The New Mexico license plate. Thought that I'd try to get a photo of each state's license plate as we pass through them. I hope to find California and Arizona plates before the trip is over.Another eventful day. The small group that I was with hadn't gone more than three miles out of Grants this morning when we were hit by a gusty rain/sleet/snow squall. We rode two miles through it and stopped at a gas station. The sleet was biting our faces and our hands were so cold that we could barely operate our brake/shift levers. The temp had dropped to 41F. About 15 of us were sagged forward two sag stops to a lower elevation where the temp was up to 51F which was bearable. We then biked the last twenty miles into Albuquerque which included a five mile climb on I40 and then a nice downhill and some flats to the hotel. We later learned that groups who were ahead of us and behind us missed the worst of the squall and once they were down the road a few miles had a tailwind the rest of the day. We had assumed that they were suffering but in actuality they had a somewhat cool but pleasant ride with the tailwind. So now I have about a 50 mile gap in my XC tour which is disappointing.
Approaching Albuquerque on I40.
Off I40 and looking down on Albuquerque from Route 66.
The Rio Grand River passing through Albuquerque.
Another view of the Rio Grand River in Albuquerque.
Our favorite recovery drink when we finish the day's ride - a quart of chocolate milk. Supposedly if one has a good recovery food/drink within an hour after finishing a ride, he will recover more completely for the next day's ride.
The Marriott Fairfield Inn in Albuquerque had these gift packages awaiting each rider.
The card on the gift package.Tomorrow we head for Santa Fe, NM, with 5400 feet of climbing. The forecast is for cool weather and strong winds - hopefully mostly tail winds.
Bye for now and thanks for the comments
Bob
