Grants to Albuquerque, NM

78 less 16 = 62 miles of riding, 4 hours, 1,711 feet of ascent, and 3,200 Calories.

Lots of new things today. It was raining when we left the hotel! Part of I-40 was impassable to bicycles! We had to be ferried part of the way, around the construction on I-40!

Despite the light rain that was falling when we left Grants, it was a beautiful morning, riding along old Rt-66, within sight of I-40. Very little traffic and a smooth road surface made the first two hours go by quickly. I stopped to take a picture of this old gas station; note the old style pump. At the first SAG stop, CrossRoads loaded us and our bikes on the support vehicles and took us to a spot past the area where it would had been impossible to ride on the interstate; the freeway narrowed to one lane with no room on the shoulder for bicycles. It was a good call by CR to get everyone safely beyond the construction. It also lessened by sixteen miles the distance we were to travel on I-40; you can guess how upset I was with that! Al and I rode together the remaining 32 miles into Albuquerque and our hotel for the night. After checking in at the hotel, we joined Fred at Little Anitas for chicken burritos, which came with a side of sopaipillas! There was even honey on the table to go with the sopaipillas. For those of you who are unfortunate enough not to have ever enjoyed them, sopaipillas are a fried bread that puffs up into a little pillow; you tear off a corner and eat it with honey. Delish!!!

Each night, we have a "route rap" to go over the next day's ride. We have route sheets for each day, with detailed instructions on how to get from one hotel to the next. The sheets can be folded into quadrants and clipped to the bicycle's handelbars.

On the way through town, we passed over the Rio Grande river (isn't that redundant? River large river?).

Rider of the day: Mark is from Louisiana. Mark builds ship interiors, among other things. His pretty wife, Melissa, came along in their car, following the group. Mark is one of those great folks who is leaving us, here in Albuquerque. The others are Barbie and Jack W. Jack R is going one more day, into Santa Fe. That will leave only eighteen riders to continue this cross country adventure