Sol Power–BrammoBlog.com

BrammoBlog Ver 2.0–Number 3.

Walter White gets a bit of kindness from a stranger…or how my bike became Blanche Dubois for a day.

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So I played hookie from work last Wednesday. Actually we were a bit overstaffed and I was a bit over-lazy…so I jumped on Walter and decided to take a bit of a ride.

One of my favorite local rides is going out to Madrid, New Mexico along the Turquoise Trail.

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The ride from my house to Madrid is a fun and fast 45 miles through some beautiful open country. And if I understand how that Math thing works…I take 45 and carry the 2 and do something with Pi and 3 hours later I get the answer of 90 miles round trip.(thanks honey for giving me the answer). Since this is not city driving I grab my charging cable and head out the door.

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My home is on the other side of that mountain in the background. That is the east side of the Sandia mountain.

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It was a partly cloudy morning, with possible afternoon showers. But the ride out was quite nice.

This photos is a panorama facing West.

Click to make bigger (only works on the internet…clicking the image on the email–if you’re one of the three people who get my emails–will do nothing…and yes I’m typing at you Mom…I know your clicking this image as you read the email and I’m asking you not to…so stop.)

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This is the same panorama as above, but facing East.

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After a bit of riding and a few short stops to take photos, I arrived in Madrid….

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And pulled into my favorite little parking spot in front of the Mine Shaft Tavern.

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Outdoor eating and bar. I usually go to the inside bar for a burger as it is wicked cool…but I decided to eat outside that day.

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I like to stop here to stretch the legs and grab a bite to eat and talk to the locals….who are really quite nice and mostly mad as hatters.

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But first things first…I look at my speedo…and no, not that type of speedo. I look at my Empulse display.

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I left my house a bit after noon and stopped a few times for photos. So 45 miles in just under an hour. About right for this trip: 45 miles per hour average speed. 7.5 miles of city driving and then the rest had posted speed limits of 45 to 55 mph. I did the last 22 miles at a pretty even 60-65 mph. So about 5 to 10 mph over the posted speed. A good pace, but not flying down the road.

So doing the difficult calculations: I was half way through my ride and I used 55% of my battery. Which is why I brought the trusty charger. I figured that I could eat a burger with fries, chat a bit with some locals and look at a few art shops and have the perfect amount to get home. An hour of level 1 charging (any standard 110 outlet) and I would be good for the ride home. And I’ve charged the Enertia at the Mine Shaft Tavern before*, so I knew it wasn’t an issue.

* see previous blog: https://brammoblog.com/2012/09/19/brammo-weekly-blog-some-photos-some-phacts-and-some-phun/

So I ordered a buffalo burger and a Coke.

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And then I went to hook up the charger from my bike to the wall outlet. I always like to ask first and order some food so I’m not just mooching some juice. So food ordered, coat and helmet on table, I grab the charger and walk back toward the bike to the only outside wall outlet–the building is very old  plug it in…and the only outside wall outlet was dead.

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Shame on you Mister Outlet.

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Now I wasn’t overly worried. I know of a few places I could charge on the way home. But I had already ordered my food and I hated to not use that time to charge. If I had known the outlet wasn’t working I would have ridden to Madrid, walked around a bit and then hopped back on the bike and eaten instead on the way back in Cedar Crest at Ribs. They’ve let me charge there before and they also have Buffalo burger and other refreshments. So I kinda just thought, “Oh well, a quick burger here and then off to Ribs for a tasty beverage.” And that is when my super nice waiter said to me: “The outlet didn’t work? Dang. Well you can park at my house and charge. I live about 11 houses down the road and there’s an outlet on the front porch”. Me: “Really? That’s really cool. Thanks.” Him: “No problem. If my roommate asks, just tell him Brian said it was ok. But I doubt he will notice. He’s probably on the X-Box gaming. It’s the yellow house next to the General Store. Just straight down the road.”  And as there is only one road in Madrid, it was pretty easy to find.

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Walter White grabbing some juice.

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And the walk from Brian’s house (Bryan?) allowed me to take a few photos of Madrid to share with my readers…reader…voice in my head.

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Madrid was a coal mining town. Then a Ghost town. Then repopulated with mostly Artists. Some work in stone. Some Metal. Some “Other.”

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Panorama of this Photo Park. I loved it.

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Madrid residents seem to love turning rail cars into buildings. I saw a few.

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Random mixed media art on my walk. Part of me thought it peaceful. Part thought of the Blair Witch.

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I’ve never been through the Museum. I will have to next visit.

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One of Madrid’s claims to fame. Wild Hogs was filmed here.

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Personally I like that the bar scene in the movie “Paul” was filmed at the Mine Shaft Tavern.

A horribly small photo from the movie. That’s the Mine Shaft Tavern. It was renamed Roy’s Roadhouse Bar for the movie. No idea why. Mine Shaft Tavern is a better name.

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A very true sign. The road has a 20 mph speed limit…but it is hard to go faster than 10 mph. Everybody and everything usually walks right down the middle of the road. Thankfully the whole town is about 1/2 a mile long.

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Madrid doesn’t put on too many “Airs”.  The Mine Shaft does have an indoor bathroom for the main bar. This is the bathroom for the outside bar.

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Heading back, this is another rail car turned into business, house. It sits at the southern entrance to Madrid and is very cool.

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A Panorama. Mom, stop clicking on the email image and go to the internet site to see it bigger.

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As I was talking to a local about the bike and getting ready to head home, thicker clouds started to move in. And there was a bit of thunder and lightning. And as I had charged for an hour and bumped the charge up to 55%, I decided it was time to head back to Albuquerque.

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 I did get a bit wet on the ride home. But nothing major.

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See the wispy clouds in the distance above the front tire? I love that we have a name for rain that doesn’t hit the ground. Only in the desert do you name rain that evaporates mid air. Virga.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virga

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Facing West with the Sandia mountains again in the background.

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And I arrive back home. 91 miles of fun. 4% charge left. Thanks Brian for some charge. Thanks Madrid for a nice little day trip.

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Till Next Time…which might be a while. The lovely wife and I are going on a road trip for the next 9 days. There is a good chance she might kill me in my sleep after many many hours riding in her car. But if by some miracle I survive, I will post photos. No motorcycle, but some lovely photos, hopefully, of Death Valley, Mammoth Lakes, Yosemite, Lake Tahoe and Crater Lake. Should be great, but hectic. Kinda like life. See ya.

Gavin

For more info on Brammo, please visit: www.brammo.com
For more images, photos, discussions and all around Brammo goodness: visit, lurk and maybe join: www.brammoforum.com

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Bonus: well maybe a bonus.

I was asked to pose for the 2014 edition of this calendar…but I politely declined.

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