Greetings riders
I wanted to post a single picture of one of the terrific rides I made last fall. This is our entrance to the Tetons. Anyone who's been there will remember this vista. This scene was part of a series of rides, 10,500 miles from Sept thru Nov 2011. Managed to touch both the Canadian and Mexican borders somewhere in that time. Cut me a little slack & consider that I hadn’t been on a bike since …1980-81? Ya, that would be right.
I finally put the bike in storage for the winter after I got caught in a surprise snow storm over Thanksgiving weekend between Cloudcroft and Timberon, NM. After spending the afternoon pushing two-three inches of snow with the front tire, I finally went down to the pavement on the left side. Had the bike not been so heavily loaded, and had I not been riding on a new set of K60’s, I wouldn’t have been able to ride in the snow at all. After dropping the bike at a whooping 12 mph I decided that’s enough, I set up camp along the road side. Being heavily provisioned, camping wasn’t a concern, though more snow was - Yes, I was anxious for an exit. A bit later, just before dark, the snow plows came through. The last plow truck rescued me by going slow enough that I could follow him. He said he’d keep my headlight in sight and salt the curves heavily. I could tell he had the plow down on the roadbed because of all the sparks. His help got me out of the last 20 miles back to Cloudcroft, NM. Salute and shout out to the civil service workers of New Mexico!! God Bless our infrastructure!!
As a novice rider, and one who rides alone, I also put myself and the bike through the trials on the ascent up the Capitan mt trail. After having two four wheel drive trucks advise me to turn around, I finally slogged my way up and over the mountain (the day before the snowstorm.) I managed to keep the bike upright through all but one of the roughest rockiest sections. I fell over after hitting a stone the size and shape of a football. The rock kicked the front wheel up and to the right so hard that it nearly launched the loaded bike over the side of the road. It would have been much harder to stand the bike back up had it not been for the guys in the jeep, whom I’d passed earlier, stopping to chat and help. No they didn't help me hand carry the panniers up to the top of the slope. The good thing about testing yourself and your equipment like that is…..now I know what I can do and how hard it really is, and will hopefully be smart enough to avoid it next time. haha I will try to avoid doing that kind of riding while alone, with full panniers, in the future!! It’s too much like work.
All in all it was one of the best summers of my life. Sitting here in this chair I wonder how I'll ever top it in 2012 and if I do, at what cost?
The Tenere is looking forward to a thorough service check-up and another terrific riding year in 2012. Cheers everyone -- Be safe. Mike
I wanted to post a single picture of one of the terrific rides I made last fall. This is our entrance to the Tetons. Anyone who's been there will remember this vista. This scene was part of a series of rides, 10,500 miles from Sept thru Nov 2011. Managed to touch both the Canadian and Mexican borders somewhere in that time. Cut me a little slack & consider that I hadn’t been on a bike since …1980-81? Ya, that would be right.
I finally put the bike in storage for the winter after I got caught in a surprise snow storm over Thanksgiving weekend between Cloudcroft and Timberon, NM. After spending the afternoon pushing two-three inches of snow with the front tire, I finally went down to the pavement on the left side. Had the bike not been so heavily loaded, and had I not been riding on a new set of K60’s, I wouldn’t have been able to ride in the snow at all. After dropping the bike at a whooping 12 mph I decided that’s enough, I set up camp along the road side. Being heavily provisioned, camping wasn’t a concern, though more snow was - Yes, I was anxious for an exit. A bit later, just before dark, the snow plows came through. The last plow truck rescued me by going slow enough that I could follow him. He said he’d keep my headlight in sight and salt the curves heavily. I could tell he had the plow down on the roadbed because of all the sparks. His help got me out of the last 20 miles back to Cloudcroft, NM. Salute and shout out to the civil service workers of New Mexico!! God Bless our infrastructure!!
As a novice rider, and one who rides alone, I also put myself and the bike through the trials on the ascent up the Capitan mt trail. After having two four wheel drive trucks advise me to turn around, I finally slogged my way up and over the mountain (the day before the snowstorm.) I managed to keep the bike upright through all but one of the roughest rockiest sections. I fell over after hitting a stone the size and shape of a football. The rock kicked the front wheel up and to the right so hard that it nearly launched the loaded bike over the side of the road. It would have been much harder to stand the bike back up had it not been for the guys in the jeep, whom I’d passed earlier, stopping to chat and help. No they didn't help me hand carry the panniers up to the top of the slope. The good thing about testing yourself and your equipment like that is…..now I know what I can do and how hard it really is, and will hopefully be smart enough to avoid it next time. haha I will try to avoid doing that kind of riding while alone, with full panniers, in the future!! It’s too much like work.
All in all it was one of the best summers of my life. Sitting here in this chair I wonder how I'll ever top it in 2012 and if I do, at what cost?
The Tenere is looking forward to a thorough service check-up and another terrific riding year in 2012. Cheers everyone -- Be safe. Mike
