Long about 1987 or so I was getting tired of hanging out in the city of Chicago. I had been going to Montana to work as a ranch hand and mule packer for a couple of summers but I always returned to Chi-town to work during the winter as a Bike messenger.
Now, you might think that working as a Bike messenger in Chicago during the winter was not a very good idea, and ill admit that the weather can be pretty harsh, but I can assure you that winter time is the best time to make money as a messenger in that city. The weather is so cold and inhospitable that most businesses rely on Bike messengers to take care of light package delivery.
Mind you, I'm not bragging but I was riding my Sekai road bike in the Chicago loop at 50F below zero(with wind chill), that is 82 degrees of frost. One winter I remember the entire month of February staying in the single digit or below zero temperature range. It was cold sure, but you got use to it after a while.
anyhow, in the spring of '87 I decided to not return to Montana for the guide season and looked for an alternate adventure.
I quickly made the decision to ride my Sekai touring bike to Arizona but with a twist. I would take the Amtrak train to Raton New Mexico and begin riding from there, this way i could cut off a lot of boring riding across to heartland of America.
My girl friend dropped me and my bike / gear off at 110 street and cottage grove in Chicago on or about the 1st of May 1987, I rode west to Naperville where i spent the night with my sister, in the following AM I headed for the little town of Sandwich, Illinois where my mother was living at the time.
Over the next few days I hung out with Mom, did laundry, ate some really good food whipped up by mom, drank beer , hung out with some former high school friends and generally acted like a 30 year old single guy.
Early one morning I got a wild hair and headed to the AMTRAK station in the town of Mendota, Illinois, it is about 28 miles from sandwich if I remember right . I bought a ticket on the west bound to Raton but the agent told me that i would need to put my bike into a box for the trip.
Hmmmmm, where to find a box? i set out in quest of a bike box and managed to locate one at the hardware store , I bought 2 rolls of Duct tape and took the box back to the train depo. I began to disassemble my bike using the small tool kit I had brought along for repairs.
In order for the bike to fit into the box I had to remove the pedals, seat, and handle bars. I taped the pedals together and then taped those to the bike frame, I slid the stripped down frame into the box along with the seat and handle bars then On top of those i placed my light weight panniers, rack bag,handle bar bag ,tool kit, water bottles and extra clothes. Using the Duct tape I sealed the box really well, then wound the remainder of the tape around my Nalgene water bottle for later use.
The train was expected to arrive in the evening so i wandered around the little town of Mendota, went to the dairy queen and grabbed a burger & shake. About 4 PM or so the Amtrak arrived and I boarded the west bound for Raton, it was a comfy train as i remember and had a dining car etc. on board, I grabbed a window seat and watched the Illinois countryside roll by. I soon fell to sleep and woke up a few hours later in Iowa .
I stood up , stretched then proceeded to the lounge/observation car where I grabbed a cup of coffee and took in the Iowa sunset. There were numerous other people in the lounge car and the noise was getting to me so I went back to my seat to read for a while. I had with me the Book "The long walk" by Slavomir Rawics, there is some debate as to weather this is a true story or not, frankly I don't care . I thought then and still think that this book is an excellent read, and would recommend it for anyone who likes adventure and survival stories.
Train travel is one of my favorite modes of travel, The rhythm of the train and the gentle rocking of the cars makes for a relaxing trip. I have taken all of the western routes from Chicago, One of my favorites is the route through Montana, it use to take 28 hours from chi-town to Whitefish , back in the early 80's before the Hollywood types messed it up whitefish was a nice quiet little town you could actually afford to live in. Times have changed.
NEW MEXICO:
My train finally arrived in Raton new Mexico sometime in the following afternoon. I got my bike box from the baggage claim area proceeded to reassemble my ride.
After stowing my gear in the panniers and assorted bags attached to my bike I rode up the hill to check out the town.
I located a cheap hotel on the south side of town and spent the night there. I had a good sleep then hit the road early taking Highway 64 heading towards Taos NM , route 64 is part of the old Santa Fe trail and is on the eastern edge of the Sangre DE Cristo or "blood of Christ" mountains. It was a cool morning , the type that makes a person feel good. As i pedaled along, I saw many prong horned antelope along the way, and Notices that the wild grasses were really pretty in contrast with the color of the mountains.
Upon reaching the town of Cimmeron,NM I grabbed some Grub and a sport drink at the circle K then headed up Cimmeron canyon toward the town of eagle nest.
It was beginning to become a heck of a climb so I decided to stop and make camp for the day, I had ridden about 60 miles or so and was feeling a bit tired. I laid my bike down in some weeds and covered it with my Army cammo poncho liner.
Once I had hidden my bike i went on an area scout to locate a decent camp site, it was pretty hilly around there but i found a level spot among the ponderosas. I went back to get my bike and gear but couldn't find it!! The poncho liner I had placed over it provided perfect camouflage. after about a 10 minute search i finally located my stuff. With a sigh of relief i grabbed my gear and headed for the campsite - my 1st in New Mexico.
I set up a poncho "Hooch", then heated some water in my canteen cup with an army trioxane fuel tab or "heat tab", I made some ramen noodles and instant tea. As I remember it, that was a tasty meal and I dined in regal splendor under the canopy of the ponderosas and the clear blue NM sky.
While waiting for the twilight to gather i went over my gear, noted an escape route in my mind in case of 2 legged predators, and spied a decent tree in case i had to climb one. I listened to the meadow larks sing and later I heard the strange call of the "goat sucker" bird, also called the "night jar" so called because it was believe this bird would suck the milk from goats.
anyway, I was kinda sleepy but was waiting for darkness to fall, It has always been a practice of mine to not sleep until full dark. I consider any country I'm unfamiliar with to be hostile.
Once it was good and dark I looked at the stars for a while then wrapped myself in my poncho liner and slept like rumple stiltskin. I must have been really tired because I slept until well past day light.
Feeling refreshed , I ate some power bars and mixed instant black coffee in my Nalgene bottle, and drank it cold. I also forced myself to down 1 liter of water to begin with. During the course of the day on the bike I would drink 6 liters of water or more depending on the distance traveled per day.
I hit the road and headed for Eagle nest New Mexico. More to follow in story 2.
Tomahawk
Now, you might think that working as a Bike messenger in Chicago during the winter was not a very good idea, and ill admit that the weather can be pretty harsh, but I can assure you that winter time is the best time to make money as a messenger in that city. The weather is so cold and inhospitable that most businesses rely on Bike messengers to take care of light package delivery.
Mind you, I'm not bragging but I was riding my Sekai road bike in the Chicago loop at 50F below zero(with wind chill), that is 82 degrees of frost. One winter I remember the entire month of February staying in the single digit or below zero temperature range. It was cold sure, but you got use to it after a while.
anyhow, in the spring of '87 I decided to not return to Montana for the guide season and looked for an alternate adventure.
I quickly made the decision to ride my Sekai touring bike to Arizona but with a twist. I would take the Amtrak train to Raton New Mexico and begin riding from there, this way i could cut off a lot of boring riding across to heartland of America.
My girl friend dropped me and my bike / gear off at 110 street and cottage grove in Chicago on or about the 1st of May 1987, I rode west to Naperville where i spent the night with my sister, in the following AM I headed for the little town of Sandwich, Illinois where my mother was living at the time.
Over the next few days I hung out with Mom, did laundry, ate some really good food whipped up by mom, drank beer , hung out with some former high school friends and generally acted like a 30 year old single guy.
Early one morning I got a wild hair and headed to the AMTRAK station in the town of Mendota, Illinois, it is about 28 miles from sandwich if I remember right . I bought a ticket on the west bound to Raton but the agent told me that i would need to put my bike into a box for the trip.
Hmmmmm, where to find a box? i set out in quest of a bike box and managed to locate one at the hardware store , I bought 2 rolls of Duct tape and took the box back to the train depo. I began to disassemble my bike using the small tool kit I had brought along for repairs.
In order for the bike to fit into the box I had to remove the pedals, seat, and handle bars. I taped the pedals together and then taped those to the bike frame, I slid the stripped down frame into the box along with the seat and handle bars then On top of those i placed my light weight panniers, rack bag,handle bar bag ,tool kit, water bottles and extra clothes. Using the Duct tape I sealed the box really well, then wound the remainder of the tape around my Nalgene water bottle for later use.
The train was expected to arrive in the evening so i wandered around the little town of Mendota, went to the dairy queen and grabbed a burger & shake. About 4 PM or so the Amtrak arrived and I boarded the west bound for Raton, it was a comfy train as i remember and had a dining car etc. on board, I grabbed a window seat and watched the Illinois countryside roll by. I soon fell to sleep and woke up a few hours later in Iowa .
I stood up , stretched then proceeded to the lounge/observation car where I grabbed a cup of coffee and took in the Iowa sunset. There were numerous other people in the lounge car and the noise was getting to me so I went back to my seat to read for a while. I had with me the Book "The long walk" by Slavomir Rawics, there is some debate as to weather this is a true story or not, frankly I don't care . I thought then and still think that this book is an excellent read, and would recommend it for anyone who likes adventure and survival stories.
Train travel is one of my favorite modes of travel, The rhythm of the train and the gentle rocking of the cars makes for a relaxing trip. I have taken all of the western routes from Chicago, One of my favorites is the route through Montana, it use to take 28 hours from chi-town to Whitefish , back in the early 80's before the Hollywood types messed it up whitefish was a nice quiet little town you could actually afford to live in. Times have changed.
NEW MEXICO:
My train finally arrived in Raton new Mexico sometime in the following afternoon. I got my bike box from the baggage claim area proceeded to reassemble my ride.
After stowing my gear in the panniers and assorted bags attached to my bike I rode up the hill to check out the town.
I located a cheap hotel on the south side of town and spent the night there. I had a good sleep then hit the road early taking Highway 64 heading towards Taos NM , route 64 is part of the old Santa Fe trail and is on the eastern edge of the Sangre DE Cristo or "blood of Christ" mountains. It was a cool morning , the type that makes a person feel good. As i pedaled along, I saw many prong horned antelope along the way, and Notices that the wild grasses were really pretty in contrast with the color of the mountains.
Upon reaching the town of Cimmeron,NM I grabbed some Grub and a sport drink at the circle K then headed up Cimmeron canyon toward the town of eagle nest.
It was beginning to become a heck of a climb so I decided to stop and make camp for the day, I had ridden about 60 miles or so and was feeling a bit tired. I laid my bike down in some weeds and covered it with my Army cammo poncho liner.
Once I had hidden my bike i went on an area scout to locate a decent camp site, it was pretty hilly around there but i found a level spot among the ponderosas. I went back to get my bike and gear but couldn't find it!! The poncho liner I had placed over it provided perfect camouflage. after about a 10 minute search i finally located my stuff. With a sigh of relief i grabbed my gear and headed for the campsite - my 1st in New Mexico.
I set up a poncho "Hooch", then heated some water in my canteen cup with an army trioxane fuel tab or "heat tab", I made some ramen noodles and instant tea. As I remember it, that was a tasty meal and I dined in regal splendor under the canopy of the ponderosas and the clear blue NM sky.
While waiting for the twilight to gather i went over my gear, noted an escape route in my mind in case of 2 legged predators, and spied a decent tree in case i had to climb one. I listened to the meadow larks sing and later I heard the strange call of the "goat sucker" bird, also called the "night jar" so called because it was believe this bird would suck the milk from goats.
anyway, I was kinda sleepy but was waiting for darkness to fall, It has always been a practice of mine to not sleep until full dark. I consider any country I'm unfamiliar with to be hostile.
Once it was good and dark I looked at the stars for a while then wrapped myself in my poncho liner and slept like rumple stiltskin. I must have been really tired because I slept until well past day light.
Feeling refreshed , I ate some power bars and mixed instant black coffee in my Nalgene bottle, and drank it cold. I also forced myself to down 1 liter of water to begin with. During the course of the day on the bike I would drink 6 liters of water or more depending on the distance traveled per day.
I hit the road and headed for Eagle nest New Mexico. More to follow in story 2.
Tomahawk
