It started as a joke, then became a plan.

Four of us started out to tour New Mexico and make a pilgrimage to Madrid in honor of the movie Wild Hogs. We also wanted to visit with a friend in Albuquerque, and ride the Devil’s Highway on the Arizona side of the border. One of the four realized he could only make the first 2 days of the trip, but he really wanted to ride the Devil’s Highway, so we did that part of the ride first so he could attend his daughter’s college graduation (or some such foolishness).

Another rider suffered mechanical issues on the morning of Day 3 and turned back towards home, only to have a rear tire blowout in Showlow. The good news is that it happened as he was at a stoplight, so he wasn’t moving very fast and he was immediately able to get it to a safe location. For the next 2.5 hours he waited for a tow truck from Phoenix and was treated to “the kindness of strangers”, several of which stopped to make sure he had food and water.

Spring-time weather was the biggest factor in our schedule and route.

Our 4 day outbound trip from Chandler AZ to Albuquerque, Madrid, Santa Fe, Taos, Rio Rancho looked like this:

Our 3 day return trip from Rio Rancho to Chandler: