June 12, 2016
Tres Piedras - Espanola: Downhill all the way, baby!
Why oh why do I wake up early when I can sleep in? We had a short downhill day today. Breakfast was included with our room, but didn't start serving until 8 AM. That did seem a little late, given that we are heading to lower and hotter ground. Ken, Marty, and I all got breakfast burritos last night. We could eat them whenever we wanted. But I was still planning to sleep in. I woke up several times in the night. We had opened the windows for fresh air. At 8,000 feet the air does indeed get fresh!
About 5 AM I heard the guys walking around upstairs. Even Jacinto got up and the guys all had coffee and we chatted. It was a nice, relaxed way to start the day.
We had stored the bikes upstairs in the rec room. It was a two person operation to get Jacinto's bike with the trailer attached back down. We also used two people on my long bike.
Ken, Marty, and I were out on the road, ready to go at 8:08 AM. Marty pumped up one of his tires a bit more and we were off. We spent the entire day riding within sight of each other. That hardly ever happens.
We had very gradual downhill rollers. The elevation gain for the day was just 1,000 and the elevation loss was 3,500. The rollers didn't roll much, but I did spend lots of time shifting up and down.
Highway 285 is a major New Mexico highway. I was surprised at the lack of traffic for a Sunday. The highway shoulder was quite interesting. Occasionally we had a beautiful four foot shoulder. Most of the time it had a wide rumble strip. Then there was a section that had a nicely paved shoulder followed by a section that wasn't paved. Budget crunch? Pieces of shoulder completely torn up and not usable. It was really a mixed bag. I'm sure the time we spent riding on the actual road, the drivers wondered why we weren't over on the shoulder. You have to look at things from a cyclist's perspective.
We were on 285 for 47 miles. I love easy navigation. At mile 30 we came to Ojo Caliente - home of the often recommended hot springs. It is a cute little town. Very southwestern, stucco and wood. Little artsy shops. I stopped and took a photo of the cemetery. Am I morbid? It certainly didn't look like a Colorado cemetery - lots and lots of color.
Ken debated about going back and checking out the church. He had heard the bells ring. Maybe it was an interesting old church. We knew we couldn't get in to our rooms at the casino until 2 or 2:30 at the best. Official check in was 4 PM. I think the three of us wanted to move along and beat the heat and the wind. Tom and Jacinto both like the heat, they stayed for the 8 AM breakfast.
Sure enough, at mile 47 - there was 56A. It wasn't marked well, but we found it and turned left. Now we were just outside of Ohkay Owingeh, the location of the Ohkay Casino. I made a hard stop at a man setting up a cherry stand. I didn't know they grew cherries in New Mexico. Yep, they do - right in his yard. Two red cherries and one yellow cherry tree. I bought a bag of red cherries for $2. Jacinto would be proud of me! He had purchased a giant five pound bag of cherries last summer in Washington. It took us days to eat them all.
Our road changed names a couple of times, but we stayed on it. After a honking little hill up to a T intersection, we were confused which direction to go. After I asked two different motorists (just to confirm the reply), we found out that either direction would take us to the casino as both roads ended at Highway 68. I chose the road that went through town and past the very old looking church.
Sure enough, it soon ended at a four lane highway with no ridable shoulder. Gulp. The casino was in sight distance. We could do this! Traffic was heavy, but very nice, moving over for us. I could see a left hand turn lane, but couldn't merge into it. The traffic was too fast and frequent. There was a light ahead, but it only had traffic from three directions. I'm not describing the intersection well. The solution was we waited for the red light, then rode our bikes in front of all of the stopped cars to make the turn. That worked. It didn't feel good, but it worked.
After we arrived at the casino I called Jacinto. He had made the turn on 56A, but was lost. Tom was ahead of him. Also lost? I had sent both of them text directions not to miss the poorly marked turn.
Marty and I went inside to see if we could check in early. Nope. We were very early and they had been completely booked the night before. We decided to wait for Jacinto because he would be along very soon. We waited and waited. Fifteen minutes passed. I called again. No answer. We thought he might be on Highway 68 and not want to answer the phone. Wait, wait. Called again. Now he was at Walmart? Where was that? He had gone to town? Tom showed up, said he had completely missed 56A, gone into town, hung a left and came right to the casino. He had an extra five miles, but didn't have to cross 68.
Jacinto finally showed up. We locked all of the bikes together and went in the casino for the buffet. That should have been very exciting. Cyclists! Buffet! We made the finish of the Sunday brunch buffet with nine minutes to spare. That's too bad we were late. That's the worst buffet I've ever eaten. Not that I expect buffet food to be great, but . . . . there wasn't one redeeming food that I wanted seconds . They had only apples and oranges for fruit. No melons or other fresh fruit. All of the desserts were pre sliced and in a cooler with plastic wrap on top. It was a strange buffet and not tasty. We all agreed not to go back tonight, if we are hungry we're going to the little cafe. We should have done that to start. Jacinto had two plates though and a salad. He said I wasn't hungry enough. Maybe.
I went back and checked with Westin. Our room was ready. I showed it as prepaid. Westin did not. We went round and round, I could tell him the card and the date it was charged, but I did not have the statement with me. I paid again. Marty was next and I had used Westin's patience. He showed Marty as having a jaccuzi room. Marty would take the first available, no problem. Nope. You have to get what you reserved. Which meant Marty had to wait because a jaccuzi room wasn't ready.
Finally we are in our very nice, large room. Very large room. Two beds. Microwave and fridge. I'm ignoring the stains on the chair and the wet spot in front of the fridge. It's a great room for the money. I"ll even ignore the cigarette smell. Both of our bikes fit in with plenty of room. There's a flat screen TV and Jacinto plans to watch the Copa America later.
If it weren't for waiting for the room, arguing with Westin, and the yucky buffet - it would have been a really A+ day. The cycling itself was much better than I expected for being on 285. Who would think? We are now at our lowest elevation of the trip. 5,700 feet. Tomorrow we have to pay it back by climbing up to the Sipapu Ski Area. We have two choices of routes - the easier route has 3,800 feet of climbing and is on dreaded 68. We didn't realized it was dreaded until we got here. Now we are questioning that choice. If we decide to ride on 76, it has 5,004 feet of climbing. Either direction we climb on a shoulderless road through a narrow canyon. If we decide on 68, there's only 700 feet of climbing over 17 miles before we get off. So. Something to talk over tonight.
It's my turn in the shower.
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Today's ride: 54 miles (87 km)
Total: 166 miles (267 km)
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