It's November again and that means it's time for the 2nd annual Bit Nippy 1000 mile ride. Last year we started in Albuquerque, rode south and west to Tucson, then up to the Heart Attack Grill for lunch in Chandler, a suburb of Phoenix, on to Flagstaff and then home. It was cold at the start, balmy in the middle and cool at the end. This year we will leave Albuquerque and ride east to Tucumcari, north east to Dodge City, Kansas, west to Walsenburg, Colorado and then south back to Albuquerque. The start should be a little warmer than the year before but the whole trip will be cold. The weather is predicted to be windy and possibly rainy. We had hoped for 10 riders but only 6 showed up and not all at the same time. Four of us met at the Village Inn restaurant at 5 AM and gave our starting forms to the designated witnesses. After a few minutes of socializing we took off for the gas station and our starting gas receipt. The four of us, Bob Hall, Pete Hackett, Chris Hall and myself filled our tanks together but left at different times albeit just a few minutes apart. Bob was frst, Chris next, then I was third with Pete leaving last. I could Chris ahead of me when we got on I-40 towards Tucumcari. As expected Bob was nowhere to be seen, he is usually in a bigger hurry then the rest of us. The temperature was in the high 20s so I had my heated jacket and gloves on as well as heated socks which I was trying for the first time. But after about 40 miles nothing seemed to be heating and I was rapidly getting cold. I could see Pete was behind me when I took an off ramp to check out the heating issue. The power outlet that the electrics were plugged into is monitored by the BMW's computer and if it detects an over current condition it shuts the outlet off. This is what I assumed had happened. I had another wiring cable on the bike for charging the battery so I plugged the electrics into that with an adaptor cable I had and I took off. The electrics worked for a short period of time and then quit again. At that time Bob passed me. Evidently he had stopped somewhere for some reason. I pulled off of the freeway again, disconnected the socks and plugged everything back into the normal power outlet. This took care of the heat problem but I would have cold feet which I have rode with for years so one more trip would not be a big deal. By now I was at least 1/2 hour behind Chris and Pete. This was not important as we did not expect to be riding together anyway. We all have different size gas tanks so would be doing gas stops at different times.At Tucumcari I turned north and went to Logan before I filled my tank for the first time. there and continued toward Dalhart, Texas. Just before the Texas border we would go through Nara Visa. We have a standing joke that only vampires live in Nara Visa so I was glad that it was daylight when I arrived there. One time when we rode through there I had a flat rear tire. There were 2 small punctures about an inch apart. We assumed that a vampire had bitten my rear tire. Now it is just go straight to Dalhart, then Guymon, Oklahoma and then Liberal, Kansas. I have done this same exact ride a few times already this summer going to the midwest. But this time I will stay going north until Dodge City. In Dodge I stop for gas and a restroom. I notice that Bob's bike is also at the same station. As I walk into the rest room he is coming out. He comments that it is probably going to be quite windy from here on, When I come out of the rest room he is gone. From here I will go west to La Junta to get gas again. We will all be going on the same route and will probably all get gas in La Junta to prove what route we were taking. As soon as I leave town I can feel the wind coming from the south. It's a heavy wind which will be tiring but not really dangerous. What is interesting is all of the tumbleweeds. They are being blown across the road in groups of about 30 or 40. It looks like a tumbleweed migration. It is kind of tricky to keep varying your speed so that the tumbleweeds will go in front of or behind you but not hit you. It's actually kind of humorous. Naturally there are trucks on the road going east and some of which have a big pressure wave in front of them. The waves from these really hit you hard and when they approach you bend your head down so that it is not pushed backwards. At one time a big tumbleweed was crossing the road just as a large truck was approaching. The wave from the truck raised the tumbleweed a few feet off of the ground and held it there in a perfect position so that I hit it head on. I was pulling pieces of tumbleweed off of the bike for the rest of the ride and days afterwards.
At La Junta I fill the tank again. I think about calling Linda to tell her where I am but decide that she is not home at this time anyway. In hindsight I probably should have called and left a message. I am now on my way to Walsenburg on I-25 where I will get some more gas to prove where I turned south. On the way I see a turnoff that goes to Trinidad which is a city about 40 miles south of Walsenburg. I could take that turnoff but it would probably be shorter and this ride is not much over 1000 miles to begin with. If we want to certify our ride with the Iron Butt Asscoiation we need to prove that we rode 1000 miles and we need to have gas receipts from locations that will show our route and that we did not take shortcuts. I keep going west and finally reach I-25. By now the wind is a lot heavier and is coming directly from the west which is normal here. I turn south and then realize that the highway I was on intersected I-25 south of Walsenburg. The gas station there is at the north end of town and I do not want to backtrack. I will stop at the next station I see so that I can prove I did not take the road to Trinidad. The wind on I-25 is not just annoying it is dangerous. It is everything I can do to keep the bike in my lane. There are mountains along the highway just north of Trinidad that should block the wind so I decide to hang on and keep fighting.
Linda and I were in similar winds along this highway earlier this year but it was also in a lightning storm. Visibility was basically zero because of the rain and I was concerned about the bike being blown across the road because the wet pavement might not have enough traction to hold it. But our`real fear was the lightning which was hitting the ground off to the right of us and getting closer. I did see a white line going off to the right at an angle and assumed that it was an off ramp and veered that way. Many of these off ramps have an underpass below the freeway and luckily that one did. We parked under the freeway and waited for the storm to pass. When it had passed we took off again and were quickly hit by another. So we immediately took another off ramp and waited for the second storm to pass. It was a scary time.
Finally I reach the mountains that somewhat block the wind. However I never did see a gas station and I am now almost to Trinidad. I am definitely not going back through that wind again. I have a Spot satellite tracker that transmits my GPS postition every 10 minutes and possibly that can be used to show what route I took. I am hoping that when I cross Raton pass into New Mexico that the heavy winds will not resume again. The winds were still heavy but not dangerous like it was in Colorado. At Las Vegas I stop for fuel again. It is now quite cold again. After I fill the tank I eat an energy bar outside by the bike. All at once the cold hits me and I start to shiver. I zip up my jacket but it is not much help. I have had shiver attacks like this before from fatigue but that is not what this is. It is all from the cold. The best thing I can do is get on the bike and get the heated gear warmed up and this is what I do. The only stop I need to make now is my finish gas stop which is also where our starting location was. This is only 125 miles away and it is still early evening. I arrive back at the restaurant after getting the last gas receipt at 9:30. Bob is naturally there but Pete and Chris are not. I am surprised at that as I had lost at least 30 minutes They probably had to make 2 more gas stops than me. While I am having a cup of coffee my phone rings and it is my granddaughter telling me to call my wife immediately. It seems that my Spot tracker quit transmitting at 2 PM and Linda is worried that I may have been in an accident. She has been quite worried for hours. She monitors the transmissions to track my progress. I give her a call and reassure her that all is well. After a cup of coffee and a piece of pecan pie I head for home. Pete and Chris still have not arrived. But we are all meeting for breakfast so we can tell our stories then. It turns out that Chris had a battery fail and I did not find out what had delayed Pete. Jeff Foster also finished the ride. He had delayed his start so that he could see a commemorative train that was going to be going west as we were going east. I did see it on the way to Tucumcari and it was quite impressive to see the old steam engine and passenger cars. Next year we are going to start the Bit Nippy 3 somewhere away from Albuquerque and finish in Albuquerque.
At La Junta I fill the tank again. I think about calling Linda to tell her where I am but decide that she is not home at this time anyway. In hindsight I probably should have called and left a message. I am now on my way to Walsenburg on I-25 where I will get some more gas to prove where I turned south. On the way I see a turnoff that goes to Trinidad which is a city about 40 miles south of Walsenburg. I could take that turnoff but it would probably be shorter and this ride is not much over 1000 miles to begin with. If we want to certify our ride with the Iron Butt Asscoiation we need to prove that we rode 1000 miles and we need to have gas receipts from locations that will show our route and that we did not take shortcuts. I keep going west and finally reach I-25. By now the wind is a lot heavier and is coming directly from the west which is normal here. I turn south and then realize that the highway I was on intersected I-25 south of Walsenburg. The gas station there is at the north end of town and I do not want to backtrack. I will stop at the next station I see so that I can prove I did not take the road to Trinidad. The wind on I-25 is not just annoying it is dangerous. It is everything I can do to keep the bike in my lane. There are mountains along the highway just north of Trinidad that should block the wind so I decide to hang on and keep fighting.
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| I picked tumbleweed pieces off of the bike for days. |
Linda and I were in similar winds along this highway earlier this year but it was also in a lightning storm. Visibility was basically zero because of the rain and I was concerned about the bike being blown across the road because the wet pavement might not have enough traction to hold it. But our`real fear was the lightning which was hitting the ground off to the right of us and getting closer. I did see a white line going off to the right at an angle and assumed that it was an off ramp and veered that way. Many of these off ramps have an underpass below the freeway and luckily that one did. We parked under the freeway and waited for the storm to pass. When it had passed we took off again and were quickly hit by another. So we immediately took another off ramp and waited for the second storm to pass. It was a scary time.
Finally I reach the mountains that somewhat block the wind. However I never did see a gas station and I am now almost to Trinidad. I am definitely not going back through that wind again. I have a Spot satellite tracker that transmits my GPS postition every 10 minutes and possibly that can be used to show what route I took. I am hoping that when I cross Raton pass into New Mexico that the heavy winds will not resume again. The winds were still heavy but not dangerous like it was in Colorado. At Las Vegas I stop for fuel again. It is now quite cold again. After I fill the tank I eat an energy bar outside by the bike. All at once the cold hits me and I start to shiver. I zip up my jacket but it is not much help. I have had shiver attacks like this before from fatigue but that is not what this is. It is all from the cold. The best thing I can do is get on the bike and get the heated gear warmed up and this is what I do. The only stop I need to make now is my finish gas stop which is also where our starting location was. This is only 125 miles away and it is still early evening. I arrive back at the restaurant after getting the last gas receipt at 9:30. Bob is naturally there but Pete and Chris are not. I am surprised at that as I had lost at least 30 minutes They probably had to make 2 more gas stops than me. While I am having a cup of coffee my phone rings and it is my granddaughter telling me to call my wife immediately. It seems that my Spot tracker quit transmitting at 2 PM and Linda is worried that I may have been in an accident. She has been quite worried for hours. She monitors the transmissions to track my progress. I give her a call and reassure her that all is well. After a cup of coffee and a piece of pecan pie I head for home. Pete and Chris still have not arrived. But we are all meeting for breakfast so we can tell our stories then. It turns out that Chris had a battery fail and I did not find out what had delayed Pete. Jeff Foster also finished the ride. He had delayed his start so that he could see a commemorative train that was going to be going west as we were going east. I did see it on the way to Tucumcari and it was quite impressive to see the old steam engine and passenger cars. Next year we are going to start the Bit Nippy 3 somewhere away from Albuquerque and finish in Albuquerque.
