Friday, April 27, 2012

Day 6-Long, Windy, Cold

I'm very thankful the CBR gods reminded me of the temperature changes with elevation yesterday. Yesterday was chilly, today was frigid. Luckily with yesterday's experience I dressed warm. Started out in Roswell at about 5:50 am and 60 degrees, so I was a bit warm initially. About an hour outside of Roswell the temperature dropped and continued to do so for the next 3 hours and 5000 feet of additional elevation. On top of the cold temperature we had BIG winds. I think the temperature felt about 30 degrees, but the scooter liked it as it ran quite cool. What the scooter didn't like was the elevation. I lost a lot of performance in the high elevations but overall it ran normal. My top speeds at altitude without wind was around 50. With the winds, I was lucky if I could hit 50 going down hill. It was brutal.

I would say New Mexico redeemed itself in regards to scenery. Yesterday's scenery was wildly boring in eastern NM. West NM, however, was beautiful. Lots of hills, some twisty turns and mountains. But it wasn't without its boredom. The areas out by the Very Large Array and White Sands/Trinity Site had some very looooooong, flat and straight roads. I really enjoyed the ride though and hope to make it out here again to stop and see things more in depth than what I'm able too on the CBR.

I think I missed a fuel stop, but luckily stumbled across a random gas station that only had 87 octane gas. My scooter is supposed to have 90 or above, but I was on empty and rolled with the 87. There was another rider there in the same boat. Then we pulled out of the parking lot and about 100 yards up was a nice big modern Phillips 66 gas station with pay at the pump and everything. Oh well, the scooter performed fine with the 87.

Still no signs of the engine bogging down like in day 4, thankfully. Hoping the fuel filter was it. The only other variable that hasn't been present since that happened is the heat, which I'll get at the end of tomorrows ride. If it doesn't happen I can rule out vapor lock. Tomorrow is going to be about the same distance as today but it's going to be very twisty. It will probably end up around 8.5 to 9 hours vs today's 7 hours. Hopefully the twists make it go by faster, by making it interesting. The temperature when we start out will be in the 30s and when we end it will be near 100. That makes logistics a bit challenging in terms of clothing, but I think I'll go thermals all the way and sweat out the last 80 miles while we descend into Parker.

We had another scooter drop out today, he seized his engine. It's also a SYM, but a different model. It only has 6000 miles and is less than 2 years old. Kind of unnerving. Another guy is partially disabled because he got bitten by a brown recluse spider but he is still able to ride. Jacked his hand
all up. Those things freak me out.

That's it for now, I'll post again in Parker!




















5 comments:

  1. Nice pictures. I didn't notice the satellite dishes until I enlarged the one. I've been enjoying your ride.

    David

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  2. Being a former military guy, we always were briefed with safety. Those frickin spiders, fire ants, and such are vicious. You just don't encounter them here in Illinois. I'm glad you're safe..how big did his hand swell up and did he have an allergic reaction? I got bit once on my hip while I was in a foxhole...just nasty. Glad you had some good scenery to help the time go by. I wouldn't worry too much about the difference in octane is it's only one tank...you're ok. Good luck the rest of the way and be safe!

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  3. Where did the spider come from? make sure you check your bed good at night..Thanks for inviting me along I am enjoying your blog and pics..

    Peace out
    Shelly

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  4. I'm glad you and the HD are doing so well. Keep it up! And thanks for letting us know how you're doing!

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  5. Happy to hear the scenery was better and the elevation supplied some relief from the heat. I love the "twisties" it does make the ride much more enjoyable.

    Ride safe...Gary

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