US 60 - Socorro New Mexico to the Very Large Array

[Invisigoth]

Finally! A day in the high fifties. I am going for a ride.

I had only put 42 miles on my new (to me) 1998 BMW R1100RT - nothing more than a few trips to the store. I got on I-25 and slabbed it south for 80 miles. My old Honda 599 had a windshield about the size of a pie tin, and a giant fist was pushing on my chest around 70 mph. The RT cruises along at 80, and I barely feel a breeze. I stopped in Socorro just long enough to snap a picture of this barn / building thing and headed west.

[Invisigoth]

US 60 was a major east/west thorough fair, and often overlooked brother of Route 66. But songwriter Bobby Troup (who later appeared on Emergency as Dr. Joe Early) wrote "Get your kicks on Route 66" and the rest is history.

The road meanders through nowhere. Mostly straight, mostly level. Miles and miles of road. I looked down and saw that I was doing 95. I started to back off, and I rememberd the thread of how fast everyone has ridden. I rolled on a little throttle and pushed it over 100. Then I saw a cow on grazing off the side of the road, did a quick collision calculation (m1*v1+m2*v2) and decided hitting a cow at 100 would be a really bad thing. I backed it down to the limit.

[Invisigoth]

The village of Magdalena - population about 1000.

All cities, towns, and villages in New Mexico have a train station. Even though the trains stopped decades ago, the stations have survived.

I saw three restaurants in the village. The first two had no customers inside, and the third was surrounded by parked cars. Sensing that the locals knew where to go, I chose the busy one.

The Magdalena Cafe is not large. But it was busy and crowded. When I walked in wearing leathers, boots, and carrying my helmet, the place went quiet - too quiet. I expected someone named Cooter to say "You are not from around here are you, Boy" and his pal Cletus to chime in with "you must be one of them thar motor sickle drivers". But the moment of silence was over, and everyone went back to talking amongst themselves.

I had a plate of New Mexico flat enchiladas with red chile. Enchiladas are a bit of an art form in New Mexico - as is red & green chile. But we will leave that story for another time. I wanted to take a picture of my plate but thought better of it. When Tim is with a dozen buddies and snaps a shot of his lunch - that is art. When you are alone in a small town cafe and start taking pictures of your food - well that is just weird.

[Invisigoth]

The Very Large Array.

The VLA consists of 27 radio antennas arranged in a Y formation. Each antenna is 82 feet in diameter. This is where Jodie Foster sat on the hood of her car with headphones and first heard the radio transmission from Vega in the movie Contact. I listened as best I could, but nobody seemed to be sending anything while I was there.

Prior to the Hubble Telescope - this was the cats meow for astronomers.

I bet they have on of them pointed at the Sirius satellite so they can bootleg Howard Stern.

[Invisigoth]

In New Mexico, it seems like you take your life in your hands even when you are just doing some sort of touristy thing.

[Invisigoth]

A few final pics of my bike and the VLA. Then two hours back to Albuquerque. All in all, it was a good little 300 mile trip. I am already loving this new bike.

Oh - and heated grips might just be the coolest thing around.

[OrangevaleFJR]

Steve,

Welcome to the wonderful world of sport touring! The RT is a great bike and I know you'll enjoy the comfort it gives you at distance. Thanks for sharing your view of New Mexico with us. I grew up North of you on I-25 (Denver area), and I spent some time in New Mexico:

1) Went to a Grateful Dead concert at the Downs in Santa Fe
2) My sister's first teaching job was in Raton, NM
3) I have done plenty of fishing in NM :-)

You live in a beautiful state and I look forward to more of your ride reports!

[Warrior]

You werent kidding about the dangerous tours, I like how they spell it out for you.

A couple of years ago I met a friend, who was heading West from Cannon AFB on 60. We pulled into a diner full of hunters in some small town and had the same effect. Like he put it (not PC at all, sorry), he felt like a black man at a clan meeting. Than to top if off we stayed in either Quenado or Omega because none of the Gas Stations were open. Good times.

[pashnit]

Great stuff Jim- I too when I see the VLA, always reminds me of the movies. Charlie Sheen did another movie like that too where he was supposed to be one of those alien hunter guys? So didja climb up any of 'em? How close can you get?

[Invisigoth]

Originally Posted by pashnit

So didja climb up any of 'em?

No, we seem to have a difference of opinion on the meaning of "self guided tour". My interpretation of that phrase means that I get to walk and climb where I want, flip any switches, and turn any knobs that I see. Their interpretation is that I get to stay on the clearly marked path and take photos at the pre determined locations.

You can only get within about 100 ft of most of the antennas. The one on the tour allows you to get within about 10 feet of the base.