This morning was really tough to get up and get going after 6 days of hard riding. A ride like this can kick your ass and your head has got to be in it. This morning was pretty brisk
when we loaded...26 degrees! Fortunatley it did not last long but it did take me an hour to get warmed up.
We left from the town of Gallup which is over 6000 feet
elevation and we ride about 23 miles over the Continental Divide which is 7275 feet. A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea. We had our first SAG there and everyone took the obligatory pictures to record the event. Supposedly, it's all downhill from here...at least if you are water. 
Most of the riders were out of there early morning gear as the tmperature went from 26 degrees to 68 degrees in the 23 miles to the continetal divide. It turned out to be a beautiful and sunny and the wind was friendly the whole day.
Our ride took us out
into the New Mexico back country along old Route 66 through many Indian reservation. From there we were back on I-40 again all the way to Albuquerque. At the last SAG, we took
a frontage road up 10 mile hill to Central Avenue for the screaming downhill
into town. That final downhill into town
is a doozy. You seem to just keep going down forever and it's speedy too I reached a top speed of 51.7 MPH today. The fastest I have ever been on a bike. Overall, today was a great ride and we did not have to work to hard as we had relative easy tetrain and wind condition.
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| Right behind me is Albuquerque and the wicked fast down hill |
Tomorrow we have a well deserved day off. The wind the last couple of days has made the rides much easier than average, but even with the great conditions, we still rode almost 270 miles in the last two days...I am smoked.
Pictures below:
(Most Photos taken by Mike Munk- Bamacyclist.com)
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| Had dinner at this "New Mexican Foods" Restaurant. Did not seem new to me. Good though! |
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| I rode into a wedding when I entered Albuquerque |
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| Old Rio Puerrco Bridge on Old Route 66 |
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| one of many snakes on the roads out west. |
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| Last SAG before 10 Mile hill. The hill was tough. |
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