Ride to Arizona and back in 3 days? Sure!

Crazyjeeper

NickGyver
Joined
Nov 29, 2006
Messages
8,020
Location
Dallas, TX
Car(s)
F150, CJ7, Mustang GT, Tenere, Griso
Nearly 2 months later, I finally found the time to write up my trip I took between May 28 and May 30.

Another 3 day weekend? That can only mean one thing. Ride as far as possible!

Day 1 - Dallas, TX to Socorro, NM

Time for slab, lots of slab. The ultimate purpose of this trip is to ride US 191 in Arizona, formerly US 666, aka the Devil's Highway. Of course doing that in a 3 day weekend means getting deep into New Mexico the first day. I decided to check out some new routes and took TX 114 to Bridgeport and from there I took US 380 all of the way to Socorro. Other than the brutally flat stretch from Post, TX to Tatum, NM, it was really quite a nice route. If any of you find yourselves headed through there, I'd like to recommend grabbing a bite a Cardi's Cafe in Tahoka, TX. It's often a roll of the dice whether these small town eateries will be any good or not, and in this case it was excellent. Now for some pictures.

Somewhere in eastern New Mexico
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I think this is an ancient lava flow
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More wide open spaces
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Took me about 12 hours to get to Socorro which pretty much set the tone for the rest of the trip. I had 2 more 12 hour days to go.

Day 2 - Socorro, NM to Las Cruces, NM via US 191

Time for the good part; the reason I took this whole crazy trip.

Approaching the VLA on US 64
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VLA radio telescope
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More wide open landscapes
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It was a bit of a bear to yank the Tenere off the side stand in this particular spot
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Getting into the mountains
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Climbing into the pine forests
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Welcome to Arizona!
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Overlook on US 191
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Pictures never do it justice
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Met some fellow Tenere rides from Flagstaff
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A rare picture of me!
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Further down 191
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Mmmm, twisties
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Large open pit mine. I had no idea that the road actually cut right through the middle of the mine. There was one spot where they had barriers across the highway to let the gignatic mining trucks drive across.
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At this point, I had decended from around 9000 feet to around 4000 feet with the corresponding increase in temperature.
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More delicious corners
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Climbing back up another pass
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Back into New Mexico
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Really cool canyon road
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Amazing view at the top of Emory Pass
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This day definitely goes down as one of the best days on the bike so far. Amazing scenery, amazing roads.

Day 3 - Las Cruces, NM to Dallas, TX

Well, fun part is mostly done, time to head east and try and get home before sunset. Luckily I had a few more fun twisty bits in NM before dropping into the plains and heat of Texas.

Riding into the rising sun heading towards white sands
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Organ Mountains
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White sands from the pass headed into Cloudcroft
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I love the way the sun hits that impact blue
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That is my last photo. At this point, I was focused on just getting home. Other than a brief chat with a sheriff's deputy about my velocity, it was a pretty uneventful slab ride all of the way across Texas on US 180.

Home!
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According to Garmin, it was exactly 1801 miles. Can't wait for the next one!
 
I admit that I kinda geeked out at the VLA photo.
 
I admit that I kinda geeked out at the VLA photo.

It's one of those places that pictures just don't do justice. Next time I'm going to schedule some time to go through the museum there.
 
Great stuff man. My brother lives down in Tucson and he's been riding around the southwest for a few years now. I don't think he realizes how good he has it. You're right that pics don't quite do it justice. That doesn't make the pics any less pretty though. :D Thanks for sharing.
 
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