I said good-bye to Carrizozo, NM and headed east on Hwy 70,
and this section of road was great! For
about a 15 or 20-mile stretch it was a 4-laner, following a little river thru a
little canyon. The road was perfect…
smooth pavement… wide, nicely banked turns… clear sightlines… with gentle ups
and downs, as it wound its way back up to the high desert plateau. Honey and I really enjoyed our selves. No one else on the road and perfect weather
conditions to safely do what motorcyclists love to do… lay our selves over on
our sides at high speeds. Back and forth,
and back and forth… without any straight-a-ways on this beautiful stretch of
road. I can still feel the relaxed
adrenalin rush that comes when motorcycle, rider, and road all become one. That connection
is the reason most of us fall in love and become hooked on the sport of riding.
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- - - - - - - - - - - - -
I got off the freeway about 5 miles up the road, and took
off on County Road #1431 (now in Texas, just outside of Austin). My day was about to get even better. I picked the road because it was a very
crooked small black line on my road map, and I wanted to try and find a road
where Honey-the-road-and-I might be able to become connected. My guess turned
out to be correct. As we left the
outskirts of the GAA (Greater Austin Area) it was a 4-laner, very similar to
the one I told you about, coming out of Carrizozo… long banked turns, with good
visibility, and smooth pavement. And
after about five miles it got much better.
It narrowed to two lanes, and the curves got tighter. Once in a while there was a short
straightaway, but for the next 40 miles or so, it was nothing but really fun
turns.
About ½ way to Marble Flats, the next town ahead, I noticed
a black sports car creeping up behind me.
I was goin' about 60mph thru turns marked at 30. This guy obviously knew the road better than
I did, so when he caught up to me, I let him pass at the first opportunity. I always do that sort of thing, as I
appreciate it when other drivers do it for me.
As the car was passing me, I saw that it wasn't a guy, it
was a longhaired blonde gal driving, and she had another blonde girlfriend
sitting next to her. I saw the passenger
wave a thank you to me as they passed, but the road and our speed didn't allow
me to see their faces.
I fell in line behind them and was able to keep up with
them… now feeling more comfortable being behind someone who was familiar with
the road, or at least someone who could notify me with their brake lights if
the upcoming turn was a tight one or not.
I stayed on their tail as we wound our way up, down, and around some of
the prettiest country I'd seen on my trip (since getting to Texas), and by far the best/ most fun road (since leaving Santa Cruz).
After about 10 miles the road became gravel. They were doing repairs, so I had to fall
back, both because of the little rocks the car was throwing up behind it, and
the loss in traction on Honey's hooves.
By the time I got thru the road repair area, and the road became
pavement again, they were nowhere to be seen.
They didn't have my business card yet, so it wouldn't seem desperate if
I chased them down, so I did.
I caught up to them as we were getting to town. I pulled up next to them at the stop light
and said, "Thanks for leading the way, that was a great road… I coulda
kept up with ya if it wasn't for the gravel." The driver looked over at me with the biggest
bluest eyes I'd ever seen, and with an engaging twinkle in her eye, said
something like, "Yeah, I always look forward to this road, it's fun when
there's no traffic."
- - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
It was just after 10am and there were only a few cars for me
to deal with (now back in Cali), and that wonderful feeling of connection came over me once again. As I settled into Honey's seat and brought
her up to cruising speed, I felt like she was asking me if we could go
faster. It was as though she was asking
me to let out on her reigns for a
little while, and let her really stretch out her beautiful long legs. Boy,
talk about poetic license… a motorcycle with long legs…
Highway 58 was a freeway and so were we. I took a quick peek back at Alyson (the stuffed green 'alien' I found on the side of the road in Roswell, NM) to make
sure she was sitting properly and securely, and then slowly let Honey speed
up. The road was winding down towards
the Central Valley, and I could see the tell-tale sign of progress in the
distance… a brown hazy layer of smog on the horizon.
Yuck. After so many
days and so many miles of crystal clear high desert air, I had forgotten about
things like traffic, civilization, and all those rats, stuffed into a cage too
small for a healthy life. That's a
little harsh I know, but in my perfect dream world… with its rainbows, butterflies and lollipops…
people live where they can breath the
air… not drink it like dirty brown soup.
But this is not a
story of sadness and pessimism. It is
(supposed to be) a simple, fun, entertaining, feel-good story, meant only for
your enjoyment and distraction. Well…
that and a 'documentary ~ autobiography' of sorts.
The curves in the road were consistent and perfectly
banked. The line of sight was good… the
pavement was as smooth as sandpaper-covered glass… and there was even a concrete divider between
us and the oncoming traffic. I let Honey
enjoy the optimum conditions. For about
10 or 15 miles, we wound our selves down the hill. I think we passed about five or six cars and each
time, Honey was able to judge the speed difference between us and the car, so
that we passed them on the inside, going around a left hand turn.
The mid morning early November air was warming, and even at
our speed of 90~100mph, I could hardly hear either the rush of the wind or
Honey's breathing. If she really was
alive, I know she would have had a huge smile on her face. I kept mine to a small grin… I didn't want to
forget that the last legs of all road trips are always the most dangerous, and
I did not want to spoil my feel-good story with a feel-bad ending.
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