Las Vegas New Mexico
Old Route 66 heads into Santa Fe and makes a lap around the square and then heads out of town.
We walked that segment of Route 66 from our hotel and had a fantastic breakfast at the Plaza Cafe. It was opened in 1904 and was purchased and operated by the same family since the 1940’s. Fuel for the journey!
We rolled out of town on the Santa Fe Trail that predated Route 66. We will see sections of the old Route 66 throughout the day.
We had a few miles of I-25 riding and this historical battlefield display was noted on the cue sheet about 15 miles into the ride just off the freeway.
It is barely visible from the I-25, and on the other side of the interstate fence.There is not much left. Steps lead down to the railway and an old highway about 50 feet below here.
There were placards like this for WWII and the Vietnam Era. There were other similar stands, but the information cards were gone and the bare metal covered in graffiti.
We rolled over Glorieta Pass, the former high point of Route 66 at about 7500 feet. Since the route was bypassed, the current high point on Route 66 is the Arizona Divide just outside of Flagstaff.
The Glorieta Pass Battlefield is often referred to as the Gettysburg of the West. Union forces dashed the Confederacy’s strategy to seize the Southwest’s major supply base at Fort Union. Brigadier General Henry Hopkins envisioned gaining control of the gold fields of Colorado, mineral-rich Nevada, and the ports of California. Their defeat at Glorieta Pass ended the Confederate’s incursion into the Southwest.
This old wreck was at the second van stop of the day, set up in an informal RV and trailer park.
Great views back toward the Pecos. We were making great time, courtesy of very strong tailwinds, gusting up to 30+ mph. How do you know how strong the wind is? Easy, when you are standing still it’s blowing like crazy. When you are soft pedaling a downgrade, the air is perfectly calm, and bike computer says you are going 30 mph!
I decided to stop and check out the Pecos National Historical Park. I was about to whip out my Senior park pass for the entry fee, but the very helpful ranger said this Park was free! I asked if I could ride my bike to the ruins on the trail, and he said no. But, he showed me on the map a service road that lead to the some of the ruins that was perfectly fine to use. See Boyle, the Kid does talk to the Ranger..sometimes!
After the 1680 Pueblo Revolt, the Spanish returned to New Mexico 12 years later. this smaller church was completed in 1717. The Pecos Pueblo entered a long decline due to disease, famine, and raids. Over time the Pecos people dispersed.
The few remaining residents departed to join other Towa speakers at Jemez in 1838. These stacked rocks are probably a foundation from a 1600’s farming and ranching operation of the Pecos people. There are more impressive ruins further into the Park, but I needed to get going!
Our route continues through rolling hills along the Santa Fe Trail and Old Route 66
Lots of rollers on this route, but with the tailwinds they went by very easily
Church in the village of San Jose. There was a hidden driveway off the highway that followed a section of original Old Route 66. We had the second van stop at this church.
After I reloaded my bottles and made a PB&J sandwich, I followed the old road out of the village to check out an Old Route 66 steel bridge.
It was easy to hop on the bridge on the village side and walk across.
This is the approach from the east side, or should I say was the approach. It looks like it was washed away from floods long ago.
The view of the bridge from downstream. From here still looks serviceable!
The view of the Pecos River looking upstream from the bridge. After checking out the bridge, we backtracked to the highway and continued on.
The route bent more to the north for the final 15 miles to the days finish in Las Vegas. The strong tailwinds turned into cross-winds, but were still slightly favorable,
This bridge was at the bottom of a nice roller and I flashed by at 20+ mph but spotted this plaque on the bridge and slammed on the brakes and backtracked to catch this photo of my trusty steed and this 1940 bridge.
The top of the last climb of the day. About 4 miles of 4%, but with a crossing tail wind it went by quickly. How do you know you are getting to the top? Just look for cell or radio towers like this, they are nearly aways at the top!
I pulled into a Speedway convenience store to top off my bottle and grab a Frappuccino and this rig pulled in!
Meet Tarquin and Mellissa. They and their two kids, and two dogs are touring the US in this industrial scale RV. They are from Great Britain, but the truck is a converted German Fire Truck. They bought it from a guy in Frankfurt that converts these beasts into off-grid capable RV’s. They had it shipped from Germany to Boston (I asked how much; ‘about 5 grand’) and are taking a full three months to drive across the US. They said they would have liked to take more time, but their tourist visas are only good for 90 days, so they have to budget their time accordingly.
Their goal is to head to California, then down the coast to Mexico, and continue to Argentina! Tarquin (also a cyclist) was almost as interested in my Calfee as I was with their rig!
Some tricky cross winds on the way into town, but soon I hit the edge of Las Vegas.
I thought we might be staying at the Thunderbird Motel. Luckily the cue said to continue on.
Wow! The Castenaeda Hotel is an old Harvey House hotel right next to the Las Vegas train station. It was built in 1989 and operated 45 guest rooms. It closed then converted to a military sanitarium and later a convent. Lucky for us it was restored to its former glory!
There are 22 rooms now and they are restored nicely! After I settled in and cleaned up I headed down to the bar from some refreshment before dinner.
I ordered a brown ale and checked out the menu. It was mostly bar tapas, so I asked the bartender if there was a dinner menu. She said no, but the Chef was passing through and asked me if I’d like a Green Chile Cheeseburger, of course! It was fantastic and four other guys joined me at the bar and had the same thing. It truly was one of the best Green Chile Cheeseburgers I’ve had.
Dennis (left) is a part owner of the hotel and restaurant. We had a great chat while I was waiting for my food to arrive. He is a cyclist and has ridden the Tour of Tucson several times. He may join us tomorrow morning when we ride out of town. Mike (right) had the best after-ride outfit of the group!
The ‘front’ of the hotel viewed from the rail lines.
After dinner Lon gave us a map-talk that outlined options for the next two days of riding. We will be on gravel again scouting out more original alignments of Old Route 66!
Tomorrow we head to breakfast at a local diner, then load and go at 8:45!
75 miles to Santa Rosa tomorrow. We are headed out of the mountains and back to the wide open spaces, and crosswinds! Add some gravel and you won’t want to miss it!
Steve
