Five AM the Screaming Meanie goes off, it�s time to get up! I hop into the shower, and by 5:45 or so, I�m lined up in the starting area. Me excited? Damn right I am! The volunteers line us in rows of 3, and I�m in the 3rd row, outside. Janene comes over later and she is lined up in the 7th row. Nothing to do now until 7 but BS, drink a little coffee, eat a breakfast bar and wait. Last odometer checks are made, and finally about 5 minutes to go, I wish Janene luck and start warming Baby Wing up and getting my gear on. Finally, at 7 AM on the dot, Ira gives us the go ahead, I start my stopwatch and we leave in an orderly rush. Yee Haw! The 2002 Land of Enchantment 1000 has started, and after months of preparation it�s time to see if I have what it takes.
My first stop is Socorro, which is a Trail stop. For Trail stops, we need to get a receipt, or a picture of the city limits sign, or a picture of the Post Office. As much as possible, I get gas at trail stops, fulfilling the receipt requirement. We all leave the rally hotel, and it looks like I�ll have company on this loop as a bunch of us head west on I-40 towards I-25. Bikes pass me here and there, and pretty soon I am alone headed south on I-25 towards Socorro.
If I had to chose one word to describe this rally it would be: COLD! I have my Widder Electric vest and heated gloves on, but I am still freezing. I did not put my jacket liner in, and at freeway speeds, the wind chill just saps all the heat away from the vest. Lesson learned; make sure the liner is in to trap the heat. Fortunately, the sun is coming up and I�m headed south, so I just grin and bear it.
At Socorro, there are 3 or 4 other bikes already getting gas. I pull in, get my gas and then pull over to the side to fill out my gas log. I switch stuff around a little to make logging easier, which works out really well. I have a nylon pencil bag I use as a rally wallet. It slips under the map case on my Ortlieb tank bag, and I have a tether to make sure the pencil bag stays attached. The pencil bag has a main zippered compartment, and two side mesh compartments, one zippered, the other Velcro-ed. The Velcro compartment I have sewn down to about 1� wide, and in it I keep a ballpoint pen for gas logs and a Sharpie for marking Polaroid pictures. In the center compartment, I keep cash, bonus pictures, the gas log, and a plain envelope for gas receipts. In the zippered side pocket, I keep a credit card. I also keep cash in my right-leg pants pocket. The Widder thermostat goes in my left-leg pants pocket, and I can control it through the material.
My usual gas stop goes like this. Roll up to pump, shut off motor, extend side stand. Turn magnetic tank bag sideways so I can get to the gas cap, unlock gas cap and remove. Get out wallet, get credit card and start pump. Fill gas. Cap gas tank, return hose, grab receipt. Turn tank bag around, fill out the gas log using the receipt, checking that the information on the receipt is good, put receipt in envelope, put wallet away, reset trip odometer. After that, I either get off the bike and get a drink and a snack, or just take off depending on what I want to do at this stop. I always reset the trip odometer after doing the log as a reminder. I also have �Gas Log?� labels on the speedometer and gas cap. It works, as I end the rally with all my receipts and a good log.
While I am getting gas at the Exxon in Socorro, Janene zips by headed to the Chevron station. I wave, and take off back south on I-25, next stop the gas bonus at Deming. The sun is getting higher, and the day is warming as I take the highway 26 Exit off I-25 towards Deming. I am checking the time, and I realize that I have plenty of time to get another bonus. I�d picked the Gila Cliff Dwelling National Monument the night before, but now looking at the map, I see that Hachita is not that far away. I don�t have the bonus sheets where I can get to them while riding, but I remember Hachita was worth some decent points, and besides, it�s the kind of bonus I really want to chase after. �Take a picture of the Hachita Liquor Store and Saloon�, is what I remember the sheets saying. Sounds easy enough, and more importantly, it sounds easier than getting to a National monument on a Saturday. Routing on the fly, damn, this is fun! I�ll check my larger map in Deming and decide on the best route then. |
