Day 2: Chama to Ojo Calienta: 94 miles

Well this was a day to dread. Have not done a day like this since Vietnam, and that was totally flat, this was not.

A subtitle for this day would be "simultaneous events and the intervention of mother nature"

Instead of boring you with prose, I'll just set out the good,

the bad, and the ugly (in reverse order).

The ugly

How about a violent wind, hailstorm, and driving rain that left huge puddles of water and threw our bikes 10 ft into the mud from where we had placed them while we went for lunch.

What do you think is the range and velocity of a puddle of water on the road when a semi-trailer drives thru it (and you are biking on a 2 ft shoulder)?

The bad

A lot of ups and downs on a very long day

The last 16 miles is a gradual uphill, into the wind, and with our third rain of the day

A flat tire and the first rain of the day beginning at precisely the same moment

A fair amount of traffic from 7:30 to 8:30 in the morning

The good

My flat tire is only 1 1/2 miles from lunch (after 56 miles of riding) and the rain only lasts 5 minutes

Our support vehicle pulls up one minute later and they help me repair the flat

As I start off at 7 am I see many dear leaping the road, but they don't have good depth or distance perception. One comes silently from behind me and leaps one foot in front of my bike miraculously avoiding death by deer.

The weather is perfect (except for the rain)

The scenery is spectacular (immediately below is Echo Canyon National Park where some of our group stopped for lunch... and thereby missed the hail storm)

The ride is actually only 89 miles (not 94)

We arrive at Ojo Calienta, a delightful unpretentious mineral spa resort with 7 different pools (mud, soda, arsenic, iron, sulfur, etc etc)

The company is great

I feel great after the long ride

We have two nights at this delightful place

A mirage:

Everything is up to date in New Mexico; have you ever seen floor tiles on the side of the road?

(How about rumble strips filled with water from the rain)

Cumbres and Toltec Railroad, 6/23/09

Today was the first day of a 300 mile bicycle excursion thru the mountains of northern New Mexico. After a lovely, scenic four hour drive thru the central valley of Colorado, thru small one street towns and with mountain ranges of each side we finally arrived in the town of Antonito, one of the hubs of the Cumbres and Toltec narrow gauge railroad (http://www.cumbrestoltec.com/).

We saw the railroad arrive at 4:45 pm steaming, whistling and hooting after hauling three carloads of people up what would be our first days' ride. (see movie below)

Finally at 7:30 am on Wednesday we are off on a 49 mile ride to Chama, NM, over two 10,000 foot passes. The first is a 2400' climb over five miles.

After a long downhill to an abandoned restaurant where we had sandwiches on the porch, we did another 750' climb to the second pass.

This could be one of the most lovely bike rides I have ever done. Rare cars on a road that winds thru lush forest, high above remote wild valleys, at times along the railroad tracks of the narrow gauge, and all the while with the songs of birds cheering us along. The climb was tough, but the scenery helped it to pass without a complaint. The final 16 mile downhill to Chama was a delight.

From Gondar to Bahar Dar

I’m trying something different today after three days in a row of inability to post to the blog site after typing a long missive. Today I am typing into Microsoft Word and then will try to cut and paste into the blog.

Today I traveled from Gondar to Bahar Dar, a town on the largest lake in Ethiopia. Distance of 200 km and we made it in 2 ½ hrs. A little scary as we had to cross 3 mountain passes with winding roads to and from and the driver preferred to drive on the left 2/3’s of the road. After some pantomine for the first 1 hr to please keep to the left on any curves, he finally got the message . . . for 10 minutes. Only three overturned trucks on the road.

But first, a lesson in Ethiopian economics. Only way to get here is by minibus which is cheap but involves sitting with no windows open, 12-14 other people none of whom have bathed in the last 30 days. For 700-1000 birr you can get a “private” minibus, but did not want to spend that much. Found someone who asked my “best price” (usually the beginning of bargaining) and I said 350. He said o.k. if he can bring some locals at the local price. I said no more than 3-4 locals and we had a deal. He arrived promptly at the appointed time, introduced me to his driver and we were off (with 7 locals, but I had my own row behind driver in the minibus.

The drive was lovely. Magnificent and different scenery. Passed thru 3 or 4 villages where I know the annual income of the country ($250 per person) is spawned. People walking on the hot asphalt road along most of the way (with bare feet). Carrying huge packages, bales of hay, and whatever on their heads. Herding goats, sheep and cattle. All in the heat of the midday equatorial sun.

Finally arrived in Bahar Dar where the driver (who speaks 10 words of English) pulls into the bus station (a huge dirt and stone parking lot with at least 20 buses and 150 minibuses and hundreds of people milling around. We take a tuk tuk a short distance to the hotel (turns out minibuses are not allowed on the boulevard where hotel is located). Room is very nice, with a terrace overlooking Lake Tana, the largest lake inEthiopia and the attraction of the town. There are 20 or more monasteries on islands in the lake, the origins of the Nile river and several other attractions.

I am negotiating with the driver (who will pick me up tomorrow after driving back to Gondar today and returning tomorrow) to hopefully stop at what sounds like a very interesting weaving cooperative in the hills along the way.

Cheers! I made it.