"It ain't New and it ain't Mexico" Part 1. Our first New Mexico scouting trip.

New Mexico scouting trip 1. October 2015

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The Landscape of New Mexico and the southwest have always intrigued me; Arid, barren, wild beauty.

Spicy food, ghost towns and open ranges. A near complete departure from the lush forest roads and colonial era mountain trails I am used to riding.

5 years ago I had the opportunity to explore New Mexico by motorbike and so began my love affair with motorcycling in the Land of Enchantment.

3 days and 40 hours after this photo was taken we arrived in NM.

Fortunately, we have a friend and customer, Brad with a cousin in Santa Fe. Klaus let us park our truck, stay at his house and even took the time to lead us out of Santa Fe and to our first nights destination of Cuba, NM.

In just a few hours we rode from the relatively flat area around Santa Fe to over 10,000 feet

Our first taste of New Mexican cuisine. A combination of Mexican and Southern staples with a unique flavor and preparation. Delicious for certain.

Day 2 we were riding through the high desert. Spires and formations scattered about, it was totally foreign to us.

Plus, Our first gate to open and close. These soon became kind of a pain, but we sure did get a kick out of this first one.

From high desert to lava fields. This terrain was the most harsh we had encountered and the lava rocks were incredibly abrasive. The tires took a severe thrashing from the 100 or so miles through the Malpais. Super fun though!