I thought this rock formation was unique

Saw a lot of these today

Smoke from forest fires obscured some of the vistas

Good morning everyone,

Sorry, I meant to post this update last night but it was a relatively tough day. After I showered and went for a swim, 8 of us went into Old Tow Santa Fe for dinner – Cindi, Pat, Chet, Harry, Nick, Tony, John F. and I. Old Town Santa Fe is very beautiful and eclectic with art work, shops, restaurants, music, taverns etc. After dinner, I went with the British contingent, Nick, Tony and John, to enjoy a few adult beverages brewed locally and enjoy some music. We rode the bus to and from Old Town and we enjoyed mixing it up with the locals. The bus ran on natural gas which will become more and more prevalent as a transportation fuel.

I mentioned that the ride was not the easiest one that we have had as we climbed about 4500 feet some of it gentle as it the first 10 miles and then others that was a more difficult grade. I may have mentioned in an earlier post that the riders go out in two groups. The first group leaves 30 -60 minutes before the “burners”. There are only 7 of us “burners” and as a result on climbing days, we often ride alone. I spent the majority of the day ring alone and I don’t mind, it is sometimes easier if you ride in a group or with another person.

I passed a small town and there were several police cars with their lights flashing at a small huddle of shops. I was later told that it was an attempted bank robbery of a Wells Fargo Bank by a female. Cindi told me that we she passed, one of the officers had his riot gun pointed at the lady as she was being cuffed. I am glad that the local constables prevailed!

We had a SAG at mile 33 and I took a couple of photos. My rear tire flatted about a mile outside of the SAG and I used the CO2 cartridge to inflate it as there were none of our support vehicles close by. I had been lucky lately, in that every time I flatted, one of support vehicles came by with a floor pump and a little assistance. I am getting REALLY good at changing flats, but I took my time with this one. Earler my water battle cage almost feel off and Tom was close by and we used his tools to tighten the screws.

All in a all, it was  a beautiful day of riding, lots of mountains, vegetation changes from desert to pine and back. Some of the rock formations were gorgeous as well. There were a few small towns but vey little civilization along the route. A great change from riding on the freeway. There often was not much of a shoulder but traffic was light.

There is a little town called Madrid at about 40 miles. Some of our group had stopped for lunch and a little shopping. Nick said that he shouted a debut I didn’t hear him and just kept going. There were a lot of Harley’s there and I missed the little bicycles and our flags even though I was on the lookout for them. As it was I stopped often to take in the scenery, take a photo or just to give my backside a break.

I use a Garmin to tracy my progress and I have been posting the rides on FB. I don’t know how to embed the file here (if anyone knows please shoot me a message). However, I will try to post a link with the information. If you hit the arrow (play) button, you can see the progress of the ride, along with all stats such as elevation, temperature and speed change. It looks like the link works but it also has edit capability so I don’t want the rides to be inadvertently deleted. I do post them on FB so you can friend me and see them there if you are interested. Unless someone knows how to embed into the blog info…

The hotel here is beautiful and has a nice pool. I swam a few laps after I got in to loosen up. Today is a rest day and I hope to get my tires changed, visit the local bike shop, rest and recuperate. My front tire flatted after Igot in so I am leading the pack with 16 flats. I think that I am close to the pace of the all-time record of 54. From such stuff legends are born….

Take care all and thanks for following. I did ask Chet Basher to post an update of how he is doing and he said he’s write something up. I thought that Lois would like that since they are friends and Chet isn’t doing a formal blog.

Ciao

Chuck