Day 35, Monday 10/12: Four Days Left and Unseasonably Cold Weather

The morning dawned, cold and gray and damp again. The forecast was the same as yesterday: cold and cloudy in the morning, sunny afternoon, high of high 50s, east wind. We watched the weather channel and saw the forecast for the plains for the next 3 days...the same or worse weather. There was a massive front, unseasonable cold, record lows, snow to the north, rain all around. It would be another late start today, and perhaps not enough hours in the day to reach our destination.

We thought long and hard, then decided to abort the mission. We could have hunkered down in La Junta for a few days, to wait until the weather cleared, but we did have to get home before too long. The trip from La Junta, CO to Pratt, KS would have to wait and be our first four days of our adventure next fall as we continue across the country to the coast of Virginia.

We loaded up the RV and headed back to Taos, thinking about the 1579 miles we did cover from the coast of California to eastern Colorado. We were on the road 34 days, riding 30 of those days, 118 hours on the bikes. We climbed, we descended, we sweated, we froze, we laughed, and yes, we almost cried a few times. We were challenged and rewarded.

It was an incredible journey.

Day 34, Sunday 10/11: Trinidad to La Junta, Cold and Damp

These are the sites that we looked out on upon wakening this morning: frost covering everything. Kit got a room at the Budget Host Motel in Trinidad, while Martha and Chris had an RV slot there. The heat in the RV does not seem to go on when the outside temps are below freezing, so it was 40 degrees inside the RV in the morning. Brrrr. But outside it was 20 degrees! Brrrr, brrrr! And cloudy. And damp. The forecast was for sun and 50+ by noon, but it was not warming up quickly. We had more than 80 miles to travel today if we were to reach La Junta. We donned all our layers: leg warmers and leggings, fleece socks and booties, fingered gloves and liners, hats under our helmets, and many layers on our torsos and finally left at 11:00. It was still cold, around 33 degrees, the sun had not yet appeared but we ventured forth.



We rode up Main St in Trinidad. What a beautiful old downtown. It is a shame it does not get more visitors as there are so many interesting old buildings, and a couple of wonderful museums. Then out on to the plains. Pretty non-descript scenery for a good part of the way, other than the snow-covered Sangre de Cristos to the west.



We tried to enjoy the scenery, but were concentrating on ignoring the cold. Kit's frozen fingers finally abated. Our destination was 2000feet lower than Trinidad, but the constantly rolling terrain seemed to be taking us uphill overall. Chris kept an eye on us, waiting every 15-20 miles, as we hoped to be able to shed some clothes and stash them in the RV. The sun did come out by early afternoon, it did warm up a little, but we stayed pretty bundled up. Only a few almost-abandoned towns broke up most of the ride. We did enjoy watching many red-tailed hawks, kestrals, and other birds. We entered the Comanche National Grasslands, and saw markers designating the Santa Fe Trail wagon ruts.

By about 4:00, the wind had picked up, yes, a headwind, and the temperature was dropping. We had only gone about 50 miles and were getting pretty tired. The chilly temps were draining our energy and stiffening our muscles. Dark threatening clouds were forming over the eastern sky where we were heading. We had agreed to meet Chris at Timpas, about 16 miles from La Junta. By then it looked like snow was going to start falling out of the dark clouds, and the wind had increased. We decided to call it quits for the day at 5:00, put the bikes on the rack, and got into the warmth of the RV. We thought we would start up in the morning in Timpas where we left off.



Kit got a kabin at the KOA; showers and tea revived us, and we heated up some homemade lasagna and garlic bread for dinner. We pulled out a small electric heater that we had forgotten was with us, in case the RV's heat failed again with the cold night, and all settled in for a good nights' sleep.

DAY 33 SAT 10/10 CIMARRON TO TRINIDAD OR FREEZE YOUR BUTT OFF

Well, we started off this day with a lot of clothes on, knowing that it would be a pretty cold morning. But we look to the east and only see a light and limited amount of clouds. Oh what fools we are. We have rollers going downward and the countryside is the beginning of the plains. We see our first pronghorn antelope, lots of hawks and other birds and a large herd of bison that may be part of the Ted Turner herd. The cloud cover is increasing and getting more ominous, hummm. We are doing our best to keep warm, the cycling helps. After about 35 miles we get to the entrance to I-25 where we must ride on the freeway until Raton, 5 miles down the road. Chris is waiting for us there just to see if we are OK. We are, and he heads off to wait for us at the Raton Welcome Center. We are glad to have a warm RV and some welcome lunch waiting. After a rest it is over our last pass of this section of our ride across America. We are cool, but the wind is behind us and that is good. It is a long pass, but never too steep although the cold does drain some energy. Chris is waiting at the top and takes this photo of us, well clothed for the cold. We have made it over the Rocky Mountains!

We do however put on wind pants for the downhill which is 11 miles and sometimes a 6% grade. As we head down we are going slowly both to watch for road debris waiting to give us a flat and because of the cold, but with the wind at our back it isn't too bad. Then suddenly, about 4 miles from our goal, the wind from our back stops and we are into a head wind, a strong head wind and looking at a foggy cloud that is covering the Trinidad Valley area and the snow covered mountains to the west. WE ARE COLD! Oh my gosh, it is cold and the more downhill the colder it is getting. The head feels like a popsicle and the fingers don't feel at all. We go as slowly as we can to reduce the wind chill factor. Upon getting to the RV we run inside, tear off our jackets and each of us grabs a dog on our laps who instantly become our little personal heaters! Thank you Shorty and Hopper, you were there for us when we needed you. We had to warm up before showering and know that tomorrow we will have a very late start, waiting for it to warm up a bit. We hear on the Weather News that it is 29 and a chill factor of 22 which had to be a lot more when you are going 15 to 20 mph! Hopefully the weather channel is right and it will be warming a bit tomorrow than today!

Day 32, Friday 10/9: Taos to Cimarron

The day dawned cool and clear. Thank goodness, as the weather the last couple of days was damp, and the forecast looked "iffy." We put fenders on our bikes as we anticipated rain in the next week. But not today. We had a beautiful, easy ride up to Palo Flechado Pass.






A quick downhill took us into the Moreno Valley, where we had a lovely view of Wheeler Peak with snow, and an easy ride to Eagle Nest. Chris joined us for a "to-go" burger that we ate in the RV. What luxury, our sag wagon on this part of the trip.





Then we only had a short uphill out of Eagle Nest before the lovely cruise through Cimarron Canyon. The road surface was really smooth, and enough of a downhill that we just motored along without any effort, enjoying the lovely fall colors and rock formations. It was mid-afternoon and the light was perfect to show off the a gorgeous canyon!




It was so much warmer as we headed towards Cimarron, elevation 6400. We had a chance to sit outside by the RV before Kit's room was ready. Due to the forecast of a cool night, she decided not to "tent it." We are so spoiled, but certainly deserving of our creature comforts.

Today's ride was an easy one, almost 60 miles. We treated ourselves to dinner at the St. James Hotel, just a short walk from the Cimarron Inn and RV Park. Our leftover prime rib will be wonderful for sandwiches tomorrow.

Days 29, 30, 31, Tues-Thurs 10/6-8: Home in Taos

We took a break for 3 days, no, not for rest, but to "swap husbands." Bill is done with his sag duties, we will miss him. Chris is taking over for the final week into Kansas. So, Kit put some of the camp gear away, and Martha loaded the RV. The plan is that Kit will tent, and Martha, Chris and the dogs will be in the RV.

We enjoyed being home, but were anxious to finish our trip.

Day 28, Mon 10/6: Home to Taos, 3/4 of the Way to Halfway Across the Country

We awoke to a warmer morning than we had expected, full of anticipation of the short ride ahead of us in the glorious sunshine. Unfortunately by the time we had the car packed and were ready to head off on our bikes, dark gray clouds were fast arriving from the west, with a few sprinkles of rain. Oh no! We re-evaluated our clothing for the day and hopped on our bikes hoping to stay ahead of the storm. And we managed to do so. Climbing the 4 miles up the hill out of the Tusas Valley was easier than it had ever been. We did get stronger after our month-long ride!

Upon reaching the top, we viewed the beautiful Sangre de Cristos across the Taos Valley. We were almost home! Then a lovely downhill to Tres Piedras where we stopped at the Lone Pinon, a fairly new eatery run by our friend and host, Deb Graves. We received a warm and friendly greeting and enjoyed a cup of coffee while visiting with Deb and Gil. It's a great place to stop if you are in need of refreshment in TP. Deb serves up breakfast burritos, burgers and frito pies, and even dinner. You dine "family style" right in the kitchen....just like home.

The weather was still somewhat threatening, but mostly wind now rather than impending rain. We had such a great tailwind heading east from TP, that we hardly had to pedal to obtain speeds up to 30 mph. We saw several tarantula crossing the road, and told them "run for your lives" as Deb said there was a scientist from Albuquerque collecting specimens. Did you know that those guys are not migrating? They are cruising for girls!

A turn in the road to the south made the tailwind a side wind, the hardest to cycle in. We thought: "Can't we just have one day without some element making the ride harder?" But by now we were tough and used to the trials and tribulations of a long bicycle tour. And we knew that in only a few miles, the road would turn east giving us the wind at our backs again.





We had to stop at the Gorge Bridge for photo shots, having never crossed the bridge on bicycles.


We flew the final seven miles to our destination, and at noon, our short day of 37 miles was over. Bill had gone on ahead to home, and Chris met us in front of KTAO Solar Center (the scene of many beginnings and endings of our local rides.) We just can't describe the feeling of arriving here after 1392 miles and 107 hours of cycling. But it is not over yet. We will attend to business at home, and perhaps even find just a bit of time to rest; we already have our massages scheduled. Kit will attempt to clean the bugs off her car, while Martha readies the RV. Chris takes over the sag duties from Bill. Then we will leave Friday 10/9 for one final week to Pratt, Kansas. We have been blessed with great weather so far, but now we may find ourselves riding in the rain. We will put fenders on the bikes and carry more cool and wet weather gear for the final week, and last quarter, of our ride halfway across the country.

Day 27, Sun 10/4/09 Chama to Cabin or Deb & Gil Save Us From a Night in the Cold

Our day starts out cloudy and threatening rain. Looks like the weather forecasters may be right this time. We have a 14 mile ride from Chama to Tierra Amarilla pictured to the left. This is a very small (Tony Hillerman describes it as shabby) Hispanic village best known for the June 5, 1967 county courthouse shootout when a group of impoverished Hispanics tried to start a secession from the USA over the historic land grant issues dating back to the ratification of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848.

From Tierra Amarillo the road to Taos turns eastward and we are now buffeted by a side wind as we ride upwards toward our biggest climb of the ride. We will be cresting the Rocky Mountains on an un-named pass with no signage even for elevation. It is 10,500 feet! Needless to say it is steep going and the cold and wind do not help us. We alternate between being hot from working so hard to being cold from the gusty winds. We do however make it to the top and are thankful to have a warm car and this fabulous view of the Brazo Cliffs. These are the oldest rocks in New Mexico and in some lighting look black and always very dramatic. From here it will be mostly downhill.
As we come up another "hill" we are greeted with a very big surprise. Our bicycling buddy Peter D'Aquanni decided to come up and be a one man welcoming party. Thank you Peter, we loved it!

At the top we are also greeted with aspens still with some golden leaves on them. We have missed the height of the fall color so it makes us happy to get a little of it. Now we are in for a big down hill ride. Martha and I have put on all the warm clothing we can find as we are going from 10,000 to about 8,500 in about 10 miles. Burrrrr!

As we come down we get into one of the most lovely mountain valleys in New Mexico. There are still cattle grazing here, but soon they will bring large cattle trucks to haul them out of the mountains and down to lower elevation and probably to the meat packer! For now, we are enjoying seeing something other than sagebrush and chamisa.

We are lucky to have friends, Deb & Gil Graves, who have a ranch in this valley and who offered their cabin for us to stay in. Camping at 10,000 feet in this wind and with the possibility of snow tonight just did not sound like fun. We find the cabin with the heat on and welcoming us.

It is quite rustic but just perfect for us and the views off the front porch aren't too shabby as you can see from the photo below.




Martha gets a fire going while Kit fixes snacks. We have splurged and purchased filet mignon steaks for dinner which Bill cooks to perfection on our little portable gas grill which has served us so well on this trip. We have our last dinner with the three of us together. Bill will be relieved by Martha's husband, Chris for the remainder of our ride. Today we rode 53 miles over a 10,500 ft. summit and then down and up over a 10,000 ft. "hill" in 4 hours 4 minutes.

Day 26, Sat 10/3 Dulce to Chama: Relaxing Ride and, oooh, the Fall Colors!

Well, today was almost like a rest day. We had only 26 miles to go to Chama, so we slept in, ate a good, but too-big, breakfast of huevos rancheros at the hotel, and didn't get on the road until 10 am. It has been so cold the last few nights so we have not been in a hurry to get started. We were bundled up only for a short while, with a pretty steep climb right off the bat. Most rollers today, uphill overall. We crossed the Continental Divide, always a landmark. It was incredibly beautiful (oh no, not again!) with acres and acres of grasses...a very nice change from sagebrus. And there were lots of chamisas and red-colored gambrel oaks. Bluebirds all around, and a bright blue sky. As we neared Chama the big cottonwoods shone in their fall colors.




We searched out a cabin, fearful that the hunters and train enthusiasts had snatched them all up, and they almost had. We found one, but had to wait until 3 to get into it. That was not a problem as it was only 1 pm, and we wanted to head into town for lunch. Chama was bustling with tourist traffic, motorcycle groups, and locals alike enjoying their Saturday. We wandered around the Cumbres and Toltec Train Station and sat in the sun.




Our cabin is cozy for the three of us, but a warm shower and heat is all we need. Kit made a trip to the grocery store as Martha worked on the blog. Bill is going to cook pork chops tonight, we'll also have couscous with sauteed zucchini, and brownies, raspberries and ice cream for a special treat. Not too shabby, huh? We will need lots of energy for our climb up from Tierra Amarilla to the Brazos Cliff overlook, then on past Hopewell Lake to stay in a friend's cabin in the Tusas Valley. The next day, Monday, we will be riding home, stay for several days before the final week to Kansas. Our trip is drawing to a close. What an amazing adventure.

Day 24 Fri. 10/01/09 Bloomfield to Dulce - Flats, hills, downs, Apaches!

Well, we get started on a very cold morning. You will notice we have more layers on than ever before. And after an entire 6 1/2 minutes, Kit gets yet another flat! GRRRR. Bill catches up with us after getting us sandwiches and ice at the store and so Kit is able to us the floor pump rather than one of the CO2 cartridges. Thank goodness we got 8 spare tubes yesterday, we may need each and every one of them. Once fixed we are going again, travelling through some farm land and being passed by gigantic gas field trucks. This entire area is called the San Juan Basin and it is rich in natural gas. The economy in this area is driven entirely by the extraction of natural gas and almost 80% of the vehicles that pass us attest to that. Soon after Blanco we begin to climb into Gobernador Canyon. It has wonderful rock structures that surround us on both sides, all dotted with Pinon pines and junipers. The road is lined as usual with chamisa in bloom with bright yellow bushy flowers. We climb and climb

through the canyon and while it is steep, it just doesn't seem that bad until a big semi comes barreling by us. Our hosts the night before had warned us about the dangers of the big trucks and no shoulder and so we are very watchful. At one point Martha yells out "Bail out" and we both get off our bikes and let a huge rig go by as we stand as far to the side of the road as we can.There is a guard rail and steep drop off that prevents us from really getting off the road. It does get our heart rate up! But eventually the heavy traffic leaves us, going north across the Navajo Lake Dam, while we continue our eastward route on highway 64. Now we can enjoy the beautiful scenery a lot more. Bill, ever our photographer, positions himself to catch us with the canyon in the background. Once out of the canyon it is rollers but they are gentle and we are feeling good. But we do start getting hungry and wonder when we will see the van and Bill with our sandwich. At the top of a crest, there he is. We enjoy yet another lunch sitting in our camp chairs and really getting a rest. This was at about mile 38 so we have are a little more than half way and have the steepest climb behind us. After a little rest we head off continuing to climb with an occasional welcome down hill. The vegetation changes from primarily pinon and juniper to Gambel oaks and lodge pole pines. It is all so beautiful and the Gambel oaks as well as the cottonwoods are turning to fall colors making a wonderful soft color difference against the hardness of the rocks all around us.

We breeze down the hill into Dulce and roll through the uncrowded streets to our hotel there. The Best Western is the only hotel in Dulce but it is actually quite nice and prices reasonable as we are on the Jicarilla Apache Reservation now. The hotel also has a casino but it is full, not so much with gamblers as with hunters. It is elk season and 80% of the patron are dressed in

Cabela's type hunting cloths.

As always, Martha and Kit go straight for a shower. Afterwards it is a little snack and resting. Finally about 7 pm we head down for a very big dinner. We had been on the road for a little more than 7 hours. Our riding time was 5 hours during which we covered 71 miles with a total elevation gain of 5304 ft. We are getting stronger all the time! It is exciting to be getting so close to home.

Day 24, Thurs 10/1: Day Off Bikes But Doing Our Chores

Oh how wonderful to have another day off. We have ceased to call them rest days as we spend the entire day with chores, but at least our butts are not subject to hours in the saddle, or our legs pushing those pedals 'round and 'round.



Here we are working on the blog, wine in hand.

We did get massages, mediocre ones, but anything helps. And we stopped at a bike shop and bought almost their entire stock of tubes and CO2 canisters, having greatly depleted our supply.

We were in Farmington with our friends and hosts, Leslie and Paul, and were exceptionally well taken care of with cozy beds, warm showers, interesting conversation, and photos and stories of their recent bicycling trip in the Czech Republic, Germany, and the Netherlands. Leslie served two wonderful dinners, one of which was excellent chili rellenos with apple pie (apples from their orchard) for dessert. Yummmm.








As we near our return to Taos, we are getting excited to be home to family and pets. Chris has been busy getting the house clean for Martha's arrival. Thanks, honey, can't wait to see you!

Day 23 Wed, 9/30/009 Teec Nos Pos to Bloomfield - Another Big Windy

Our day is unusual. It starts in the middle of the night with the wind gusting to incredible forces and rain starting to come down. Martha had not put the rain fly on and so we all three line up and move her and her stuff into our manger where she will stay dry. It is a bit of a process and it takes a while for all of us to calm back down and fall back to sleep. The wind is still blowing in the morning and as we pack up the car we know we are in for one stiff ride. A quick check of the bikes show that I have a flat. Gotten by the nasty goat heads! We don't leave until 9 AM and we know that we may not make it with the wind blowing so hard. Bill will wait for us down the road to see how things are going. We start up a steep hill with the wind gusting at 35 to 45 mph. Once up it however we meet the New Mexico border and just have to stop for a photo as we enter our home state. Yahoo! We chug along, slowly but surely, making steady progress towards the town of Shiprock.

But oh no! Martha has a flat. There is no shoulder and the edge of the road is full of prickly weeds and so she must change the tire almost in the lane of traffic. We are directly north of the actual Shiprock but it is obscured by the blowing dust and sand. Once on the road again we realize we are doing pretty well and so when Bill finds us we ask him to wait in town just to see how things are going. As we approach town we see this sculpture, which is pictured at the top of the page, and it looks exactly how we feel, completely wind blown!

Once in Shiprock we find Bill and decide we are good to go and release him to go onto the Farmington area where he plans to explore the ruins there. We get a sandwich at the store and sit on the sidewalk to eat it as the Navajos walk by staring at us - it feel like a role reversal! Then, to our surprise, 5 or 6 Kachinas approach us all dressed as different dolls (for lack of a better word). They were looking for donation and carried big sacks that people were putting food items and other things into. They are not allowed to talk, but through chirps and sign language asked where we were going and if we were biking. It was quite an experience that I can't possible describe here. Soon however we had to get going again. To our delight the wind was now at our back instead of at our side. We fly down the road towards Bloomfield. But then OH NO! Another flat, this time for Kit and this time plenty of room to fix it. So we are off again, still flying towards Bloomfield. We get to Farmington in no time. As we approach Bloomfield Kit gets yet another flat! Damn Goatheads! We throw in the hat as we are only a mile or two from our planned end spot and call Bill to come get us and take us to our friends, Leslie and Paul's home where we will spend the next two night. Bill has had a good afternoon visiting both Salmon Ruins and Aztec Ruins and taking lots of photos. One to the left is of the doors at Aztec Ruins. We are well ready for our rest day. Leslie treats us like royalty and fixes us a wonderful pork dinner. We are in heaven after a very unusual and memorable day.

Day 22, Tues 9/29 Kayenta to Teec Nos Pos: Our Most Unusual Campsite

Another gorgeous day with 73 miles to ride. We were a little unsure of enjoying the distance today, but with more beautiful scenery, a mostly-downhill for 40 miles, "tourist" clouds to keep the sun from scorching us, and good roads, we had an easy morning. The final third of the ride brought worse road conditions, and later side/headwinds especially strong the last 10 miles. The pretty Chinle Wash is pictured above. We stopped for a break at a trading post after 30 miles.


While on the road this day, Martha celebrated 10,000 miles on her odometer, 1138 of those miles on this trip!

The plan was to camp at Teec Nos Pos, a trading post about 5 miles west of the AZ/NM border. There is nothing else for many miles and we had previously contacted the owner who said that it would be ok. We were anticipating a pretty bleak campsite, in back of the store, in the dirt, with perhaps no shade, probably wind, maybe the use of a bathroom...but there were no other options. Were we in for a big surprise. Upon arrival, the owner, John McCullough, took us out back to the corral area and suggested we lay our heads down in a horse stall. No kidding! Actually the stalls have not been used for some time, and had clean sawdust for the floor. So Kit and Bill decided they just had to spend the night in the manger, and Bill tested it out at naptime.


Kit and Martha drove to the nearby Chapter House, a community center, for a wonderful and as always, a much-needed shower, at a cost of $1 each. Afterward we had to head into the Trading Post to see what offerings there were. As it turns out John grew up in Farmington, knows the friends we plan on staying with the next night, spent years in the North Sea with the Merchant Marine, and owned the post only for 15 years. We thoroughly enjoyed talking with him, as he did hearing about our bike trip. The trading post was the real thing, still catering to the locals with groceries, clothes, weaving supplies, goats, hay; and in many cases trading with them for handmade rugs, baskets, jewelry, kachinas and pottery to sell to the tourists.



The goods offered in the "rug room" were fantastic. The selection was huge, and of fine quality, some museum pieces. We did shop; we aren't saying the cost, but it was the most expensive campsite we have ever been had.