Done.

Ok, well, here I am at Bob and Cathy's place in good ol' Socorro, NM. It doesn't really feel like it's over though. I suppose because I'm not back home in Pasadena yet. In that case, it will never feel "over" because I'm moving to Mountain View (or thereabouts) and not back to Pasadena.

Cathy has a hole in her shirt because her bird likes to rip her shirt. Bird ownership is a mystery to me.




Anyway, the wedding is coming up this Saturday, and the following Tuesday I'm flying back to California. Then I get to start looking for a place to live. Fun fun.

Today's ride was pretty reasonable. About 45 miles long. Started out at my parents' house in Belen and rode South along I-25. I rode on I-25 for about 15 miles, where there was no other way to get through.

Here's a typical mid-NM landscape view which looks (to me) very homey and familiar. Low scrub vegetation like mesquite, sagebrush, and grasses; long sight distances with mountains on the horizon; blue skies.

Those of you who went to NMTech should recognize the mountain that the freeway is pointing to in this last picture. It's M-Mountain as seen from about 15 miles North on I-25. Techies seeing this know they're almost home when coming back from Albuquerque.

I got my third flat tire today, but I knew it would happen. Only about 2 miles North of Socorro, there is no paved road that goes through except the interstate, and I didn't feel like getting back on it. So... I took the old way Bob and I used to do on our mountain bikes. This went on a bunch of twisty dirt roads, under a super-low-clearance freeway underpass (about 5 feet) and into and out of a big concrete flood control channel. Much of the dirt road surfaces were covered completely with goathead plants, and that's how I got the flat. Ah well, it was fun riding on those same old dirt roads I remember from 18 years ago in college. :)

Penultimate day

Today I arrived in Belen, NM, where my parents live. Tomorrow I ride another easy day down to Socorro and the End of My Trip. I'll be glad to rest, and to be getting on with the rest of my life.

Taos, NM

Wow, I'm finally in New Mexico! Tonight I arrived in Taos just as the sun was setting. Very pretty, with sunset colors in the sky and bright yellow flowers all over on the ground.

Today was a tough day, with a strong headwind for the first 50 miles. Just about drove me crazy. But it's the weather, what can you do? After that there were forested hills which I rode up and down and up and down (though without wind).

Taos is a neat town. Lots of artists, apparently. I won't be spending much time here though. My usual dinner and breakfast and then riding on South to Santa Fe.

Aurora to Conifer to Buena Vista

Yesterday I said goodbye to Paul, Jen, and Scott and rode off towards the mountains alone again. I got a late start around noon and only made it as far as Conifer, about 40 miles away (but a few thousand feet higher I think). Turns out Conifer isn't much of a town and doesn't have any ordinary hotels and no campgrounds at all. The sun was going down and I was beat tired, so I stopped at a fire station and asked if I could pitch my tent around back. They said yes! Then just after I got done setting up my tent, one of the firemen poked his head out a back window and invited me to join them for dinner. How nice! The spagetti dinner was very tasty, and while eating I had the pleasure of watching them make fun of a fire-fighting movie that was on cable. One thing I learned was that in a car fire, the gas tank exploding is not a real danger - however, the shock-absorbers in the front and rear bumpers can explode and shoot their pistons 100 yards. So next time you are near a car on fire, get far away. :)

Today was a great day. I went over 3 mountain passes (Kenosha, Red Hill, and Trout Creek) on US 285 and covered about 91 miles. The distance surprised me - it was easier than I thought. The first 2 passes were pretty tough, but then from Fairplay to Buena Vista was 36 miles of mostly downhill with a tailwind. I was asking myself what I had done to deserve such a great situation. The scenery was gorgeous, the shoulder was wide, the pavement smooth, downhill, and a tailwind to boot! There was a small bit of uphill before Trout Creek Pass of course, but no more than a couple miles. Then the downhill from the pass into Buena Vista was amazing. I could see the "collegiate peaks" (Mt. Princeton, Mt. Yale, etc) across the valley as I was descending the curvy road at 30-40 mph. Awe. Some.