Epic Bike Ride Day 8 May 28

Thoughts from Kelly: Today was a bit different. Mark retraced some steps to add mileage to the day since we didn't want to get too far from Grants. We received news about family members in AZ having some medical issues, so we decided to pause the ride (after the ride today) and drive to Phoenix for a couple of days. As Mark took off for his ride, I rode 2 miles with 125 ft of elevation (altitude is a challenge!). We camped at another cool campground northeast of Grants, NM. Oh, and the truck has gotten a little dirty from all of the dirt/gravel roads. All the different colors of dirt have been interesting: red, tan, and white. The Flated (our truck bed topper) has done a relatively good job of keeping the dust out of the bed of the truck. However, there is definitely a bit on our bedding, and some inside the tailgate. All can be cleaned up, so no worries.

Thoughts from Mark: The scenery today was some of my favorite of the whole ride (so far). The road was tucked right next to some cliffs, in an area called “The Narrows,” with a natural stone arch high above the valley floor. All of the different rock formations were a mix of shapes, sizes and various levels of hazardous, as some of the rocks were perched just above the road. It was kind of an eerie feeling, knowing if they were to fall and hit me, I would almost certainly be severely injured or killed. I had some fun with the shapes, imagining them as animals (that one looks like a pig), people (that one looks like an old man smoking a cigar), or shapes (a perfect diamond). After riding through The Narrows, I rode into Grants, and had some (very bland) tacos at a local restaurant. This particular section of road was historic Route 66, which I had ridden by bike in 2018. It was great to see “an old friend,” and it brought back memories from a great ride. Another great night of camping, this time at Coal Mine campground. Kelly also ran some errands in Grants (mailing a couple of packages to our kids, getting ice and gas for our truck “Mater.”) The next morning we drove to Phoenix, to help some family members having some medical procedures.

Miles for the day: 51.44 Feet climbed today: 2,146

Total miles ridden: 368.72 Total feet climbed: 21,068