Up at 3:30 this morning. I could sleep more but want to get some miles in before the sun comes up and want to be able to rest this afternoon in a nice hotell room in Grants.
Packed up and on the road at 4:35 still dark but the moon and stars are shining bright in a clear sky. no wind very nice morning.
5 AM about 4 miles down coming up over a hill and hit a big patch of sand that through me off the bike. fortunately, this road is nothing but sand so it was a soft landing. Not hurt nothing damaged so just using this as a water break.
5:48 am getting colder this morning stop to warm up my hands and my fingers are freezing. I’m riding through some open range really nice and quiet out here. But the deep sand and washboard is making this very tough going.
6:36 AM I finished 15.2 miles of some of the worst sand and wash boarded road I’ve ever ridden. just made it to the intersection of Highway 117 and I have some pavement all the way to grants. I’ll be nice to give my rear end a break from the washboard.
7:45 29.4 miles down riding through lava fields on one side and huge rock formations on the other. stopped at La Ventana Arch for a break. Finished off the beef jerky and corn chips and soaked up the sun a bit at a park bench. Still wearing a jacket—a cool morning.
It’s 9:20 AM I am 43.5 miles in and taking a water break. I can see I40 and grants about 11 miles away. it’s amazing how far you can see out here. I should be able to make it there for breakfast and I am hungry.
9:45 crossed I 40 and stopped at a gas station that has a subway connected to it—looks like heaven. I’m having a large Diet Coke orange juice foot-long turkey and three cookies. A little dog has showed up and sat down beside me. Seems like a nice dog But I don’t have room on my bike so I hope he doesn’t try to follow me.
When I was leaving the gas station Bill pulled in on his bike pulling a carrier behind it with a buddy his pitbull in it. Bill is just wandering around headed east right now doesn’t know where he’s gonna go from day today. Talked for a while….he was fascinated with my front fork…Lauf fork. We talked for a while then I headed on into town.
I checked into the Southwest Motel at 55 bucks plus tax. This would not be a June approved motel but it works for me. I’m gonna just take the rest of the day here to clean up eat, recover a bit, organize my gear a little better, and then plan my route for tomorrow. I’m going to have to take a detour around Cibola national Forest because of the forest fires. That seems to be the norm here in New Mexico. I’m just planning this one day at a time. Not sure what I’m gonna do right now when I get up to Yellowstone with it being completely closed down. But, I’ll figure it out when I get there.
Ate lunch and dinner at El Cafecito…Excellent Mexican food and all the unsweet iced tea I could drink….And I drank a lot.
If grants isn’t the town that inspired the movie “Cars” Location, then it’s a spitting image of that location. It’s right here on Route 66, You can see I 40 about a mile away and virtually everything goes straight down I 40. About the best thing I’ve seen in town here is the restaurant I ate at. most of the other buildings are abandoned, rundown, and just empty.
So I think I have my route planned from here to Cuba. It’s about 120 miles, so I think I’m gonna break it into two days unless I’m just feeling super great tomorrow. Have a nice air conditioner and a comfortable bed. Good night.
pics:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/2nr1y2f7i6uedgz/AABE24R7ytGeGlwP4AA5Znvaa?dl=0
