April 6, 2019
I had done a very quick-and-dirty assessment of what time I wanted to be there at the gate over the last couple of days, then backed into when we should leave. Early...
QT Ina Rd 0306
[location, time ride started]
I'm up early - earlier than normal - and ready to hit the road. With my wife coming along, it's now important that I help her be as comfortable as possible as long as possible. She's only done a single Saddlesore with me; today is the day to take care of her, no matter what.
The weather folks (and me...) figured temps would be in the low 40's to the 80's for the duration of the ride. My wife experiences cold a little quicker than I do, so a couple of minutes spent in packing a bit of heated gear...just in case.
As soon as we'd gotten east of town, and into the hills, temperatures began to drop. I possibly could have toughed it out...but knew my wife was going to be miserable; time for a gear update...a good stopping point is right here, one I've used in the past.
Shell - Benson 0359 0410 0:11
[location, time stopped, time resumed, stopped time]
My wife needed a bio-break - and a layer of heated gear. I put my jacket liner on myself, after a few minutes, we're back under way - and a lot warmer than we were. I believe the lowest temperature I saw was about 41 degrees. Another rider from Tucson reported on another motorcycle forum he had a similar stop as the thermometer showed 38 degrees. Normal for early April, I suppose.
Love's - Lordsburg MDT 0635 0641 0:06
Slight error in routing, but I'd totally forgot about the convenience store on the eastbound exit; and had routed to the truck stop located across the highway. Fortunately, no bio-break needed, so a short fuel stop was accomplished.
Hey, I know I can't do every stop like I would if I was by myself. This is one of the things that riders who want to do Iron Butt style rides as a group may not take into consideration. You're only as fast as your slowest person in the group at fuel stop opportunities.
Back to the road...and sunrise in the desert.
Further down the road...I have a bit of a headache, since I'd passed on having dinner last night. I need a bite, and my wife is letting me know she's got a small headache to contend with. Okay, we can solve this problem - it's time to eat.
McDonald's - Deming 0732 0759 0:27
This place had quite the crowd of 'old guys', staring at both my wife and I as we walked in, fully geared up. I ordered breakfast for both of us, then took the few minutes after this to disrobe. Yeah, two helmets on the table, along with jackets and heated gear piled into the booth. Quite a load of clothing needed to have fun, now isn't it?
With breakfast consumed, I'm feeling better, and so is my wife. It's time to get moving. We'd left early, but we've consumed a bit of time at both of these unplanned stops. Now, as I wrote at the beginning, I did make an assessment, but I purposely didn't bring it along. I still think I'm doing okay on time. The first corner is ahead, planned to take a moment to tour thru ther northern end of Las Cruces, NM.
PQ Gas - Las Cruces 0849 0858 0:09
A corner, so a gas stop here. Pump didn't give me a receipt (I need this one to be good...), so inside I went. That messed up my head, I pulled away, and hadn't hit the marker for Spotwalla. Once I got that done, another minute was spent in getting the tunes to play. About two hours of riding to go before we're 'there'.
Gas/Corner - San Antonio 1040 1047 0:07
According to Brian, this is a required receipt. I go in, hand them some money, and fill the bike. It took a couple of dollars more, so I go back into the store and settle up the bill - and get that required receipt.
Eleven miles to the turn-off. As we approach, there were a couple dozen people. Some were protesting, some were proselytizing, some were peddling (food, rocks).
The highway goes a few miles to the Stallion Gate. The wait here was around 20 minutes. Fortunately, with the temperature still not at 70 degrees, it was comfortable to creep along until our turn at the gate.
Show ID, answer the question regarding firearms (no, left at home), then the "No photography of any kind until you get to the area."
"You got it!"
...and then, we were on the range.
From the gate, it was a simple matter of following the line of cars that seemed to stretch across the valley.
A left turn, and another few miles, then we come to a fence with a radioactivity sign on it. "We must be here!"
Law enforcement was guiding the four-wheelers to the right - one officer pointed at us, and waved us straight to the designated motorcycle parking area.
Once we got under control and parked, I grabbed this image:
Another bio-break, and while walking back, the Army Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) team was selling food & drinks. I snagged the receipt from the drinks - location?? Nope. Not a good IBA-level receipt. Date and time were good...but without a location, it's not usable.
So, for about an hour, we wandered around the area, got our photo taken at the obelisk, and looked at the story of the test. The people in this picture are reading placards hung on the fence - thought provoking area, indeed.
In reading about this, I'd learned about a material that was created as a result of the explosion itself. The material is called trinitite. I'd also read that it's expressly forbidden to remove any of this material found on the site. After just a few minutes, it was easy to kick up a small chunk of this material. I looked, I moved on.
The primary trip objective has been made; we've been here, done that. It's now time to exit. The road leads to a remote location (wait - EVERYTHING out here is a remote location!) called the McDonald Ranch House. This is where the assembly of the world's first nuclear weapon occured. Since the road leading there was dirt, I passed on the opportunity to view the facility.
I'd figured a good two and a half hours to get in, see the place, and leave. My estimate was pretty accurate.
We'd chatted with these two as they prepped to leave the parking lot. They were from northern Arizona, but were overnighting in Alamogordo before heading home.
Once we got back onto the highway, it was now time to consider eating. We'd packed a small 'lunch', knowing that we were going to be in the middle of nowhere.
Yes - yes we were. Half a ham sandwich a small bag of chips, and a cheese stick. My wife had a sandwich without the bread. Nice day, not too warm, but now, we need to get moving. There's still another ~500 miles of riding to do - today!
Atomic 1000 conclusion here!
I had done a very quick-and-dirty assessment of what time I wanted to be there at the gate over the last couple of days, then backed into when we should leave. Early...
QT Ina Rd 0306
[location, time ride started]
 |
| The first part of the morning will be a blur...like this picture. |
 |
| Here's hoping it's just because she's still not quite awake... |
I'm up early - earlier than normal - and ready to hit the road. With my wife coming along, it's now important that I help her be as comfortable as possible as long as possible. She's only done a single Saddlesore with me; today is the day to take care of her, no matter what.
The weather folks (and me...) figured temps would be in the low 40's to the 80's for the duration of the ride. My wife experiences cold a little quicker than I do, so a couple of minutes spent in packing a bit of heated gear...just in case.
 |
| I-10 / I-19 junction - hope to see this again in a bit less than a day! |
As soon as we'd gotten east of town, and into the hills, temperatures began to drop. I possibly could have toughed it out...but knew my wife was going to be miserable; time for a gear update...a good stopping point is right here, one I've used in the past.
Shell - Benson 0359 0410 0:11
[location, time stopped, time resumed, stopped time]
 |
| First stop...unplanned. |
My wife needed a bio-break - and a layer of heated gear. I put my jacket liner on myself, after a few minutes, we're back under way - and a lot warmer than we were. I believe the lowest temperature I saw was about 41 degrees. Another rider from Tucson reported on another motorcycle forum he had a similar stop as the thermometer showed 38 degrees. Normal for early April, I suppose.
Love's - Lordsburg MDT 0635 0641 0:06
Slight error in routing, but I'd totally forgot about the convenience store on the eastbound exit; and had routed to the truck stop located across the highway. Fortunately, no bio-break needed, so a short fuel stop was accomplished.
Hey, I know I can't do every stop like I would if I was by myself. This is one of the things that riders who want to do Iron Butt style rides as a group may not take into consideration. You're only as fast as your slowest person in the group at fuel stop opportunities.
Back to the road...and sunrise in the desert.
Further down the road...I have a bit of a headache, since I'd passed on having dinner last night. I need a bite, and my wife is letting me know she's got a small headache to contend with. Okay, we can solve this problem - it's time to eat.
McDonald's - Deming 0732 0759 0:27
This place had quite the crowd of 'old guys', staring at both my wife and I as we walked in, fully geared up. I ordered breakfast for both of us, then took the few minutes after this to disrobe. Yeah, two helmets on the table, along with jackets and heated gear piled into the booth. Quite a load of clothing needed to have fun, now isn't it?
With breakfast consumed, I'm feeling better, and so is my wife. It's time to get moving. We'd left early, but we've consumed a bit of time at both of these unplanned stops. Now, as I wrote at the beginning, I did make an assessment, but I purposely didn't bring it along. I still think I'm doing okay on time. The first corner is ahead, planned to take a moment to tour thru ther northern end of Las Cruces, NM.
PQ Gas - Las Cruces 0849 0858 0:09
A corner, so a gas stop here. Pump didn't give me a receipt (I need this one to be good...), so inside I went. That messed up my head, I pulled away, and hadn't hit the marker for Spotwalla. Once I got that done, another minute was spent in getting the tunes to play. About two hours of riding to go before we're 'there'.
Gas/Corner - San Antonio 1040 1047 0:07
According to Brian, this is a required receipt. I go in, hand them some money, and fill the bike. It took a couple of dollars more, so I go back into the store and settle up the bill - and get that required receipt.
 |
| Rural America at its finest! |
 |
| Gas Station Circa 1960's? |
Eleven miles to the turn-off. As we approach, there were a couple dozen people. Some were protesting, some were proselytizing, some were peddling (food, rocks).
The highway goes a few miles to the Stallion Gate. The wait here was around 20 minutes. Fortunately, with the temperature still not at 70 degrees, it was comfortable to creep along until our turn at the gate.
Show ID, answer the question regarding firearms (no, left at home), then the "No photography of any kind until you get to the area."
"You got it!"
...and then, we were on the range.
From the gate, it was a simple matter of following the line of cars that seemed to stretch across the valley.
A left turn, and another few miles, then we come to a fence with a radioactivity sign on it. "We must be here!"
Law enforcement was guiding the four-wheelers to the right - one officer pointed at us, and waved us straight to the designated motorcycle parking area.
Once we got under control and parked, I grabbed this image:
 |
| The "Trinity" sign in the background, along with our bike in the foreground - another sign we were here. |
Another bio-break, and while walking back, the Army Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) team was selling food & drinks. I snagged the receipt from the drinks - location?? Nope. Not a good IBA-level receipt. Date and time were good...but without a location, it's not usable.
 |
| Rather surprised at the number of people here today. |
 |
| The obligatory image... |
So, for about an hour, we wandered around the area, got our photo taken at the obelisk, and looked at the story of the test. The people in this picture are reading placards hung on the fence - thought provoking area, indeed.
In reading about this, I'd learned about a material that was created as a result of the explosion itself. The material is called trinitite. I'd also read that it's expressly forbidden to remove any of this material found on the site. After just a few minutes, it was easy to kick up a small chunk of this material. I looked, I moved on.
The primary trip objective has been made; we've been here, done that. It's now time to exit. The road leads to a remote location (wait - EVERYTHING out here is a remote location!) called the McDonald Ranch House. This is where the assembly of the world's first nuclear weapon occured. Since the road leading there was dirt, I passed on the opportunity to view the facility.
I'd figured a good two and a half hours to get in, see the place, and leave. My estimate was pretty accurate.
 |
| Waiting our turn to leave the facility |
 |
| There were quite a few motorcyclists that had done this ride - obviously, it was a great day for a ride! |
We'd chatted with these two as they prepped to leave the parking lot. They were from northern Arizona, but were overnighting in Alamogordo before heading home.
Once we got back onto the highway, it was now time to consider eating. We'd packed a small 'lunch', knowing that we were going to be in the middle of nowhere.
Yes - yes we were. Half a ham sandwich a small bag of chips, and a cheese stick. My wife had a sandwich without the bread. Nice day, not too warm, but now, we need to get moving. There's still another ~500 miles of riding to do - today!
Atomic 1000 conclusion here!
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