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.
No comments:
Post a Comment