riding easy sweepers through various elevations as we headed to Madrid, NM to meet up with the newest rider, ECHO, who lives in Santa Fe. We made it right at 10am and sure enough there was a clean black VFR parked in the shade with a rider just relaxing as we pulled up.

Madrid

This picture totally happened by pure chance and we only had to coax ECHO to pull his VFR out of the shade to get it lined up. I couldn't resist seeing all those wheels open faced like that and with 3 different generations of VFR's to boot to not take the picture.

6-5-4-6

Of course here's another one showing off the rest of the beauty that is the VFR.

After a few minutes of introductions and admiring of the rides present we headed off to continue up North 14 until we got south of Santa Fe. Here I had planned on taking a nice scenic detour through some nice old style villas but having failed to load up the route the night before and then missing the turn off we ended up with a drive down the frontage road next to I-25. Ok...if that's the worst mistake I make I think I am doing pretty good. :blush:

We jumped onto I-25 and sped south for a few minutes before taking the next exit and heading west towards Cochiti Lake. While the road was pretty straight it was scenic with gentle rolling hills as we enjoyed the still cool breeze and lack of wind which normally plagues open country. Around 11:30 we rolled into the Cochiti Lake visitor's center to plan some photo ops and basically just to relax for a bit. The promise of rain was not to be kept this morning as there was hardly a cloud in the sky and the temperature was climbing steadily. So we geared up and headed for the lake front. On the way in I spotted a sign that said Overlook.

Cochiti Overlook - Rangemaster, ZiaVFR, and ECHO

Zia's wife jumped off the back of his bike like a ninja and disappeared before I could get this shot off. Makes sense because Zia always likes fast and nimble in his life. :blush:

(BTW - she's a very nice lady and is always welcome to join any of our future rides). :beatdeadhorse:

So now we are cruising in gear at slow speeds working up a sweat as we troll down to the lake front. The first thing I did was park and then started ripping my leather jacket and helmet off since there was no shade to be found. Of course I snapped off a shot of all the VFR's sunbathing next to the beach (it's hard not to look).

Cochiti Lake

Then Zia's wife offered to get a shot of all of us next to our rides. One thing I have learned in life. It doesn't matter how ugly you are when you stand next to something beautiful so of course we all dutifully lined up to offer contrast to our beautiful rides. :491:

ECHO, rangemaster, ZiaVFR, vanion2

Around this time it was noon and the magnifying glass was out in effect. We decided to head back to our respective homes in an effort to prevent all that shapely plastic from melting. All in all I can say that it was a very nice ride and it's always great to meet some riders whom you don't have to worry about getting you killed. We all ready knocked around the idea of the Gila Monster that HS loves, and maybe a nice run through the Jemez for a bit more shade and winding roads. What ever the next ride will be I can say that any one of these folk are more than welcome. Thanks for the awesome day guys and I look forward to our future adventures. :beer:

[ZiaVFR]

Mrs. ZiaVFR at Madrid

[ZiaVFR]

vanion2 and ECHO

[ZiaVFR]

Mrs. ZiaVFR was amused that us "guys" all seem to talk with our hands and make motor noises at every stop.

ECHO, Rangemaster, and vanion2

[Guest]

nice ride report. if you ever put together a NM 152 ride, i will make the effort to try that one. or a Jemez one too, it's been years since i've been up there.

[vanion2]

Thanks for the extra photos Zia...I was hoping to get more scenery shots but I am uncomfortable to exposing my DSLR to the elements while on the move. And everyone's sense of humor always makes these rides more fun. :blink:

[Guest]

Looks like you had a great ride. I'll have to catch up with you next time. :)

[ZiaVFR]

Thanks for the extra photos Zia...I was hoping to get more scenery shots but I am uncomfortable to exposing my DSLR to the elements while on the move. And everyone's sense of humor always makes these rides more fun. :laughing6-hehe:

vanion2, thanks for organizing the ride and your photography and writing skills. I always enjoy enjoy riding with you and Rangemaster no matter the destination. It was a pleasure to meet ECHO from Santa Fe and hope we have more rides in the future.

Any riders sitting on the sidelines, come join the fun!