The Final Days of the VOC International Plus Our Visit to New Mexico

 

Howdy Lone Stars,

 I’ve been derelict in my reporting on the International…. but I have an excuse! We have been riding and driving and riding some more and now 3 of us are in Silver City New Mexico after 2 days of riding through the Gila National Forest on some of the best rides ever!

OK.. Here is the story so far, since my last report about day 3 Cambria portion of the international, that covered the riding north on the Pacific Coast Highway north of Cambria on Wednesday 20th. More videos to come, once I get it all edited and uploaded. Stand by for those!

 Day 4 (Thursday 21st):

This was a great ride south east of Cambria to a beautiful road nicknamed “Rossi’s Driveway” along Hwy 229 which is 6 miles of left-right-left-right-left-right along the ridges east of Paso Robles, with a section of beautiful Hwy 58. We came back and took Old Creek Road again just because we loved it so much the first time. Lunch in a beach side resturant followed by a ride up the PCH back to the hotel(video to follow)

 Day 5 (Friday 22nd ):

Morning dawned bright and clear so we decided to run back up the Pacific Coast Highway. It was a completely different ride in the clear sunshine, compared to the misty morning ride shown in my last video. Jonathan Chaikin’s Norvin broke an arm in his shifter linkage, but we figured out a manual shift solution using a vise grip, which got him home without harm. The big bike show and AMA concours judging was that afternoon, with Lone Star Keith Martin taking 2 prizes for best B and People’s Choice! Congrats Keith for bringing some standout bikes in a field of over 70 entrants! Keith’s blue Rapide was really something special and won people’s choice by a wide margin. The bike show included some historic specials including the Rollie Free bike!

Friday night was the final banquet which went on late with lots of touching speeches and final good-byes. All the Lone Stars took a photo under our banner on the banquet room wall (see photo below and video to follow).

 Saturday 23:

Dan Farr and I took off south for our planned rendezvous with Peter Allen in Lake Havasu Arizona to see the London Bridge. Yes, the ACTUAL original London Bridge that was disassembled and reassembled in Lake Havasu! This was just an overnight stop on our way to Silver City New Mexico to ride the Gila National Forest roads.

 Sunday 24th:

Arrive in Silver City NM, at an elevation of 5,600 feet with majestic mountains all around. Peter took the long way down, with a stop at the route 66 museum, and also in Winslow AZ, where he stood on a corner looking for that flatbed Ford….

 Monday 25th:

Peter, Dan and I were joined by Peter’s friend Mike from Kerrville, who rode up on his Ducati Multistrada. We headed north into the Gila National Forest on Highway 15 to the Gila Clif Dwellings National Monument. Holy smokes…. What a road. Most of the 40+ miles was 2nd gear switchbacks along the mountains, rising to about 7,600 feet before descending to the valley on the other side. Video definitely to follow!! See a photo below from one of the lookouts. Zero traffic, but the temperatures dropped from the 70’s in Silver City to the 50’s in the mountains making for a nippy ride! We took about an hour to hike up to the cliff dwellings, occupied about 700 years ago by residents who also farmed corn and beans in the surrounding area. Amazing structures.

 Tuesday 26th:

Today we traveled east back into the Gila National Forest along highway 152 to the Emory Pass at 8,166 feet above sea level. Another stunning ride that weaved and zig-zagged around the mountain range with spectacular views and zero traffic. Amazing. Video to follow there too, but I was selfish and eventually just turned the camera off to soak in the views. After lunch, we headed north to the town of Gila to add another 60 spirited miles to the ride day.

Pulling back into the hotel parking lot, my odometer had crossed over the 1,000 mile mark for a total of 1,056 miles over the trip. The bike ran great, and we ended the trip with no major issues for anyone in the group.

 Wednesday 27th:

All good things must come to an end… We plan to head out at dawn back to I10 to Texas, leaving behind a fantastic adventure but keeping the memories forever.

Here’s some photos:

The bike show included iconic specials like the Rollie Free bike, the Barn Job, and Alp Sungurtekin’s 666 land speed record bike that ran 193MPH at Bonneville in 2021. Oh, and a Lightening too…

 

Lone Stars at the final Banquet in Cambria

View from the lookout
Gila Cave Dwellings

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