michaellmcc
New member
New Mexico! As the t-shirt says, it ain?t ?New? and it ain?t ?Mexico?. But whatever you call it, the western part of the state is a fantastic place for exploring on a dual-sport bike.
I spent a few days looking for ghost towns, most of which were down dirt roads, earlier this month. Many interesting and image-provoking names are part of the fabric of the region ? miners, Mogollon, ranchers, Apaches, Geronimo, Billy the Kid, the Cavalry, Chloride, Pinos Altos. Very interesting history lesson and great riding.
The link takes you to a few of the photos; due to popular demand, I even included some video footage. Thank goodness a friend mentioned the RAIN that swamped much of the Gila the week we had originally planned to go. It would have been a wash-out. As it turns out, I rode through a few of said wash-outs? the erosion and rocks that were moved around indicate some powerful forces at work. The Forest Service said ??you shouldn?t try to get to Mogollon??. But there were a few pick-ups and SUV?s coming and going, so it was obviously passable.
I only ?tumped over? once? thus re-learning the lesson about not stopping on a steep, uphill, unpaved road. A tourist had stopped, blocking the turn, right in a rough section where unpaved transitioned to semi-pavement. He wanted to know if it was OK to proceed. I said yes. He slowly went down the road. I tried to get rolling and fell over where there was no footing.
https://vimeo.com/110177605
I spent a few days looking for ghost towns, most of which were down dirt roads, earlier this month. Many interesting and image-provoking names are part of the fabric of the region ? miners, Mogollon, ranchers, Apaches, Geronimo, Billy the Kid, the Cavalry, Chloride, Pinos Altos. Very interesting history lesson and great riding.
The link takes you to a few of the photos; due to popular demand, I even included some video footage. Thank goodness a friend mentioned the RAIN that swamped much of the Gila the week we had originally planned to go. It would have been a wash-out. As it turns out, I rode through a few of said wash-outs? the erosion and rocks that were moved around indicate some powerful forces at work. The Forest Service said ??you shouldn?t try to get to Mogollon??. But there were a few pick-ups and SUV?s coming and going, so it was obviously passable.
I only ?tumped over? once? thus re-learning the lesson about not stopping on a steep, uphill, unpaved road. A tourist had stopped, blocking the turn, right in a rough section where unpaved transitioned to semi-pavement. He wanted to know if it was OK to proceed. I said yes. He slowly went down the road. I tried to get rolling and fell over where there was no footing.
https://vimeo.com/110177605
