Antonito - Alamosa, CO - Big Mountains, Small Towns.

June 25, 2022

Antonito - Alamosa, CO

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jerry witherspoonSnce you were riding dirt/gravel, its a shame the Sanches reservoir wasn't on your route. Roads leading there and particularly around San Luis, are all very interesting and truly beautiful. The reservoir can be passes on the east side and the road is partially paved straight on nto New Mexico. This area is/was full of small Spanish land grant plats, complete with their irrigation streams. There are also tiny villages, each with large Catholic churches, many of them with miniature replicas of themselves. San Luis itself is interesting and with its mountain of martyrs (forgot the real name) a tourist spot.

spoon
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2 years ago

Kelly IniguezTo jerry witherspoonUp until 10:30 - I was all in on your love of the area. Then the wind picked up like someone flipped a switch. Happily, it was a side wind for us most of the day.

As the storm blew in this afternoon, it was really blowing. There's too much wind in this valley for me.

I do like looking at all of the mountains, while riding right up the center.
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2 years ago

Keith AdamsThat's my idea of a great elevation profile!
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2 years ago

We agreed on a 7 AM breakfast at the Dutch Mill, right across the street. It was much tastier than oatmeal in the room. We all agreed to ride the back roads route to Alamosa through farmland. I was the point person, because I had ridewithgps talking to me. The morning was sunny and there was no wind. Hmm, is this why Spoon likes bicycling in the San Luis Valley?

The best part of the entire day for me was the reappearance of wild iris. To the left, to the right, there were iris everywhere! They must not be tasty to eat. I saw cows and horses in the same fields as the flowers. The iris were not eaten. I had a pony when I was a little girl that loved to eat purple Thistles. Bessie would pull her lips back in a comical position, then tenderly bite off the entire thistle flower. The iris were safe.

I had spot checked our roads today. ridewithgps had said our first road was dirt. It was paved. I must have been loose in my efforts to confirm the other roads. Road R was dirt. We successfully routed around. We were optimistic when we hit the next dirt road. I guessed that we could get on Road 15 south back to our route. Wrong, none of the 15,14,13,12, etc south roads were paved. Finally our only choice was to get back on the highway. It had a wide shoulder, our five miles to town passed quickly. We had a road rider go past us without a word. Jacinto had to give chase, but the roadie got away.

Jacinto routed us to the Chinese restaurant in town that had the highest ratings. The two of us had lunch for $20.00. Too bad there's not Chinese restaurants in every town!

We took a back street to the motel. Jacinto felt that Main Street had too many parked cars and was too narrow, someone might door us.

We were to the Best Western in no time. Originally we were told to check about 11 AM to see if we could check in. It was 12:30 - surely we could get in? No. We waited in the lobby. Danille offered us fruit, muffins, and coffee. Perhaps she has small children and knows how to keep them satisfied?

We had a strong eastern wind from town. We joked that we should have kept riding to Monte Vista today. By the time we checked into our room, there was thunder, and rain. Right now, I can see the cars going by on the highway, splashing up water.

Temperatures were cool all day. I have never ridden a flatter road. 73 feet of gain in the entire day.

The high tomorrow is 55. It will take real strategy to get to South Fork dry.