I see the Ocotillo plant in your photo. :) When I biked the Southern Tier, I had bought a postcard of the various kinds of cacti and put it in my handlebar bag, and would circle the ones that I saw along my ride. :)

That would be a haul to get up to the Kitt Peak Observatory! But great views once there, I'm sure.

I meant to say end in Roswell, not Clovis.

Jan is buying a Tour Easy. She says specifically so we can tour together. I asked her what that would look like in her opinion. When we did our little four day tour together this Thanksgiving, she let it be known that organized tours with SAG support are by far her preference. She sidestepped my question by saying she had to ride the bike first. I'm interested in a big something in the spring - I just don't know what. Spring is a doubtful time to tour. The weather is more unsettled. But, I'm always so ready to ride once it starts warming up!

I you go to this region I think you should go northeast from Alamogordo and cross the mountains at Ruidoso. It's several hundred feet higher than Cloudcroft, but I think the grade is more gentle. Then you would descend to Clovis which is closer to home than Artesia.

Ah, I was looking at your 585 feet of climbing. I didn't see a notation on descent. There's slightly downhill, and then there's really downhill . . . I have had very few days over 90 miles. It's a psychological barrier for me.

It wasn't flat. It was a net elevation drop of about 4000 feet.

95 miles at 17.5 miles per hour is a riding time of only 5 hours, 26 minutes.

I see the employee is wearing a hoodie. I bet he's cold. Maybe they have a space heater for his feet.

95 flat miles is still on the far edge of my fun zone. Far, far edge.

I used those panniers for 2 years before I bought the 2007 Bacchetta. I guess that makes them 17 years old now.

I wondered with the ongoing drought, how the ski area has been doing. It is closed this year. Wiki says that it is open intermittently, because of lack of snow in the area.

There is a ski area west of Durango, Hesperus. I had never heard of it and was surprised when I bicycled past. I googled them right now - also closed.

Several of the resorts in our area have already announced they will be staying open later in the spring because of good snow this year. There's always a contest going on to see who stays open latest and opens first. Arapahoe is a small area near Denver that usually wins the honors.

You are still using the same Arkel panniers, 12 years later? I think you've gotten your money's worth!

That is my plan for the handful of temples that are close to my motel. I'm sure every LDS temple has spectacular lighting.

It's at the entrance to the ranger station, maybe 200 feet east of the highway and 500 feet south of the store. Road traffic was loud at my campsite.