Day 17: Taos, NM to Raton, NM - September 28, 2008

Trek Travel Group 2008 09 30_1705, originally uploaded by rhanke.

Miles: 95 Miles
Ride Time: 5 hours 48 minutes
Avg. Speed: 16.5 Mph
Total Climbing: 5146 feet
Work: 3048 kJ

Yesterday we were joined by a new rider who will join us for the rest of the trip. Archie was suppose to start in Santa Barbara but had some business he had to attend to and could not join until now. Archie is also from Colorado and knows 3 of our riders well.

This morning we had five us on the pace line out of Taos. Both Big Wave and I had decided to ride with the three Colorado boys. Archie had gone ahead with the others since he did not feel ready to join the pace line yet. The Kit Carson Road out of Taos was narrow but it did not have much traffic on it. It was a beautiful climb going threw a valley lined with pine trees and the occasion Aspen tree.

We reached the top of the pass, 9101 feet, after 18 miles. We posed for a group photo before starting the decent to Eagles Nest. Eagles Nest was also scenic since it was this huge pasture surrounded by mountains. It also had a large lake in the middle. We then had a small climb to get to Cimarron Canyon which had just an awesome decent to the prairies leading to Raton.

Cimarron Canyon was just as gorgeous as any other landscape we had seen in the past few days. Once in the prairies we saw all types of animals, antelope, bison, cattle and horses. At one point a group of horses raced us until they ran out of field because of a fence. The cattle would always turn their heads and look as we passed by. I guess they don’t see a bunch of bicycles every day.

We had a run of bad luck as three of us had flats. It was funny that we would pass Buzz, Bones and Sparky and then we would have a flat and then they would pass us. Only for us to pass them again once our flats were fixed. By the third time we had run out of time to catch Sparky and he finished first for the day.

We know it is not a race but once and a while we like to compete with each other and have bragging rights at dinner. As Hollywood always says, “Never let the facts get in the way of a good story”.

All in all it was another beautiful day in America.

Today’s photos at Flickr.

All Cross Country Photo sets at Flickr