Land Of Enchantment Tour
This was a journey of firsts. I had never done a long dual-sport ride and Adan had not done a BDR. We started planning for this trip weeks prior to our departure. We hoped that we had not forgotten anything. We were excited to start our journey. Here is the ride report from this wonderful adventure.
Loaded up and ready to go!
May 5, 2022 – A day of thought and preparation. I was all packed and we loaded the 390 Adventure onto the trailer. I double checked my packing lists and hoped that I had not forgotten anything. To be honest I was starting to feel a little nervous. I am new to the off-road game and I was afraid I had gotten myself in to deep, by taking on the New Mexico BackCountry Discovery Route. I had utilized the tools provided on the Ridebdr site to prepare. This is a great resource and I encourage everyone, to support this great cause. It was too late to back out now. I went to sleep with visions of dirt roads and mountains in my head. I slept well.
This would be the cleanest the KTM would be for the next 2 weeks.
May 6, 2022 – South bound and ready to roll! I loaded up the trailer and was on the road to Dallas by 6am. I would take the short 5 hour drive, as it would help with the long drive tomorrow to Carlsbad NM. It is an easy drive from Arkansas and I was at Rob’s house around 1pm. We spend the evening talking about the trip and watching BDR videos. It was a nice way to prepare for the journey ahead of us.
The KTM all loaded up and ready for some adventure.
May 7, 2022 – Carlsbad here we come! Damn it is hot! I met up with Adan and and we transferred the trailer over to his truck. He had loaded up his BMW 301GS the evening before at Plano Kawasaki. Thanks to Jason for helping him out. The following morning we met up with the crew and had a quick breakfast before rolling over to Plano Kawasaki to pick up one last thing for the trip. We were on the road around 9:30am. It is a boring drive across west Texas, but riding together we had a lot of time to reflect on our upcoming journey. Adan is turning 50 this year and his goal was to ride a BDR before he reached that milestone of life.
We made it to Carlsbad without issue and unloaded the machines. We took in a quick New Mexico dinner and relaxed for the rest of the evening. The temps were hot and the wind was blowing significantly from the east.
The ridgeline did well on this trip
May 8, 2022 – First day off the beaten path! We decided the night before, that we would do the first part of the BDR today. We would ride up to Guadalupe Rim, then head over to Mayhill NM for a late lunch, before slabbing back to Carlsbad. This would be a good test run for the bikes. The wind was really blowing when we left and it stayed that way most of the day. The temps were very warm as well. There was no chance of rain. We stopped in Queen before hitting the Guadalupe Rim.