Day 17 - Monday, May 28th - Las Vegas to Tucumcari, NM
Distance: 109.5 miles
Elevation Gain: 2808 ft.
or 25.6 ft./mile
Net
elevation change: -2323 ft.
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Our first of three SAG stops was at mile 28 on the side of the road. Here are some shots from this portion of the ride.
The route then turned southeast, then east and at about the 30-mile
mark we reach Alta Vista which is nothing more then an intersection of two
roads and a couple of rundown buildings.
Today was our second of five true centuries on the
tour with 110 miles of riding with no services for 73 of those miles. Once we left Las Vegas the directions were very
straight forward. Get on NM 104 and ride for 108 miles until you get to the
hotel. While there were a number of smaller climbs, the overall elevation change was 2300 feet downhill. The toughest climb of the day came at mile 67 and was referred to simply as The Wall. It was about three quarters of a mile in length and the incline briefly hit 9%. The consensus seemed to be that it averaged 8%. Here is the picture from the bottom.....
and a picture from the top after finishing. It took me nearly seven minutes to make it up that sucker, but I made it.
Several Crossroads veterans referred to today as "the ride across the great empty". It is a very accurate description. Personally, I have never seen so much open space. The route was basically across vast stretches of ranch land with a few houses and ranch buildings and that was it until we reached our first roadside store at mile 77.
and a picture from the top after finishing. It took me nearly seven minutes to make it up that sucker, but I made it.
Several Crossroads veterans referred to today as "the ride across the great empty". It is a very accurate description. Personally, I have never seen so much open space. The route was basically across vast stretches of ranch land with a few houses and ranch buildings and that was it until we reached our first roadside store at mile 77.
Our first of three SAG stops was at mile 28 on the side of the road. Here are some shots from this portion of the ride.
No zoom above. Zoom below
Everyone of them looked up as we passed.
Site of our first SAG stop
At mile 33 we turned southeast once again and started a four mile descent of about 1000 feet. Some pics from the descent.
We passed south of the
Mesa Huerfanita and Mesa
Huerfana between 37 and 41 mile marks.
When I reviewed todays route I picked the natural landmarks
of Mesa Huerfanita and Mesa Huerfana that showed up on Google maps since there
are very few towns or even villages on the route and I wasn't really expecting to
find anything of interest. However, when you search Mesa Huerfanita there are several
top entries that show up including one titled Scientology’s Secret Bunker and another from the Daily Mail titled Alien Space Cathedral and Spaceship Landing
Pad. About 4 miles north as the crow
flies is the Trementina Base belonging to the Church of Scientology. This base
is where the works of Ron L Hubbard are preserved by engraving the texts in
stainless steel tablets that are encased in titanium capsules and stored
underground.
We reached Termentina
at mile 46. Termentina is a Spanish American village founded by sheep herders after the Civil War. It has a preponderance of abandoned buildings and is so sparsely populated it is considered by some to be a ghost town.
The road once again turned south and we had our second SAG stop at a covered picnic bench area at mile 48 that is next to a historical marker for the Canadian Escarpment. Pics of the marker and some of the escarpment follow.
At about mile 58 we passed a post office in Garita as well as a small church that looked so out of place but turned out to be Memoria La Mision.
The road once again turned south and we had our second SAG stop at a covered picnic bench area at mile 48 that is next to a historical marker for the Canadian Escarpment. Pics of the marker and some of the escarpment follow.
At about mile 58 we passed a post office in Garita as well as a small church that looked so out of place but turned out to be Memoria La Mision.
At mile 61 the road turned east for ten miles and at mile 71
the road took a noticeable turn north as we head towards Conchas and the Conchas Lake
State Park which we passed south of around mile 77 and the site of our third SAG stop.
Conchas, or Conchas Dam is a village of about 200 people is
home to the Conchas Dam as well as Conchas Lake State Park. The actual dam is
on the Canadian River and opened in 1939. It forms a Conchas Lake which at
normal levels has a surface area of 2700 acres but can increase to 16,000 acres
at “full pool”. Water from the dam is released into 300 miles of canals that
irrigate over 41,000 acres in the Canadian River Valley.
We rode the next 25 miles seeing nothing but ranch land and
at about mile 102 start to see some evidence of Tucumcari. While I don't see any signage, as best as I can tell this expanse of ranch land is very likely part of
Bell/T4 Ranches. The Bell Ranch dates back to a 656,000-acre land grant from the
Mexican government to Pablo Montoya in 1824. After more then a century in
operation the Bell was split up into six parcels and sold off after WW II and
the Bell legacy would have died off but for William Lane II, the Chairman of
General Binding Corporation, bought the 130,000-acre headquarters tract at the
center of the original Montoya grant in 1970 and by 1977 had acquired a total
of 290,000 acres of the original Montoya grant. In August of 2010, that 290,000-acre
parcel was sold to John Malone, the CEO of Liberty Media at the time.
Once
in Tucumcari we head south on 1st Street passing a directional sign
for the Mesaland Dinosaur Museum and two blocks later cross Route 66 and finally reach the hotel
about another mile down the road
Mesaland Dinosaur Museum is part of Mesalands Community
College and opened in May of 2000 and hosts a number of original and replicas
of fossils including a 40-foot Torvosaurus, a relative of the T-Rex from the
Jurassic era. When I saw the sign I thought this was just some chintzy tourist
trap. Turns out it is a real working museum. I thought it was a chintzy tourist attraction.
Here are some shots from the ride into Tucumcari.
Here are some shots from the ride into Tucumcari.
Main Street Tucumcari
Sneak Peek at Tomorrow
Another long day in the saddle as we head northeast on US 54 for 96 miles to Dalhart Texas. We will cross into Texas and about the 54 mile mark. Looks like a long day of low rollers with little change in the overall elevation. Temperatures look like they should cool off a bit from the low to mid nineties we got today and the winds look to be calmer.
Dalhart with a present-day population of about 7900 was
founded in 1901 and is named for its location on the border of Dallam and
Hartley Counties. The city is located at
the site of a railroad junction which contributed to its early growth.
Unfortunately it is also in the center of the Dust Bowl.
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