Day-3 Statistics:
122 miles
5.25 hours
23 mph average
Trinidad, CO to
LJs Bunkhouse, OK
This was an exceptionally short day but
all factors considered, we are very pleased we decided to stop at LJ’s
Bunkhouse for the night. It is located about 5 miles from the OK/NM border
right on the TAT route. What a fantastic place to stop and relax during the TAT
ride. Very friendly owners who go out of their way to make like better for
those road tired TAT riders. Rooms are clean and the Air Cond is cold. Even
have items like a motorcycle jack, spare nuts and bolts and other items for the
riders in time of need. I’ve included the Link to their web page below. Even if
you don’t want a room, stop and get a cold drink on your way down the road. The
picture below is the whole family and they had us put our bikes on the porch to
keep them out of the rain.
We knew the ride today would be short
and the weather forecast was good so we left the motel at 7 am. I really didn’t
expect much on this stretch except flat terrain and long boring roahttp://www.ljsbunkhouse.comds.
There was some of that but there were plenty of other things to keep us alert.
As I stated in my last post we figured
we needed a fuel top off so had Marty meet us at Branson, CO with extra fuel.
After the refuel we headed out on what we expected to be a grueling ride on bad
roads to OK. We did find that the roads are worse in NM compared to CO but
still not enough to slow us down. I had noticed on the map that there were
several switchbacks after crossing into NM. This turned out to be a decent from
a mesa into a valley several hundred feet below. The road was rutted but
nothing that caused us any concern. Coming westbound you would have to climb
this and if it were wet, could be a challenge.
We made good time today and on a couple
occasions we hit 50 mph for long stretches but usually able to maintain 35-45
mph. I would say weather would make a big difference in the road conditions. As
we got closer to OK where it had rained recently we started hitting muddy
sections. The first one is shown in the pictures below. Steve was first and got
stuck for a few minutes but worked his way across. He doesn’t have true knobbies
on his WR250R so wasn’t getting much traction. The rest of us were able to ride
across without much problem. We stopped on the other side a lone TAT rider came
up on an older Honda XR650.
His name was Brian and he was riding
solo coast to coast. He said he had a riding partner up to a couple days ago
but one morning his partner said, “I’m through. I’m renting a truck and going
home”. Which he did. Brian also said he rides sunup to sundown and rode 560
miles yesterday. His bike was loaded down and in pretty bad shape with several
problems he’s had to fix to keep it going. When you see what he’s doing
compared to our TAT ride it really makes you feel humble. Riders like him are
the true adventurers. I included a picture of his helmet where you may be able
to track his ride if interested.
As Brian rode west, Woodrow, Jeff and I
rode east ahead of the other 4 riders since they were still gearing up. From
day-1 we broke up into 2 groups; 3 in one and 4 in the other. Part off this was
due to the 4 limitation on the Sena intercoms and also because the 4 team liked
to ride faster then our team of 3. We would usually start first and they would
pass us down the road somewhere.
There were several more mud holes we
were able to negotiate and finally came to the top of a hill and looked back to
see where the 4 team was. We could see for several miles and they were nowhere
in sight. We were not that far ahead of them so considered backtracking to see
if they needed help when we finally saw the headlights come over a ridge. The 3
team then continued expecting they would catch up soon.
Shortly thereafter we crossed into OK
and the TAT route took us down a dirt road that had a huge mud hole that
completely covered the road and extended at least 30-40 feet. We talked about
it and decided since we were now in OK and only 5 miles from LJs Bunkhouse we
were going to by-pass this mud. In NM there was only a single so you had to
cross whatever obstruction you found. In OK the whole western part of the state
is broken down in 1-mile squares with a dirt or paved road every mile. We
backtracked up the dirt road to the first section line and went around the mud.
We arrived at LJs Bunkhouse shortly afterwards.
We were setting in the shade having a
cold beer and realized it had been over 30 minutes and the 4 team hadn’t
arrived. I bet Jeff $1 that they decided to go through that mud hole we
by-passed. Jeff got back on his bike and started back the 5 miles to see what
had happened to them. A short time later he came back and said he could see
their headlights a mile away.
They finally pulled into the parking
lot and looked totally beat. I was right, they did decide to go through the mud
hole and eventually made it through but Terry said as he was going through the
grass on one side he heard a rattle snake right next to him on a dirt mound. He
immediately hurried away from him and told everyone else to go to the other
side.
This wasn’t the main reason for their
delay. Shortly after the 3 team had ridden off the 4 team came upon another mud
hole and while Ernie was crossing, somehow got out of control and ran into a
big rock and dropped the bike. Witnesses (his son Cutter) said he went over the
handlebars and is lucky he didn’t get hurt. His XR650 wasn’t so lucky. Broken
right mirror, broken front break lever, bent front fender and the throttle was
full of mud and would not spring back. The story doesn’t end there. He dropped
the bike in another mud hole later. Bad day for the 4 team.
There is more. Earlier in the day when
we were all riding together Terry stopped his bike in front of me and got off
and ripped off his license plate. On two previous occasions he had to put tie
wraps on the plate due to the screws vibrating out. When he stopped this time a
single tie wrap was holding it on. I put it in my backpack and continued. Once
again he somehow got me to carry KTM parts. The is a picture below of me giving
it back to him but I also found out he had more parts fall of his bike; a heat
shield which I also got a picture of. I’m reconsidering trading my CRF for a
KTM. The CRF is still in one piece yet the KTM appears to be slowly coming
apart.
All you KTM riders please understand
I’m just kidding so no hate mail please.
That about covers todays ride so what’s
coming up?
Our original plan was to ride the
Liberal, KS tomorrow then Alva, OK the next day. We are making such good time
we are leaving early and combining those two days into one long day. This will
get us home a day early and since there’s not much to see in OK, we will want
to travel fast, weather permitting. I’ve always felt a mile behind you is one
you won’t have to ride in the rain or mud.
Note the gorilla tape fix to hold on my Sena intercom on my helmet. Don't leave home without it.
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