Day 10 - Grand Junction CO to Santa Fe NM - 483 miles

Pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/brandonjhuff/CanadaSeptember14

By the numbers:
1 - delicious stout
2 - meals with delicious green chiles!
4 - passes over 10000 feet
11118 – highest elevation reached

The weather was nice when we got up – slightly cool, some high clouds, and no rain. We put on a layer to keep warm and headed south. We know the mountain passes would be colder and it was still early morning. We’re glad we did as we climbed over a variety of mountain passes in Southern Colorado. A little rain here and there but no real issues.

We stop in Ridgway for some great breakfast and to get some sorely needed caffeine. We’re high up in the pretty mountain passes and it only gets better as we climb up and down the constantly rising ranges. We pass Telluride and the road goes up. And up. And up. 8500 ft, 9500 ft, we went all the way up to 11118 feet! Our bikes had a hard time with this elevation and we noticed that breathing was a bit more challenging. As expected, it was very cold up top and the roads were wet. Not a good combination for a ride like this – high tire pressures at that elevation, slick roads, and cold temps make traction sparce. We keep our speed down and don’t have a problem.

Every time we think we’re headed down in elevation we go back up to 10000 feet. The weather gets worse as we head to lower elevations and the skies really open up a few times. We make it to Durango and the weather improves but there’s still dark clouds in front of us. This doesn’t look like fun for Los Alamos.

We decided to take a number of county roads to keep things interesting and it was a good decision. They’re pretty much empty, have a 65mph speed limit, and have lots of turns. Nice. We make it to the border of New Mexico and keep on trucking since we still have 250 miles to go. A friend of Dan’s recommended that we ride the road up to Los Alamos and we take a route so we end up in Santa Fe after. We stop for gas and I check the GPS one more time. The road I wanted to take doesn’t seem to exist. Errr. Now what. I ask a local and they say that road I want is just a dirt road…which is now mud after a day of rain. Shit. Now we need to head 30 miles south to get to the mountain road.

We make it to the foot of the mountain with just under 2 hours of daylight and head up. We pass multiple Indian towns with a slow 25-35 mph speed limit. Uggh. Just at the point I think “this isn’t worth the trouble”, the road opens up and gets awesome. The road is nice – very nice. Reminds me of Hwy 9 in Santa Cruz with great pavement and good sight lines. Again, we climb and it gets cold and the roads go from damp to wet. Luckily, there aren’t many tar snakes but it really slows us down. Well, that and the fact that we couldn’t feel our hands.

As we approach the top and head into Bandolier Park, we come to El Calderon which is a large valley at the top of the mountain. It was great to see at near sunset with the intermittent dark clouds. We climb some more and head into the park as the sun hides behind storm clouds. We make one turn and I can see Albuquerque and Sandia Peak – cool! I can’t stare too long or I won’t make it down the hill…

We make it down, enjoying the great views at sunset and head into Santa Fe. I follow the GPS to the wrong address for a cute little hotel. The lobby clerk points me down one block to the correct place and we pull in to an impressive looking hotel. My Mom would love it’s Southwest architecture and feel. We check in, shower, and head out for a meal. Well, we tried too. Most every restaurant was closed by 9pm. We get pointed to the Sleeping Dog Tavern for an excellent meal – Kobe burger with green chiles for me, and ribs and Yukon gold potatoes for Dan. Of course, I sample their beers from Marble brewery in ABQ and it’s great! I love their stout….

I’m about ready to pass out by the time we get back to the room and I’m asleep before my head hits the pillow. Tomorrow, we head over Sandia Peak and make the long straight ride to Tuba City AZ.