Santa Fe New Mexico
We rolled out of our hotel to follow the old Route 66 that heads northeast to Santa Fe. That whole loop was bypassed in the 1937 alignment. Instead of heading out on city roads, the first 10 miles of the ride were on a multi-use path along flood levies and canals along the Rio Grande River.
Today’s route took us through numerous reservations and pueblos.
We joined NM313 from the bike trail. This highway is part of the El Camino Real scenic byway and historic Route 66.
The road surface was excellent for most of the day and the winds were manageable in the morning and favorable in the afternoon.
OK, the road was excellent until we hit Indian Service Route #84. This route bridged a gap in Route 66 that is inaccessible. It was about 4 miles of soft sand and rough washboards.
The views were fantastic. And only a handful of vehicles passed us in this section.
In the down of Santa Domingo, we had an option to take a 3 mile detour to the historic Santa Domingo Trading post. This bike path went the full 1.5 miles to the trading post and back.
This trading post was on the original Route 66 alignment. When I arrived Brant was there talking to a local gentlemen that was wondering why a cyclist would come all this way to see the old trading post. It burned years ago and the inside has not been restored, but the outside has been restored. Note the JFK was here 12-7-62 button on the right!
A look inside the ruins through the steel bars covering the windows!
Heading back to the main route, there were great views of the mountains. The settlement is the town of Pena Blanca.
Historic mission church in Pena Blanca. The doors were locked, and there was no signage we could find!
The mission did have a lovely prayer garden and the grounds were well maintained.
This is the view towards La Bajada Hill. There is an old section of Route 66 where the road was so steep, that cars had to drive up the hill in reverse to allow fuel to flow to the engine (before fuel pumps).
Luckily we continued on toward I-25 on excellent roads, and we didn’t have to ride in reverse!
Views from the final van stop of the day before we joined I-25 for a couple of miles.
This herd of horses were grazing on a hillside as we rode by.
We rode I-25 frontage roads until we were about 10 miles outside of Santa Fe and switched to Route 599 to get into the old town. The whole world tilts up, this road looks flat but it’s a 2% grade. At dinner I was happy to know I wasn’t the only one that struggled with what seemed like an endless climb.
We rolled into our hotel, only a few blocks from the Old Town Plaza and had dinner there.
Tomorrow we head back to the Plaza for breakfast at 7am, we load and go at 8:45 headed for Las Vegas New Mexico via the Glorieta Pass. At 7500 feet, it used to be the highest point on Route 66 until the 1937 realignment bypassed the loop to Santa Fe.
Put on your climbing shoes!
Steve
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