Part 2 of the bike saga…

Marie got up at her usual pre-sunrise hour and was the first customer at Home Depot. She bought a pipe cutter and trimmed the bike seat pipe. Fortunately, Marie is so competent and we were able to get the bike to fit Katye! Relief all around. We headed back to Rt 380 and Katye and I set off on the bikes. The weather was cool with low winds and there was a great shoulder on the road. The first 10 miles were flat and then the rollers started with more gradual ascents than descents. We also had one monster uphill, gradual at first and steep at the end, and one monster downhill, 6% grade and curves. Katye is a strong rider and tackled it all with no problem. The terrain remains dry but the vast flatness has turned into hills and mountain views. We stopped at 41 miles to make sure we both felt strong for tomorrow which we know will continue to be hilly riding and we will have wind to contend with.

Hotel options for tonight were limited and all required some travel. We ended up driving 30 miles to Ruidosa, NM, a mountain resort town and rented a condo. It was a perfect choice. There was a creek outside our room which we enjoyed from our deck. We walked a block into town to window shop and find dinner. We stopped at a local wine bar and sat on the patio in the warm sun and enjoyed charcuterie, bread and veggie boards and a glass of wine. It was relaxing and just perfect. On our walk home, we spotted a herd of elk wandering to the creek in front of our condo. We sat on our deck and watched them eat grass and drink from the creek. It was quite idyllic.