Day 21: Abiquiu

With the dawn we packed our seven things together and enjoyed an "opulent" breakfast. It couldn't have been a thrill, because I can't remember it.

Today I was a little bit concerned, because I had to ride through Vallecitos. This jerkwater town had an infamous reputation for their mangy straying dogs, like whole New Mexico too. Vallecitos is also called "The dog alley" among the TD racers. Unfortunately I am not really a friend from dogs, because I am living in the dog capital of Germany with a second place in whole Europe. But normally at home I don't have to get away from them. I sincerely hoped if there will be a confrontation that would happen only on a downhill.

Thomas left me and started where he stopped yesterday evening with pushing his bike up this unridable track. I followed 10 minutes later. Apart from some cows the whole ride until Canon Plaza was fairly lonesome and boring. The landscape lost it brilliance and turned into a dry veld. Without a decent breakfast the climbs where tough like every time with a missing hot morning meal. And - I was slowly running out of water. The 5 mile climb on highway 64 up to Hopewell Lake Picnic Area with a water pump was a disaster. Once again my legs were completely done. Alternating I pushed and rode my bike over the hot tarmac. Fortunately I could refill my empty bladders at the picnic area. There was a small shelter with a bench inside. Lunchtime! Soft and warm corn bars, an energy bar and some nuts. That was it. Mmmh, yummy! I hated it! I lay down on the bench and lifted up my legs. Just a few days and all this will be over I thought by myself and fought with the exhaustion! Finally after 45 minutes I was back on a dusty gravel road. I could not really imagine how much I missed it! Just a little comfort, but in the south riding on a gravel road wasn’t as hot as being on a highway.  

In the early afternoon Canon Plaza came in sight on a downhill. In this small town Sylvia from the Ride the Divide movie had a very small snack shop right next to the road. I didn't expect that the shop would be open, particular on Independence day. But as I got to the shop the doors were wide open but nobody in. A few seconds later Sylvia came down on a ATW to welcome me. What luck! Some unexpected Coke's! While I plundered the small selection of groceries and during my break we had a nice conversation. I heard Thomas passed the shop about one hour ago. A final photo before saying good bye was mandatory. Sylvia told me that there is only one dog in Vallecitos who sometimes makes trouble. It was just a 4 mile ride until Vallecitos. I hoped Thomas had already pumped up the dog(s) with bear spray so they didn't feel like chasing other riders again. I loosened my holster on my top tube and removed the security lock from my bear spray. Per elevation profile Vallecitos was on a downhill. Before getting into the village I had to make a 90°turn. My strategy was simple - speed. Just before the village I speeded up and turned onto the road that obviously traversed the village. It was a shame that I lost my camera in the Basin. Words can not describe what I saw. One dilapidated house after another. The stench from urine filled my nose. I would have preferred stopping and taking some photos but that was not possible, unfortunately, because I was on an escape. No dogs at all, just some barking at the beginning of the village. At the other end of this ghetto the road began to climb. I tried climbing as fast as possible to get some distance between me and the village. I made it! There were just two smaller climbs until the downhill to El Rito. The appearance from El Rito was similar to Vallecitos maybe not that rotten. A lot of abandoned houses in bad condition, but no dogs! Here I stopped for a little while to took some photos. 

The last 20 miles to Abiquiu were all downhill on a paved road. I had a good pace so the time went by very quickly. Once a car slowed down right next to me, the window lifted down and a woman asked me if this would be the right way to Abiquiu? I agreed. I had to confirm, signposting was not one of the strength of this state. 

I got to Abiquiu at 6:15 pm. As I passed the Abiquiu Inn I saw Thomas waving. He immediately sent me to Bode's general store, because it was just about to closure.

At the store I did my daily full resupply including the familiar breakfast stuff for an early start tomorrow morning. 

We have got an amazing big room with very comfy beds. It is a great pity that we had to move on so early in the morning again. But this is the law of the Divide. 

In the Mexican restaurant of the hotel we had an excellent dinner before we fell tired in our beds.    

 

Sylvias snack shop

El Rito