Silver City, NM loop: Hwy 180, 191 and 78

Today everyone was doing some kind of a day ride before heading out to the group dinner at the Red Barn Restaurant in Silver City, NM a block away from the Super 8 we were all staying at.

Some were riding to the Gila Cliff Dwellings, some that came from the west were heading out to ride Highway 152 and some were heading to ride the Devil’s Highway. As much as I wanted to see the Gila Cliff Dwellings, one of the reasons I came here was to ride the Devil’s Highway. 191 (old 666) is one of those a “must ride roads” that appears in many articles and ride reports. Also known as the Coronado Trail Scenic Highway, most motorcycles refer to the very twisty stretch of road as The Devil’s Highway. See my previous post on the Devil’s Highway. In this post I will be mostly writing about the other roads in the loop - 180 and 78.

I was the last bike out of the parking lot this morning. I was having problems with my key card for the room and had to get it re-scanned when I got locked out. Leaving later then anticipated, there wouldn’t be too many stops on today’s 320 mile route.



Nice sweepers along Highway 180



I love big sweepers like this



Heading north in to the mountains on 180 and into some dark clouds



A scenic stop on 180, time to get some layers on and eat a snack



From what I overhead last night, I was going to be the only one riding the loop counter clock wise. I got gas in Silver City and headed west then north on 180, it was about 11AM. 180 started out pretty straight with a sweeper here or there, but got more twisty as I continued north. I was planning on riding it non-stop until my next gas stop in Alpine, AZ. The plan went out the window because I was riding in to some really dark clouds and when 180 started to climb in elevation, I needed to stop and get some warmer layers on. I stopped on 180 at a scenic pullout with some picnic tables and nice views of the surrounding mountains. It’s was really windy up here, so after I layered up, shot some pictures and ate a quick snack I got going again. This part of 180 was my favorite, it climbs via some awesome sweepers and some tighter curves but nothing really as tight as I would see on the other side of the border on 191.



Tighter curves and higher elevations as I get close to the Arizona border on 180





New Mexico - Arizona border on 180



One picture of the bike and one of the rider at the Arizona border

180 was really a good warm up road before riding the twisty 191. A quick stop at the New Mexico and Arizona border for some pictures and off to Alpine to get gas. The dark clouds were still looming above me and there were moments where two or three rain drops would fall out of the sky and splat on my helmet visor. There were scattered showers in the forecast for this area but I never felt like it was going to rain. The clouds were moving pretty quick above me, it was a windy day. By the time I started climbing 191 out of Alpine with a full tank of gas, the clouds were starting to move east and there were patches of clear blue sky visible.

I got through most of the Devil’s highway before I started to make some stops. First one was for lunch and bathroom at a scenic pullout on 191. I brought banana chips, trail mix and energy bars with me and that’s all I was going to eat on today’s ride. All the layers I had put on when I was riding180 I still had on now but with the sunshine shining and heading back down in elevation I decided to take a couple of the layers off before I started to overheat.



A top in Clifton, AZ along 191 - I just love the way this church looks



A narrow street through Clifton, AZ





If you look close, you will notice a lot of these store fronts are not occupied and without glass in the window frames

Not too much later I pulled over aging. I was descending rapidly in elevation on 191 and now it was hot. I needed to shed all my extra layers off, open all my vents. It went from 60 to 80 degrees in a very short amount of time. I pulled over for gas in Morenci. This was pretty much the end of the curves on 191. From here on I was just heading back to Silver City. I didn’t plan on stopping anymore for anything. But then as I was riding through Clifton, AZ I couldn’t help but stop. What made me stop was a cool looking church. It reminded me of the ones I’ve seen in pictures from some of the Mexico ride reports. I’ve never been to Mexico myself. I turned right in to a bumpy narrow street and rode up to the church to take some pictures. This was such an amazing little town. But it was so hot here, so after a few pictures I took off again. Now I was looking at the time thinking I would have to really get on it to make the group dinner at 6:30PM in Silver City. I still had over a 100 miles to ride, but I knew that 180 would be a fast ride, although I had no idea what 78 would be like.

Not much further from Clifton I turned east on 78 and headed for the New Mexico Border. I passed a sign that said “no vehicles over 40 feet allowed” and right of the bat I was “oh, no”. If this road was very twisty, it would take forever to get thought it.

As I headed toward my first yellow 15MPH curve sign, the only thought that entered my head was “please don’t let this road be as twisty as 191”. It wasn’t. There were a few tight curves on this road here and there but the rest of the road had some of my favorite type of curves.



The beginning of 78 near 191



The tighter curves start on Highway 78



Some curves get a bit tight



My favorite part of 78 - the road climbing

78 also called Mule Creek Road, started to climb with each curve. The curves were not too tight, they were perfect, the way I love curves to be. Just tight enough to be able to lean but not so tight that you have to slow down, or down shift too much. There were so many enjoyable curves, which each set I would look down at the section of road I was just on below me. After riding about 200 miles today, with many enjoyable sections, I was now in the “zone”. You know, that “motorcycle nirvana“ you reach when the road curves just right, where the curves continue long enough for you to reach that confidence where you become one with the machine you riding and start to glide effortless through the curves, like an asphalt ballet. Each curve better then the previous, after a few you realize that you’re actually laughing out loud inside the helmet and catch yourself yelling “hell yea!“.



And climbing



A stop near the top of 78 with some amazing scenery



You can barely see the road below in the upper right corner

This road 78, which I have never heard of before, is now my favorite road in New Mexico. I had to stop again near the top to take a picture, but unfortunately I was already way passed the curvy sections, where you can see the road snake below you and climb up the mountain side. Unfortunately I was having way too much fun to stop there.

My favorite part of 78 was definitely climbing up the mountain, the pavement so smooth. But after the climbing stopped, and I started heading back down, the curves continued and were lots of fun as well. I crossed in to New Mexico and the road became kind of straight, the pavement also deteriorated. Now I only had about an hour to get to Silver City so I got on it. I reached 180 and turned south and continued. Doing some calculations in my head I came to the conclusion that if I could maintain 70MPH I could make Silver City in time for dinner.

I continued, there was absolutely no one driving on 180 heading south which was great, I didn’t have to pass anyone. But there were quite a bit of cars heading the other way so every time I saw a vehicle coming toward me I’d slow back down to the 60MPH speed limit. Then near Silver City there was a fire on the side of the road. Looked like someone carelessly through a cigarette but out of the car and started the dry grass on fire. Many cars were pulled over, people stomping on the grass and fire, trying to put it out. There was one Police car already on the scene. It must have just happened because I passed two more Police cars and a fire truck. Since I took so many pictures on today’s ride, now my camera’s battery was totally dead. So no pictures of the fire or the cool javelin’s I saw on the side of the road.



Highway 78 AKA Mule Creek Road

I pulled in to the parking lot at the Super 8 at about 6:35PM. There was no one here except for the bikes, everyone must have already walked over to the restaurant. I guess I was going to be a few minutes late. I grabbed my tank bag and headed for the room and again my key card wasn’t working. How annoying. After walking over to the other building, waiting in line and getting it re-scanned I finally made it inside the room. After throwing off my motorcycle gear and throwing on some regular clothes I speed-walked over to the Red Barn Restaurant. Everyone as here, some people were still waiting for their drinks so I wasn’t that late.



My whole 320 mile loop from Silver City, NM: highway 180, 191, 78 and back on 180

When my beef tacos arrived, I was so hungry. Then I remembered that I didn’t even have my camera with me. Oh well. No pictures of food - again. The beef tacos were much tastier then the chicken fajitas I had last night. BTW, the Red Barn is a steakhouse, and that’s what most people were eating.

It seemed like everyone showed up to the group dinner, and as always, talking motorcycles over food and beer is a great way to end an awesome day of riding. Funny, there must have been 50 riders here, but only two women riders, Becca and me. It amazes me with so many more women riding motorcycles now, still not many that tour.

Rockets and running

Today marked the last “long” run before the marathon next week. Given that I'm into taper, this meant only nine easy miles were required. Of course, as anyone who has ever trained for a marathon knows all too well, for some reason, cutting back on the mileage tends not to feel as good as it should. Even the short, relatively easy runs that make up this week and the next seem too difficult and too long. My legs feel heavy, my breathing labored. Nagging aches and pains have started to crop up in all sorts of funny places. Experienced athletes will give you lots of pseudo-scientific, physiological reasons for this. They’ll claim that your body is so accustomed to working out hard that it crashes with even a 10-20% reduction in overall intensity. I find this hard to believe. While I know that exercise increases energy levels (apparently, though I beg to differ following a 20 mile run or an intense bout of intervals) and that the less you do, the less you feel like doing, tapering represents only a very modest reduction in training and, if anything, should provide some much needed rest.

I tend to subscribe to the theory that more psychological factors are at work. After 16+ weeks of dedicated training in which I checked off most of my miles but not necessarily all of my target paces or heart rates, the last week before the big day leaves me wondering if I’m really that well prepared to run this thing, and especially to run it at my target pace. This self-doubt is compounded by the realization that, with only one week left to go, there’s nothing more to be done between now and race day. If I haven’t squeezed it into the last 16 weeks of marathon training -- whatever “it” might be – I won’t be doing it at all. There are no more opportunities to improve my speed, strength, or endurance. In seven days, I need to show my hand. But my tendency to distress over missed opportunities and lament what I'll never have the chance to do extends beyond my running. It also extends to space exploration.

Last summer I tried to be an Astronaut. The Canadian Space Agency (yes, we have one) decided that it was time to hire a couple of Canucks to train as astronauts, and they announced that they would be choosing two lucky winners to join Canada’s “next generation of space explorers.” When I say that I have always wanted to be an astronaut, this is mostly true. Certainly I wanted to be one when I was seven years old, and, though I never actually did anything that would increase my chances of becoming one, it remains the coolest job I can think of. Seriously, I challenge you to think of a response to the usually boring "so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living" dinner party conversation that could elicit as many oooohs and aaaaahs as, "I FLY ROCKET SHIPS INTO SPACE!!!"

It was therefore with much enthusiasm that I submitted my Round 1 application last summer, proudly noting that I met the basic height, blood pressure, and educational requirements. When I was subsequently “selected” for Round 2 (never mind whether the selection was automated or not), I immediately began to compose and deliver my essay, “Why I should become Canada’s next astronaut.” My friends were proud. My coworkers were amused. My husband was fearful. I was doubtful, but secretly hopeful.

As you probably guessed, I didn’t make it past Round 2. Those that did have skills that I most definitely do not, such as in flying fighter planes or designing rocket ships. And while I wasn’t really expecting to make it to Round 3 or beyond, it was still a bit of a bummer when I received my automated response. The email ended by saying, “We would like to thank you for your interest in the astronaut recruitment campaign and the Canadian Space Program, and wish you good luck in your future endeavours.”

One thing that is painfully obvious to me is that my “future endeavours” will not include going into space, unless I someday buy a tourist-class ticket. I will never be an astronaut. That ship has sailed, the train has left the station, the rocket has left the launch pad (and I’m not in it). This makes me a little sad, because I have a nagging worry about lost opportunities in my life, and the lack of time to make new ones. I’m only 31 years old, but already I feel like I’ve missed a lot of chances along the way that I’ll never get back. Not only will I never join the esteemed Canadian Space Agency and therefore never have access to the secret files revealing that the moon landing was, indeed, an elaborate hoax, neither will I ever be a doctor or a lawyer, which are also professions that I aspired to at some point in my youth. I’ll never cure cancer or sit on the Supreme Court. Heck, I’ll probably never even live in Paris and perfect my French.

Similarly, I realize that I may never be a 3:10 marathoner (assuming I have the innate ability) because I didn’t start running early enough, and soon I’ll have to start readjusting my PR goals upwards by five minutes with every five years of age, anyway. And while there may have been more I could have done during this round of training to prepare for next week's race, the training is in the bag. There are always things I could have done, but sometimes, I need to remind myself that it may be better to keep my head out of the clouds, feet firmly planted on the ground.

Arizona 191 (Old 666) The Devil’s Highway

Today I rode the famous Devil’s Highway, which is known as one of the twistiest roads in the US by motorcycle riders. Even the Federal Highway Administration considers this drive to be the curviest road in the nation. It is definitely worthy of it’s own post, so I will write about the other roads I rode today in another post.



Miles and miles of 10MPH corners

U.S. 191 is a pretty long highway. You can find it running through Montana, Wyoming, Utah and Arizona. The very twisty Devil bits are located in Arizona, this section is also know as the Coronado Trail Scenic Byway, which runs North - South along the New Mexico border. The Coronado Trail follows the route near Coronado's path as he searched for the "Seven Cities of Cibola" over 450 years ago. But what does Coronado have to do with the Devil? Not much really. In the US there has always been a lot of superstition around places with numbers like 13 or 666. Many tall building don’t even have a 13th floor since 13 is considered an unlucky number. The number 666 has been associated as the number of the beast, or the antichrist so Arizona changed the numbering from 666 to U.S. 191 in 1993. The other states also changed their numbering too, I remember riding in Utah a few years ago and even though my GPS said I was riding U.S. 666 the road sighs had been already changed to 191. I’m not superstitious, after all how can I be? I have three consecutive 6‘s in my social security number.





191 near Alpine, AZ in the north at elevations 8000-9000 feet, snow still hiding in the shadows

Springerville and Clifton are 120 miles apart along Highway 191, but some claim there are 1,100 curves in the road separating these two towns so it takes a few hours to get from one town to the other. The curves are tight, very tight. As a matter of a fact in all the years I’ve been riding motorcycles I don’t think I have ever seen a road where the “10MPH” curve sign was not used to mark a particular curve but miles and miles of curves. If you like seeing signs that say “10MPH for the next 6 miles” this is your road. And these speeds are pretty accurate (for cars), although of course on a motorcycle you can go a little faster then 10MPH.
The road is narrow and at times it runs along the cliff side, there is no shoulder and no guard rail separating you from the cliff’s edge. This is not a road to push your cornering abilities on. A mistake can be fatal.



The pavemnet was bumpy and patched up at times

Heading south on 191, you get kind of views for hours

No shoulder, no guard rail

Get your gas before you start! There aren’t a lot of opportunities to get gas on this road so fill up either in Alpine if you’re coming from the north, or Clifton or Morenci if you’re coming from the south. Since there aren’t a lot of towns on this road there isn’t a hell of a lot of traffic either. I think this is the reason why motorcyclists flock to this road. What can be better than miles and miles of super twisties with no other vehicles on the road to spoil the fun? Even on the weekend, all you will see here are motorcyclists and a few tourists. And since no vehicle over 40 feet long are allowed on this road, that eliminates some of the larger road blocks we have to deal with on the other twisty roads.



Heading south, most of the time I could see all the curves





It's very hard to photograph this twity beast of road - pictures can't show that from the seat of the motorcycle there are so many places where you can see the road twisting in the distance





Watch out - a cow in the road

In the north near Alpine the road rises high in elevation. I googled to see what the highest elevation on this road was but came up with many different numbers. I did have my GPS on at times and I do remember seeing at least 9,300 feet in elevation, maybe a lit more. Even in early May there was still snow up there near the road and under the trees in shadows.



191 as it curves around a cliff



So many spots along this road to take a break with a view, I chose this as my lunch spot - oh, and there were pit bathrooms also



Toward the southern end of 191



Looking down at the curves I'm about to ride



I'm heading down there



The Devil’s Highway runs for miles through the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest. There is a 6,000 foot elevation change between the upper Sonoran Desert and the near-alpine terrain of the White Mountains. Like some other roads that I’ve been on, it’s also described as a “Palms to Pines” road. Speaking of Palms, there are some awesome ones in the town of Clifton, AZ on the south end of the Devil’s Highway but I didn’t stop to take any pictures of them.

Which direction to ride? I’m the odd ball one. Everyone I knew rode the Devil’s Highway from south to north, where you climb in elevation. I prefer to descend the curves in elevation, so I rode this road from north to south. Even though I rode it north to south, there were still a bunch of curves that I ended climbing, not descending., since at times the road goes up and down. I’m not sure what the views look like heading north, but let me tell you, heading south - curve after curve - you see some amazing scenery ahead of you, especially starting toward the middle of the ride all the way to the southern end.



Near Morenci, AZ there are miles of tight curves and mining



A tunnel near Morenci



Mining near Morenci - lots of dirt and sand in the air here and on the road

Some just start the ride in Clifton and only ride about 60 to 80 miles and turn around. The southern part of the Devil’s Highway is more twisty and the best pavement is also on the south section of the road. Actually near Alpine in the north, where the road is still a bit loose, with sweepers, the pavement is also nice. But somewhere after that heading south the pavement gets really bad, lots of patch work and bumps and lots of sand.



Don't miss the town of Clifton, AZ on the south end of 191, it's really neat

The curves can be exhausting and feel like they go on forever, so prepare for a long ride and make sure you pay attention to the road at all times. There are some technical curves on this road, but even though it’s very tight I didn’t find it all too scary. Especially heading south, I could see most of the road, so I didn’t have to deal with too many blind corners. Although I did come around some corner, that was near the cliff’s edge and the wind almost wanted to blast me off the mountain. As for the curves, I only found one curve that freaked me out. It was a super tight 10MPH left hander. Not sure if I wasn’t paying attention to the road at the moment and it sneaked up on me, or was it just a goofy curve. It just didn’t flow right for me.

I don’t partially like the super tight stuff, but this road has a bit of everything on it. I really enjoyed the curves that were marked at 30MPH best, although it seemed there were way more curves posted at 10-25MPH on this road. It’s definitely a road one must ride at least once in a lifetime. It’s a hell of ride!



Over a 100 miles of tight twisties from Alpine to Clifton, AZ (left), a details of some of the curves on 191 (right)

Albuquerque to Silver City, NM via twisty 152

I woke up with a slight headache and realized that what I was feeling yesterday was possibly one of my wisdom teeth coming in. My jaw started hurting yesterday, I thought maybe I had something stuck in my tooth but I found nothing and it continued for hours so with dinner I took one ibuprofen.

This morning my jaw and whole upper right side of my back teeth was hurting even more, so I look another ibuprofen. I have only taken ibuprofen once before. Dean's wife made an amazing breakfast for all of us, home made waffles and bacon. At around 9:30AM we got geared up and ready to take off for Silver City, NM. It was going to be an easy day of about 250 miles.

We jumped on I-25 and headed south so we could ride the super twisty 152. The wind was picking up and it was getting a bit gusty. I lost my platypus (water bladder) somewhere on I-25, which I tour with on top of my tail bag and secured under the bungee net. Not sure how it slipped out but it did, the only thing that was left attached to my bike was the hose. The one end of the hose was stuck to the bungee net the other was tangled around the rear wheel - yikes! When I didn't see the Platypus in my mirrors I pulled over, glad I did. Too bad I lost the Platypus and so early in the trip, it's a lot more convenient for water storage than water bottles. I did have two small water bottles also but the only place the bottles would fit was in the side cases and to have to open those and dig the bottles out every time I wanted a drink, that was going to be a pain. After about an hour and a half, we stopped to take a break, I was feeling even worst now.

By the time we pulled in to Truth and Consequences, NM for gas I was feeling really ill. My head was killing me as was my stomach. While pumping gas the smell of gasoline was making me gag.



Heading south on I-25



Taking a break off I-25 with the group


The guys wanted lunch so we went across the street to Denny’s. I had no apatite but ordered a side salad, I only managed to eat about 5-6 bites. The whole time I waited for the food to arrive and after I was done eating, I was laying down in the booth, continuing to feel sick.

After lunch I told the guys to continue on without me. I needed to lie down for a while and couldn’t ride until I felt better. They went ahead to Silver City and l went to find an out of the way place to lie down, which was underneath a tree behind Denny’s. I'm sure I could have found a more secluded place but there was no way I was going to get on the bike and ride to look for it. A few minutes later I puked up the salad.

I was starting to get worried if I could make it to Silver City tonight. I didn’t want to ride feeling like crap. I took a small nap, later some Denny’s employee woke me up and told me to leave, said I couldn’t sleep behind the restaurant. I was feeling a bit better now and went to my bike to find out it was 4PM already. I had to get going if I was going to make Silver City before dark.

I headed further south along I-25, the wind was really blasting now. I was feeling better and better and by the time I got to the super twisty 152, I was feeling a bit weak from not eating much today but the headache and stomach ache was almost gone.



The start of 152 at I-25



The curves start out with sweepers



Then the tight stuff starts




























Highway 152 goes over Emory Pass 8228' in elevation, from Hillsboro to Silver City it's 54 miles and 5,500 ft. gain.

I was so glad that I was feeling better by the time I got to 152. This is a very twisty road, but not too technical with nice pavement and scenery, hardly any traffic. Many 10-15MPH curves require concentration on this road. I especially liked the west end of it, where the curves weren’t as twisty and I could ride a bit faster.

Highway 152 runs through the Chihuahuan Desert, the Mimbres Mountains, the Mimbres River Valley and the Piños Altos Mountains southern foothills. The highest part of this road is through Emory Pass at 8,228 feet in elevation.



Bikes in Silver City at the Super 8

I arrived in Silver City at 7PM, after unpacking the bike and putting all my stuff in Becca's room, the group that had been hanging out in the parking lot decided it was dinner time. We all walked over to the Red Barn Restaurant just a block away from the Super 8. I was so starved, I totally forgot that I usually take pictures of my food on bike trips. So there is no pictures of my chicken fajita. But I can tell you it was a lot of food, the chicken was so-so, the guacamole was especially good. After dinner there was more handing out in the parking lot, kicking tires and telling stories.



The route was about 250 miles today, I-25 to 152 to 180