The Day I Rode Off Into It - the Conclusion!

Lost Rule #2:

Most survival guides will tell you just stay put... and somebody will find you... well I guess My Rule #2 is kind of a derivation of that...

If you have a clearly marked "TRAIL OF RETREAT"..... which I had....the road.... the pictures of the road... the gates....

Lost Rule #2 says you go back to where you weren't lost....

Well for me that was that first barbed wire gate off CR4N.... at the top of that hill I had gotten a good signal and a fix on where I was....

So I backtracked all the way back out to what I called "the main road"... the dirt road that was about 4' wider than the other dirt roads. I got out there and decided I was gonna bed down right there on the side of "the main road" for the night.... that way I had 2 outs -

1. I had a starting point for in the morning... I knew I could ride this road back into Anton Chico, get back to 84 and either take it north to Las Vegas or retrace back down 84 to I40.
2. if somebody came by I could flag them down and get some info or maybe a ride.

I did take one more little ride further west down the main road just to see if I could find a sign or anything and all I found was it turning further south and a series of "beyond category" climbs and descents.... not what I was looking for....

So I turned around and started heading back to my pre-selected camping spot by the barbed wire gate on "the main road".

..... and that's when I saw the lights.... OMG..... the lights of a truck.... it looked like a big white eyed snake weaving from side to side as it came up the road at me..... probably saw it 1/2 a mile away and it took it at least 5 - 10 minutes to get to me.... tells you something about the road...

Anyway, this truck approached kinda slowly and I pull off my helmet and Ninja hood so I don't look like some sort of mad man or something (imagine that - I'm out here riding a bicycle in the middle of the night; I'm surprised the guy didn't whip his truck around the other way when he saw me).

This guy says "Man - what are you doing out here?"

I said "I'm trying to get to Villanueva State Park" and he says "Well you're about 40 miles off.... can't get there from here".

We talk about the mythical road cutting through and he tells me the same thing every other person has told me - locked gates - private land - used to be a route - ain't no more....

OK OK I GOT IT - NO ROUTE - NOW PLEASE CALGON JUST TAKE ME AWAY!

I introduce myself and meet this guy named Jerome and I see a few other faces peeking around Jerome from the cab of the pickup....

We talk about how to get out of here and Jerome explains the road out to the south back to I-40 about 8 - 10 miles.... and I just flat tell him I don't think I can find my way out...

... and he says "Well just throw your bike in the back and I'll take you up to the fork of the road where it goes back to I-40".

Praise be.....

Let me do a little rewind at this point to tell you about...

Lost Rule #3: Have a Backup Plan....in fact, Have 2 Backup Plans...

When I made the call to my wife, she immediately got on the phone with the New Mexico State Police and talked to a dispatcher named May Maesta who just happened to live in Anton Chico and knew the area I was in like the back of her hand.

Madeleine directed her to my blog.... Mae took a look at the last few pictures I'd sent on my cell phone and told Madeleine, "Yeah I know exactly where he is.."

She then asks Madeleine if I'm OK and Madeleine says yes and that I've got all my stuff with me and that I plan to sleep out there overnight and find my way out the next day.....

May says OK, I'll check back with you in the morning....

then here' the cool part.... I mean this May Maesta is the Best... catch this...

She leaves a voicemail on my cell with instructions to contact her when I get the message and....

after I got out and did the post from the Milagro Food Mart on I-40, May posts a "Comment" on my blog saying how she's glad I'm alright and how the pictures show how beautiful the country there is and everything...

This lady May takes the info from my wife, reassures her and makes contact with me on 2 different lines of communication.... what an amazing person!

The other Backup Plan I had was my Netbook - it was still fully charged....

If it hadn't worked out like it did, I was gonna go back up to the top of that hill where I had gotten the last VZW Navigator signal and e-mail a message to my wife's e-mail account which she would have checked given I had no cell phone....

So there was some method to the madness....

NOW BACK TO THE RESCUE!

First thing I notice about Jerome when he gets out of the truck is he's pretty big... probably 6'2 about 220 and when he shakes my hand I can tell he works with his hands....he didn't get that grip from pushing weights around....it just don't work that way....

and this guy's truck is big.... looked like a Chevy Crew Cab 4x4 with a big Delta tool box in the back.... man if I was gonna get rescued by someone..... this was the ticket...

So I throw my bike in the back and climb up on the tool box... had to leave the tailgate down cause of the Action Packer on the bike and the big Delta toolbox in the bed of the truck....

I was concerned about the bike falling out the back of the truck on the bumpy rode so I was kinda squatted down in the bed of the truck holding the front wheel.

So we take off and now I ain't pedaling..... I'm just sitting in the back of my truck with a Columbia fishing shirt on and it's cold and I'm getting cold..... but hell I don't care.... I'm in the back of a truck that's getting me the hell out of Dodge.... so I ain't feeling no pain!

Well after about 10 minutes of this.... Jerome stops the truck and gets out and says "Man, you sure you don't want to ride up front - there's plenty of room and it's cold out here.... we can get your bike to where it'll fit in the bed and close the tailgate".

What a guy!

At this point, I'm taking 'em up on the offer.... We slant the bike into the bed, close the tailgate and I take off my backpack and put it in the bed, take off my helmet and gloves and climb into the back seat of Jerome's truck....

...and find the front seat filled with Jerome, Nicole, Heather and Jonathan.

Near as I can figure, they're just 2 couples riding around the back roads drinking a few beers and staying out of trouble.....

I get to talking to 'em and find out Jerome works for a construction company in Last Vegas - told ya - they ask about what I'm doing and I tell 'em and I tell 'em about my dead cell phone and Jerome asks me what kind of cell phone I got and I tell 'em LG ENV 3 and he reaches down.....

....and comes up with a handful of cell phone cords.... I'm talking a wad... probably 6 or 8....he hands 'em to Nicole and says "See if one of these will fit his phone."

Well sure enough he had one and WHAM BAM POW..... now I'm getting my cell phone charged....

Oh it gets better.... listen to this...

Jerome talks to me a little more and finally says "you know what I'm just gonna take you all the way out to I-40... I know this gas station.... it's closed now... but it'll be open in the morning."

Earlier, Jerome had offered me a beer but I had declined cause I thought I'd still have some riding to do....

but after he tells me he's gonna take me to I-40 he says "you sure you don't want a beer".......

Holy Mackerel!

So here I am with my bike and backpack in the bed of the truck.... I'm sitting in the warm cab of a pickup riding to safety and a known location drinking a beer, getting my cell phone charged, shooting the bull with a great foursome of young people.....

....and all of a sudden, the headlights of the truck pick up this huge Bobcat runs across the road right in front of the truck.... I mean this thing must've been 40 lbs.....

By now I'm on cloud 9 and we're exiting the back roads of the Beast that lies between Anton Chico and Villanueva State Park and emerging onto the service road leading us to the Milagro Food Mart and MM 343 on I-40W....

.... and I'm almost crying.... it's been a long day.... it's been a long 1100 miles....

and I'm not lost anymore....in more ways than one...

It's kinda funny...once I got in the cab with Jerome and friends, Jerome asked me "Weren't you worried or scared when you saw my lights coming up the road?"

I didn't even hesitate when I answered "Hell No... I was just glad to see ya!"

Kinda says it all....doesn't it?

..... and that was the day I was lost and found.....

..... in the Belly of the Beast....

..... the Labyrinth of Lanes....

..... the Mystical Maze....

..... that lies west of Anton Chico!