Self contained along the Santa Fe route and through the Turquoise Circle to Albuquerque. It seemed like an easy ride on paper, but it proved to be exciting, challenging and more than I had bargained for. Here is my story.
Amtrak from L.A. to Trinidad. The train was late but my friends were there to pick me up from the station. Gator and Jan, By and my friend Lou, who would ride with me on this trip. It was nice to see them again and I looked forward to the time spent riding along some familiar territory.
It was cold that night in Trinidad. And when morning came I was still tired. Lou and I packed up as the rest of the gang headed out on their way following the Santa Fe Trail. Lou and I would retrace their steps and head south. The sun was shining and we got a late start from camp after trying to fit all our gear on our bicycles. That and a photo stop of a rattler that had swallowed a mouse right outside the women's restroom!
Breakfast was at a little cafe outside of Trinidad before we started the long haul back over Raton Pass. It was late - around 10 a.m. when we finally got going. The shoulder of the freeway was wide and allowed plenty of space between us and the cars heading towards N.M. I stopped often to enjoy the scenery and give my legs a break from the climb with all my gear.
At the summit, Lou was no where to be seen behind me so I made myself at home at the scales and asked about her progress from the truckers who stopped to have their rigs weighed. She was coming along and I enjoyed a pepsi while I waited.
The descent was much easier but not as easy as on an unloaded bicycle. We reached Raton and stopped for lunch. Lou likes Raton, I like Trinidad. They are interesting little towns situated along the Santa Fe Trail and Railway line.
We stopped at a store in Raton to buy some provisions. Some snacks for the road and a meal in case we ended up camping and needed to have food with us. It was getting late as we left Raton and the wind was picking up. We had planned to ride to Colfax for the evening.
We reached Colfax just as it was getting dark. I was very tired and gladly sat at the bar and had a beer. I'd switch to coffee later to stay awake. Roger, the owner, let us stay in the backyard of the place. We setup our camp on the stage since the sky was threatening rain and stormy weather.
During the night the storm struck. The sky was alive with the wind, rain and lightening. I was glad we had shelter as being in a tent wouldn't have been much fun. It was cold and wet in the morning. The rain persisted on and off all day.
We rode to Cimarron where I waited at the cafe for Lou to arrive. I was freezing after riding in the rain all morning. My clothes were soaked and my body heat wasn't enough to dry me out. I was drinking coffee waiting for Lou to arrive.
After lunch, we headed towards Eagle Nest. The road was lovely as it followed the river towards the mountains. It would have been even more beautiful if it had been clear. I stopped to enjoy the scenery and marvel at the stumps of fresh beaver cut trees. How did they chew through those thick trunks?
As we neared Eagle Nest the weather grew colder. The sky was a low grey ceiling that fortold of more rain to come. The streets of the town were thick with mud. It seems that the streets had been dug up recently to lay pipe and the rain struck before the job was done. Navigating a loaded touring bike through the mud was quite a challenge. I couldn't make fast moves as I'd fall over. So I rode slowly and tried to stay out the the cars way. It was quite nerve racking to say the least.
That evening we stayed in a motel, warm and dry while the rain continued. I cleaned up my bicycle as best I could to remove the mud from the brakes and rims. We had to climb over Bobcat pass in the morning and I hoped that it wouldn't snow on us before we finished. I couldn't believe how cold it was and this was September!
The morning brought more of the previous day's weather. Clouds and the threat of rain. I headed out of town to try and get over the pass before the skies opened up. Since I had never ridden my bicycle at these elevations before I didn't realize how difficult the thinner atmosphere made climbing. I was huffing and puffing and could walk the bicycle faster than I could ride it. At this rate it would take hours to get over the pass. I pressed on riding as far as I could and then walking for a bit to give my legs a break. Finally, I saw the sign announcing the summit!! Yippee. I took a few pictures and then put all my warm clothes on for the descent into Red River.
What a downhill ride! The road was wet and even riding my brakes I couldn't keep my speed down. Flying down the road I noticed the cattle guard too late to do anything but steer straight and hope for the best. I made it across but it shook me up a bit. A loaded bike handles quiet differently than I was used to and the thought of flying off the road didn't make me feel any better. I reached town and selected a cafe where Lou should be able to see my bicycle. Then I ate and drank coffee waiting for her to arrive.
After we regrouped, we headed towards Questa. The road now followed the river and it was beautiful. I was thrilled to have the worst part of the ride over with (in my mind) and relaxed and enjoyed the scenery. I reached Questa and ate at a mexican restaurant waiting for Lou to join me.
Lou wanted to stay in Questa and I had already made arrangements to go the the hostel in Arroyo Grande. So I pushed on through the now pouring rain. Visibility wasn't very good and the shoulder was narrower than I would have liked so I kept a close eye on my mirror as I rode. I finally reached my turnoff and the valley that the road ran through was beautiful. Unfortunately, that ended too quickly and the road started climbing up the hills with me walking steep sections in order to continue my progress. I was tired, extremely tired. But my energy returned (although briefly) as a dog came charging out of a yard barking and snarling at me. I don't like having dogs chase me when I ride. The spurt of energy got me going and the fact that daylight was rapidly departing kept me pedaling. I reached the hostel rather abruptly since I really didn't know where it was located but happened to make the correct turns and stumbled upon it by accident. Either way I was relieved as it meant I could get out of my wet clothes and take a warm shower. What bliss.
After becoming human again (which included eating candy and drinking a soft drink) I walked around the town to see what I could see. It was a small place but nice.
Breakfast at a local coffee bar. Quite trendy for such a little town, or so I thought until I learned more about the area. I shared a table with a local gentleman who told me about the region in exchange for my information about computers.
After my morning conversation with the other campers (getting some very good detailed advice about the routes along the way from a guy who had cycled the route) I started back to the main road. I did stop for a while at the campground hosts site for the cup of coffee that they had promised the night before! (Thank you.) Then it was down the Rio Grande valley for some enjoyable riding - except for the dog that saw me coming and tried to head me off on a hill! I screamed and pedaled like crazy to avoid that beast. I *hate* loose dogs!
A traffic jam due to constructions slowed things down for a while. I took my place in line and got through with little delay. The gorge was beautiful and got me thinking about wanting to canoe more. I just love being outdoors participating in all these activities.
I stopped for lunch in Velarde and had a good mexican meal afterwhich I looked at ristras at some of the local stalls. After asking lots of questions at one stall and learning about ristras, I asked how much they were. The small ones were larger than I could carry on my bicycle. But the owner wasn't deterred, he went to his stock and selected a very small ristra, which he presented to me as a gift! I was thrilled and quickly cleared space on the aerobars for the fragile paper package. The ristra now proudly hangs in my kitchen - a reminder of the trip and of the generosity of my fellow human beings.
The route took a turn for the worse (from a cyclists point of view) after reaching Espanola, since the amount of traffic increased dramatically. From Espanola to Santa Fe was busy, noisy and less than enjoyable. I kept a close eye on my rear view mirror for cars that drifted too close to me and jumped completely off the shoulder a few times to provide enough clearance between unaware drivers and myself.
Exiting the highway north of Santa Fe to take a winding, hilly route to the city center provided me with a chance to enjoy some of the lovely homes that surround Santa Fe. By the time I entered the city center, it was rush hour and I got off course. Asking directions from people in a parking lot, I got back on track. Between the fatigue and traffic, I decided to splurge and get a motel room for the evening. I chose the Thunderbird Motel, which suited my needs perfectly for the evening.
After unpacking, cleaning up and drinking tons of water, I headed out in search of a meal. I came across a small chain restaurant within walking distance of the motel and inspite of its questionable cleanliness, I ate dinner there. It was dark and I was tired as I headed back to my small room. Needless to say, I slept quite well that night.
Riding a few miles down the main street, I stopped at a small cafe for breakfast. I was waiting for the traffic to die down before proceeding. The morning was lovely, clear blue skies and now wind. It was a definite sunscreen day today!
Getting out of Santa Fe was much easier than getting into Santa Fe. I followed the signs to the airport and then took frontage roads as long as I could to keep from riding on the interstate. However, my roads ran out and onto 25 I went. The route was mostly downhill and the shoulder was wide and smooth. I rode on the far right side of the shoulder and the truckers were extremely considerate and often took the left lane to pass me and keep their wind blast down. Thank you!
It was an uneventful ride to Cerrillos, where I was delighted to find a new Casino. Now, I don't gamble (at least off the bicycle), but the casino meant food, water, restrooms and a phone. I was checking in at work and at home so if something happened at least people would have some idea of where to start looking for me. I then sat down to a long lunch at the buffet. It was air conditioned in the casino and I took full advantage of the quiet and coolness to replenish my energy levels.
After my long lunch break, I rode through the Santa Domingo Reservation. It was a very pleasant ride and the few people I came across were a bit startled to see me but waved and were friendly. The road followed the Rio Grande and the cottonwood trees contrasted nicely with the blue sky and mountains. What a peaceful ride that was!
I continued on my little quiet road until I reached Bernalillo. I stopped at the store and drank a soft drink before hunting down my campground. It was nice just to sit outside the store and watch the world go by. As an independent traveller, I enjoy watching locals go about their daily life - observing the vehicles they drive, etc. It was a short ride on an extremely busy road to the campground.
More traffic, so I stopped at McDonald's to wait out the traffic. I couldn't find any place else to stop so here I sat and drank coffee to wake up and let rush hour pass me by. Families came in to get breakfast before dropping kids at school, travelling businessmen stopped for their breakfast, kids came in for a drink and I sat watching it all reflecting on my trip and how things had played out much differently than I had imagined. It had been a good trip - a nice introduction (or reintroduction) to self-contained touring and the first time I had ridden self-contained on my own. People had been extremely helpful and friendly. I had seen beautiful countryside and captured pieces of history. I was tired, since I hadn't trained enough and I wasn't used to carrying equipment with me. And I had conquered the highest pass of my riding career - Bobcat Pass at 9,850 feet! I was content.
By now you would have thought that the adventure was over. Well, it wasn't. Due to all the rain that had occurred recently the train was forced to crawl along at 15-20 mph as we returned to L.A. So the trip that was scheduled to take 29 hours took a lot longer. We spent our time eating and talking, watching the scenery and finally we drifted into our little worlds to try and deal with the delay the weather had imposed.
Except for the unfortunate fact that we ate and drank ALL the food and drinks on the train, it wasn't too bad. Amtrak ordered ahead and had KFC delivered at Kingman along with soft drinks to supplement us for awhile. Our train became a small community, getting to know other passengers and sharing in their life for a short while. I was talking to a visitor from South America, trying in my fractured Spanish to explain the Spanish conquest of the S.W. He understood enough English that most of my comments were generally understood.