A lot of today was pretty rough, but we managed to end on a high note. We rode 74 miles from Alamosa, CO to Chama, NM.
We had a huge head wind all morning. It's really frustrating, but there's nothing we could do about it. So we plugged along, and made it to Antonito, CO for lunch. We had a crazy waitress, and laughed a little bit too much.
From there we headed west into the mountains. We were told our uphill would start after a bridge, so we were pretty leary of any that we came across.
Jason had a hard time today. Before lunch, he got a flat. Ugh, great tires, but it happens. Then after lunch, another flat. We tried to patch t, but there was a tiny hole in the patch. Great. So we changed a total of three tires today. We're starting to get faster.
It was flat for a or longer than we had expected. But inevitably, we cross a bridge and saw the sign, "La Manga Pass Summit: 5 Miles." The first mile was really steep, but it got better from there. We made it to the top eventually, where we were at 10230 feet. We realized how cold it was and layered up. It was getting pretty late by that point, but we decided to press on.
Aside from maybe a one mile climb, it was a decent all the way to Chama. It got dark, but we had some moonlight, so we rode the 15 or so miles. It was actually pretty amazing. I wish that I could have seen it in the day light. A twelve mile decent is one of the most enjoyable experiences in the world. Jason saw a couple elk, too, but I missed them somehow.
We got to Chama just before 10, and have set up camp at a (real) campground. We're bummed about having to pay, but at least we get hot showers here.
Tomorrow: Dulce, NM, or somewhere west of it.
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