New Mexico 2010

Well it has been a while since I wrote about anything much less about any trips I have taken. This is a story about MEN, manly men. Men who are not afraid of anything... uhhh except maybe a 4'10" chihuahua ;)...
This year was the 3rd annual MC trip with my friends. I might add that this trip almost didn't happen. Many of the regulars were planning other trips to Sturgis, Big Bend and other destinations. It all started one afternoon when Steve'o came over to the house and said he needed to get out of town, he didn't care where just needed to get out. So I said let's go to New Mexico... That was the extent of the planning for the trip this year.

For those of you who want the short and sweet version here it is.

Total Distance: 1641

The Riders:

• Myself
• Kevin aka Pelon
• Steve H. aka Princes
• Steve W. aka Grumpy Bear (whose my grumpy bear?)
• Robert
• Jr.
• Boots
• Dad aka Pops aka Prospect

Damage Report:

• One broken power wire in the wiring harness of my bike (Bacon)
• Two dropped bikes. One was dropped over and over and over again... damn prospects!
• Two blown fuses

Memorable Quotes:

• Your phone have skype on it?
• It's gotta be the hot dogs because I just shit mustard out of my ass!!
• What color does pink and yellow make?
• That blue Hyundai should be coming along any minute...

My story and I'm sticking to it...
Thursday night in the garage I was changing oil and getting the bike loaded up for the trip and doing last minute checks on the bike and making sure I have everything packed.
Friday morning came quickly and I was up and gone by 5:15 to meet up with the rest of the crew. We all met up at the gas station and we were gone by 6:00am. It was nice to finally get on the road and enjoy the wind and sun on my face. For those that do not ride, it is one of the most relaxing and therapeutic things you can do for yourself.
You remember when I said that I was checking to make sure I packed everything... well I kept thinking that I was missing something and about 3 hours down the road I realized what it was that I forgot. I forgot my camera and my notepad for my trip notes...SONOFA!!!!
Oh well hopefully everyone else remembered to bring theirs.
The first stop on our trip was in Sweetwater to meet up with Pops and Jr and to have some breakfast. Once we got there we found out that Jr was running late due to some technical difficulties. Pops was there when we pulled up. After some brief introductions we all went inside to get some food before we headed out. Jr showed up about an hour later and we hit the road.

See, that is what happened to the aliens...
Next stop was up to Brownfield for gas and then it was on to Roswell. In between Brownfield and Roswell there is NOTHING.
Here is a brief conversation from the road...
Hey check out that over there. Check out what? That... Where? Over there. What is it? NOTHING!
It was at this point between Brownfield and Roswell that Bacon decided to give up. We were going along nice and smooth about 75 when she went dead! WTF!!! So I pull over check fuses and switch a few out and still nothing. While we were trying to figure out what went wrong with my bike Steve said he has never been drowsy or sleepy on his bike until we were on this road. He said that the aliens crashed cause they were falling asleep...
Normally when you switch on your bike (HD) you hear the fuel pump pressurize the fuel lines. This was not happening. So I pulled out the ol Cell phone and called HOG Road Side to have a wrecker come get me. Lucky for me the day before I left I noticed my road side service was expired so I had renewed it before I left. The tow truck driver said that it had saved me about $200 for the cost of the tow.

Stuck on the side of the road...
The Road side people said it would be about 45 minutes for the wrecker to show up. Steve decided to stay behind with me and we sent everyone else into town to fuel up and find a place to relax while we waited for the tow truck. With nothing better to do in the middle of the desert Steve and I pulled out our camping chairs and sat back and bs'ed for a while. We started to try and estimate distances and betting on how far it was to the next hill. Then we would time cars and try to figure out how far it was. We debated about the distance between the power poles on the side of the road. What else can you do....
When the tow truck showed up we got the bike loaded up and we were off to the dealer.

How the F!@#$ does that happen?
The beauty of HOG road side is that they had called ahead and scheduled an apt for me at the dealership in Roswell, so when we got there they immediately pulled my bike in and started to troubleshoot what was wrong with it.
About an hour after they started to look at it, I went to check and noticed there were four techs standing around my bike scratching their heads, this did not look promising. After about two hours the service guy came and found me and said we know what the issue is. He took me to the bike and I noticed that the factory wiring harness was ripped apart and there was a broken wire inside it. What happened was the main power to the ECU broke, well the ECU powers the fuel pump and fuel regulator. The guy said that vibration had caused the break. With no time to loose I had them solder it back together heat shrink it and then tuck it all back in the harness.

Onward to camp and the mayhem that follows...
After we got my bike back together it was time to get moving so we could make camp before dark. Once we got to camp and checked in Kevin and I headed for our tent site and the rest of the guys went to the cabin, except they got lost on the way and had to circle back. When that happened Pops dropped his bike on the gravel and Princess got tangled up in some sand and he went down too.
Well after we got everyone back on two wheels and our gear put up for the night we walked back down to the office to look for some food and there was none. The camp owners offered to run into town for us and pickup some pizza's and beer which was most welcome.
The rest of the night was relaxing around the fire eating pizza, drinking and telling stories and lies.

Saturday...
We were all up around 5:30 6:00 to get showered and ready for the day. Once we were all ready we saddled up and headed into Ruidoso to register for the rally there. We stopped at a little diner out side of town for some coffee and breakfast. Then we hit the rally site and registered. Found out that the vendors didn't open till 10 and it was 9. We decided to go for a ride through the mountains. It was beautiful. We stopped on the way down the mountain for some photo ops and then headed back into town to check out the rally. After a few hours of meandering around the rally we decided to go get some food. We decided on a place called Quaters which apparently was very popular. However, the service was HORRIBLE! We waited for like an hour before our food came to us and another hour before we got our check. The girl that waited on us was brand new and it was her first day. Needless to say that was the last time we went there.
After our painful lunch we split up. Couple of guys took off and went riding while the rest of us checked out downtown Ruidoso. After looking around downtown we headed up 12k feet to Ski Apache and checked out the view. It was AWESOME! The road up there was nice and twisty, love those mountain roads. After coming down the mountain it was starting to get dark and we didn't want a repeat of the previous night so we headed back to camp for another night of drinking and tall tales. If you ever wanted to know what conversations take place around the fire, you'll have to show up.

Are you man enough for this sandwich...
Next morning we got up and headed back into town for some breakfast. We stopped at this place called the Log Cabin. Which was EXCELLENT! The service was great and the food was awesome. They had a breakfast sandwich called the Man Sandwich which consisted of toasted Hawaiian bread, cheese, ham steak, and a bacon, sausage, and cheese omelet. It was freaking amazing.

I'm a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride...
One of the stops that I wanted to make during this trip was up to Lincoln. This is the heart of the Lincoln county wars and where Billy the Kid and sheriff Pat Garret made their mark on history. When we got to Lincoln we went to the visitor center and got the whole story of Lincoln and the Lincoln county wars. It was really neat to see the town has not changed one bit since it was established. It has been preserved very well. For people who like the legends and stories of the old west this is a must see. The original Tunstall store was still there and the original court house where Billy the Kid broke out of. The bullet holes where he had shot his way out were still in the wall. As you walked down main street it was like walking back in time.

Look Sand...
After spending some time in Lincoln we saddled up and headed down to the White Sands national park. It is basically a big pile of sand in the middle of the desert. Not a whole lot there but we drove into the dunes and checked out the dunes and all the weird wild life that lives out there. After leaving the dunes we headed back to Alamogordo for fuel for the bikes and water for us. We decided to head up hwy 54 to check out another town Carrizozo. We started heading up the road and noticed that we were getting passed by lots of emergency vehicles and then a life flight helicopter flew by. About 40 miles up the road we came to a stop, there was a head on collision between two cars. It was a nasty horrible mess.
After waiting around for about 30 minutes we decided to turn around and head back to Ruidoso for dinner. After dinner we made a quick pit-stop for gas and some snacks and drinks and it was back to camp. When we were at camp it was obvious that everyone was tired. It was much quieter than the previous night. Although that didn't stop everyone from giving the prospect a hard time.

Headed home...
Next morning we broke camp got food and hit the road. We went back the same way. It was a long ride but everyone made it home safely. It was kind of funny Steve and I talked when we got to the house and we were ready to saddle up again. Just needed time to do laundry and pack up the bikes again. Here are more pics of the trip and until next time keep the rubber side down..