Conatus Superbia: Pride in the Endeavor

Conatus Superbia: Pride in the Endeavor Follow along as Jim & Wayne conquer the southern half of the Continental Divide Route by motorcycle.

Two years ago, Wayne Hathaway and I set a goal to ride the Continental Divide Route from the Canadian border to the Mexi...
07/18/2023

Two years ago, Wayne Hathaway and I set a goal to ride the Continental Divide Route from the Canadian border to the Mexican border on our motorcycles... twice... once north to south... and once south to north. Last summer we trailered our bikes to Steamboat Springs, then rode to the Canadian border and back to Steamboat. Eleven days ago we left Dillon, CO and rode north to Steamboat... then south to Antelope Wells, NM, then back towards Dillon. Today at 12:30pm we returned to my truck in Dillon, thereby completing our grand adventure. Conatus Superbia... Pride in the Endeavor. Many memories we will cherish the rest of our lives. Thanks for following along.

Day10... our biggest day of the trip. We planned to ride from Abiquiu, NM to Del Norte, CO... 222 miles. We pulled int...
07/18/2023

Day10... our biggest day of the trip. We planned to ride from Abiquiu, NM to Del Norte, CO... 222 miles. We pulled into Del Norte at 3:20pm and feeling like we had more to give. So why not! At 3:40pm we were pulling out of Del Norte for Sargents. We arrived in Sargents at 6:30pm... just in time to order dinner before the restaurant closed at 7pm. A 12 hour / 336 mile day. As a result, we'll finish tomorrow, one day early.

Day9... You know what they say... Discretion is the better part of Valor. With that in mind, we avoided the worst part ...
07/16/2023

Day9... You know what they say... Discretion is the better part of Valor. With that in mind, we avoided the worst part of the trail we encountered on Day4. What had been a nasty downhill then, would have been a dangerous and nearly impossible climb today. There was a day that both Wayne and I would have been up to that challenge. We were younger, stronger, and much more skilled bike handlers then. But we know our limits now and choose to live to fight another day. So we took the standard blue route out of Grant's this morning. But once we got to Cuba, we moved over to the easier green route to Abiquiu, NM. We arrived safely, and will now check in to the Abiquiu Inn, settle in, and enjoy a cold beverage. Tomorrow will be a big day.

Day8... With our goal of reaching the southern border at Antelope Wells, NM realized, we now turn our attention to makin...
07/15/2023

Day8... With our goal of reaching the southern border at Antelope Wells, NM realized, we now turn our attention to making our way back to Dillon, CO. Today we took a huge step towards that objective. Silver City to Grant's, NM... 267 miles. It's hot here! No camping until we get back to Colorado. Taking refuge at the Holiday Inn.

Day7 proved to be an adventure! We left Silver City, NM at 5am with two goals... 1.) See a sunrise in the desert... and...
07/15/2023

Day7 proved to be an adventure! We left Silver City, NM at 5am with two goals... 1.) See a sunrise in the desert... and 2.) Get down to the Mexican border and back to Silver City by Noon... 1pm at the latest, in order to beat the heat. Well, as my last post and picture prove, we accomplished our first goal. The picture does the sunrise no justice. It was magnificent. We soldered on... got 52 miles into the ride and Wayne's bike developed a problem. Nothing serious... but something we couldn't fix on the trail. So, reluctantly, we headed back to Silver City. We got 20 miles from town and determined Wayne couldn't continue without risking serious damage to his bike. So I gave my bike to Wayne so he could go to town to get the needed supplies, while I waited in the shade along the road. 90 minutes later, Wayne returns... all giddy with excitement that he has what is needed for the repair. We make the fix... then decide to book it on down the 104 additional miles to the border. We make it to the Antelope Wells border crossing just as the mercury hits 102 degrees. Now for the 124 mile return to Silver City. We get a little over halfway back and get stopped dead in our tracks. A HUGE rain storm, complete with cloud to ground lightning is developing right in front of us. After watching the storm build for about 30 minutes, we decide to backtrack 15 miles to a ranch house we saw earlier. We received a warm welcome from rancher Dave and together we sit in the opening of his garage / shop and watch the storm go by, as rain pelts the metal roof. An hour later the rain has stopped. We wait a bit longer to let the roads dry... then we head back out towards Silver City. We pull into town a little after 6pm. We sure hope tomorrow is a boring day!

Good morning from the southern NM desert.
07/14/2023

Good morning from the southern NM desert.

Day6... Datil to Silver City, NM. A short but sweet 169 miles. Mix of desert sage and mountainous pine forest. Pulled ...
07/13/2023

Day6... Datil to Silver City, NM. A short but sweet 169 miles. Mix of desert sage and mountainous pine forest. Pulled into the Silver City KOA at 1pm. Glad to be done before the high temps hit. Going to relax this afternoon at the pool.

Day5... Cuba to Datil, NM.Feeling a little Fiesta after yesterday's ultra hard day, we tried our hand at the red (diffic...
07/13/2023

Day5... Cuba to Datil, NM.
Feeling a little Fiesta after yesterday's ultra hard day, we tried our hand at the red (difficult) section south of Cuba. It surely gave us a challenge and some great views. But we both agreed the standard blue route offers plenty of challenge, while providing more chance to enjoy the scenery. So we'll probably stay on the blue route from here on out. Today's highlight was Pie Town, where we enjoyed blueberry pie a la mode. We had planned to camp near Pie Town, but storms in the area had us detour over to Datil for a hotel.

O.M.G.Day4 was absolutely brutal!!!200 miles... Chama to Cuba, NM. Without a doubt the hardest thing I have ever done o...
07/12/2023

O.M.G.
Day4 was absolutely brutal!!!
200 miles... Chama to Cuba, NM. Without a doubt the hardest thing I have ever done on a loaded dualsport motorcycle. Rocks, rocks, and more rocks. And when the rocks ended, we had baby powder consistency silt. The dust was choking. And then more rocks! But, MAN... did we have fun!!! Hoteling tonight in Cuba. Got the dust and the grime washed off. Now to find some dinner.

Before I get into today's ride, I have to share the surprise that was in store for me when we arrived in Sargents last n...
07/11/2023

Before I get into today's ride, I have to share the surprise that was in store for me when we arrived in Sargents last night. We stayed at the Tomichi Creek Trading Post. When we walked into the restaurant for dinner, who did I see? None other than two old cycling buddies, Nic Legan and Jason Gaikowski. It did my heart good to see these two!!!

Now... Day 3 is complete. Sargents, CO to Chama, NM. 211 miles. Once again we narrowly escaped a huge mountain storm, going up Carnero Pass. We had numerous other passes today, not the least of which was Grayback Mtn. In the photo we are at the pass summit of 11,940. In the background you can see Grayback Mtn, which is 12,616. Quite the majestic sight. Tonight we are camping in Chama, NM.

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