Friday 10/7/2016
Tucumcari NM to Sedona AZ
~619  miles

I was buzzing after yesterday’s ride (no, not from the Tecate). Given, it wasn’t the best scenery I knew I’d see on this trip, or curvy roads, etc. I still felt exhilarated at having gotten out halfway across the country in a single day, and being able to now to enjoy new roads in new states with no agenda but my own. I’ve always wanted to ride cross country, especially on a motorcycle, and here I was doing it at last. And it’s such a simple yet amazing concept that the pavement I was riding was connected all the way back to the pavement leading into my driveway at home. All you need to do is pick a destination, let the tires roll, and hang on if you have the time to spare.

The plan was to really take some time today and try to keep slowing down (mentally), maybe see some sights. I added an extra 100 miles to the direct I-40 route by routing a bit to the south so I got up earlier than yesterday to get on the road. The night had been chilly again after the warmth of the middle states (elevation?) so I bundled up with my Gerbings on, and quickly covered the first 50 miles or so on I-40 down to Santa Rosa.

Old Route 66 remnants were here too:

Headed south on US-54 onto long straight stretches through plains and ranch lands:

Turned west on US-60 in the small plains town of Vaughn, which looked like it had seen better times. More long straight stretches and plenty of cows, but with mountains starting to show on the horizon, giving a backdrop and making things a bit more interesting.

US-60 gradually ascends over the Sandia Mountains, south of Albuquerque, and the temperature dropped again, probably into the low 50s. I stopped in the town of Mountainair when I saw this neat snake mural with 3D elements, and then a nearby historical marker.

I pulled in at a convenience store for fuel, coffee, and a bean-cheese burrito. A couple local riders on Harleys pulled in while I was munching away, and we chatted a bit about our ride plans for the day. They told me that my planned route to the west was a good one and would have some nice scenery. One guy turned out to be a transplant from Connecticut, but had been living out there most of his life. They had no heated gear and half-helmets, and I hoped their route would bring them to warmer roads!

After a nice warm-up in the sun, I headed back out to continue over the rest of this mountain range, paralleling the tracks of the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe railroad for many miles.

I saw another sign for a historical marker, which turned out to be for the Abo Ruins. Didn’t ring a bell and I had just stopped a short while ago, so I didn’t go exploring. I was later wishing I’d taken an extra 20 minutes to check out this NPS site with free admission. Apparently, an old Puebloan site with the ruins of a Spanish mission as well that look pretty amazing. Next time, I guess…

US-60 joined up with I-25 southbound for some 30 miles to the larger town of Socorro, where I stopped to fill the tank again, just because I could and I’d read that gas stops might be far between, further ahead on my route. After negotiating a section of strip malls and fast food places, US-60 finally turned back westward and upward into the mountains and the Cibola National Forest.

I started anticipating my next stop at the National Observatory to see the Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope field. As I rode, I started seeing a few dish-looking antennas off in the distance, very widely spaced out, but figured they must be some smaller individual units on the outskirts of the VLA, which I pictured to be all lined up in a pretty close discernible pattern. Nope, this was it and the magic of being able to see things for miles away really hit home after getting closer to these massive telescopes.

I’d noted the observatory during my planning session the previous night and it played a large part in shaping my route for the day. Like many others, I’d first heard of this place in the movie Contact (w/Jodie Foster). In fact, they had a little display inside the front door of the visitor center about the filming of the movie on location there.

I rode up the 4 mile driveway to the visitor center to take a look around. There was a short film presentation you can watch that introduces the VLA, what it does, and all the ongoing improvements they have been making to it to bring it into the modern era of data speeds. Some 40 miles of RR track crisscrosses the valley to allow them to move things around (once every four months apparently) to “open” and “contract” the array of antennae for different types of space research.

There are some nice displays of the space photos taken by the VLA as well as info on some individual antennas located at various points around the work (including Hancock NH!) that can be made to work in tandem with the VLA. Pretty cool.

Outside there is a walking path of exhibits including a radio sundial, long wave antenna array, and getting up close and personal with one of the big antennae (the “visitor antenna”).

As I walked back to my bike upon completing my self-guided tour, a fellow walked over saying “What year is your ST?” A previous owner, he was excited to see one again and we discussed ST topics enthusiastically for several minutes until saying farewall. Never know who you’ll run into on the road, but these little meetings certainly add to the experience.

Shortly after leaving the VLA, I crossed over the Continental Divide for the first time on a bike. I had now crossed the main ridge of the Rockies and everything flowed downhill toward the Pacific Ocean from this point west, which was a pretty neat thought.
Shortly thereafter, I reached the second major destination of today’s ride…Pie Town, New Mexico. What seems to me a Shangri-la for motorcyclists, a tiny mountain community right on the Divide whose claim to fame and sole purpose (for the traveler at least) is to serve delicious homemade pie!

The tradition originally started with an annual September pie festival, but now there are 2-3 little restaurants  all of which specialize in serving pie to road weary travelers, CDT hikers, and adventurers.

All the pie places had great reviews, so I just picked Pie-o-Neer, right on the main drag, which seemed to have received some recent national attention as a human interest story on CBS. The only thing on the menu is pie. When you walk in you’re greeted warmly by the owner and staff and invited to step up to the “pie bar” to choose your pie – various flavors available either by the pie or slice.

 

After securing my pie for lunch, including a slice of coconut something and a slice apple cranberry a la mode (I love vacation), I looked around for a seat. There were plenty of choices, but I was invited to sit down  at a table with a pleasant looking older couple who had seen me taking photos back on the road and pulled in to Pie-O-Neer just after me. It seemed the right thing to do, socializing with strangers over pie, in Pie Town, at the top of the Continental Divide.

Though I can’t for the life of me remember their names now, it was an extremely pleasant lunch meeting these folks, eating our pie, and chit-chatting about our travels and life in general. They were a retired pastor and nurse from Colorado on their way to visit family in southern NM, and they had spent time in the southwest previously working on mission with various Native American peoples.

On our way out, another nice couple hailed us and talked our ear off for another 10 minutes or so. They actually live in Pie Town and he turned out to be a vet and ex-pastor as well. More very nice folks, but daylight was a’burnin so I scooched toward the door and said farewell as soon as an opportunity presented itself.

This would probably be a fascinating place to hang out for a day and just chat with various people. Not to mention you could sample all the different pies…she had just put one out with PINE NUTS in it after I placed my order. Oh well, next time.

Continuing west on US-60, I somehow missed the border crossing into Arizona and was cruising into Springville, the first town of any size in a while, before I knew it. I jogged over to AZ-260 now, which looked nice and squiggly and surrounded by green National Forest lands in my Basecamp software. This road would lead me along the Mogollon Rim before finally dropping down into the valley toward Sedona. Turned out to be a mixed bag, but started off nice enough, ascending up into Apache NF with some beautiful aspens peaking in their fall gold sheen amongst the evergreens.

It was nice riding through the NF and then Fort Apache reservation, but then congestion and slow speed limits gave me a bit of a reality check going through the towns of Lakeside and Slow Low. I’d been riding at high speeds for three days straight and no traffic to speak of. This was tortuous, and there were stationary radar signs (“Your speed is …”) everywhere, making my radar detector next to useless for a while.

I did my best to relax into my forced new speed range and passed when I could. After a thrilling partial descent down off the rim on a divided lanes section of 260, and passing through Payson AZ,  the road changed back to two lanes and got very interesting as it ascended back up in elevation, with some nice twists and switchbacks to engage the bike. Unfortunately, traffic remained an issue and I knew the days of seeming solitude on “my” roads, were probably at an end now. Despite there being SO much empty land and space down in the southwest, there are relatively few roads, so the attraction and beauty that draws people to the area, also seems to funnel them all together at times. Sedona is VERY much like that, but that’s a different day.

Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed the twists and curves through the Tonto and Conocino NF lands in the fading light, and enjoyed partial views of the sun setting before finally coming down off the plateau. I’d love to go back and ride this section early morning some day.

Darkness fell as I came down a final time off the rim and through Camp Verde. The temperature rose up into the 70s and the final miles passed quickly as I thought about joining my wife and her family for a few days of hiking and sight-seeing (and perhaps some more riding!) around Sedona. Page Springs Road in Cornville provided some final curves to enjoy on the way, lit brightly by my aux riding lights. I pulled in to the timeshare resort right around 19:30 local time, buzzing from the day’s ride and half the total journey now in the books – ready for a sandwich and hot tub.