Crazyjeeper
NickGyver
I was getting the itch to hit the road again so I decided to check out some new ground. My previous weekend trips to Arkansas had been somewhat underwhelming. I was longing for the big vistas and real mountains of the west. With the Labor Day holiday coming up, I got on google maps, drew a very ambitious route and decided what the hell, I'm going to go for it.
Day 1: Dallas, TX to Los Alamos, NM
Slab. Lots and lots of Slab. I left Dallas just after 7am and made it 380ish miles to Amarillo in 6 hours. At this point my lower back was in absolute agony. While I sat in Jimmy Johns trying to rest my back while I ate lunch, I remembered that my jacket has a built in kidney belt which I had not used in years. It turned out to be just what the doctor ordered and it definitely saved my weekend. After another 320 miles, I made it to the hotel in Los Alamos without any trouble. At 700 miles, this was my second longest day on the bike ever but by far the most difficult. Through most of Texas the heating was punishing and I only got relief in the last 100 miles as I climbed up over 6000 ft. Overall it was a great day. I love started in one climate zone, down on the plains and ending up over 7000 ft in the mountains.
Day 2: Los Alamos, NM to Tucumcari, NM
Time for the reason I made this trip. 400 miles of twisty roads and scenic vistas.
Finally, some pictures.
Fog hanging in the valley
New Mexico has a loose definition of state highway. Usually I expect them to be paved, but this one turned into nothing more than a graded dirt path as it crossed the mountains.
The cockpit. As you can see, it was a lovely 61 degrees.
Pavement, glorious brand new pavement.
That stretch was by far the highlight in terms of roads. It was about 7 miles of pristine brand new asphalt with out a single other vehicle the entire way.
Coming out of the other side of the mountains.
Even the open parts are very pretty
A lake.
I took a detour down a very small road along the Rio Grande which ends in a fairly steep gravel road climbing out of the gorge. This was near the top.
After a quick lunch in Taos, I headed south through another mountain range towards Las Vegas (NM).
I arrived in Las Vegas and was surprised to see that it is on a grassy plain. It looked a lot more like eastern Montana than New Mexico. I was expecting to drop out of the mountains in the desert, not this.
I knew that Tucumcari was down in the desert and I hoped that the transition from plains to desert would be dramatic. I wasn't disappointed.
The plains ended with a 1000 foot high cliff which the road snaked down.
This 400 miles took about the same amount of time the 700 did the day before. I was completely spent. I pulled into Tucumcari just before the sun set, grabbed a quick bite and went to bed. I had another long, hot day in front of me.
Day 3: Tucumcari, NM to Dallas, TX.
Time for more slab. Rather than take I-40 back to Amarillo and follow the route I took up, I decided to see some new ground and cut straight south toward Clovis. About 25 miles south of town, I climbed up another bluff and ended up on a flat featureless plain.
This turned out to be a bit of a theme for the day. The next 200 miles were the same grassy fields, punctuated by the stench of a hog farm every now and then. By the time I reached Crosbyton, TX it was well into the 90s and I had only covered 225 of the planned 500 miles. I surprised myself by just pounding on all of the way until 3:00 stopping only to fill my bike with gas and my hydration pack with ice. By noon it was 100 degrees. I finally gave up and stopped for lunch in Jacksboro, TX at 3:00 with 100 miles to go. Luckily Texas has a very loosely enforced 75mph speedlimit so I was making great time. As I approached Fort Worth, the traffic was getting heavy and the heat was even more oppressive. At this stage I had been riding in 100+ degree heat for 4ish hours and I still had 45 minutes to go to get to back home. However, in rebuilding a lot of the freeways around DFW, they have been building what at called TEXpress lanes. They are separate toll lanes which run over or under an existing freeway. In most cases they also have a much higher speedlimit. I made record time from where I entered Loop 820 back to my house.
Trip done!
Thanks for reading.
Day 1: Dallas, TX to Los Alamos, NM
Slab. Lots and lots of Slab. I left Dallas just after 7am and made it 380ish miles to Amarillo in 6 hours. At this point my lower back was in absolute agony. While I sat in Jimmy Johns trying to rest my back while I ate lunch, I remembered that my jacket has a built in kidney belt which I had not used in years. It turned out to be just what the doctor ordered and it definitely saved my weekend. After another 320 miles, I made it to the hotel in Los Alamos without any trouble. At 700 miles, this was my second longest day on the bike ever but by far the most difficult. Through most of Texas the heating was punishing and I only got relief in the last 100 miles as I climbed up over 6000 ft. Overall it was a great day. I love started in one climate zone, down on the plains and ending up over 7000 ft in the mountains.
Day 2: Los Alamos, NM to Tucumcari, NM
Time for the reason I made this trip. 400 miles of twisty roads and scenic vistas.
Finally, some pictures.
Fog hanging in the valley
New Mexico has a loose definition of state highway. Usually I expect them to be paved, but this one turned into nothing more than a graded dirt path as it crossed the mountains.
The cockpit. As you can see, it was a lovely 61 degrees.
Pavement, glorious brand new pavement.
That stretch was by far the highlight in terms of roads. It was about 7 miles of pristine brand new asphalt with out a single other vehicle the entire way.
Coming out of the other side of the mountains.
Even the open parts are very pretty
A lake.
I took a detour down a very small road along the Rio Grande which ends in a fairly steep gravel road climbing out of the gorge. This was near the top.
After a quick lunch in Taos, I headed south through another mountain range towards Las Vegas (NM).
I arrived in Las Vegas and was surprised to see that it is on a grassy plain. It looked a lot more like eastern Montana than New Mexico. I was expecting to drop out of the mountains in the desert, not this.
I knew that Tucumcari was down in the desert and I hoped that the transition from plains to desert would be dramatic. I wasn't disappointed.
The plains ended with a 1000 foot high cliff which the road snaked down.
This 400 miles took about the same amount of time the 700 did the day before. I was completely spent. I pulled into Tucumcari just before the sun set, grabbed a quick bite and went to bed. I had another long, hot day in front of me.
Day 3: Tucumcari, NM to Dallas, TX.
Time for more slab. Rather than take I-40 back to Amarillo and follow the route I took up, I decided to see some new ground and cut straight south toward Clovis. About 25 miles south of town, I climbed up another bluff and ended up on a flat featureless plain.
This turned out to be a bit of a theme for the day. The next 200 miles were the same grassy fields, punctuated by the stench of a hog farm every now and then. By the time I reached Crosbyton, TX it was well into the 90s and I had only covered 225 of the planned 500 miles. I surprised myself by just pounding on all of the way until 3:00 stopping only to fill my bike with gas and my hydration pack with ice. By noon it was 100 degrees. I finally gave up and stopped for lunch in Jacksboro, TX at 3:00 with 100 miles to go. Luckily Texas has a very loosely enforced 75mph speedlimit so I was making great time. As I approached Fort Worth, the traffic was getting heavy and the heat was even more oppressive. At this stage I had been riding in 100+ degree heat for 4ish hours and I still had 45 minutes to go to get to back home. However, in rebuilding a lot of the freeways around DFW, they have been building what at called TEXpress lanes. They are separate toll lanes which run over or under an existing freeway. In most cases they also have a much higher speedlimit. I made record time from where I entered Loop 820 back to my house.
Trip done!
Thanks for reading.
Last edited:
