Day 3.
Saturday April 16th, 2011.
Another beautiful morning. The breakfast was good. “Hi honey, you don’t sound well. What’s wrong, ‘flu? Miss me that much? Yeah, I miss you too. It’s so beautiful out here. Wish you could be here to experience this.
Okay, let me let you get some rest. We’re heading for New Mexico today. TTYL”.
36psi. That’s what Terry’s tire pressure was when we checked it this morning. It had dropped from around forty-six from yesterday. Aah, it’s probably the cold weather making it a little lower. It’ll be fine. C’mon, I can pump it up a little more when we stop for gas this morning.
So that was the course of action agreed upon.
With the agenda laid out for the day, bikes checked and prayer said, we headed towards Fort Stockton.
Oh gosh! These mountains! Each one more beautiful than the previous.
The colors, the crisp mountain air, the clear view, the sunrise. In formation and at posted speed limits we “snaked” along the road hugging the mountain sides. The temptation to twist the throttle was so great, to just let this iron horse tear away and transport me along the road at a pace for which it seemed to say it would be a lot more comfortable at. (But allowing a situation like this is not what had allowed me to have enjoyed all these years of safe riding with only one non life-threatening accident.) That was my mind talking. At this age today I am at peace with myself and others by being laid back, cool, calm, collected and cautious. This pace was just right. Besides, we did not have to be anywhere on time. That is part of the joy of such a ride.
Suddenly out of nowhere, the 1000cc Guzzi came blazing by! Oh my gosh, what was wrong? Formation had been broken, we had no clue of what was amiss. Had she not been able to resist the urge of maintaining this laid back cruising pace? Yes it was a new bike. Was she testing its performance to see what it could deliver? Suddenly around a slight bend in the road ahead she turned sharply into a rest area, came to a screeching halt, literally jumped off the bike and reached into the luggage compartment for something. Those of us who could see her were clueless.
Tony and Mike, who were ahead of us, doubled back to join us. (The “No Man Left Behind” procedure proved to be effective - a good working formula for safety.)
What’s wrong Terry? You okay? What happened?
Sorry about the surprise guys, I’m freezing! I just need to put on another jacket.
We were all cold and in our anticipation of the day warming up much earlier, we were a little under-dressed for this early morning temperature. I took the stopping opportunity as well to wrap my scarf around my neck. 39”F it was, when we pulled out of the hotel parking lot this morning.
At this point I realized how inadequate the scarf alone would be in these conditions. The wind protection of the Honda ST1100 is not the greatest either. Luckily for me Dennis had an extra jacket in his gear and offered to let me use it to ward off the cold air of the morning.
Weather-wise, I undeniably understood how ill prepared I was for changing weather conditions. I made a mental note of it to be better prepared for future rides.
Up and through the Davis mountains we went again. Descending into the valley beyond, after another lovely mountain pass ride again. The sky was so blue. The mountains stretched as far as my eyes could see in all directions. Talk about feeling small! We were mere specks of life in relation to the grandiose mountains.
Up we went in altitude and down the other side. We leveled out onto the plains which turned us in the direction of New Mexico.
The road leading to the next mountain range was straight and smooth.
Terry’s bike began to weave as his rear tire deflated. Within seconds we (those of us in close convoy) pulled over to the side of the road. This happened as our frontrunners had overtaken other vehicles and were well ahead of the pack by this time. Again, after several minutes interspersed with a phone call or two from William, they doubled back to join us.
Now we were all of one accord to cancel the day’s agenda so that we could stick with Terry and bring him safely back to base in Alpine. No way were we about to leave him to his own resources. No! Let’s patch the tire again, air it up and push on. Terry was adamant about continuing the journey. Altering the ride agenda was not an option. Patching kit in hand, repairs proceeded.

Just outside of the town of Balmohrea, Terry’s tire went flat again! What it needed was a repair patch from the inside.
So ahead into town went Teri and William – The designated advance party. Tony aired up Terry’s tire and we all headed into town. We found a repair shop and after a few phone calls and local information, we met Martin – The town mechanic.
With sling and hoist mounted on the bed of his work truck, he proceeded to raise Terry’s bike off the ground in order to facilitate tire removal for repairs. It was apparent that this was not his first time doing this.

Tire repairs completed and paid for, we huddled and contemplated whether to push on to New Mexico or to return to Alpine. It was mid afternoon and with a hundred and five miles to go to Carlsbad, New Mexico. We weren’t sure we could make it to the Caverns before the 3 p.m. closing time.
“Okay, so we won’t see the caverns but at least we can take photos there to memorialize our visit!” The decision was welcomed in unanimity. So we pushed on.
The new Mexico state line sign came and went by us like a blip across a radar screen. Shifting down 2 gears, I sped up, breaking formation and rapidly caught up with Tony up ahead and signaled that I wanted a stop.
He motioned me into lead position allowing me to make the choice of when and where to safely pull off the road.
At the next mile marker, barely a couple of minutes later I signaled to the pack and pulled over onto the shoulder of the road just ahead of the New Mexico 6-mile marker.
Having already crossed into New Mexico, I forced a quick stop for a photo op at the mile 6 marker.
We made it!
We had made it to New Mexico!
With great anxiety and anticipation we continued to Carlsbad. It made the miles go by quickly. No one, myself included, had even given a thought to the main concern that we all as “wannabe” (want-to-be) long distance riders initially have of the concern we all face of being so far from home!
The good time we were experiencing was more than enough to blank out that thought!
It was seven miles from the base of the mountain to the summit of the mountain in which the caverns are found.
We arrived to find out surprisingly that we had thirty-three minutes left to tour the caves. We were the last tour group of the day. Thirty-three minutes? Yes! Carlsbad, New Mexico is in the Mountain Time zone, meaning one hour behind Texas time! Yes we made it in time. The stars had truly lined up and shone upon us with luck. So down we went and got the chance to experience and visit the largest natural limestone caverns in the western hemisphere!
At 754 ft. (230m) below, we were really waaaay underground! It took all of 1 min. on the elevator to get down that far below. That’s roughly 75 stories (high or deep, depending on which way you look at it).
The ride down the mountain was such a picturesque one at that time of day – the sun beginning its descent into the western sky, rendering color temperatures so exquisite that I could not help but marvel at this glory. So pretty that Tony lagged behind, stopped at one of the vistas and took some video of the rest of us making and winding our way down the beautiful mountainside road. He would later comment that in the shadow of the mountain and with taillights showing prominently, we looked like a snake squirming it’s way along a pathway. (We await the video viewing party).
We traveled along Highway 285 to Pecos, arriving just at sundown and a break in the journey dictated by hunger.
It was now dark. With our stomachs full and our bodies fatigued from the day’s ride, we gathered in the parking lot, limbered up, joined together in prayer – led by Dennis and prepared for a long cold desert night ride back to base in Alpine.
In staggered formation we began our journey. This journey was marked by skirmishes and encounters with some representatives of the lesser animal kingdom. A buzzard with its belly full of “road-kill” delayed his departure from the center of the highway till just about when Tony was upon him and struggled to gain altitude. Had Tony not ducked in the direction he did, no doubt he would have been “clocked” right off his perch on the big bike. From my perspective, riding immediately behind him, I could see that he had only inches to spare!
Further along, as we still cruised at a comfortable 65 m.p.h., 3 deer pranced out of nowhere and cut across the road ahead of Tony and in our world would most likely have been cited for jaywalking.
The most intriguing however was a jackrabbit that darted out in front of Teri, ran across the lane so fast and made it in front of Terry as well, without being run over. All this at our constant speed of sixty-five miles per hour. Now that’s what I call QUICK! It was definitely not its time to die!
So we carried on.
The “bubble lights” went on in the rear view mirror. Red and blue pierced the dark black of the night. I quickly glanced down at my speedometer. Sixty-three miles per hour. Hmm! So what was the problem? Dennis had been pulled over by a patrol officer who was quickly joined by another in an unmarked vehicle. After what seemed like an eternity he was cleared to go with a warning. Having fallen behind our riding formation, he had sped up to catch up with us and got noticed by the patrolman. Even after checking him out, he followed us at a distance all the way back to Alpine, TX.
It was now close to 1 a.m. when we arrived. It had been an eventful day. It had been a safe day. It had been a lucky day. It had been another day that we had been blessed to experience. It was a day we gave thanks for in our prayers.

Next - WT Day 4