9-8-97
| Every year in Sipapu, New Mexico (just south of Taos), there is a gathering
of BMW motorcycle riders. I was fortunate enough to be going through
there this year and got to attend the rally. Over 425 motorcyclist
showed up. Sipapu is s ski resort in the mountains of northern New
Mexico and is beautiful year round. The rally included some great
food and entertainment by a terrific band called The Great Blue Whales.
I ran into a couple of teachers from the Amarillo, Texas area that were very interested in the Two Down project. I'm pretty sure they will be signing up when they get back. At the right is Phillip Schmidt with his Moto Guzzi Eldorado. Phillip teaches special education at Austin Middle School in Amarillo. I want to say a special "Hi" to Phillips kids. |
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Part of the entertainment at the rally was a demonstration of "Trials"
motorcycle riding. As you can see from the picture, this is not an
ordinary motorcycle. The 250cc water cooled bike has no seat.
That's because you never get to sit down on it. Trials riding is
done standing up. A course is laid out in a rugged area and the rider
must traverse the terrain without putting his feet down. the course
will go over large boulders, rocks and other obstacles. These riders
have incredible balance. They can stop the bike on top of a log or
rock and hold it while they decide the best route to take without putting
down a foot. Chuck Sutton is the rider in the shots at the left.
He is at the top of the experience classes in trials riding.
Everyone that was brave enough was given a chance to try a simple course on one of the bikes and many found out it was much more difficult than it looked. Gary at the left (another Amarillo teacher) tried several times and finally got the hang of it. He managed a couple of clean runs after a little practice. |
| South from Taos is a very scenic road called 'The High Road'. Before the interstate was built, it was the main route to Taos. One of my favorite towns is Chimayo (chee-My-oh). One of the favorite attraction in town is the Santuario de Chimayo. Built from adobe brick in 1816 by Bernardo Abeyta to honor Nuestra Senor de Esquipulas. Every year there is a pilgrimage to Chimayo on foot by thousands of people that believe there is special healing powers in the dirt from the santuario. |
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Just north of Santa Fe, is the Bandelier National Monument. The park is named for Adolph F.A. Bandelier. Bandelier was a Swiss, self taught anthropologist-historian who came to America under the sponsorship of the Archeological Institute of America with the goal of tracing the social organization, customs, and movements of southwestern and Mexican peoples. He visited 166 ruins in New Mexico, Arizona and Mexico and wrote in his journal about the monument area that it was "The Grandest Thing I Ever Saw". Within the 32,737 acres of Bandelier there is only three miles of public paved road but there are 70 miles of trails. I walked the Main Loop Trail and saw some of the spectacular ruins known as Tyuonyi, the talus houses and the Long House. Tyuonyi is the circular ruins in the bottom photo. It was built at the height of development in the 1400's and was occupied at the same time as the cave dwellings. The caves were actually back rooms to multi storied stone houses built along the cliffs. Only the cave openings and some of the foundation stones remain today. |
