"Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain."
Isaiah 40:3 Farmington, New Mexico to Gallup, New Mexico. 135 miles. 5280 feet climbing. It's nice to leave Farmington behind. Perhaps it's nasty to say, but I didn't find too many redeeming features in our short stay there. There's a steep climb immediately south of the city, as if Farmington's getting in a final kick for my unkind thoughts. I've obviously eaten too much breakfast for it comes perilously close to reappearing on the climb. It doesn't taste so good the second time around. But then we're at the top of the climb and things settle down. Jane's been suffering from an Achilles problem and we're concerned how she'll fare today. But Lon has taped her ankle tight (I think he's similarly taped eight other riders; it's a common problem on this trip) and it seems OK for now. We're back up at 6000 feet on a high plain. I'm not sure about the valleys being exalted, but it sure is flat, straight and plain. You can see forever, which is no advantage because there's only sagebrush. The road is dead straight. Fortunately the wind isn't overzealous, although it does come at us from the side, and we settle into some kind of mindless rhythm. Some relief arrives 30 miles down the road when we get into the Bisti wilderness, a government designated wilderness area. It catches us by surprise because we're all sure we've already been riding through wilderness. Somehow it just hasn't been designated. I'm glad we have governments to make such decisions for us. We see a few interesting rock formations, but it's mostly dry, hot, ugly and boring. By the time we arrive at lunch at 82 miles my mind's a little numb and I have "hot foot" from the constant foot pressure flat hot riding gives me. But there's a chance to take my shoes off at lunch, and there's grilled chicken, and Susan digs out a cold Starbucks Frappuccino for me. Ambrosia. A little anxious to get finished today, and needing to get into Gallup in time for Jane's massage, we get back on the bikes expeditiously. There's more heat and ugliness as the road drops down into a wide dry canyon and then climbs back out and up to 7900 feet and the continental divide. But once we cross the divide the countryside starts rolling, and amazingly some evergreens appear. Then we turn west and get some tailwind. The magic of tailwind, downhill off the divide, and some green vegetation gets Dick to the front. His basketball player's size gives the other three of us a big draft, and off we go. An exhilarating 6 miles, often at 28 mph. The four of us have big grins as we cruise into the last sag stop. During our fast blast we've just skirted a thunderstorm. It's close enough to block the sun and comfortably lower the temperature, but not yet close enough to get us wet (some later riders reported getting caught in rain and hail). However, there's lightning and it seems to be getting closer. Also, some other riders leave the sag just before us and provide something to chase. So it's another 29 miles of fast riding , and enough fun to obliterate the memory of the first 80 miles. The last 6 miles take us down through Red Rock Canyon, and then a few miles along historic Route 66 (what a rough road!) into Gallup. We've averaged 22 mph for the 55 miles since lunch. It's turned into a very satisfying ride after all. We check into the El Rancho Hotel. This place is too difficult to describe. Supposedly all the movie stars stay here when they're in the area (although I have difficulty understanding why they'd be in the area). The place is old, kitschy/cute/rustic, with lots of wood and movie photos. Later we go to Earl's Place for dinner. Another first, all through dinner locals wander through the restaurant hawking Navajo jewelry and other local artisan creations. We finish the evening off with Baskin-Robbins. Another great PAC Tour day. Don Friedlander ------ To unsubscribe, send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Club Office: [EMAIL PROTECTED], (613) 230-1064 Web/mailing list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.cyberus.ca/~obcweb Newsletter: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.cyberus.ca/~obcweb/Newsletter ==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?aVxiDo.a2i8p1 Or send an email To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This email was sent to: [email protected] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
