My 2020 USA Ride ... "To New Mexico at 63mph".

[Ian in Great Brak River]

Much has been posted on this fine forum about non SA rides, and there has been some really great RR's of late on this subject. Not least amoungst many is Big Oil's epic "Nasty Austrian ..." it provided copious amounts of very usefull info, inspiration and was clearly worth copy catting ... that is whilst waited patiently for the dude to be unbanned yet again for pissing off "Der Polizei" on aforementioned forum, and finish his report on the area that really was of great interest to me.

Here then, in a much reduced format, 5698 miles or 9102km later is what I saw .... (other than "Vote Trump" signs) for 3 weeks.

 

[Ian in Great Brak River]

A little explaining is necessary to begin with, it was most certainly not my first choice to head for the US to go riding around ... other than hectic pre-election drama, and there was aplenty of that in Florida, there is also the little matter of (at the start of Oct) 65 000 daily cases of CV spreading around ... so my apprehension levels were high to start with. I really needed to get to SA to see my dad but via the US and then the UK made that a double negative for the Immigration Dept. An SA/Bahama couple I know here got to Doha from NY and was then refused boarding to CT due to the NY terminal stop over.

But first I needed to get to the US ... in this fine lady ... a Cessna 206 Stationair. She belongs to a good friend who does 600 hours a year back and forth weekly to West Palm Beach in it for business ...it's 90 mins by air from Nassau.





Another bike mate in NY who I have ridden with up in the Catskills decided that for health reasons it was time to stop riding. It's a long friendship and he knew about our Nam rides ... so I get a call from him out of the blue late last year. "If you want it come to New York to fetch it .. or I'm calling BMW to come take it away" he says. I contact Ian, the pilot of the 206 and we make a plan. He fetches it, registers it and houses her and we have something to ride on. It would take 14 months for that to finally happen.




Here I must say that the K12 LT or "Ian's Barge" as she is quickly named is an oddity indeed, an unstressed 100hp, 1200cc, 5 speed, 860lb (390kg!) creature. The tuperware it's wrapped in means you need a small BM supplied torch to check the damn oil level ... and it has an electric starter motor driven reverse gear. WTH was BM thinking?? But it is super comfy and 350 miles per day is not really an issue.

 

[Jors Troelie]

subscribed  :thumleft:

 

[Noneking]

Sub!
Keep it coming!

 

[Vintage_Mania]

*Ingeskryf

 

[Oubones]

Hier kom ‘n ding!
Met daai fiets kon jy vir Allan agterop gelaai het ot: eepwall:
Sien uit na die RR

 

[Hinksding]

Gooi mielies Mnr Brakrivier. I'll tag along

 

[woody1]

:ricky:

 

[wooly bugger]

:sip:

 

[Wolzac]

:thumleft: :sip:

 

[Chrisl]

Sub!! :thumleft: :drif:

 

[Jabus]

Looking forward to this one!

 

[Ian in Great Brak River]

Subway ... yes, surprisingly it is Subway that rules the US Interstate roadway nutritional options ... back in the late '80's I did a 3500 mile round trip from Kansas City to Ft. Lauderdale to fetch a crew car for the boat that I was Mate on and it was a tie then between Mc'D's and Burger King. Clearly Subway is miles ahead now ... for what it is.

The aim of this trip was to get to Taos Ski Valley in NE New Mexico ... let's just say that an option within the company presented itself 4 years ago for us to re-locate to TSV and we did not take it up ... so I needed to see if that decision was a good one or not. But getting there was meant to be via The Blue Ridge Parkway from Virginia to Tennessee ... all 469 miles of it but Hurricane Delta was brewing in the Gulf and threatened to drown those plans so I changed course to head West from Palm Beach Gardens in Florida to get ahead of it, that's a 4 day 1300 mile ride to Dallas as it turned out.



I booked into the Fairmont Hotel for two nights as it was smack in the middle of Dallas. The Barge gets a prime parking spot to.







It's a comfortable place to stay even though it's busy with youngsters as Texas State University was playing Oklahoma State but all was quiet.





Dallas is a cool city, nice and spacious ... it also has a sordid history. On Nov 22, 1963 JFK was assassinated just 15 mins from where I am staying and I walk down to the Grassy Knoll. It has a very somber memorial to the great man.







Read and take to heart.

 

[Ian in Great Brak River]

As most cities in the world, Dallas started off with some wonderer finding a stream or creek, then to build a house nearby and call it a trading post.



Today the railway bridge covers the exact spot that Lee Harvey Oswald shot JFK from the top right window ... the outside appearance of the building has not changed at all since that fatefull day.


The famous Grassy Knoll that they drove past in an open Lincoln.





10 minutes in the opposite direction is the Perot Museum of Natural History with the local original property owners on display.



South Africa is also displayed with yet another vital piece of history that is proudly on display.

 

[Ian in Great Brak River]

The following day I make my way South to San Antonio, home to The Alamo mission that is still a sore point in US history. As a kid I was enthralled by Davey Crockett and James Bowie and the stand off with 3000 Mexicans in 1836. The Mexican Gen. Santa Anna had a political statement to make after a recent defeat and there was but 2 male survivors of the 250 odd that defended fledgling Texan statehood.



These brave souls would be appalled if they could return today to see what lies just 50 meters from the Alamo Church, a combo of Madam Tussaurd, video arcades and fast food joints cater to the multitude of day visitors.




That Oak tree might have a story or two to tell...




It's a historic attraction and there is an effort to preserve the mission as it was not a fort in 1836.





From the start of the battle a flag was flown from the Mexican side that denoted no mercy or prisoners will be taken, other than for woman and children.

 

[Ian in Great Brak River]

Elizabeth Klarer was a South African woman who believes she was abducted by Akon from way out there far away whilst she lived in the Drakensberg. I stopped over for a night in Roswell New Mexico and spent 25 mins in the museum.




My New Mexico trip part 1 video is to be seen here;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oR4q8fMWqKg

 

[Three Dawg]

Looking forward to the rest of this!

Amazing to see a motorcycle so big it  makes a Range Rover look like a normal car parked next to it. :biggrin:

 

[Ian in Great Brak River]

Billy The Kid made his name in these part and was due to be hung for murder in Lincoln South New Mexico in 1881, he managed to escape, killing two guards in the process that firmly put Pat Garrett on his trail, I did not unfortunately get to his grave at Fort Sumner 100 miles NE of Lincoln. Standing there I can just about imagine being here 100 years ago.









It's also right here I notice an slight oil leak on The Barge.



Lincoln lies 15 miles down a tight winding road and it is a little time warp of a town.



The drama a little town can produce!

 

[Ian in Great Brak River]

The ride through the Mescalero Reservation was pure riding nirvana, no traffic, perfect roads and clear skies.







The autumn colours was a daily wonder to me.

 

[Ian in Great Brak River]

In 1890 the El Paso and Northeastern Railway Co. builds a railways line through to Cloudcroft.





Quite something to see.




New Mexico proves to be an amazing place, every few miles there is a Historic Marker with highlights of the busy days of past lives.