27th March
Winds are WNW early and sunny at Springerville, turning NW by the afternoon during the last 50 miles if I descend to Silver City. It's a possible new plan to work with the weather instead of snow ploughing head first without knowing why or where. Maybe I could descend from 7200ft and escape the snow by riding to a warmer climate. Maybe by heading south then east to Las Cruces and on to Dallas I'll benefit from conditions that aren’t freezing. Right now this area could be hit by a blizzard severe enough to ground me for several days. But this route adds138 miles to the ride so do I trust the weather to stay calm for several days and continue east? The weather looks calm. I stay high and go due east.
I-380 East. Still snowing but sunny
The route profile is long rolling hills, good surface and the snow has begun to thin. Flat desert scrub extends to lines of trees and hills beyond all leading to a shifting sky with big clouds pushing me along.
At Quemado I stop at the Largo Cafe where they asked me for $5 to charge my battery. The only cafe in the world to ask this. It’s sunny and warming. I’m good to go.
But Pie Town was charm itself. A sign says ‘The Gathering Place’ and it is a nexus of travelling people crossing America. In the back roads of America it’s where you find something extraordinary you weren’t expecting. Sara was rolling out the pastry for the pies next to the restaurant and shop. The whole highway follows the 'cattle walk' extending way back when villages sprung up from where the ranchers rested the cows each night. So every 30 miles there is now a settlement. In Pie Town the ranchers wanted pie and the name stuck. So you buy a whole pie, fruit or savoury. But Sarah is interesting, she told me she’d run off to ride the freight trains for three years as an experiment in seeing America from a different travelling perspective. She hung with the hobo's and as her story developed I knew I had to go. I did look up freight train hobos of America and got 'Freighthopping'.
Pie Town
"Is this the best road test in the world? The bike performed easily in the cold and at altitude."
I make Datil before dark. Nice small inexpensive hotel. Treated myself to a good meal. Goodnight.
Map of the Day
Asking a globe-trotting adventurer for $5 to recharge his battery... …I’m ashamed for them…!!!
Jean Claude
I was wondering if Yamaha or another manufacturer are working on developing a battery that charges itself when the bike is being ridden normally? Some car batteries do it with the brakes. Makes sense. Would have saved you 5 bucks Nick.
In defence of the cafe owner she may have been unaware of the amount of electric your battery was sucking out of her cafe...did the lights in there flicker the whole time? 😁🍰🍩🍪☕☕...to keep you warm and energised....go well Nick!!