Transcontinental ride (July 1, 2011)

[Vlad]

Flagstaff, Arizona to Los Alamos, New Mexico

A solid night's sleep. Woke up by myself 15 minutes before the alarm. The motel is on Route 66, how cool is that?

It's sunny and clear, but I won't know the temperature until I crawl out for breakfast. I hope it will be milder than last night, brrrrrr.

Got a plan for the next couple of days. Some cool places to see and roads to ride in Arizona and New Mexico.

One time zone closer to home since I crossed the Hoover Dam yesterday. Finally set my bike clock to local time. It was on Toronto time ever since I left, forcing me to constantly calculate. Much easier this way, as long as I know which time zone I'm in. I guess I'll have to ask the locals every now and then just to be sure. Some people have to ask for directions. I have to ask which time zone I'm in .

Barringer meteor crater is in the middle of flat Arizona desert. They used to train astronauts for moon landing here. I guess I'm a little late to that game, but I'm glad I took this little detour.




Petrified Forest and Painted Desert were a nice scenic ride.


It's not called Petrified Forest for nothing,


and it's not called Painted Desert for no reason either.


Deep in Navajo territory, time for a lunch break. Had a chance to listen to the "Code talkers" language, Interesting indeed.

The two hours to and through Albuquerque were scorching! Not only did it beat the Death Valley record by almost half a degree (46.4 on my thermometer) but it also lasted longer, much longer. Amazingly, I wasn't too bothered with it. I'm afraid I'm getting used to this s*** ). I was hoping that Los Alamos, where I decided to spend the night, is going to be more comfortable. Not only that, but the ride to there was very scenic and entertaining, from a winding road through a canyon, through Jemez Pueblo to beautiful climb up and down Jemez mountain. Made up for all that cooking on I40, and then some.



This old car marks Route 66 in New Mexico.


Entering Los Alamos was weird. The town looks sinister and serious, with government buildings and security checkpoints (I was just waved by on one). I was late at the last place that was open for dinner. They close at 9 on Saturday - what a party town . Fortunately the supermarket was still open and unlike prohibitionist Canada they sell beer there too (very poor selection though, mostly American trash like Coors and Budweiser). I took Three Cheese Rigattoni Bolognese (feeds two), a 25.5 fl. oz can of Foster's (screw those colonial measures, it looks like half a liter to me) and Vanilla pudding. Stick a fork in me, I'm done .

Total distance traveled: 748Km
Moving average speed: 100Km/h
Time on the move: 07:27