Section 5, Platoro CO to Pie Town, NM - D24

         07/03 Day 24 New Mexico  Chama - Cuba (76 miles)

Wheels were down at 6:30am with breakfast biscuits for the road.  It was a lovely morning; the sun was shining and the road was good.  We caught up with the S. Africans and rode with them, chatting for miles. 

There was a definite change in scenery from yesterday.  The views were more open and the hills more rolling. 

The route yesterday had followed the Conejos River but we left it in Chama.  Now the snowmelt laden Rio Chama ran along side Hwy 84 and still near Hwy 112 as we continued south.  Eventually Hwy 112 crossed the dam at the southern end of the El Vado Reservoir.  It was a beautiful sight.  The reservoir to our right was still as glass and to our left, the Rio Chama exited below the dam to continue its flow south into the Abiquiu Reservoir and eventually, just above Espanola, NM, to join forces with the Rio Grande.  Would be nice to hop in a boat and follow it home (only you can’t actually paddle the Rio Grande for a huge chunk past El Paso, Texas because of invasive Salt Cedars, but that is another story). 

Abiquiu Reservoir

Exit of the Rio Chama

We left the S. Africans after about 40 miles and it was hot as just the 2 of us rolled into Cuba (pronounced like tuba with a hard C unlike our off-shore neighbor). 

We had decided the night before that Cuba would be the stopping point though we knew we would arrive early.  The next town, Grants, was 118 miles away with not much in between.  After a quick look-see along the main street, we agreed on the best looking of the 3 town hotels.  The Pioneer did not open until 4pm.  We settled into a convenience store for a cold drink chatting with a couple of guys traveling on BMW off-road motorcycles – got the usual “you are nuts” comments before parting ways. 

There was a laundry mat next door to the hotel so that seemed like a good way to spend time waiting for things to open up.  Clouds had moved in along with higher winds signaling incoming late-afternoon showers.  Under the evil glare of the other woman doing laundry, we moved our bikes inside.  It was now pouring rain outside and we were pretty firm on our position. 

Checking into a hotel is not rocket science but we tried to be amused rather than annoyed during the ½ hour, hand-written process of getting us a room.  The room was just fine and there was a computer in the lobby – that we had to get off of if the hotel clerk had to leave the desk for any reason.  Sigh. 

Finally dinner.  We’d been eyeing a really cool looking totally New Mexico style Mexican restaurant down the street.  I personally really missed Mexican food and was excited about the idea of eating dinner in a small town and not having a hamburger or a selection from the yellow food group (fried).  El Bruno’s was fantastic.  Just after we ordered, the S. Africans joined us.  We had fun explaining the menu to them. 

Looking more like home

Regular post-dinner, in-town Tour Divide cycle.  Groceries, repack the bike, sleep. 

Note:  The fire detour kept us from going through the town of Vallecitos; notorious for its packs of vicious, bike chasing dogs.  Jill Homer, in her Tour Divide experience book, Be Brave, Be Strong, said that the only time she came close to using her bear spray was against the dogs of Vallecitos.