I'm actually typing this on Day Six in Cloudcroft - last night after gassing up and getting some supplies in town, I rode back down to James Canyon near Mayhill in the Lincoln National Forest (is that where "Lincoln Logs" came from?) for the night. Unfortunately there was zero signal there! I even walked all over including hiking up the side of a mountain a couple hundred feet but no dice. Incidentally this diner serves wicked breakfast burritos! (you may notice a burst of messages as I re-send all my failed ones from last night)
So, yesterday was pretty awesome again - really cruising into New Mexico. Lots of long stretches of not seeing anyone for tens of minutes, and some nice sweeping curves added to the mix as well. Largest town I've seen was Cloudcroft, which is maybe 6-7 blocks long.
Camping was kinda sick - I stopped really early to relax and basically spent five hours staring ata camp fire. Totally awesome that someone had left a ton of wood at a nearby campsite, so I hauled it over and it kept me going through the night and warmed me up a bit in the morning. Basically total chill out period.
Got really cold last night though! I had ice on my tent when I woke up, and had to triple sock my feet. Otherwise I made it through ok!
On the other hand, running into my first potential problem - all that rough asphalt in New Mexico yesterday really ripped up my rear tire. It is almost completely bare, and I'm concerned it doesn't have much longer on it before I hit the belt. Last thing I want is to pop a rear tire at 80MPH... so I'm currently looking up the closest dealer to hopefully get it replaced.
Thus, depending on what happens, I may hit White Sands today, but I probably won't make it to City of Rocks for the night as I planned - I think I may need to spend the night in Las Cruces to get the bike fixed. Hrm hrm. We'll see!
Also, a warning - I expect barring this tire issue that the next few days will have spotty connectivity for me, since I'm going off into nowhere. I'll send a video I made last night explaining it (to help me remember since I didn't have a pen), so that's my plan..
So, yesterday was pretty awesome again - really cruising into New Mexico. Lots of long stretches of not seeing anyone for tens of minutes, and some nice sweeping curves added to the mix as well. Largest town I've seen was Cloudcroft, which is maybe 6-7 blocks long.
Camping was kinda sick - I stopped really early to relax and basically spent five hours staring ata camp fire. Totally awesome that someone had left a ton of wood at a nearby campsite, so I hauled it over and it kept me going through the night and warmed me up a bit in the morning. Basically total chill out period.
Got really cold last night though! I had ice on my tent when I woke up, and had to triple sock my feet. Otherwise I made it through ok!
On the other hand, running into my first potential problem - all that rough asphalt in New Mexico yesterday really ripped up my rear tire. It is almost completely bare, and I'm concerned it doesn't have much longer on it before I hit the belt. Last thing I want is to pop a rear tire at 80MPH... so I'm currently looking up the closest dealer to hopefully get it replaced.
Thus, depending on what happens, I may hit White Sands today, but I probably won't make it to City of Rocks for the night as I planned - I think I may need to spend the night in Las Cruces to get the bike fixed. Hrm hrm. We'll see!
Also, a warning - I expect barring this tire issue that the next few days will have spotty connectivity for me, since I'm going off into nowhere. I'll send a video I made last night explaining it (to help me remember since I didn't have a pen), so that's my plan..
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