Colorado Cruiser: Texas Big Bend Ride - Day 2

I slept the night on my daughter's couch. I woke up the first time at 4:30. I picked up my iPhone and activated the weather app. It said it was 29 degrees outside. I put the phone down and went back to sleep. I woke up at 5:30 and it said the same thing, but if I want to get to Las Cruces before the sun sets I need to get moving.

By the time I was all packed and had a breakfast bar, the sun was up and it had warmed to 32 degrees.

The bike was covered with frost and every time I wiped it off, it immediately started forming again. I really wasn't looking forward to warming the seat with my seat.

As I stood in front of my daughter's house with the rising sun behind me, I was strongly reminded of the times visiting my grand parents and and aunt/uncle in Provo Utah as a child. I remember the chill in the air, the birds singing, and the smell of the frost on the grass and trees. I stood there for a while drinking in that clear blue sky with the warm sun on my back. If I'd known how cold I was going to get, I might have stayed there longer.

Starting down the road, my windshield fogged up within a few minutes. I stopped and wiped it off, then stopped again a few minutes later. By the 3rd time it seemed to stay off. I merged onto the freeway, twisted the throttle, and started down the road.

I was wearing a shirt, a sweat shirt, and my big heavy riding jacket up top. I had on jeans and my leather chaps below. My body core never got cold, but my feet and especially my hands got very cold. I had stuffed hand warmer pouches into my gloves, but they didn't do enough. I went nearly 90 miles before stopping in Trinidad for breakfast and to warm up. My hands went through that phase where they ached from even luke warm water touching them.

I sat eating my breakfast sandwich long enough to feel warmth through my hands and feet. I knew that crossing Raton pass would get very cold, and I wanted to be fortified before trying that.

I put my gear back on and climbed on the bike. Because I'd warmed up so much, I started shivering when the wind hit me. I shivered for 10 minutes until my body had re-aclimatized to the cold. As I started up the pass the temperature started dropping. It had snowed the night before, but it was early in the evening and I figured the road crews had had plenty of time to clear any snow, and the sun had been shining on it for over 2 hours. I saw patches of damp roadway but there was no evidence of ice on the road.

Finally I topped out and started down the other side. It doesn't feel like you drop all that far down to the town of Raton, but the temperature when I got there was easily 15 degrees warmer than Trinidad. I stopped for gas and another warming session.

As I prepared to leave, another motorcycle pulled in and stopped at the pump next to me. The guy climbed off and was visibly shivering. He said he'd left Denver at 4:00am in 17 degrees. He only had a half helmet, levis, and a balaclave. He'd had to stop every chance to warm up. He also had no windshield on his bike, and no face shield. I can't imagine how cold I'd have been with the wind straight onto my face that whole way.

I felt much warmer after Raton, but I'd hoped it would really warm up allot more. It stayed cloudy and chilly all the way to Las Vegas.

I have a GPS app on my iPhone and was giving that a try on this trip. When I got to Las Vegas I noticed that it was recommending that I leave I-25 for side roads the rest of the way. I was worried that the GPS was trying to send me down a dirt road, so I called my buddy Zane and asked him about it. He used to live in the area. He knew the southern half of the road and said it was ok.

I hate riding the freeway on my motorcycle, so I jumped at the chance to get off of it. I figured it would take me 1 hour longer than the freeway even though it was 50 miles shorter. If I'm just going to go as many miles in as short a time as I can, I might as well be in a car.

The road were really nice and wonderfully empty of traffic. I did have to get on I-40 for 15 miles, but that wasn't bad.

I got to the town of Santa Rosa and decided to find some lunch. I stopped at a cafe featuring Route 66 signs on it. I knew I'd probably have mexican food for lunch, and I'd be eating allot of junk food throughout the trip, so I opted for a chef salad. Parked in front of the restaurant was a Classic Ford Bronco. I drive a 1970 Ford Bronco most days, so seeing a nicely restored one is always interesting to me.

I'm always looking for interesting places to eat, as opposed to eating in chain restaurants or fast food places. I looked for a while in Santa Rosa before I stopped where I did, but it was soo touristy that I almost didn't stop. Once I got riding after lunch, I hadn't gone 30 minutes when I came into a small town with a beautiful old diner. I wish I'd skipped the first place and eaten there, but too late.

I continued down highway 54 out in the middle of some wide open plains. I could see mountains off to one side every so often, but mostly it was just the plains with the vegetation varying from scrubby trees to desert grasses. Lots of Joshua trees, but surprisingly few cactus.

A part of the reason I decided to go down highway 54 rather than I-25 was the chance to go through Alamagordo and White Sands. I'd never been to either and I doubt I'd have a chance to again. Alamagordo sits at the base of some high plateaus. I tried to get a picture but the lighting was horrible and the pictures came out almost unrecognizable for the stark contrast.

While crossing White Sands you don't really see much. A few squat generic buildings, and some low dunes with very white sand peeking through the grasses.

Just between white sands and Las Cruces is a very interesting ridge of mountains. Again, the lighting was horrible, and the winds had picked up enough dust to make the very air reflect the sunlight so I couldn't get a recognizable picture.

I made it to our Hotel and met up with John. He'd had a relaxing ride over from Phoenix. He said he hadn't even bothered to put on a coat.

We tried using Yelp to find somewhere to eat, but it led us to a mexican place that was closed. I yelp out of fashion now? Every review seemed a year old or more.

At least we were in an are with other restaurants so we rode along until we saw something that looked ok. It turned out to be great. It's always chancy to just pick a place and walk in. I've had some really nasty food on my bike trips in the past.

My bike parked in front of my daughter's house