Day 14- Las Vegas NM > Tucumcari, NM (110 miles)

 May 20

Today would have been my Dad's 83rd birthday, and I believe he would have gotten a big kick out of us doing something weird like this. Happy Birthday Dad, you rode with me today!

The route:

Today was long on miles, amazing on views, super windy, and zero traffic...The route today was in the middle of nowhere, NM. I have never heard Stuart say "wow" and "tableaus" so much - another day that was in our mind when we booked the trip. At the start of the ride, we were warned about having zero internet or cell service while we were riding today, which is funny because we generally do not touch our phones except to make them act like cameras. Being in nowhere and getting this warning made me think of one of my favorite sayings from the days of explorers that always comes to mind when I am doing something that I have not done before that might be sketchy/unpredictable: 'Hic sunt dracones' - Latin for 'there be dragons'. This was put on maps where places had not been explored yet to signify danger. Yep, I like analogies, and we survived the dragons today. You can see from the route view that we had a huge descent around mile 38 that put me back in remedial training for coming down a mountain. We had a decent wind for the first 30 miles, a crosswind for the next 30, and a screaming tailwind for the last 50 - a great way to finish. We were at the hotel by 3 pm after 3 SAG stops, which was much sooner than expected. We had tacos brought into the hotel and ate like animals until it all disappeared. Stuart also bought us a six pack of Banquet beer to help re-hydrate. 

Some photos from the day:

These two were taken about 20 miles into the ride, and it is hard to appreciate how far you can see in this part of NM -  zoom in on the horizon to see the snow on the mtns...

Yep, this was the gas station from No Country for Old Men, and we had a SAG stop here...made my day. What is the most you ever lost in coin toss? Watch this if you liked the movie: Coin toss

The old motor grader from the clip is even still there:

One of the SAG stops had tiny donuts for us, so I had 4. (Hal P. - this made me laugh after your text!)

This was the beginning of the crazy descent...and part way down.

The snakes are sunning in the roads out here now early in the mornings, and this was the first non-rattlesnake that we have seen. We thought that it might be a coral snake, but we could not remember the rhyme: 'red on yellow kill a fellow, red on black, venom lack'. Looking at it now, Stuart would have been a dead fellow...Hic sunt dracones/snakes. Maybe internet service would have been good after all.

Stuart and Bill coming up one of the big climbs.

Today was another large or extra large day that exceeded what we expected. Tomorrow, we leave NM and head into Texas. Ron H already trumped me in the comments because he thought that I would forget that he grew up in the part of the world we are entering...Ron also said that when he grows down, he wants to be like me...this is a back handed compliment because Ron comes from giant stock. 

Thanks for the text messages and for keeping up with us! Talk tomorrow from Texas!