Up at 5:15 AM raining outside And 58°. Supposed to do this all day and turn into thunderstorms this afternoon. I’m going to head to Chama about 60 miles away and then reassess once I get there.
6:20 AM triple check to make sure I’m not leaving anything in the room and I’m on the road. 58° nice morning and not raining so far.
7 AM 5.5 miles in in the middle of a huge climb out of this canyon stop to takeoff my jacket get some water very nice morning it’s about 60° lots of cloud cover looks like it could rain any time but hope it stays like this all day.
Just a random thought here’s a great idea for Apple for your next big invention is make an iPhone screen that will actually work when it’s wet it’s driving me crazy.
8:30 AM 20.4 miles in perfect riding weather been climbing all morning up a canyon at 6,777 feet right now and still climbing
9 AM at 22.75 miles still climbing at 7,085 feet. Pouring with sweat so I got out my Gatorade bottle did a 50% mix in one of my water bottles to start taking in some electrolyte. I think today’s gonna be a tough climb day. But feeling great.
9:34 AM 25.9 miles and still climbing 7,632 feet starting to sprinkle a little bit feels nice though, great riding weather.
A guy just passed me and turned around came back and offered me a blanket. So I guess I am out of the heat 🙂
Just topped a climb at 7,682 feet. Stopped and put on my jacket as I’m going to be flying down this decent and it’s gonna be a little cool.
10:15 AM and 32 miles in. I came to a little Mustang gas station & small market place. They have signs plastered all over the door reading “facemask required do not come in without face covering” in big red letters. I don’t know why but it just hit me so I got back on my bike and took off. I won’t be giving them any of my money. I have a mask somewhere in my bag but I’m not that hungry to dig it out just to go and buy a coke. Hey, New Mexico, Covid is over…get over it.
11:23 AM 41.9 miles and just finished a big climb. I’m at 7,839 feet. Still cloudy and cool nice riding weather. Feeling good and strong.
11:40 AM 45 miles in stopped at the family dollar store in Tierra Amarillo. Got a Diet Coke, 5 pack of Kit Kat bars—the small ones—, heresy’s almond bar, a box of strawberry pop tarts, water and orange juice. Taking a break and enjoying it. It’s 63 degrees with a nice cool breeze.
12:46 PM 52 pm. 52.1 miles in just finished another climb. It’s been up and down all day. I can’t really dictate these notes very well because I keep sweating on the phone.
1:30pm and I just rolled into Chama. Dark thunderstorm clouds are starting to form over the mountains in front of me directly where I’m heading and they’re calling for severe thunderstorms until about midnight. I would like to do another 30 or so miles, but tomorrow’s supposed to be a nice day. So, I’m gonna grab a motel here wait out the storms and hit the road early in the morning.
Got a .25 star motel Directly across the street from a supermarket and just down the street from a Subway shop. This is gotta be one of the most rundown rooms I’ve ever stayed in and I’ve stayed in some bad ones. But, it’s a bed and a shower and that’s all I need right now.
Got cleaned up picked up two foot-long turkey subs from subway, one for this evening and one for breakfast in the morning. Then walk across the street to the market and picked up some food to carry with me tomorrow since I don’t know where I’ll be at the end of the day.
Got beef jerky two cans of beanie weenies, two cans of potted meat, some tostadas, some fresh fruit, two Coors lights for tonight, a spare set of batteries for my flashlight, and a can of bear spray. Probably won’t really need the bear spray until I get well into Colorado, but not sure when I’ll run into another shop that has it.
This will be my last day in New Mexico and I’m not sad about that. I lived in Albuquerque for five years and loved it, but the part of New Mexico I’ve been traveling through these last few days is not a place I would consider relocating to. There is some nice landscape that could make a nice driving location from an air-conditioned car, but I won’t be doing another bike trip through this part of New Mexico anytime soon.
Pics:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/qzdlx1w9hq2j4ub/AACoATQr1e-ih7MW14oflj8ra?dl=0
