Epic Bike Ride Day 13 June 8

Thoughts from Kelly: As hard as it was to leave the beauty of Abiquiu Lake, we had to keep moving forward.  We were both struggling to get moving, but eventually headed into Abiquiu.  We stopped at the only gas station in town and were pleasantly surprised to find that it was also a restaurant, grocery store, souvenir store, and camping store.  It had nearly everything you need, except for ice, which we desperately needed.  I thought we were going to have to throw out all the food in our cooler! Luckily, (yes, we have had a lot of luck on our side) we had to go back in the store and the ice truck was there delivering ice.  What a relief, I was so thankful!! Finally, around 1pm, we were ready to hit the road.  It was very hot (over 100) but Mark wasn’t fazed by the heat and rode like the champ he is.  We came to a town we thought would have a restaurant for us to hang out at as we waited for the worst of the heat of the day to pass but the one restaurant we saw was closed.  We ended up pulling into a ranger station, but it was also closed by a gate, so we hung out between the gate and the road under a huge shade tree.  After a long break, we headed out and luckily we were headed back into the mountains which meant more climbing for Mark but it also meant cooler temps and less traffic.  We were looking forward to a water fall that was labeled on our map, so when we came upon the road to the waterfall we stopped to decide if it was worth the time to try to find it.  Luckily (again), a hiker was there too so he was able to tell us we couldn’t drive to the waterfall.  We decided to try to ride to it.  Again, I am not a mountain biker at all so I put my brave face on and off we went.  I think I ended up hiking-a-bike as much as I rode, it was way to difficult for me, I have a hard time understanding how anybody can ride on these roads/tracks.  We did not find the waterfall but it was a fun little ride together.  Up the mountain we continued, climbing on very rough roads until it got late enough and we found another nice spot off the road to camp.

Thoughts from Mark: We started the day at a very busy gas station and I had a delicious green Chile and beef burrito.  After the ice debacle, we headed out, and I rode on a paved section for 16 miles to El Rito.  Part of this section was into my old friend, the headwind.  It was also mostly uphill, although the grade wasn’t too bad, but the heat was very intense.  We had a long break, and then continued onto a gravel road for a few miles.  We then tried to find Potrero Waterfall.  Kelly rode her bike on this “side quest.”  The trail was very technical, with lots of hopping from rock to rock, sandy sections, and downed trees.  We had to hike-a-bike for parts of it, but Kelly rode it like a champ! She is getting better, as well as more confident, with every ride.  After the waterfall detour, I climbed another thousand feet or so into the mountains, and after a few more miles we pulled off the road into a clearing to camp for the night.  During the night I heard a few coyotes howling (but not in Phoenix-too soon?).  It has been a little bit surprising that we haven’t seen more animals.  We have seen tons of cows, even in places I didn’t think cows would be.  The lack of deer and elk has been a little bit disappointing.  Hopefully we will have a chance to see more animals in the future.

Miles for the day: 30.27 Feet climbed today: 2,999

Total miles ridden: 597.38 Total feet climbed: 36,627