(no subject)
I just realized I never wrote a concluding post for my trip. Last you heard, I was in Socorro...
The next day I rode to Albuquerque, which was only ~80 miles. I hung out with friends I hadn't seen in years, including roessnakhan, at various locations throughout the day. I did have a stupid moment where I left my tail light on while parked and we had to use jumper cables. Oops.
I left Albuquerque fairly early, going up towards Santa Fe. I had breakfast at a Denny's in Bernalillo, where a waitress called me "brave". As I rode through Espanola, Tres Piedras, and crossed the Colorado border, No Doubt's Just a Girl came up on my playlist, and I laughed, reflecting on whether or not the waitress would've thought me "brave" if I was male...
Throughout the trip, I'd been admiring the constant gradual transitioning of climates/weather/wildlife/plantlife/people. I also realized how much I love the Southwestern landscape. Desert, but not in the flat and boring way - So much wildlife, and scenery that's so unique to the area. And mountains! Once I got into Colorado, it was much flatter, and more... farm. Which means - straight roads. Yes, there were mountains in the distance, but immediate scenery was a bit drab. It also started getting cloudy, and I could only watch as I headed into dark clouds. Luckily, I only got barely sprinkled on near Fairplay.
I spent the next day and a half with friends and family I hadn't seen in years, including jaberwockynmt, who just happened to be in the area, even though he lives in Seattle.
That stretch out of Denver to Grand Junction was the coldest leg of my trip, though that's not saying much. It was actually probably t-shirt weather if you're hanging out in the sun, but the windchill while riding made it a bit nippy. Though I must say, the drivers on that part of 70 really impressed me with their ability to get back over to the right lane once they've passed someone. It was much appreciated through those mountainous curves.
Then Utah came, which meant the gorgeous red cliffs that it's known for. Loved it. I stopped in at Mom's Cafe for dinner, before finally breaking off of the freeway and getting to know highway 50 as the sun set.
Leaving Delta, I passed a bunch of, what turned out to be scintillator detectors measuring cosmic rays, which would have puzzled me if @patricknorton hadn't mentioned it to me ahead of time.
I love that stretch of highway 50. As I said, I love the Southwestern desert, and there are no real cities to pollute that out there, and even towns are few and far between. The only thing on an otherwise uninhabited 150mi stretch of road is a motel, gas station, cafe and casino all-in-one, at Border, Utah, and it's not even on the map. What you see in that wikipedia image is literally the entire "community".
It took a toll on my tires, though, because just outside of Sacramento, I got a flat in the rear tire. I probably should've stopped an extra night in Carson City, or even Grand Junction, and found another tire, but it was Sunday, and looked like it could at least make it home. It didn't. Luckily, @patricknorton was able to tow my bike and I back into SF.
I've posted my photos on Flickr here, including 4 panoramas, but I'm still working on molding the video into something postable. Plus, Hak5 featured @atlasrider on their latest episode, and gave me some ideas on a few things. Motovlogging... who knew it had a name? Though, does it count if you don't narrate? Because I haven't figured out how I'd incorporate a microphone into the setup I have (and not really sure I care to at this point).
The next day I rode to Albuquerque, which was only ~80 miles. I hung out with friends I hadn't seen in years, including roessnakhan, at various locations throughout the day. I did have a stupid moment where I left my tail light on while parked and we had to use jumper cables. Oops.
I left Albuquerque fairly early, going up towards Santa Fe. I had breakfast at a Denny's in Bernalillo, where a waitress called me "brave". As I rode through Espanola, Tres Piedras, and crossed the Colorado border, No Doubt's Just a Girl came up on my playlist, and I laughed, reflecting on whether or not the waitress would've thought me "brave" if I was male...
Throughout the trip, I'd been admiring the constant gradual transitioning of climates/weather/wildlife/plantlife/people. I also realized how much I love the Southwestern landscape. Desert, but not in the flat and boring way - So much wildlife, and scenery that's so unique to the area. And mountains! Once I got into Colorado, it was much flatter, and more... farm. Which means - straight roads. Yes, there were mountains in the distance, but immediate scenery was a bit drab. It also started getting cloudy, and I could only watch as I headed into dark clouds. Luckily, I only got barely sprinkled on near Fairplay.
I spent the next day and a half with friends and family I hadn't seen in years, including jaberwockynmt, who just happened to be in the area, even though he lives in Seattle.
That stretch out of Denver to Grand Junction was the coldest leg of my trip, though that's not saying much. It was actually probably t-shirt weather if you're hanging out in the sun, but the windchill while riding made it a bit nippy. Though I must say, the drivers on that part of 70 really impressed me with their ability to get back over to the right lane once they've passed someone. It was much appreciated through those mountainous curves.
Then Utah came, which meant the gorgeous red cliffs that it's known for. Loved it. I stopped in at Mom's Cafe for dinner, before finally breaking off of the freeway and getting to know highway 50 as the sun set.
Leaving Delta, I passed a bunch of, what turned out to be scintillator detectors measuring cosmic rays, which would have puzzled me if @patricknorton hadn't mentioned it to me ahead of time.
I love that stretch of highway 50. As I said, I love the Southwestern desert, and there are no real cities to pollute that out there, and even towns are few and far between. The only thing on an otherwise uninhabited 150mi stretch of road is a motel, gas station, cafe and casino all-in-one, at Border, Utah, and it's not even on the map. What you see in that wikipedia image is literally the entire "community".
It took a toll on my tires, though, because just outside of Sacramento, I got a flat in the rear tire. I probably should've stopped an extra night in Carson City, or even Grand Junction, and found another tire, but it was Sunday, and looked like it could at least make it home. It didn't. Luckily, @patricknorton was able to tow my bike and I back into SF.
I've posted my photos on Flickr here, including 4 panoramas, but I'm still working on molding the video into something postable. Plus, Hak5 featured @atlasrider on their latest episode, and gave me some ideas on a few things. Motovlogging... who knew it had a name? Though, does it count if you don't narrate? Because I haven't figured out how I'd incorporate a microphone into the setup I have (and not really sure I care to at this point).