I had a short trip last week to New Mexico. A friend had a business appointment in Silver City so we trailered our bikes there thanks to Steve Rothstein's kind offer to loan his trailer. (BTW, the trailer worked really well carrying a BMW R1100GS and my Triumph Tiger.) After bidness we did a loop of the lower forest area. We took 180 north from Silver City and then cut over on 12. That part was in the mountains with lots of turns tall trees. We were able to keep the speed up and didn't have to deal with too much traffic. We spent the night in a campground on Apache Creek. Late at night it sounded like someone on the highway hit a deer or elk. That was followed by a gunshot and then later the cops and an ambulance. In the morning we went over to Highway 60 to the VLA. From there we took 52 which was 50 miles of graded dirt. This is where my buddy had his fun and I got acid reflux. A heavy, pseudo-offroad bike with 40 lbs of gear on top is not my idea of how to enjoy a dirt road. The part of 52 that was paved which went to TRC (Truth or Consequences to the uninitiated) was really fun. After lunch in TRC we took 152(?) back to Silver City. There was 20-30 miles of tight, mountain switchbacks. When we got to the top and paused I checked my tires and the rear had obviously been stressed to or beyond its limit. We fell in behind three Harleys with two squids each. It was at this point that the sky opened up and we got drenched and hailed on. Lots of fun when you're going downhill on twisties. But once out of the rain we dried in nothing flat. All in all an interesting trip. And again, many thanks to Steve for the loan of his trailer. Final score: 400 scooter miles with no tickets, accidents or lasting scars Cliff Wilkes