Saturday, September 20, 2014

2014 Ridge of the Rockies epilogue

This morning I'm back in Santa Fe at the beginning of a ten day long hiking and sightseeing trip through New Mexico, Colorado and Utah. One of the few downsides of a bike trip is when you see something interesting, you generally don't have the time or ability to hike back in to further explore it. So I'm looking forward to doing that now.

The 2014 Ridge of the Rockies was a great success. In addition to perfect weather, I had no mechanical problems, not even a single flat tire. Other than just being saddle sore from sitting on a bike seat for 1,700 + miles, I had no physical problems at all. We had favorable winds throughout most of the trip and fantastic scenery.

I want to thank Lon and Susan, the owners of Pactour, in addition to crew members Tracy, Bill, Jerry, John, Veronica, Barb, Debbie and George. They all worked hard to make the trip a success.

Thanks again to my roommate Ethan from California. I first met Ethan two years on the Eastern Mountains Tour. He has made these trips even more fun. As with Eastern Mountains, we spent at least half of this trip riding together. He brought his friend, Tom Driscoll, from California, and we rode together a lot of the miles. The fourth member of our group was Scott Pretti from Pennsylvania. I really enjoyed riding with the four of you. Thanks for making the trip extra fun.

Thanks to those who checked in with me throughout the trip including, David Hayes, Tim Perkins, Phillip Hanna, Greg Marshall, Andrea Marshall, Sophie Marshall, Luke Marshall, and Vincent from Hesitation Point Bike. I know there were many people who followed this blog but did not comment. I hope you enjoyed reading about the trip as much as I enjoyed telling you about it. Thanks to my mom and dad for keeping track of me every day and for caring that I arrived safely to the hotel each day. Thanks for caring enough to worry but at the same time supporting what I do. That means the world to me. Thanks to Michele and Kate for the support for my crazy adventures and for meeting me out here in New Mexico to start the next adventure.

At this point, I don't know when the next trip will be. But when it happens I will be here taking pictures, telling stories and blogging about it. In the meantime, one of the people on our trip is creating a YouTube video of the trip. If you are interested in seeing it, let me know and I will provide you the link to it when he finishes it.

Friday, September 19, 2014

Day 16 - Santa Fe New Mexico to Albuquerque New Mexico 75 miles

After two and a half weeks, the adventure called the Ridge of the Rockies has ended. It concluded with a leisurely 75 mile ride from Santa Fe this morning. I apologize that the pictures from the last several days have been lacking but after Colorado, it is more difficult to find really good scenery. Colorado really raises the bar.

The highlight of today for me was a 20-mile long descent in to Albuquerque to finish the trip. We descended from the very cool high desert to warm Albuquerque here in the Rio Grande Valley.

Later this afternoon we will have a banquet which will be our final meal together as a group. It will be a good chance to swap stories and memories and say our goodbyes before going our separate ways.

I will post a separate blog entry later with some final thoughts on the overall trip. Suffice it to say, it was a great adventure very blessed by great weather and, most importantly, everyone arrived here in Albuquerque safely after over 1,700 miles of cycling.

Route profile - Santa Fe New Mexico to Albuquerque New Mexico

On the outskirts of Santa Fe

My shadow and me leaving Santa Fe at first light

Scott climbing out of the valley up toward Madrid New Mexico

Ethan and Scott coming in to Madrid New Mexico

Crew members Debbie and Tracy enjoying Madrid New Mexico

Just outside Madrid New Mexico is this boxcar turned in to a house

High desert just southwest of Madrid New Mexico

About halfway between Santa Fe and Albuquerque

Dark clouds but no rain!

Scott in the fast lane heading for Alburquerque

Descending toward Alburquerque

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Day 15 - Chama New Mexico to Santa Fe New Mexico 107 miles

We had a great ride today, highlighted once again by favorable winds and sunny skies. The route profile shows a V shape and we started and ended at about the same elevation. Despite that, to me it felt like we had more descents than climbs. We finished the first 100 miles in five hours and one minute so we averaged almost 20 mph. We slowed down when we got closer to Santa Fe as the last 30 miles was uphill.

I included some pictures of the Plaza area of Santa Fe that I thought were interesting. Santa Fe is a very old and unique city. Hopefully these pictures will be a nice change from the mountains and trees and rocks I've been showing.

Tomorrow, the last day of the trip, is a 75 mile ride, mostly downhill to Albuquerque. There is a chance of rain again but we hope our amazing good fortune of perfect weather will hold for one more day.

Route profile - Chama New Mexico to Santa Fe New Mexico

The sun had not been up long enough to burn off the fog in the valley about 15 miles south of Chama

Ethan getting ready for another descent south of Chama this morning

Sunrise over the rocks

Ethan climbing up one of the long grades south of Chama on Hwy 84

This is between Chama and Espanola

Some neat rock formations next to the road

Looking back behind me almost to the top of the climb

This balanced rock is called Camel Rock

Coming in to the outskirts of Santa Fe

This is inside the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi here in Santa Fe just one block from the Plaza.

This is not a good picture but when the docent in the cathedral found out I was from Indiana she made a point of showing me this. She says Archbishop Daeger is from a town called St. Ann, which she says is very close to North Vernon. He was apparently beloved by the citizens of Santa Fe and is memorialized in the front of the sanctuary.

The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi looking toward the back of the sanctuary

Looking from the Santa Fe Plaza toward the cathedral

This staircase here in the Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe is unique in that it was built without supports. The staircase is its own support.

The front of the sanctuary and the altar

Looking up in to the choir loft and the top of the staircase

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Day 14 - Pagosa Springs Colorado to Chama New Mexico 50 miles

Since it was another short day today of only 50 miles, I went down in to Chama and took some pictures of the Cumbres and Toltec Railroad, which is a narrow gauge(3 feet) line that begins here in Chama and runs east to Antonito Colorado. I've added those to the bottom of the pictures for today.

Similar to yesterday, we rode mostly in rolling hills in the shadow of big mountains to the east. It was a nice ride on smooth, lightly trafficked roads. As we rode south toward Chama, the skies kept getting darker and darker, so we got here as fast as we could to avoid getting rained on. As it turned out we didn't need to hurry but we didn't know that at the time. I think it still may rain here in a little while.

Tomorrow is a much longer day of 108 miles to Santa Fe. It looks like we will spend most of the day dodging thunderstorms that are coming from the tropical storm that landed in Mexico a couple of days ago.

Route profile - Pagosa Springs Colorado to Chama New Mexico

Descending Confar Hill located 20 miles south of Pagosa Springs

Tom and Ethan leaving downtown Pagosa Springs

This is about five miles south of Pagosa Springs with the hills in the foreground and the big mountains off in the distance

Climbing out of Pagosa Springs this morning

This is what most of the day looked like - no mountain climbing but continuous small ups and downs

Getting close to New Mexico now

Lots of ominous clouds looming over the mountains

Finally out of Colorado and in to New Mexico

A couple of locomotives in the yard look like they've seen better days

Looking north in the Cumbres and Toltec Railroad yard at the water tank and the coaling area

This is again looking north of Chama from the railroad at an approaching storm

This is the passenger station and depot of the Cumbres and Toltec

Looking further in to the yard in Chama at the Cumbres and Toltec

Looking north toward Antonito Colorado

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Day 13 - Durango Colorado to Pagosa Springs Colorado 75 miles

Seventy five miles should not be that difficult but after the three previous days of lots of climbing and elevation, I knew as I was riding out of the parking lot this morning that it was not going to be fun. My legs were dead from the first mile and were the same way the whole day. I didn't feel sick or anything; I just didn't have any energy.

We really didn't do a lot of climbing today. It was mostly just rolling hills that brought us closer once again to the Continental Divide. As we gained elevation it became greener and less dry. We went through mostly small farming communities. We went through a town called Ignacio that had just recently constructed a new casino. It looked oddly out of place among the old and somewhat run down other buildings in the town. I believe the Ute Indians are running this casino.

Tomorrow is the shortest day of the trip at only 50 miles to get to Chama. Another easy day will feel good in preparation for the final two longer days on in to Albuquerque.

Route profile - Durango Colorado to Pagosa Springs Colorado

Looking back in to the valley and Durango as we leave this morning

Starting to get greener as we slowly gain elevation

Riding in to the sunrise. The fog in the distance is smoke from controlled burns being conducted in the area.

Lon ready to start rolling again after stopping at the top of the hill to take a picture

Lots of hills like this on today's route - but no mountains

The wildflowers have loved the recent rain; I'm just glad it stopped before we got here