Day 40 - First Honda Malfunction -- Meeting Fellow Biker/Blogger From Brazil

The rain was supposed to pass through overnight, but there was still plenty of it, along with fog, this morning. But I was anxious to get out of the rain and I knew I had about 325 miles to go to get to my Santa Fe, NM destination. So, I used the new "Frogg Toggs" rain outerwear that I had purchased at the motorcycle store at the Tail of the Dragon. I ended up riding about 2 hours in the rain and now understand why many long distance riders (and hunters and other outdoor adventurists) like Frogg Toggs. The outfit kept me completely dry without the heat build up of conventional nylon-type fabrics and it was easy to put on and take off. Make no mistake, it is still no fun riding in the rain as every movement needs to be calibrated for the reduced traction; distances from cars/trucks must be calculated both for safety and water spray; and, air flow over the face shield needs to both clear the droplets and reduce inside fogging (no wipers, no defroster!).

Riding in the rain is the only time I love straight roads -- so I was glad I was still on the boringly straight roads of Texas and, when I got there, eastern New Mexico. Shortly after the rain stopped, I did my usual look for pickups and found another good breakfast stop: When I started the bike to leave this restaurant, I could see by my reflection in the glass that one of my high beam lights had burned out -- the first Honda malfunction of the trip!

When I started through the very next town (Clovis, NM - population 30K), I pulled over and checked a booklet I carry that lists all Honda motorcycle dealers. The book showed a dealer within one mile of my stop. I was delighted when the parts person assured me that he had the bulb and when he agreed to install it (I didn't know how). So, $22.50 later I was on the road with my first malfunction repaired.

Once the Honda parts guy knew what I was doing and after listening to my complaint about Texas straight/boring, he suggested an alternate route to Santa Fe that he said would be more scenic. I immediately headed on the routing he suggested and when a beautiful sky that opened up before me I got renewed enthusiasm for the day's ride.At the next gas/restroom stop I was getting ready to leave when another biker parked next to me -- and so began the dialogue I have written about before: where you going? where did you start? However, unlike the resulting answers from many other such common interactions -- this guy's answers were unusual and interesting. The young rider was from Brazil and had flown into New York City, rented a BMW GSR1200 for a one way, two-week ride to Los Angeles from which he would fly home. He had started on a northerly routing but dropped down to get away from cold weather. In Colorado he experienced snow for the first time in in his life. I learned he had a blog (in Portuguese -- but somewhat readable by using Google's web translation tool) - click here for his original blog and here for Google's translated version. Of course we exchanged emails and took pictures of each other -- and he even enlisted a nearby traveler to take our picture together (I'll post it when he sends me a copy). Unfortunately we weren't headed the same direction (he was going to Albuquerque). Hopefully our paths will cross again. Although our ages were quite different, our motivations seemed the same -- neither of us knew when, or if, we'd ever get a chance again for such an adventure.

The scenery on the rest of the ride into Santa Fe was greatly improved -- but still too much high speed (75 was the limit in NM) and flat/straight for my liking. But I arranged great accommodations, the weather is superb (even though Santa Fe sits at over 7000 feet elevation) and there are so many good motorcycle roads nearby that I decided to stay in the same place for two nights.