March 24, 2012
Day 28: To Artesia
Today is a long but easy day. Almost all downhill, descending more than 5000 feet to Artesia at 3540 feet elevation.
I had a free breakfast burrito at the restaurant. The expensive room has fringe benefits. On the road at 9:38, as the chill in the air started to lift.
About a mile down the road I passed the Cloudcroft ski area. Last winter had much less snow than normal and the ski area never opened. That was devastating to local businesses that depend on winter visitors to the ski area. The snow was extremely deep exactly one year ago.
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The descent follows a drainage for many miles. The bottom of the valley is mostly pastures. The slopes are mostly forested. As I descend the valley gets wider and the slopes become less forested.
After 40 miles the forested slopes give way to desert. Then I pedaled 50 miles across the desert with no shade whatsoever. Gently rolling hills at first, but the last 20 miles is totally flat.
With the exception of a roadside fruit stand there are no services between Cloudcroft and Artesia.
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I'm now in the Permian Basin, a flat ancient sea bed that extends 200 miles southeast into west Texas. It contains some of the world's richest oil deposits.
Artesia was a surprise to me. I didn't pass any oil wells coming in from the west. But coming into town I passed several ostentatious oil company corporate headquarters. It's not exactly a wealthy town, but it seems to be doing well.
Oil is pretty much the only industry in Artesia. I stopped to admire the huge sculpture in the downtown park. Very dramatic, but it seemed odd that the sculpture is surrounded by water fountains. Maybe the fountains are meant to evoke oil gushing out of the ground. Whatever it means, this town is proud of its oil heritage.
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I got a $61 room at Budget Inn. The weather was pleasant for camping but there was no decent place to tent camp, just RV parks close to a busy highway. The temperature was 88F when I arrived at 5 PM. Warmest day so far...
Today had the fastest average speed of the tour because it was mostly downhill. The longest day of the tour was one of the easiest days.
Distance: 95.3 mi. (152 km)
Climbing: 585 ft. (177 m)
Average Speed: 17.5 mph (28 km/h) !!!
Today's ride: 95 miles (153 km)
Total: 1,528 miles (2,459 km)
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There is a ski area west of Durango, Hesperus. I had never heard of it and was surprised when I bicycled past. I googled them right now - also closed.
Several of the resorts in our area have already announced they will be staying open later in the spring because of good snow this year. There's always a contest going on to see who stays open latest and opens first. Arapahoe is a small area near Denver that usually wins the honors.
2 years ago