LOE_P5

Ken's 2002 LOE Adventure Page 5

It was on US-60 that I found out why so many people think there are UFO�s in New Mexico. Picture this; dark road, late moonless night. Nothing but stars, and it�s so dark you can�t see anything outside the beam of your headlight. Suddenly, there is a flashing light off the side of the road that just seems to hang there, and then disappears. Is it an antenna tower or UFO? Barn lights move and disappear at random, surely hidden by other buildings or trees, or did they just take off. Damn, what was in those pancakes anyway?

Despite the lightning, I don�t get any rain. I just miss some, I can smell it in the air, and in spots, there is a little wet pavement. I�m doing ok warmth wise now that I have everything on. I need to remember to add gear before I get cold; I always under dress and then have to add stuff later; I did it on the trip home too. I see a few small animals on the way to Fort Sumner; most are already road-kill. As I�m coming into Fort Sumner, a Camaro comes up to the Roswell junction, and bangs a u-turn right in front of me. I don�t see a light bar on it, and think its just kids cruising town, but I slow way down, and follow well back. For some reason it just makes me feel uncomfortable, and its nice to see Adam sitting at the gas station. I pull up on the other side of the pumps and tell him we have to quit meeting like this.

This was one of those gas stops that nothing went right. I was already to fill up, when I noticed it was pre-pay only. I set the tank bag on the ground off to the side. I had my Platypus hose clipped to my tank bag with a Chums retractor, which was just long enough. I went in and pre-paid, and when I put the bike on the center stand, my helmet fell off the turn signal. I finally got the gas, and went back in to get my receipt. Did my log, but somehow the Chums got unclipped, because when I got to Roswell, it and the bite valve were gone, and the hose had tire rubber all over it. I tossed them in Roswell as I really didn�t have to worry about getting dehydrated tonight!

I got out of Fort Sumner ahead of Adam, and took the turn towards Roswell. After a while, I see this headlight coming up in my mirrors fast, so I quick like slow down. I may have been pushing the speed limit a little, and I wasn�t sure if I�d been nailed or what. Turns out it was Adam. My slowing startled him, and he went buzzing around me. I thought �Oh boy, a rabbit for me to follow� and off we went off through the night. Come to find out, there was someone coming up fast behind HIM and he thought if it was a LEO, they would get ME and not him. Nice guy that Adam. The other guy turned out to be an oil company truck, and he later passed us both like we were little old ladies out for a Sunday ride. It was nice having the company into Roswell on this lonely road.

Adam and I grabbed the first gas station in the Roswell city limits, and got our receipt. I needed another root beer fix, and a little snack, so Adam left before me, wishing me luck. I caught business 70 around town, which save me a lot of hassle getting through town. Roswell was actually pretty warm, but wisely I did not shed any clothes. Highway 70 quickly climbed into the mountains, and by Ruidoso Downs I was again cold and in need of a break. It was around 2 am, and the cold-case ham sandwich and root beer provided just the pick-me-up I needed. One interesting thing on the way to Ruidoso Downs was the road side reflectors. It seems that New Mexico has a really big reflector budget, and they intend to use it. At times there were so many reflectors on the curves that I couldn�t see because I was blinded. Did you know that caught at a certain angle, roadside reflectors can look just like a rider in an Aerostich? And if you are going around a corner, they can appear to move? And a SilverWing can go from 60 + to zero pretty darn quick when the rider thinks there is some other rider in an Aerostich wandering off the side of the road? I didn�t know that either, but I do now.

I think there were some mountains to my left along here somewhere, that or big looming space ships. I wasn�t too keen on finding out which. Finally, I came to Tularosa, and turned south towards Alamogordo, the next Trail stop. As I went through Tularosa, I noted a couple police officers standing around, and made a note to myself to be careful when I came back up north through here. Ask Janene about the Tularosa cops!

Finally, I�m in Alamogordo, the third Trail stop. Or am I? The outskirts of town go on and on. I don�t want to stop and get gas only to find out I�m NOT in Alamogordo, but a suburb. I keep going until I see the �Welcome to Alamogordo� sign then stop at the first station � and there is my buddy Adam! He is just leaving, so I guess I�m not as far behind him as I thought I was. Roger Van Santen comes in on his FJR while I�m getting gas, another Oregonian. I�d last seen him on US 60 while I was completing my first Trail, headed west while I was heading east. Roger did three Trails (!) while most of us did just the required two. Tom Erickson on his KLR had stopped at another gas station up the road, and there was some lady that was trying to get the $1.50 he�d prepaid back to him. I�d seen Tom leaving town when I was coming in, so I didn�t think he cared. I left her talking to Roger, as I needed to get moving. Roger was nodding his head and filing his tank. I wonder if she knew we were all wearing earplugs, can�t hear her, and didn�t really care?

Back through Tularosa, nice and slow, and up highway 54 to the last Trail stop; Carrizozo. �Road Work next 31 Miles� the sign said. �Loose gravel�. Wonderful. The road had been ground off, so it was nice wiggly groves, with no shoulder, for 31 miles! And of course, somehow, my electrics got unplugged, and it was cold again. Nowhere to pull over, there is a motorcycle behind me, and all I can do is push on. At the end of the construction, I finally pulled off onto the shoulder to plug in. The rider behind me on a BMW K1200LT stopped to make sure I was OK, and I waved him on. A mile or so up, I stopped and helped illuminate the city limits sign for him and then went on into Carrizozo.

At first I thought I�d made a mistake not taking the chance to get the city limits sign photo while we had two bikes there to illuminate it. The town looked dead. I spotted the Post Office, and rode over to it. Nothing on the doors, and the sign on the building was aluminum letters on a pale tan building. At night. Yeah, that�s going to show up in a Polaroid. I took a chance on there being a gas station open further down, and lucky me, there was. Quick pay on my credit card, pump gas and log it. �Attendant has receipt� was in the display. I start to say a few choice words, when here comes a guy running out of the store. �Here is your receipt!� he says holding the magic piece of paper in the air. �You rock man!� I tell him, putting the treasure in my envelope. Didn�t even get off the bike.