The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork.
Psalm 19:1
68.8 miles – 2,710 ft climb
One of Bruce’s friends, Jay Koch, who lives in Albuquerque, came to ride a few miles out with him this morning. Jay and Bruce have been friends since Wichita Swim Club days. It was nice for Bruce to have a little company for a few miles. Mary and Stew came over to pray with me for Bruce & Jay and see them off around 8:00. Then they headed to Colorado.
An advantage to staying at the same place for 2 nights is that I didn’t have to hunt for the sunrise this morning because I already knew where it would be (in the east, duh – but I get a little disoriented as to which direction we parked). It conveniently was right out my bedroom window. But I was still so tired that I just peeked out my window at it a few times between falling back to sleep and did not go out and take a picture. But I think it was probably glorious. I need a compass to make my sunrise hunt easier.
My friend, Barb Morrison, who worked with me at Koch 30 years ago and recently retired from there and moved to Albuquerque with her hubby, came out to the RV park to hang out with me. We had planned to go some place for breakfast, but ended up just hanging out in Harvey. Even though we gabbed until almost 11:00, it wasn’t enough time for me. Getting caught up is the best! I love when you haven’t seen a friend in a long time and you just jump right in where you left off.
The scenery was so beautiful today. Bruce’s morning ride started off pretty good with a short downhill on route 66. But then he had to ride on the shoulder of Interstate 40 for around 20 miles, which wasn’t all that fun, even though it was nice and wide. The wind was also right in his face.
He started to get off at one exit, but there were signs that the route was closed. The Indian Reservations around there had been hit very hard with Covid 19. Many of them were closed to outsiders. At the next exit, the sign said that the town of Laguna was closed. But the roads still appeared open, so Bruce went ahead and got off. The roads were nice and empty and they even had a bike path along a few miles of it. Unfortunately a german shepherd in a yard near the road thought Bruce looked tasty and took a nibble on his leg. Luckily it didn’t break the skin. I think this is dog bite number 3, but the casual way that Bruce mentioned it to me makes me wonder if there were others he didn’t tell me about.
We had talked about spending the night at a Harvest Host location at an Ice Cave about 27 miles past Grants, New Mexico. By the time we got to Grants, Bruce was wiped out from biking into the wind for so long and I wanted to do laundry so we decided to go ahead and stay at an RV park in Grants. Unfortunately they closed the laundry room at 5:00. Looks like I’ll be doing laundry at 7:30 tomorrow morning. Yuk. Although this is a Good Sam park, I think it’s a stretch.
I think Grants is on the Continental Divide. I haven’t seen any signs yet about it today though. It appears to be a tiny town with lots of closed up stores and hotels. But it also has a Walmart. And a Pizza Hut. And a cute little park with art sculptures. And a tank. You know what I always say about that.
It was great to see you two today, and to ride a bit with Bruce. I was able to accompany him for 8 of his thousands of miles.
You’ll hit the Continental Divide between Grants and Gallup. Keep on truckin’.
Good luck the rest of the way!
jay