Sunday Ride to Farmington

Sitting by the bonfire went well into the wee sma's, and I finally stumbled off to bed about a quarter of 2 a.m. I planned to ride down to Farmington, NM, to visit a church for worship on Sunday, and figured I'd need to leave around 8:45 for the 40 mile trek, in order to get there by 10 a.m. Surprisingly enough, I woke up rather coherently around 7:45, grabbed a quick shower, packed my tank bag for the day trip, and was heading out the door around 8:45.

I told Jo I was heading down to Farmington for the service and would be back in the afternoon, and then headed over to the bike, wondering how he would run after sitting on Saturday. I started him up, and began rolling down the long gravel driveway out to Highway 550. Turned south and rode with nary a problem for the entire trip. Now, granted, I was losing altitude on the trip to New Mexico, but the bike was running beautifully! Hmm.

I stopped in at McDonalds to grab a quick bite (it's best if folks around me don't hear my stomach grumble in the service), and then found my way down to the church. I arrived at 9:47, and there were two cars in the parking lot. I figured the congregation would be small, but wow! I went inside, immediately conspicuous, and went down front to say hello to the pastor and sit my helmet in a seat before going back to the restroom and changing into more comfortable clothes. By the time I got out, there were more folks there, and I ended up sitting beside a couple, Linda and Tony, and Linda was all ears about my trip before the service began. 'Twas again a good time of refreshing from the Word, as well as singing.

After the service was over, Linda asked if I had any plans for lunch, and if I'd like to join her and her husband. I was glad to accept the gracious offer, and we rode to a Greek restaurant (all in their car - it was pretty stinking hot that day, so I enjoyed the air conditioned travel). Lunch was great, and it was interesting to hear how Tony had taken remote courses from a Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, which our church back home is very instrumental in supporting. It was like visiting some distant relatives while enjoying the meal with them, and if you guys are reading this, I thank you again!

Once lunch was over, they took me back over to the bike at the church, and I geared up and headed back north to the ranch. En route, I filled up with gas, and found out the previous tank (which included the stinky performance in the mountains) still averaged 49 mpg, so I hadn't totally fallen off the map. Going back to Jo's, gained altitude, especially on one pretty big hill near the end, and the bike never faltered. I was heading up a pretty stout grade at 60 mph in top gear, and pulling through about 6k rpm, which is right on the money. No clue what made the difference. The only measurable thing that was done is when Brian turned the idle screw and had it set to idle at higher rpm than it had. At any rate, the bike was running like it should, and it really helped set my mind at ease for the run down to Albuquerque on the following day.

Once back at the ranch, Jo and a few of the riders were sitting around, enjoying a breeze from a fan, trying to stay out of the sun. A few folks had already headed back home, and another group had headed out to find some local gravel roads. They were gone until probably close to 4, and when they got back, there were a few bike swaps that went on. I rode a couple of bikes, but it was so hot, by the time I got back from the second ride, I felt too weary to take out some of the more expensive bikes :) It would have been nice to try the KTM and the BMW, but I'm sure Charlie and Josh appreciated taking their bikes home unscathed.

Supper that night was at Lady Falconburgh's in downtown Durango, and we lingered long enough that the ice cream shop across the street had closed by the time we were done (boo!). Back to the house and time for some preliminary packing, preparing for departure on Monday morning. I wasn't sure of my route yet, but figured I'd look at that in the morning. As it was, I was ready to hit the rack and get on the road in the morning.