Two Years Living On Two Wheels...And Counting

[Judoka]

Before I knew it, the time had come to pack up and roll West! I needed to ask my friends in Quartzsite AZ to send me my riding gear as I had left it out in there storage shed. I had not donned it for several months by this point and I cannot explain how wonderful it felt just to put on that Jacket! It was like putting on a boxing robe as I was about to enter ring. It made it all feel "official"! I. checked the milage and off I went.

But first to the gas station!

 

[Judoka]

I decided to just slab it and lay down miles my first day as I wanted to run out of the rain and into some sunshine and warmer weather. I knocked down just shy of 600 miles this day.






I was riding a BMW GSA now. I just HAD to upgrade my coffee game! Convenience store mud simply would not do anymore.







Just Kidding guys! I know not all BMW owners are Elitists. I am far from one! I just like to poke fun.

 

[Judoka]

They were not sure what to think about me stripping off layers at "The 'Bucks", but it was getting hot quickly! I guess I was just going to have to get used to being looked at funny again.😁

 

[Judoka]

A known issue with this model GS/GSA is the fuel strip. I never ran the bike more than a couple of hundred miles before stopping to refuel. It took a little longer but I knew running out of gas would have taken longer yet; besides, the rest was welcomed to stretch my legs.
Fuel stop after fuel stop I pushed on until I stopped too camp outside of Oklahoma City.




I Just love the Tornado Shelters in the background! I was quite happy to be camped right next to them.

 

[Judoka]

The next morning I woke up about 04:00 so I could pack up and hit it early in hopes of missing the OKC rush hour traffic. I rode along smoothly with nothing happening but an OKC moto cop passing pleasantries. Soon enough I was out of town with the sun shining and veering off the I-40 and back onto Rt 66!
Breakfast time was upon me and I was hunting some good old country cookin'! I found this little place in one of those half deserted Rt 66 town in East Texas.



They say everything is bigger in Texas. This was one filling breakfast! Look at the size of those pancakes! I was very reasonably priced as well. (Sadly as of the time I am writing this, they have permanently closed. I am grateful I was given that meal and that moment!)

 

[Judoka]

The thing about actually LIVING on a motorcycle is that you have to be plyable and able to adapt often. Often you need to change plans...daily or even several times daily. This can be very stressful and make it difficult to make plans and maintain schedules or goals. Sometimes you will have somewhere you need to be but a snowstorm blows in. Sometimes you travel many hours only to have someone else cancel on you. If it happens in a car you at least have the comfort of climate control or in a pinch you can pull over about anywhere and catch some sleep. When you are riding however you are more at the mercy of the weather; and there are often fewer options.

Options! Yeah. You are often more limited in those. It is in that struggle that I find some sort of calm. If I have less options then I have less things to consider and can focus my energy more on the few options I do have! I find I am actually more resourceful and more intone with the moment when I don't have many easy solutions to.

Discomfort is something we all deal with too. While riding there may be a bit more physical discomfort, like freezing as I ride to Indianapolis in December or Blistering hot as I rode through Death Valley in August, but that discomfort somehow makes me appreciate the experience all the more!

With this in mind, I had to adapt after eating that breakfast because I was so miserably full I could not ride in any sort of comfort! I had only ridden about 200 miles and had to call it a day before noon! A field off an old dirt road was going to be home for the rest of the day and night!

 

[Judoka]

The next morning I was hungry again and ready to hit it! Amarillo was not far and I had a hankering for some steak and a nice craft beer! Westbound with the throttle down I was about to hit The Big Texan wide open! They have a good brewery and plenty of beef.

In less than an hour I was sitting down eating a ribeye and salad and sipping a cold IPA!



For anyone who might be wondering why I did not try my hand at the 72 ounce Big Texan Sirloin, lets just say I learned my lesson in 1993 !

 

[Moyshe Kapoyer]

A known issue with this model GS/GSA is the fuel strip. I never ran the bike more than a couple of hundred miles before stopping to refuel. It took a little longer but I knew running out of gas would have taken longer yet; besides, the rest was welcomed to stretch my legs.
Fuel stop after fuel stop I pushed on until I stopped too camp outside of Oklahoma City.

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I Just love the Tornado Shelters in the background! I was quite happy to be camped right next to them.
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I have always stopped once an hour, give or take. I get fuel, use the bathroom, and streatch my legs. On long, multi day rides, it actually let's you go further because you are much less fatigued.

 

[Judoka]

I have always stopped once an hour, give or take. I get fuel, use the bathroom, and streatch my legs. On long, multi day rides, it actually let's you go further because you are much less fatigued.

Solid point Moshe!

 

[Judoka]

After leaving Amarillo I rolled on to Tucumcari NM where I strolled Main street and RT 66 once again. I stopped at a place I have always enjoyed, to have a cold beer and a pitcher of ice water before before heading on to Santa Rosa NM. As fate would have it, I met up with some interesting people and had a second beer and 4 hours of conversation.
The manager told me that they have a deal worked out with the hotel across the street and called me in a reservation (I think I paid $25 or something for the room). Santa Rosa was going to have to wait.

I am always taken back by these towns along RT 66 because it is strange how some of those towns still thrive with the I-40 coming in and others just died essentially!

 

[Judoka]

After a good nights sleep I decided to forego breakfast and hit the road. I traveled on to Santa Rosa NM where I would beer South to avoid the High Plains and COLD weather...I thought. I filled up at Santa Rosa NM. I grabbed a footlong sandwich, ate half and packed the rest, then headed South. By now I knew that I could run 300 miles without worry on a full tank so Alamogordo and White Sands National Park was my next destination.

 

[Judoka]

It had been many years since I had run this part of New Mexico and I did not realize how high in elevation it was going to be. Coming out of Vahn NM my dash lit up with a flashing snowflake which I learned was a warning that there might be ice on the road. As I rode on I watched the ten drop from 36 to 35 to 34 and hover there as I rode towards the menacing dark clouds ahead. Temps of 34, high elevation and dark clouds? Yep. We are heading into a snowstorm!

Now, I had ridden my XR650L on snowy and icy roads in the past so I was not completely oblivious to the experience, but that was a fairly light bike with knobbies ( I always ran Dunlop 606 tires on that bike). Now I was on a much bigger and much heavier bike with a set of Trailmax Mission tires. Not to knock the tires or the bike, but I was not so confident in my ability, or more accurately my lack of insanity to take that on!

 

[Judoka]

The flurries started quickly and mile by mile it got colder and colder as I climbed in elevation. Big flakes get you wet but they typically don't accumulate . The flakes were getting smaller and the roads were getting whiter as I crept along up into Corona NM. It looked like the storm was letting up so I decided to press on instead of pulling off and waiting it out. After all, the road was just patches of sticking snow.

Wrong choice! Within a few minutes it hit and it hit hard! Visibility was almost nothing and the road was icy with snow blowing across it. This was one of those moments in life when you know with absolute certainty...you just f*(ked up! At this point I was not so worried bout the slide as I was worried about being seen by anything coming on the road! lights were filling up with packed snow and I was not wearing anything high-vis!

 

[Judoka]

On and on into the storm we went. I say we because by this time I was talking to my bike like it was my best friend in a foxhole! when we broke over the ridge and I could see the edge of the storm and that we were heading downhill, I let out a sigh of relief realizing that I was likely going to live through this moment. After more than an hour in a pucker soon I would be able to let go of the clench and the death grip I had on the bars!

 

[Judoka]

I really wish I had gotten some pictures of Corrizozo NM ! That was a suck a cool looking town! Great excuse to go back though!
Eventually I made it to Alamogordo and after the day I just had, I felt a proper beer was in order! I found 575 Brewing Company and it is to this day one of my favorite places ever for a cold one!



I got there before the crowd and had an opportunity to have a great conversation with the owner. I learned about the brewery and a bit about the area ands was generally entertained with his stories. That first beer sensation kicked in and I just felt complete relaxation fall over me. Something about this place just felt right; like I was exactly where I was meant to be in that moment!