July 16th, 17th

July 16th

Today I awoke to a beautiful sunrise looking out my mesh see through tent roof.  The colors were incredible and I looked up at the sky for a while before falling back asleep.  Minutes later I was awoken by a strange loud sound coming from behind my tent.  To my surprise it was the burner flame for a hot air balloon!  In the open dirt area next to the campground two hot air balloons were being prepared for flight.  I spent the next 45 minutes watching as they filled the balloons and lifted off, it was really fun to watch as I have never seen this before.  After the balloons disappeared over the rock cliff I packed up camp and fixed another flat tire.  Another thorn got me!  My first 10 miles of the day were spent biking down historic route 66.  It was really nice with almost no traffic and enjoyable desert scenery.  The next 15 miles I biked down interstate 40 which was noisy and heavy traffic but a nice wide shoulder.  I exited the freeway at the Continental Divide at an elevation of 7,245 feet.  The rest of the days ride was back on route 66 and most of the traffic was motorcycles.  The headwinds became very strong and it took me all day to reach my destination of Grants, New Mexico.  When I arrived in Grants I realized why I had been seeing so many motorcycles as there was a big motorcycle rally called Fire and Ice.  I biked around town looking for somewhere to camp when I eventually found a KOA and got a campsite.  Took a shower and relaxed in the shade until sundown and then got some sleep.  I was exhausted from the strong headwinds and blazing sun all day.

Unique thing to wake up too

Lift off!

Many trains along route 66

Route 66 - very little traffic

KOA cats

July 17th

Woke up around 7:00 and ate as much as I could at the KOA continental breakfast.  Wanted to get my $35 worth, pretty expensive campsite.  It was already windy and coming from the east so I was struggling right off the start.  My first 20 miles were still on route 66 and other than the wind and heat pretty enjoyable.  Shortly into the ride my valve stem on my inner tube broke and I had to replace it with my last tube.  I biked past a huge lava flow and stopped to explore the lava and checked out a lava tube that was filled with water.  Further down the road I came across my first tarantula!  I had been looking for these since I entered the desert and was excited to finally see one.  To my disappointment it was dead but I took a picture anyhow.  I met quite a few really nice people when I took breaks at the random gas stations to get shade and water.   Most were from New Mexico but I also met some folks from my home state of Wisconsin.  20 miles into the ride I had to get back on interstate 40.  I rode another very challenging 35 miles as the headwinds grew stronger and stronger almost keeping me from moving at all.        I had 30 more miles to go to get to my destination of Albuquerque when all of a sudden my front tire went flat in seconds.  Another broken valve stem!  This was my last tube and I had no way of repairing it and it was another 15 miles to the next freeway exit.  Night was coming and I did not want to be on the side of the freeway with all of the tired Sunday night drivers so I decided I would have to hitchhike.  After about 30 minutes a really nice couple pulled over and offered me a ride.  Jude and Camille gave me an ice cold soda and a ride into Albuquerque sharing stories with me of the area and the history of New Mexico's Pueblos.  Thank you so much Jude and Camille, I really enjoyed meeting you both and can't thank you enough for the ride!!!  I hope I got your names right as I never wrote them down and I am going on memory.  I spent several hours hanging out in Albuquerque until my friend Caleb got off of work in Santa Fe and picked me up.  Caleb offered me a place to stay during my visit to Albuquerque.  We got back to Caleb's house shortly after midnight and had a drink and some very tasty homemade garlic bread before calling it a night and getting some sleep.  Thanks Caleb!!!

water filled lava tube

tarantula