La Bajada

Guest Blogger: Jim Bradbury

When Anurang told me that I would be his first guest blogger, my first thought, of course, was "I'm not worthy." He has been doing such a fabulous job blogging all through this trip that I really don't think he needs any help from me. I felt like Wilkie Collins when Charles Dickens asked him to whip up a new serialized novel for his magazine. But even as strong and resilient a rider (and PBP veteran) as Anurang "Ringtail" Revri deserves a break now and then, so I'll do my best. 

The worst part of riding from Albuquerque to Santa Fe has always been getting out of downtown. This time around, we used a bike path that quickly and safely got us out of the 'querque. The path was on top of a levee that parallels the Rio Grande. I've been told that a coyote can often be spotted in the area, but I didn't see anything more exotic than a Canada goose. 

To be perfectly honest, the bike path was about the only difference this day between our trip three years ago and our trip this year. You can read all about La Bajada and the trip three years ago at my blog from 2006. (Oh yes, we did have the amazing Susan Notorangelo this year, with her trademark knit helmet cover. This was her first-ever time on La Bajada! Of course she loved it.)



Also, this year, Anurang did not suddenly demand Wet Wipes from me and disappear behind this mound of dirt on I-25. 




Other than that, though, it was another glorious day in New Mexico. 



After dinner, we were treated to a fascinating lecture on the restoration of old neon signs along Route 66 -- some of which work has been funded by the National Park Service. I was shocked to learn that my own favorite sign, at my favorite motel in the whole world, the Blue Swallow, was destroyed by a hail storm shortly after I last saw it three years ago. But, it's been restored. I can't wait to see how it looks in a few days when we stay there again. 

Olde, New and 2x2x2

Yes, you can still get a hearty breakfast for under $5. What it does to your heart is another matter. We usually start the day with a 2x2x2. No it’s not what you are thinking. It's two pancakes or French toast; 2 sausage links/patties or bacon strips and two eggs. Sometimes these come with a side of potatoes or we start with Oatmeal before that. The metabolism at this point is, quoting Jim, a “raging inferno” so it gets us through to lunch with some snacks in the middle.

Today we saw a lot of the old road that is well preserved for the most part from Grants to Albuquerque. It was another 80 mile day with good winds and lot more down than up so it made it possible for us to stop, check out the scenery, visit local churches and do some shopping even.

The food in New Mexico is special too. It is different than Mexican or Tex Mex…and even spicier. It has lots of fresh green or red chilies. We went for a taste of the local cuisine in the Old part of town – group dinner. Delicious! There is more to come since we have another 4 nights in New Mexico.

Last time in 2006 I sent post cards home, this time I am doing blogs, which I believe are also a bit outdated for today…it should really be twitter or iPhone updates to the internet directly. I had thought about it before I left the trip but not everyone I know is on these social networks and I wanted to keep the access to the content “Open”. And here is another idea of social networking…a card from a fellow ride Scott to his friend. This is for you Satellite Jack.

Tomorrow I will try another form of social networking; Jim Bradbury will be doing “guest blog” in my place so you will get another perspective of the trip. Either I am getting clever about how to put together blogs or just tired of doing them every night.

Today was an uneventful today, which is good since I was tired from a long day in the saddle yesterday. We bicycled 65 miles over the continental divide from Gallup, NM, to Grants, NM. We got in early; Jim had already done my laundry since he got in even earlier than me. Actually, he was the first one in today.

The landscape did not change much today with mesas in the distance and very gradual (0-1%) up and down grades. With a terrain like that, if the wind is behind you, you can ride fast, like yesterday. If the wind is cross or head, it can really slow you down. We got some not-so-helpful winds coming into Grants, so it slowed down the last 20 miles of riding. The forecast is for west winds tomorrow and we are heading mostly east (some south) so it should help most of the way. You may have noticed a Pac Tour cyclist is a constant weather watcher since next day’s plan depends on it – clothes to carry, how much water to bring, how many pictures to take along the way etc.

Also doing cycling like this repetitively can make you dream funny. Jim has now shared three dreams with me that I will let you interpret:

He and Judith murdered several people and Lon Haldeman (our tour lead) is the inspector. Jim described that in his dream they were contemplating coming clean to Lon since he will most likely figure it out.

Jim took my new car (an MG like white car) and drove it around the city. He was driving the steep slopes of San Francisco and trying to figure out the clutch and accelerator.

Jim and I were in the Santa Monica library (which neither of us have been to) and I was chasing him up some stairs, apparently insisting we leave and he did not want to.

Here is my interpretation – due to a lot of repetitive actions and anxiety to get done for the day and get ready for the next day, a mix of images end up in the dreams, especially with people that you are around. Someone else may have a deeper analysis. I now have dream catcher on the back of my bicycle.

New Mexico

20 miles from our hotel in Gallup, New Mexico, we crossed into our third state. We have ridden over 750 miles in 9 days. Our legs are tired and butts sore. Today was a long day – 102 miles. We woke up in the Wigwam motel in Hollbrook, rode about 4.5 miles to breakfast and on with the rest of the ride.

Our first major point of interest today was the Petrified Forest. Rt. 66 use to go through what is now a national park. We navigated what is left of the old road, some gravel and a lot of sand. Some of the sand was deep and makes your bicycle skid. In other places it’s deeper than the rim of the wheel so we had to walk it. There was also a lot of fence jumping along the way.

The ride through all the “off road” part was slow and we got to our 57 mile rest stop at 2:30 PM. We realized we were running late and were going to lose an hour at the destination due to the time zone change, so we rode the next 45 miles without stopping, except to remove a front derailleur that Jim broke. His then became “fixed” in the front. Since we had good tailwinds, he put this on the largest cog and had no difficulty on the way back.

Finally we are in New Mexico and I am really looking forward to what are some of my favorite parts of Rt. 66…

What goes up must come down

After the climbing for the last three days, today we descended down almost all day to Holbrook, AZ. It was about 90 miles and 1000 feet of climbing, we started the day at 7000 feet and ended up at 5000. This made the day’s riding really fast and social.

Susan Notorangelo, Lon Haldeman’s wife and cycling legend in her own right, flew in to join the trip last night. It was great to see her. We rode together most of the day and I got to catch up with her a little bit. But mostly I rode behind Lon and Susan and got a great draft. She has a great sense of humor so it’s fun to be around her.

It took us a little more than 3 hours to get to Winslow, AZ (56 miles). We had a long relaxing meal at the La Posada Inn. This is a restored Harvey House. Harvey Houses were luxury railway stopping places. It’s like going back into time. The food there is exquisite.

Next we rode some more old highway (mostly torn-up road and gravel) where some of us got flats. We ended up at a famous Jack Rabbit trading post. You may recall I had got henna tattoo of their billboard “Here it is” in Santa Monica.

A quick day ended with a rest in Hollbrook, AZ where we will stay at the Wigwam motel in teepees…one of the group’s favorite.

Arizona Divide (April 25)

After a great dinner at Lilo’s and a short video about AZ Rt. 66 I had great night sleep in the same room Jon Provost (Timmy), the star of Lassie as well as Clu Gulager and Martin Milner had slept. While Jim Bradbury slept in the same room as Will Rogers Jr. had.

The morning was a cold start, 40s as compared to our 80s starts in the desert so I went into my deep storage and took out the woolies. Most of the day was spent on the old sections of red-top tar that is either decaying or had disintegrated. Some of it is simply gravel now.

The road is also disjointed North or South of the Interstate 40 so at times we would reach a dead end and had to jump fences, cross the highway to find the remaining road. This makes us ride in groups so we can hand bikes or hold the barbed wire to help each other make progress.

Lunch was at Twisters, one of Rt. 66 favorites in Williams, AZ, where the special is the milk shakes or malts…the original milkshake is served in a glass along with the “extra” milkshake in the metal shaker.

Today was also windy but the wind again was behind us making the climb up to the AZ divide (7400 feet) easier than it would have been otherwise…especially considering the air is thinner with the altitude and I could feel it combined with now 6 days and over 500 miles of cycling. Today was another 80-odd miles with 6000 feet of climbing, making it one of the hard days of the trip and we finished the day in Flagstaff.

PS There are more “official” pictures of the trip that Lon is taking on http://www.pactour.com/

Keep on climbing…(April 24)

Today was another “average” day with much cooler temps (80s high) and very windy. We were to ride from Kingman to Seligman. Seligman is considered as the birthplace of the Rt. 66 revival. Characters like the local barber, Angel Delgadillo, fought back after I-40 construction bypassed this town and in the processed bypassed their livelihood. More on Angel later.

The strong wind mostly behind us and at times a strong crosswind. But it mostly helped us ride through rolling hills surrounded by mesas both North and South of us as we headed East. We had no turns today and the vast scenery around us did not change a whole lot. It can make time go by hard.

Anyway I got in at 3:30 and got a call from Jim that Angel the barber was working today and would give me a shave. I have started to look a bit shabby without a shave for a week. Also getting an opportunity to have the 70+ year old master work the straight edge was not to be missed. I rode my bike down the road and got in the chair…bought in 1920s for $140 by Angel’s father. His father came to Seligman in 1918 and started this barber shop as opportunity to cut hair for ethnic folks who did not have a place to go in town. Most of Angel’s family still lives in town. His sons run the gift shop – the barber shop is a small part of that. These guys have been instrumental in bringing travelers back to old Rt. 66. Take a look at the pictures Jim took of me while I was getting a new look. A truly Old Road experience!

Out of the Mojave Desert into Arizona

Today was a day of climbing out of the last of Mojave Desert to Arizona high country where there are hopes of cooler temps. We had good tail winds and a lot of climbing (5500 feet in 73 miles) and it was still in the 90s. The tailwinds help get you up the hills – especially long shallow desert climbs but it also keeps you warm. Most of the day I was distracted by the change in vegetation from Mojave desert bushes to wetlands vegetation around the Colorado river banks to Arizona's signature cactus and ocotillos. As we rode up to Oatman, AZ, at 2700 feet, the wildflowers got better by the mile. Descending into Arizona, the scenery changed from jagged mountain peaks to the chimney-topped mountains.

I’ll leave you with images of some the wildflowers and let them describe the scenery for the day.

Also for more pictures check out Jim Bradbury's Flickr pages at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zheem/

post thought...(question really, who's who?)

On to Needles

We headed early for another hot day from Ludlow to Needles. Not much climbing but 108 miles in 100 degrees, with the day starting at 80+ is not something one can take lightly. I had a plan to stay hydrated and fueled. One bottle of water and 1 bottle of energy drink (with 3 Electrolyte pills in them) every 20 miles. Additionally I planned to “tank” up at every rest stop. Here is what I ended up with: 4 bottles of water, 4 bottles of electrolyte drinks, 2 cans of V8, 2 Soda cans, 1 Bottle of Gatorade

Gel, Pringles chips, lots of Twizlers and a sandwich for lunch.

Today was about survival and I rode pretty smoothly through the heat and actually enjoyed the view of the Mojave National Preserve that we rode south of. There were also some interesting wildflowers. The only town to speak of was Amboy.