Alamosa, CO to Taos, NM

June 30

We had a big day planned the day that we arrived in Taos.  The ride was 92 miles long and we had to arrive at the Taos Visitor Center in time to load up our bikes to be driven up to a Presbyterian camp, Loma Verde, up on the mountain.  Up there we could take a shower and then be shuttled down without our bikes to Ranchos Presbyterian Church for dinner and a presentation.  Then we were loaded back up to go to the camp.  In addition, there were interesting sights to see on the way.  For the first time, I decided to shuttle ahead.  It made for a very relaxed day because I was ahead of the group most of the day so I didn’t have to worry about slowing anyone else down.

I rode in the car the first 35 miles to the New Mexico line with Becky.  On the way, we saw a sign for the oldest church in Colorado, so we stopped by to see it.  That was an interesting thing, because the church building is not that old.  But if you define church as the body of people who gather in that site, then I think it would qualify as the oldest church.  Obviously it is populated by different people, but still the oldest church.

My ride began at the New Mexico state line, at the second rest stop.  To me, what sounded like the interesting and best rest stops were at the third and especially the fourth stop.  I was one of the first to arrive at rest stop 3 and I had time to go in the restaurant across the street.  They would let us use the bathroom, but requested that if you want to use the rest room, you actually purchase something.  I almost always do that anyway!

When I walked in, I thought I was going to find a store—instead it was a restaurant.  I ordered an ice coffee and was sitting at the counter.  The pies looked home-made, not store bought, so I asked.  They had apple pie, cherry pie, and apple/chile/pinon pie!  So I ordered the apple/chile/pinon pie with ice cream and it was wonderful.  That, plus the sandwich I got from our own crew was a wonderful lunch.  While I was sitting there with Kelley, she ordered the chocolate/red chile cookies.  They just tasted like dark chocolate until the very end when you could taste the bite of the chile.

 

From there, I rode to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge.  Unlike the Colorado River, which carved out the Grand Canyon, we learned that the gorge was a volcanic rift to which the river found its way.  Then we rode into Taos—quite a bit of the way with a headwind.  I am getting tired of headwinds but nonetheless I made it there after my head start.

 

We rode to the Taos Visitor Center where we received a very enthusiastic welcome.  This is, as far as I know, the only place where someone called Fuller Center to volunteer to host our group.  Julie and her husband, Darryl, had taken a group on a mission trip for flood relief in Hammond, LA.  They were going through a Presbyterian Disaster Relief organization, but the building site was administered by the Fuller Center.  When they got back home, Julie researched the Fuller Center, found out about the bike adventure and learned that we were planning to go through Taos.  So she talked her church into hosting us with a meal and opened up the camp for us.  We ate the best beef brisket I think I have ever had!

Then we were shuttled back up to the camp.  It was kind of late and I was pretty tired, but I went out to enjoy the campfire with about eight or ten of my compatriots.