Antonito, CO - Chama, NM: Two mountain passes today, to make up for yesterday's flat roads.
The River's Inn had beautiful wood floors with patterns inlaid. The woodwork was beautiful throughout. The breakfast was tasty, but not up to cyclist quantity. We agreed we would have liked double portions of everything.
Anyone who has toured with us knows Jacinto does not do mornings. I was very proud of him for getting up with us early each morning. He never started cycling with us as it was always 'too cold'. He would let us 'rabbits' get down the road so he could chase us. Sometimes he gave us too much of a head start and couldn't catch us. Today we left him on the porch having coffee.
You will recognize Ken from last year's tour. He drove all the way from Texas to ride with us again for four days. Ken is a fast rider, but he stuck with me all morning.
Ken demonstrates how to use the ladder to cross the fence. Signs posted frequently along the fence line said anglers were welcome, hunters and camping not allowed.
Doug rode the 2010 Slum with us. Although Ken, Jacinto, and I were all hoteling, Doug wanted to use the trip as a shake down trip for camping. He was fully self contained and riding a RANS Crank Forward bike. It's not exactly a recumbent, but not a diamond frame either. Unfortunately I did not get a good side shot of him riding so you can see his riding position.
A photo opportunity is always a good chance to catch a breather while climbing a pass. La Manga Pass is a 5 mile climb. It has several switchbacks to break the grade up. I even used my middle chain ring for a fair distance about half way up the climb.
The first sighting of Jacinto today. We all regrouped at the top of the pass and rode together into Chama. It was nice to chat with everyone while riding down the road.
Skunk cabbage and aspen trees are two plants that grow at high altitude. Seeing them always make me feel that I have indeed been climbing high into the mountains.
We agreed that La Manga Pass was much easier than we expected it to be. The bottom was steepest, then a longish easy(er) section, and medium difficult finish. This area is very, very green and scenic.
The start of the downhill - then we approach Cumbres Pass. When I first started cycling I was VERY intimidated by having two passes in a row. Now I know it's like getting two for the price of one. Yes, there is a downhill, but it's typically not too far down the first pass and a fairly short climb up the second pass.
This is a free range area. Which means there are no fences and the cattle wander across the road as they desire. Ken had to go out and around a cow and her calf - but they scooted across the road before the rest of us got to them.
This is one of several water towers we saw for the old steam train, the Cumbres-Toltec. A trestle had burned down mid route, forcing the company to bus their passengers more than half of the route. Business was drastically slashed in both communities serving the train. It will be at least a year to rebuild the trestle.
We all agreed this was about the easiest pass we had ever ridden. We all (except Single Speed Jacinto) started out in the granny, then switched to the middle chainring and stayed there the entire climb. I'm no hotdog - but this is one easy pass. It's a three mile middle of the chain ring climb.
There was plenty of information about the train and record snowfalls on the board. There were also restrooms. Although I think those were temporary because of having to bus the train passengers.
This was taken at what we think is the New Mexico state line. Doug has a cabin in the area and he says they don't have many road signs in New Mexico because they get shot up.
Another stunning view. I didn't take too many scenery shots. I should have - but the entire route was so pretty it was difficult to remind myself to get the camera out. There was no one outstanding spot that made me think I should get a photo of it.
Our home for the night in Chama was the Elkhorn Lodge. Jacinto's laundry was hanging outside, as usual. Doug said one thing he learned about going self contained was that he did not need a new set of on the bike clothes/off the bike clothes for each day. Ken, Jacinto, and I each washed our cycling clothes in the evening, hung them to dry, and put them on again the next morning. A good friend said it appears that I am a super cyclist and do the entire tour in one day as I always have the same shirt on the entire trip . . .
