June 27, 2023
Day 44 - ending at Tucumcari, NM
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I can't say I slept well last night. At 1:05am, it started raining into the tent. I got out to put the rain fly on. The mosquitoes had a feast. Of course then it stop raining.
I was up at 5:12am. In the daylight I could see they do have electrical sites here - across the road. I walked the bike over to one of them and plugged it in to charge the accessories battery. Only half the outlet worked, so I had to go to another site to charge my phone.
I ate breakfast at 6:45am. There aren't any restaurants or gas stations that I know of along my route today. Destination is Mills Canyon Rim Campground north of here. The route for part of the way is on a dirt road. My lack of having a full gallon of water for the day was still a concern. Between the two jugs, I had about half a gallon with me. And I really needed to carry a second gallon for tomorrow, since there's no water at Mills Canyon. I would be passing through the town of Roy, New Mexico today, but with no cell signal I couldn't see if Roy has a gas station.
I left my campsite at 9:53am, but stopped by the campground's visitor center as I passed. The door was locked. There was a weak cell phone signal here, so I called their number. The person answering confirmed that the water here wasn't approved for drinking. Before I got started again, a park ranger showed up in a pickup. She said, unofficially, that the water should be OK. They're just waiting on state approval. So I filled up one gallon jug, as a back-up.
There is an interesting poster outside the visitor center, which leads me to believe I saw a cougar last night.
I took off at 10:21am, north on the dirt road. At 10:55am I came to a stop. The road continues on, but I was stopped by a posted sign stating "Private Road Absolutely No Trespassing." This put me in quite a dilemma. There was no other way to go if I was going to make my destination today, but even more so, I didn't want to trespass. I'm surprised the GPT is routed this way. I studied my state map and finally decided I'm going to get off the GPT for a while.
There's a state park near Logan, New Mexico to the east. I could probably make it there today, but I'd have to backtrack some. So at 11:18am I was back on the pavement at North Campground. At least I'd be able to get some pictures of the dam in the daylight as I went back to NM-104.
I stopped at a tree-shaded picnic table at the junction with NM-104 just before noon. I'd ridden 7.0 miles in the morning, but it was all backtracking. Now I could make some progress. I once again had no cell service, so relied on the Garmin GPS to tell me how far I had to go to get to Ute Lake State Park - 53 miles.
The highway was in good shape, but has no shoulder. Fortunately there was little traffic. As the day went on, I decided making it to Tucumcari would be good enough. I need to do laundry and figure out what I'm doing for the next few days. Eventually I hope to end up in Clayton, New Mexico, which is also off the GPT, but is part of my pre-trip plan.
At 1:05pm I took a break underneath a tree that was providing shade. I ate the remaining half of a bag of peanuts I'd opened a couple weeks ago.
It was raining behind me and in front of me. With no way to see weather radar, I had to take my best guess by watching the sky. Eventually I was close enough to the freeway to get a signal and saw that Tucumcari was getting hammered with rain. So I paused for a bit to let that pass.
By 3:40 p.m. I'd used up the last of the half gallon of water I had with me. I had one more container of 'emergency water' with me. This is a stainless steel bottle that I filled up before I left on the trip and sits below the down tube on the bike. Using that sparingly, I made it to Tucumcari at 5:10pm without having to drink questionable water.
I was at the west end of town on old Route 66. I sat down on a rock next to a parking lot and spent way too much time researching motels in town. Finally I headed east to the one that I'd picked out, but they had no vacancy. I continued on east to a Circle-K gas station, because I couldn't get drinking a soda with ice in it out of my mind. It was so good!
I was getting ready to head back west to some of the motels I'd passed, but most of the restaurants are in this area that I was in. So I decided to go find a restaurant to eat supper. I pulled up to one place that is very popular and then noticed there was a motel just beyond there. I walked over to ask about the price and decided this was the place to stay. This place wasn't listed on Google Maps, but has to be the best place in town. Spotlessly clean ground floor room, plenty of room for the bike, fast wifi, and a custom-made breakfast is included. I also received recommendations for places to eat in town after I asked.
I got settled in room #110 of the Almara Inn, then walked a couple blocks to Golden Dragon. I had a hard time deciding what to get. Finally went with Pepper Steak Dinner, which came with soup and a plate of appetizers. So good but too much. I wasn't able to finish it all. I think I'm hydrated again, after drinking four glasses of sweet tea with my meal.
Back at the motel I took a shower then got to bed at 11:10pm. So my day worked out, though it wasn't anything I envisioned when I got up this morning.
Jeff
Spent: $1.07 (Dr Pepper) + $67.19 plus $5 (motel room) + $21.08 plus $5 (supper) = $99.34
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10 months ago
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Today's ride: 40 miles (64 km)
Total: 1,869 miles (3,008 km)
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| Comment on this entry | Comment | 2 |
10 months ago
Thanks! This trip is a little more adventurous than I had thought it would be.
Jeff
10 months ago