Distance: 65.93 miles
Elevation gain: 1,208 feet
Avg speed: 16.4 mph
Max speed: 28.3 mph
Moving time: 4:00:48
Today was an amazing day. Yes, I realize that they have ALL been amazing days, but I think today was a true standout.
The ride today was not a particularly challenging one, but it was certainly fun and rewarding. We reached the highest point on the tour (elevation 7,295 feet) and crossed over the Continental Divide.
As you can see from today’s elevation profile, it was pretty much all downhill for the second half of the ride. Not particularly steep, but enough where you could just relax, roll along at an easy pace and enjoy the scenery. And that is EXACTLY what I chose to do! When I left the Continental Divide, I was pretty much by myself on a well-paved road with very little traffic, which gave me the opportunity to enjoy the quiet, the calm breeze, and take it all in. To our north there were beautiful rock formations in the distance, to our south there were pastures, and there were mountains off in the distance. But, you know what they say - a picture is worth a thousand words!
By the way, we have a group on WhatsApp for photo sharing, and I am deeply indebted to my fellow cyclists, because while I rolled past many beautiful picture-taking opportunities, I chose instead today to just enjoy the journey and get lost in the moment.
Of course, all good things must come to an end. Although I was certainly in no hurry to get to the hotel, for I knew that with the time we were making on this ride I would have a long wait for my room, as I rolled along it began to rain. It was very light drizzle at first, so I continued to glide along at an easy pace. As the rain began to come down harder, I started to pick up the pace a bit. The rain started to let up, so I slowed back down, despite the heavy dark clouds just off to the south. Once again it began to drizzle, and once again I chose to ignore it… until the wind started to pick up, the rain started to fall harder, and thunder began rumbling behind me. According to my computer, I was still about 2 to 3 miles from the fast food area we had been told about, and I think that may have been the fastest 2 to 3 miles I’ve ridden in a long time! When I got to McDonald’s, I ran into another rider from our group, and we decided to go inside, have some lunch, and wait out the storm. Afterwards, it was a quick, short ride to the hotel (where we had to wait a while for our rooms anyway).
For dinner tonight, they brought in a food truck from Albuquerque that specialized in Caribbean food, so I had jerk chicken and sweet fried plantains for dinner. It really hit the spot!
Anyway, tomorrow we continue on to Albuquerque, followed by Santa Fe the next day, where we will be enjoying our second rest day. It’s hard to believe it, but we were talking about it at dinner, and we are already about a quarter of the way through this magnificent journey of ours. Well, it’s nearly 10pm now, so time to pack, lay out my stuff for the morning, and get some rest! Tomorrow looks like it might be a wet one. Oh well, that’s why I trained for this - to build up that mental toughness you need to get through the rides when the weather isn’t so pretty. See you tomorrow!
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