Day 27

In the morning I got up, washed the bike in the hotel parking lot and then had breakfast at the same diner as the night before. The biscuits, gravy and side of corn-beef hash were a great way to start the day. As I waxed and tightened the chain in the parking lot, I got chatted up by a fellow staying at the hotel next door. It was a pleasant conversation that went on as I did my work. No worries. I leave the parking lot and all of the sudden there was a terrible torque/vibration in the bike. WTF? I pulled over and found the chain extremely loose, again WTF?. Oh my bad...I got so distracted while talking to the dude that I forgot to tighten the jam nut on the axle. Well at least it was at slow speeds and I learned my lesson, dont talk while while doing the chain, simple. That could have been a costly, stupid mistake. So with the chain re-tightened and back underway I rolled into Albuquerque. During the trip through town I spotted a Triumph store and pulled in to have them tighten the headstock nut on the triple tree. It cost me 14 bucks and a half hour detour. It was worth it, as the nut was extremely loose and I didn't want it to fall off. After that I rolled towards Santa Fe on the 84 and then up the 68 to Taos. It is a nice road that has the cliffs on either side of you and a river running along the road. Man I had it good, the weather was great and I wasn't at work....yeeeeehaaaaa. As I was passing through Taos I spotted a older tiger and a 97-2001 red Daytona. It was nice seeing all the bikes out, along with the few Triumphs. The whole trip I got thumbs up and "hey dude, that's a nice bike". After Taos the 64 runs through the high plains and the you come to the Rio Grand Gorge Bridge. That was a cool treat seeing the bridge, it was picture time. The bridge is over 1200 feet long and is over 650 feet to the river below. Thats 220 yards or +220 meters. So after the photo session it was time to again ride. The 64 going west out of Taos is again high planes with huge vistas to the Rockies in the background. Nice. There is a small area just west of the Gorge that is riddled with houses that are half in/ half out of the ground. The strange thing is that they are not traditional houses, they seem to mimic the landscape in form. Round and pointy, with solar panels, they were neat to see. They definitely seemed to make a statement about living with the environment. After I passed the town of Tres Piedras on the 64 it got tons better. For me it was the highlight of the trip so far, the roads were freshly repaved black and new yellow and white stripes. The sun was in the prefect position in the sky to light the leaves of the golden aspens. It was fantastic. The scenery was killer and the road was a blast to ride also, awesome fast sweepers. The only problem with maintaining speed was the killer lighting on the scenery, I had to stop and take all kinds of photos. I'm glad that I did, as this road turned in some of my best photos I think. So after the 64 ended, it turned north to the town of Chama. I started to leave town and head to Pagosa Springs, but as I started to leave town on the 64 west, I was greeted by five mule deer on the edge of the road. OK, its time to call it a night, I turned around and got into a cheap place at the intersection of town. I know the area is full of deer and elk, so I didn't care to have a run in with them as they come out after dark. The lady at the hotel told me that yeah it wasn't a good idea to travel at night, because of the deer, and elk. She informed me that the night before, a dude on a Harley was killed by hitting a elk just outside the town. I felt ok getting off the road early in those parts. I used the evening to rest, find a local Catholic Church for the next morning, and then went to dinner. The little restaurant/ bar at the town intersection serves good food, after dinner I went next door and had a beer and then walked to the hotel and crashed for the night. If you have a chance...ride the 64 from Taos to Chama, it wont disappoint. What a great ride.
Also, Chama has a narrow gauge railroad that runs up into the mountain town of Antontito. So that might be something fun to do. I have ridden the one in Durango and it was unforgettable trip during the fall. I rode a about 375 miles that day.

Here are some of my favorite pictures of the whole trip. What a great day of riding.


The Gorge




If you look closely, you will see a shopping cart on the river bank closest to you.






And now for highway 64, and my favorite pictures.