1,000 miles

1,000 miles
Sunday 26th May, 2019
Day 16

Location: Santa Fe to Las Vegas, NM
Distance: 73 miles
Temp: 52 – 80 F  sunny
   Wind: 10 mph headwind in AM
              changing to 20 mph crosswind at noon and
              29 mph tailwind by mid afternoon
Cumulative climbing distance:  4,393 ft
Cumulative descending distance:  4,455 ft
 
 
Today we achieved 2 milestones.
 
First  we have traveled 1000 miles from our start at the  Pacific Ocean.  Less than half of the riders have biked all 1000 miles.  I have biked 867 miles, as I biked only 1 half day due to heat exhaustion and saddle sores in the Mojave Desert (east of Palm Springs) followed 2 half days due to severe saddle sores..  (At this point the sores are better, but I really could used a few days without biking for them to heal properly but I am persevering.)
 
 
 
The other milestone is that we have reach the highest point of the trip  - 7500 ft as we biked through Glorieta Pass east of Santa Fe.
 
  
 
 
 

 
 
Allison, Mark, Liesl, and Otto were at our morning rap meeting to send us off for the day.  They are returning home to Denver today.


Morning rap meeting review key activities, bike route turns, and SAG wagon stops for the day.
 
 
And we are off.
 

 Glorieta Pass, 7500 ft,  highest point of the bike trip.

 
Between Santa Fe and Las Vegas, NM, the Santa Trail, Santa Fe railroad and  pre-1937 Route 66 followed the stay passage through the mountains and the highway that we biked today.


 
 Replica of US Army western fort.
  
 
 Pecos River runs north-south on the eastern side of the mountains.

 Pecos River valley.
 Old windmill still be used to pump water for livestock.  
 
 
 
Tonight we are staying in the historic Plaza Hotel, which was build in 1882.  At that time Las Vegas, NM was the largest city in NM and the New Mexico home office for the Santa Fe Railroad. Over time, the Santa Trail, US Army fort network, Santa Fe railroad, US Route 66, and now interstate freeway I-25 have used Las Vegas was the stopping point before heading west into the mountains.
 




Plaza Park, in front of the Plaza Hotel, in 1882 and now.

 

 

 

 
 

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