Colorado Cruiser: Nearly to Taos

Saturday June 7th, 2014

Nannette was heading home this morning, and I was going to take a ride.

We packed the car, kissed, and I waved goodbye as Nannette headed home. Then I got on the bike and rode off myself.

On Tuesday we had been planning to ride over toward Taos New Mexico, but we shortened the ride so that Nannette could ride with me. Today I'm going to ride the road we missed on Monday.

Just east of Pagosa I turned South on highway 84 toward Chama. Just like the last 6 days, the weather was perfect and cool. It was a great ride down to Chama. I stopped a few times just to admire the scenery.

I turned south at Chama for about 15 miles until I reached highway 64 and turned east. This was the highway I'd come to ride. The road crosses the mountain range here, and does so with allot of twisting and climbing. It's a very fun road to ride. I cruised along admiring the increasingly better views as I rose higher and higher.

Eventually I reached a pullout near the top and pulled over to take pictures and enjoy the silence. Every so often I'd hear a car coming, but they were few and far between. I must have stayed there for 30 minutes watching the clouds slowly building around me. There is rain forecast for this afternoon and I don't want to get caught in it.

Finally I got back on the bike and continued east. Once I crossed the mountain, the road began descending but much more gradual than the climb up. I weaved through the valleys and forests on the east side for about 30 miles. I kept glancing at the building clouds and wondering if I shouldn't just turn around now, but part of me wanted to reach my destination.

I stopped when I reached the ranger station. It is on the very edge of the forest and has some nice picnic tables beneath the trees. The last time we came here, we stopped for a bit, then continued on to Taos. The 30 miles to Taos was flat, hot, and no fun, and Taos itself wasn't very impressive, so the ranger station was my destination for this ride.

I sat at a picnic table listening to music on the motorcycle speakers and eating doritos. It was relaxing and peaceful, except for the distant sounds of thunder reminding me that if I sat there too long, I'd be doing so in a down pour.

A guy in a blue pickup pulled into the parking lot and went to check the door on the ranger station. It turns out the ranger station is only open Monday to Friday. He came over and talked with me about the ride and the area. He lives nearby and wanted to get a permit to get wood. We chatted about bikes and fun roads for a while, then he left and I followed a few minutes later.

The wind was picking up and a few sprinkles of rain hit my windshield. While I'd waited at the ranger station the clouds had slipped around me to the west. The clouds were building and darkening quickly. The temperature was also dropping. On the way in, it had dropped as low as 61 at the top, and now it was 58 as I started the climb back up.

I would have liked to stop at a few of the pullouts for more pictures, but thunder and lightning made me very nervous about stopping, so I stopped for only a few short glimpses.

Once I crossed the pass and began descending, the temperature quickly rose and I didn't feel the imminent threat of rain so I slowed down and enjoyed the views while I could.

Once I reached Chama, I started thinking about lunch and pulled up to High Country Restaurant. I'd eaten here a couple years ago and liked it. This time I got a BLT and really liked it. As I ate, a group of 18 motorcycles pulled up with nearly 25 people. They came in to eat and the staff quickly made room for them and got them fed surprisingly quick. It was a group riding up from Albuquerque for lunch. I asked if they'd seen any rain and they said no, but they expected to get wet on the way home.

I finished out my ride with the 50 miles back across the border to Colorado and into Pagosa by 3;30.

Nannette had given me a brochure about a Bluegrass Music Festival, so I rode over to see what it was about. I found all the parked cars, but I couldn't find anyone to tell me where to park, whether it cost anything, nor where the actual festival was. I wandered a couple parking lots and eventually gave up on it.

Instead, I went to the Malt Shop and got myself a great strawberry shake. Then I rode around town trying to decide what to do for dinner. I spotted a Thai restaurant and figured I'd go there if I didn't figure out something else. I went to the local grocery store and wandered the aisles looking for something I could cook, but I had none of the extras I'd need to cook most things, so i returned to the Thai place and ordered some ginger chicken to go.

I spent the evening eating my Thai (it was very good), watching TV, and writing my blog reports.

Nan and I in front of her Highlander