Cinco De Mayo

Shortly after posting the delicious green chili cheeseburger at Sparkys in Hatch, NM, I met a man named Adolfo (or Adolpho?) in the parking lot of Sparkys. I was just getting ready to switch out air filters since I ran through a few dust storms on the way. There was no shade in the parking lot, so Adolfo offered to show me his farm and do my maintenance there in the shade.

Adolfos farm wasnt just a chili farm, as he had cows, horses, pigs, and two dogs. We shared a beer and talked while Freya got a full checkout (air filter change, spark plugs checked, all connections and hoses) and since we're gonna be at a higher elevation, I switched my main jets from 130 to 127.5 (idle jets still 40).

The effects of drought are being felt all over the area. What used to be a creek which always had water in it is now dry and barren (and has been since the drought started around last year). The area sits atop some water underground, so now instead of diverting stream water to feed the crops, Adolfo now has to spend extra thousands of dollars a month to buy fuel to run a pump. While we were looking at it, Adolfo noticed the oil drip throttle assembly was clogged, so the pump was getting no oil. We took it apart, cleaned it, reinstalled it, and solved it. I didnt do anything he wouldnt have done himself, but it felt nice to be apart of preventing a major problem (pump seizure, no water for crops).

Back at the house, I got to meet his son and friends. I spent most of the afternoon at Adolfos farm, and regret none of it. Just one more example of great people being found all over the USA, just trying to make it no matter what nature throws at them. If you're reading this Adolfo, thank you again.

After saying goodbye, the road to Spaceport America was ahead. Mostly paved and on the highway, it was somewhat uneventful. Down the road, I happened to come across Elephant Butte Dam and powerplant. Where the level of water has gone down, the giant area looks like a draining bathtub, leaving rings around it as it slowly goes away.

Lots of winding paved roads after seeing this. The road wasnt great, and eventually led me to a fork in the road. Southward to spaceport america, and the road became fantastic! Obviously only a few years old, it was smooth as could be while driving by Ted Turners ranch (I didnt see any buffalo however) and on to my destination. Somewhere, out here in the middle of NOWHERE

Ah-hA! I"m close... Just further down the road and there was the security checkpoint. The guard who came out seemed used to working so far from anything. Talked my ear off! Most of it about spaceport america, which we could see from where we were. This also happened to be as close as I could go, since its still under construction:

This is the rear end of the spaceport. The front (I'm told) has huge glass doors andwindows. Turns out theres a bit of controversy about building this port, and its nearly at a standstill now. Funding is from tax payers, and from what I gather it wasnt expressely sold that way. On top of that, the area has near constant winds, sometimes dangerously high, and they built the giant runway to always have a cross wind. The security guard mentioned that for better information, check out the website of the state newspaper and search for spaceport america, instead of going to spaceport americas website.

Pretty underwhelming I guess, but I had fun. I really wanted to see the site with my own two eyes, but didnt get to see as much as I hoped for. Onward to Las Cruces, NM. The security guard told me the way there. The pavement ends, and its gonna be all gravel, sand, and dirt. Its gonna be rough, but he said I'll be fine. The last best piece of advice was "do not get comfortable on that road, do not get a false sense of security."

How right he was!

Middle of nowhere, again, this time on a road that seemed DESIGNED to be a dangerous pain in the ass! Mostly caliche and gravel, with constant horizontal ridges, made the entire 24 miles of it rougher than most trails I've ridden on. Not pictured is the several washouts, massive potholes, and declines leading to very soft sand followed by an incline. This was a dangerous road, requiring full focus. Then something happened..

COW ATTACK!!!!!!! These guys were all over the road, some of them not caring while I drove around them, others following me. They actualy kept their distance, but I couldnt be too careful. I've read that cow attacks kill about 17,000 people annualy. I read that in a book, seriously. I also saw the biggest rabbits I've ever seen, the size of dogs, but too fast to grab a photo.

Nightfall on the roughest road I've been on. I'm hoping nothing shakes itself loose, or even shake something off. For most of the road, I had to stand up because sitting down was intolerable. Finally, I met up with the main highway leading me to Las Cruces. Several miles later, bikes still running great, and I pull into a motel for a hot shower.

And boy did I need it! Light tan dust covering everything so completely, that even though my boots are black, you couldnt tell. They were now tan! Freya was mostly tan too! I rolled up to the motel looking just filthy, and feeling absolutely fantastic since I made it safely.

It was then 10pm and I found out its Cinco De Mayo. I had no idea!