May 28, 2017. Albuquerque NM

Grants, NM-Albuquerque NM

When we left Grants NM, we were on a side road next to I 40. It's nice not to ride on the freeway. The weather was beautiful, sunny, not too hot and we had a nice tailwind. We stopped at the post office to mail goggles back to Cousin Jon, in Imperial Beach CA. He had loaned us a couple of pair just in case we ran into a dust storm in the desert. We almost had to use them going into Grants when we ran into the area with terrible side winds and dust blowing. While we were inside the post office, I looked out the window at the bike and saw that it was laying on the ground. We ran out and picked it up (no small task!). Thankfully there were no injuries. Someone must have bumped it. I don't think the wind could blow it over. It's sort of a scary thought when we realize that if this bike breaks we are stuck right here. But no worries, all was good.

There was a lot of downhill for us today. I think Albuquerque must be in a big hole! Grants was at 6400 feet and Albuquerque is at 5400 feet. The temperature turned up the lower in elevation that we got. We had to get on the freeway after awhile. Just before getting on the freeway we stopped at Laguna Burgers for lunch. Awesome hamburgers! The worst part about the freeway is really the trash on the side of the road. We stopped several times to check tires. Sure enough we picked out several small wires, thank goodness we didn't have any flats today. We stopped at the Route 66 Casino Hotel to get out of the heat for awhile. The casino was a hopping place. It was also a truck stop/DQ.

When we got back on the road, we were on a side road off I 40 again. We also had a huge climb of three miles, gaining 500 feet back. That was a hot one! Whew. After the "last hill", we had a huge downhill into Albuquerque. We were trying to get close enough to the pickleball courts so we would just have a shortish ride in the morning to the courts. It made for a long day, but it was worth it. We checked into a motel (yep no camping plots again!) and walked over to Denny's. We didn't think we were hungry but Hap didn't have any trouble with his spaghetti meal or me my grilled chicken salad. But after this long day, no wonder!

Albuquerque-Albuquerque

Before we left the motel, we walked over to Denny's for a breakfast sandwich. We thought we were going to have a quick, short (14 miles) ride to Manzano Park pickleball courts. The city had just put in an 18 court complex. But as it turned out it was 14 miles of mostly uphill. Of course it was! We were warmed up when we got there that was for sure. Google routed us an "around the barn" route, with lots of twists and turns.

The courts are amazing. And just so happened there was a guy there with a bunch of demo paddles. So we got to try out some new paddles. It was so much fun to be able to play again. There was a lot of people there and lots of opportunity to play. At home we play 3-4 times a week, so not playing for 3 weeks has been tough. We sure do love the game. After playing for about four hours we decided we had enough. I found a hotel a few miles away. On the way, we stopped at a Jimmy Johns for some great subs. We also stopped at Walmart for some microwave food for dinner. What a great day!

Albuquerque Day TWO!

The plan for today was to go to church and then go find some people to play more pickleball with. We walked over to the Copper Pointe Church, and had a great service. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at Taco Bell. Who knew they had Burrito Bowls? Guess they are tying to keep up with Chipolte. As we were walking Hap tripped over the sidewalk and fell, hitting his head on a chain link fence and cutting his hand on the fence. Scared me, he sure took a tumble. But you know Hap, Mr. Motorcyle Racin Hap, he tried to roll, which saved him from a worse injury. He was ok, just a pretty deep cut on his hand. At the hotel, I got out my first aid kit, cleaned it up, put some steri strips on it and hopefully it will heal ok. I think he made need stitches but we'll see.

I walked over to Target behind the hotel, to get some dinner supplies, laundry soap and more bandages. The rest of the day we just rested, did laundry and ate! Tomorrow we plan to play more pickleball in the am and then do a short ride to Moriarity NM.

May 25, 2017. Grants NM

Chambers AZ-Gallup NM

We left the Days Inn in Chambers and promptly got lost! We were supposed to cross the Interstate and spend most of the day on side roads, all within site of the interstate. A much quieter ride, although alittle more bumpy! Once again we had a side wind of 12-15 mph. Although the weather was sunny and 80 ish. We crossed into NM today. Another state down. For such an easy day to Gallop it sure seemed to take forever. There are stands/stores everywhere along the road with huge signs of "Indian jewelry here, blankets, trinkets, t shirts, and much more. That's one good thing about bike touring there isnt any room for souvenirs, although I don't think we would buy any anyway. We stopped at one stand (that said on a big sign that it was the best one!). We had ran out of water. They were selling Indian Tacos so we decided to eat lunch. An Indian taco is a usual taco with beans on Indian Fry bread. Not the healthiest thing to eat, but not much choice. As it turns out they were awesome (except for the unhealthy part). I talked to the lady making them, and she was just making fresh bread. All the ingredients were super fresh. Maybe the fresh tomatoes rule out the fried bread? I don't think so.

                                                            Navajo Taco

We became a tourist attraction!

After we at we became a tourist attraction. Several people asked us if they could take a picture. I said sure, but we charge for them! We had a great time just talking to people as we ate. 

The scenery is changing to more rocks, cliffs, buttes and scrubby trees (maybe 

pinion trees? Not sure). Much prettier than what we have been riding in. The wind 

was really whipping from the side so it made for a long day in the saddle. We ran into some road construction. But Hap says those signs are just guidelines, so we went through hoping we didn't have to backtrack. As it turned out, there was a slide area that was active. Two guys in trucks were sitting there, I guess to watch the rocks slide... not sure, but they told us we could go through just watch out for rocks. Thanks guys! In Gallup we stopped at USA RV campground. One of the nicest campgrounds we have ever stayed at. Very clean, and the owners and all the people were very friendly. We had so many people stop to talk to us. More than usual. One thing we noticed is people seem to be surprised at where we are going. Both of us noticed it and as we talked about it we decided it's because we are OLD. It just seems like we have met the nicest people on this trip. As long as they are not in their car of course! The campground had a dinner/cookout so we had barbecue chicken and fixings for dinner. In the camp office there was a big screen tv, so we asked if we could watch Dancing With the stars final and they said sure!! 

Gallup NM-Raman NM

We woke up to a beautiful sunshine day! Warmer than it has been. In town we stopped for breakfast. After that we stumbled our way out of town. I.e. We got lost! When we got on the right track, we started a pretty serious climb which became the theme of the day. Before leaving town we stopped at a bike shop. Somehow Hap's gloves got misplaced. Not sure how that happened. We have been really lucky in all our travels. There are only a couple of items in 31 years of touring that we "missplaced" something. Not too bad. Hap got new gloves and we continued climbing for the rest of the day. The route took us off of Interstate 40 onto some back roads that went by the Zuni Reservation. There were only a couple of services/stores the whole day. Once again we had a pretty good side wind along with the climbing. There was also a lot of traffic on the two lane road. We couldn't figure out where everyone was going out in the middle of nowhere. We stopped for a cold drink at a convenience store. In Raman we stopped at a 

little cafe The Stagecoach Inn for a late lunch. We were both starved so we had 

cheeseburgers and fries. They were delicious. Food tastes so much better when you are starving. 

About a mile after we stopped to eat, all of a sudden we started wobbling really 

badly and Hap started yelling stop. It was scary thank goodness we were climbing and going slow. We managed to get to the side of the road and stop without crashing. Whew! That was scary. What happened was we hat a flat tire in the front tire. It didn't take long to get the tire changed. Once again we found another tiny wire from a shredded car tire. We got started riding, climbing, again and a big truck went by and blew his horn really loud as he went by. Not a friendly toot either. Hap said "I hope Angry Bird doesn't come this way again!" 

Not sure what was up with that. He had plenty of room to go by. Oh well no harm done. After awhile another truck coming from the other direction did the same think. Mmmm.... wonder whats up with that? We weren't even on his side of the road. Just before we got to the campground at Raman, there were two people standing by the road (by their car) and they yelled "Hey Hap!" I'm thinking how does he know.......oh it was Ken and Jill. Two of the cyclists from California we met and road with last week. Ken was riding to Albuquerque and Jill was driving and they were on their way home. It was so good to see them again! Fun!! 

We got to Ancient Ways Campground and found the cafe/registration was closed. But the instructions said set up and pay in the am so thats what we did. Several campers came by to talk as we were setting up. A lot of nice folks. We set up camp, had showers and decided we were still full from the cheeseburgers so for 

dinner we just made some Peanut Butter tortillas and had a can of peaches. Yeah I know, but it was tasty! We were both pooped from the windy, hilly ride. We only lasted 10 minutes into the movie I had on the IPAD.

Raman-Grants NM

We had a fantastic breakfast at Ancients Way Cafe before leaving. The ride today was a long twenty mile climb over the continental divide at 7800 feet. We had an amazing tail wind today so that helped a lot. The scenery is beautiful in this area. Lots of trees, mountains and cliffs in the distance. There were no services at all today until we reached Grants. When we were almost to Grants, there were a couple of signs that we have never seen before "Zero Visibility Possible" and 

"Use Extreme Caution". Huhhhh.... About that time we hit some severe cross=winds, blowing sand and just scary windy. We slowed down and sort of picked our way across the two mile stretch. It was really scary and like the sign said EXTREME. With the crazy wind the last few miles into Grants was pretty exciting. We stopped at a McDonalds just to get out of the wind. And to have our "annual" Big Mac. We passed a campground, but it was so darn windy we went to a hotel instead. Smart move. We had trouble just trying to push the bike. 

At the hotel I asked for a ground floor room and the lady said she didn't have any. And they didn't have an elevator. Nice! I said do you realize we have a 150 pound bike? I don't think she cared. Oh well, so for our last chore of the evening we 

unloaded everything on the bike and carried it up the stairs. Then we walked over to Walmart and got salad and turkey meat for dinner. Now we are officially tired! Tomorrrow we should be in Albuquerque.  We are hoping to find some place to play pickleball, so we bought some tennis shoes at Walmart just in case! 

May 22, 2017. 800 miles done, 2000 miles (ish) to go! Chambers, AZ

Winslow AZ - Holbrook AZ

Just as we were leaving the hotel, we realized we had a flat tire. Hap pumped the tire up enough so that we could ride to St Paul's Episcopal Church. Holbrook is an interesting little desert city. We are trying to figure out why anyone would want to live in the desert. We were greeted warmly at the church by Pixie, the associate Vicar. The service was perfect. God sure does know what he's doing. Thank goodness. Great message and great people. 

After church, we stopped to eat lunch at Churches Fried Chicken. Somehow I thought it would be like my mom's chicken, but NOT! After eating we found a shady spot to change the tire. Sure enough we found two of the pesky little wires that are typical culprits when riding on the freeway. Hap did a quick change and we were on our way toward Holbrook AZ. 

When leaving Winslow we stopped to see a 911 Memorial. They had to steel beams from the World Trade Center in a park. What a terrible day! Interesting to see part of New York in this little town in AZ. 

The weather was sunny and warmer. Temps in the 80's. I think the elevation now is around 5000 feet. Most of the day we rode on the freeway. There was a short stretch off of I 40 on some backroads. More desert riding, more short little scrubby bushes. I did see a couple of antelope but other than that no wildlife. 

We stopped at a gas station to buy some beer before we got to the Holbrook KOA. When I checked into the KOA, I asked if there were tables at the campsite. She said some have them 
some do not. When I asked if we could move tables she said no, they are permanent and can't be moved. I know that I'm being picky here, but I just wonder what the RV people would say if they didn't get at least a table? Just seems that after paying $35 to camp we should get the same as other RV'ers. Ok I'm done venting......... She gave us the typical directions to the riffraff area. "T
ake this road and go all the way to the back, when you get here keep going, back, back. Yep when you get to the row by the freeway you are there!"..............

As it turns out we had a nice campsite and a great nites sleep. I didn't even hear the freeway. Great nights sleep. For dinner, we had salad's with meat added, and fruit for dessert.

Holbrook - Chambers AZ

At the KOA they had an all you can eat pancake breakfast. Checkmate!! So before we left the campground we had a great breakfast. Sunny and 80's for the day. Although we had a NE wind, i.e. Side/headwind (10-15 mph) for the day, We had two choices of routes today. One choice was a longer route through Petrified Forest National Park, the second was just follow Interstate  40 to Chambers AZ. With the headwind, we opted for the Interstate. We are driving to Arizona for a few months this winter and coming through this way, so we wont miss this side road anyway. We'll drive the road then when the wind doesn't matter.  We are really in desolate territory. Only two places today to get water. We stopped at the Visitor Center of the Petrified Forest National Park. Interesting place! They had a 20 minute video to watch about the park. Fascinating!! Although I have to admit, that sitting for more than ten minutes and I fell asleep. Maybe we shouldn't sit for so long!

We got back on the Interstate, and made only one more stop before getting to Chambers. Today was a short ride because there just isn''t any other place to stay until we reach Gallup NM, another 50 miles away. Our only choice was a Days Inn in Chambers. I'm not kidding, there is nothing 
around! At this exit is a motel, a convenience store and a restaurant. Nothing else for 50 miles! At the motel, we did laundry, got some dinner and no prob sleeping again! Tomorrow Gallup NM. At the motel we found out about the bombing in Manchester UK. Such a tragedy! Our prayers are with the injured and the families of those lost. 

Hap just showed me the profile from the GPS today. We climbed from 5200 to 5700 feet today. So not only the sidewind but also climbing all day. No wonder it felt so hard today. 

Windslow AZ.

May 20, 2017.        Flagstaff - Winslow AZ

Before we left the motel in Flagstaff, Hap went next door and got us some breakfast subs. Not too bad! Egg, spinach, bacon and flat bread, mmm good. The weather was beautiful, a little chilly too start but a bright sunny day. Flagstaff is a mountain town, with a ski area. We skied there last year while staying in Phoenix. It''s at about 7000 feet. Today we will be descending to 4900 feet at Winslow AZ. We had a headwind but nothing like the past few days. From now on, Route 66 pretty much is on Interstate 40. It seems like a simple thing to get on I-40 especially since the entrance ramp for the Interstate was right by our hotel. But noooooo..... we followed Adventure Cyclings route to a round about road that eventually got us on I 40. We stopped at a Walmart on the way out of town and bought some dinner supplies. (Salad, tomato, avacado, tuna, soup and green beans). Our round about route put us on very busy US 89. Even though there were THREE lanes for us to ride in, drivers came right up behind us and just stayed there. What's wrong with the other TWO lanes. I don't understand that, but we made it. 

Once we were on I-40, it was a straight shot to Winslow. There was a lot of traffic, but no big deal. The shoulder was clean and not bumpy like a few days ago. We put the old tandem on cruise control and headed down the highway. We stopped once for a banana break and once at a store for a snack. (Yogurt, turkey sandwich, poweraid and a butterfinger.........). There weren't many options for camping in Winslow. There seems to be a theme here! So we stayed at an Econolodge, ate our salad dinner and had zero trouble sleeping. I was able to use their laundry instead of washing by hand, that was nice. We found a church for tomorrow, St Paul's Episcopal church. GOD is good! 

Health update! Both of us have been feeling good no injuries, some aches and pains but hey we're old! My back is doing better than I ever hoped for. So far so good. 

Tomorrow we ride a short day to Holbrook, after going to church. The plan is to camp at the KOA in Holbrook  Later!

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May 20, 2017. Winslow AZ. Equipment list

I thought I would share some info about our equipment. I've had some questions about the bike, single versus tandem, route choice etc.

The tandem we are riding is a 1985 Santana Arriva. We bought it new from Bill's Bike Shop back in the day! If you look at the bottom of the list of our tours (right side of page--scroll down!), you'll see our first tour was in 1986 the year after we bought the tandem. We had no idea what we were doing. I don't even remember who had the bright idea of bicycling from Corvallis OR to San Francisco. Hap's oldest sister, Gail (and Walt) live in Corvallis and we have friends in San Francisco, maybe that's where the idea happened? Who knows? I do remember Hap trying to put the bike in a box the airline provided (free back then), and us calling the airline at 3 am the night before our flight asking if we could carry a wheel on the plane. The answer of course was no. Somehow it all fit! We had gotten the panniers (bags) for the bike the day before, borrowed a tent from a friend, rode down the road and said yep that works. We made it to OR, put the stuff on the bike and off we went. We fell in love with touring.Since 1986 we have taken at least one bike tour every year. We started with two weeks while we worked and now we spend a couple of months on a tour. The longest trip was in 2007, a one year 10,300 mile tour. It was awesome.

The tandem has been repainted twice and had countless complete rebuilds, including new wheels almost every tour. The panniers (bags) are Arkel tandem panniers on the back and smaller ones on the front. Our tent is a Sierra Designs four person Antares tent. We have been using our "condo" since 2007. Before then we had two tents, Sierra Designs Clip Flashlight two man and a three man tent. For our mountain bike back county tours we use one of the smaller and lighter tents.

For Our "bedroom" we have two Neo lite Thermarest pads, two travel pillows and Big Agnes.She is our double wide down sleeping bag. And she is awesome! No chance of getting cold.

The kitchen includes a Whisperlite stove, one Titanium pot, one Titanium skillet, two spoons/forks/knives, two bowls, two coffee cups, a sharp knife, big spoon and spatula, two coffee mugs and a cutting board.

Clothes: Each of us has: two jerseys, three bike shorts, two shirts, two long sleeve shirts (one heavy, one lighter), two pair shorts, one long pants (for Sunday go to meetin clothes!), one "nicer" polo shirt for Sundays, bathing suits, three pair under ware and socks, one pair wool socks. Cold weather stuff: each has one heavy weight shirt that serves as a jacket also, one pair tights, wind breakers and vests. For raingear we have gortex rain coats, pants and socks.

In the "office" we have an IPad Air, Iphone, Hap's flipphone (you'll have to ask him why....), a book "Bicycling Route 66", Pens and paper.

Miscellaneous Stuff: Lights (headlights, bike lights (flashing and non flashing), tent light, extra batteries, MP3 players, GPS unit an Etrex 20, First Aid kit, four water bottles and a spare camelback bladder for extra water.

So that's pretty much it!! Our gear weighs about 100 pounds. We went to a weigh station once and the whole set up weighed 450 pounds including us! The gear we take has been pretty much the same since we started. We take the same stuff whether we are on solo bikes or tandem. So it's easy to pack! The only difference is on our mountain bike trips we take a smaller tent, not as much cooking gear, two pair of bike shorts instead of two.