A bike ride in Santa Fe

Arroyo Chamisos Trail 9/24/2015 (Thursday)

At breakfast we met a few of the women who are on our tour and had lots to chat and worry about. Then Bette-Ann and I loaded up our bikes and gear for a ride on the rail trail. We drove the 5 or so miles to find the trailhead and took off on our bikes for a few miles. Not far from our start point there were workmen weed whacking the brush from the side of the road. What that meant for us was that the goatheads would be blowing onto the trail.

 

This is what the plant looks like

 

This is a very blurry shot of one of the thorns from the plant. It will do until I can get a better one. Note all the sharp needles on all sides.

 

Bette-Ann checks her tires for thorns.

We walked through the blown weeds and found several thorns on our tires. Since we had walked and had little weight on the bike, the thorns did not puncture the tires. Even with the tru goo in three of our tires, we were paranoid and kept checking these rascals for most of the ride.

 

 

Typical buildings in much of this area

 

Rain "spouts" from the flat roof. Fences built of nearby limbs and small tree trunks were the norm.

 

There were purple flowers dotted throughout the yellow bushes, but none in this photo ...

 

This is a "rail trail" and there was an actual rail running next to it with the commuter train named "Rail Runner"

We rode the trail all the way to its end in town and came upon this fun and attrative wall of art...

 

Much nicer than...

 

...a welcome sign on a highway

 

Saloon dancers

 

Almost like being on Route 66!

The art didn't end there as we returned to our car and found a bit of pavement art...

 

 

Done with our ride and wanting more insurance for my bike, we returned to "our" bike shop and had tru goo put into my front tube. Needless to say, we have gotten to know the staff here quite well and they are very helpful and very nice to us. I especially liked Rene (with an accent over the e) who took special care of me.

 

Thanks Rene for being such a support!

Now we had fully gooed tires. We are ready for those goatheads!!

Back at the ranch we geared up for our orientation meeting, map talk, and dinner plans.

Part of the group gathers together

 

We made it this far -- to dinner.

Cynthia and her daughter Leslie

Bette-Ann had said earlier that she just didn't want to get lost. Leslie said yeah, she didn't want to die out there alone.

Gotta get to bed now for early morning breakfast, luggage loading and riding tomorrow.

 

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