Albuquerque, NM to Santa Fe, NM
67.3 mi, 4,942ft gain, 54-93F / sunny with light wind for last 10 miles.
The group rode out of the Albuquerque hotel together as we made our way East and uphill. It was bright enough out today that I took of my vest I had planned on wearing.. very different from the day before! We had a lot of climbing today, so the group split up to go their own paces.
Once we left the city, the roads were perfect. The bike lanes and shoulder were smooth and made to ride. The climb up to the first SAG stop was one I would do if I lived here! We rode on the Turquoise Trail or NM Route 14 which is a semicircle bypass to the i40. It winds it’s way through the mountains with rolling uphills. There were a few climbs in there at 5-6% but nothing over a mile. 5k feet gain seemed to come easy today, and those downhills!? Whoa. I saw 39.5 mph on my garmin. I found myself lightly braking to take off speed. There were a few of those rare downhills where you can safely let it rip, seeing what’s in front of you and knowing it levels off. The whole group was smiling after those!
Some chose to stop in Madrid for coffee and snacks, I decided to continue on. I’ve not had great luck lately eating on long routes. Not sure why, but my stomach doesn’t like it. Today we had 22 miles left and 1500 ft from the coffee stop, so I rode on solo.
The downhill from Madrid was quite rough road, use cation. Then about ten miles of chipseal road as you gain more elevation. The whole route to the hotel over those 15 miles or so is uphill, but again nothing too wild for climbing. Just steady.
I again washed my bike when we got back because they had the wash station set up and we were waiting on rooms to become available. Why not right?
Tomorrow is a rest day before we have a 9 day stretch of riding. I opted to go get a massage and grab some food at Panera. I’m currently waiting on my laundry (in a real washing machine) as we speak. I’ve not used a real one in 2 weeks, my “street” clothes could use the dryer for shaping at this point. Tomorrow I booked a hot yoga class for myself, man I miss my hot yoga. If I get a chance I might go see downtown.. but I’m going to prioritize sleep.
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