Tucumcari New Mexico
After a surprisingly good lobby breakfast in the Best Western Santa Rosa we got underway. The forecast was for a building tailwind for the entire day. “Don’t be fooled by the goin’ in weather,” today’s forecast was backwards, we had building headwinds. That said , it was an outstanding day on the bike!
We started out with about 10 miles of Old Route 66 heading due east on the original alignment.
We had an option to take the ‘Cuevo cutoff.’ An old section of the original alignment that takes at direct line toward the ghost town of Cuevo. This photo is of one of the rougher segments. The road started out double track gravel, changing to old pavement and a few spots of deep gravel that were challenging to get through. It was about 7 miles of very fun riding on a 100 year old road.
This church in Cuevo was built in 1915. The original Route 66 went right down Main Street, and probably contributed to the growth of the town. The town also benefited from the expansions in the 30’s and 40s.’ But when the Interstate came through it literally went right down Main Street and cut the town in half.
It’s now a ghost town! On the south side of I-40 there is the church, maybe two occupied homes, and dozens of abandoned houses.
Just needs a little work! The appliances looked like like they are 50/60’s or earlier. The Interstate came through in 1964.
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| Who knows what’s in that jar! |
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| Storm shelter |
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| Plenty of parking |
On the north side of I-40 an operating towing company and many boarded up businesses testify to the once bustling town of Cueco. How that relatively new car got on the lift is a mystery to me.
The next town is Newkirk, about 10 miles east of Cuevo. I spotted this old road house and was riding to it when Ken, from Athens Georgia walked over. He was taking a month to drive Route 66 and he spotted the old road house too. He was very interested in our ride and we had a nice visit and exchanged selfies.
Here is the original alighment. Standing in front of the roadhouse, you can clearly see the original alignment. The 1934 alignment (current Old Route 66) and Santa Fe railway are on the left.
Here you can see where a bridge on the original alignment has collapsed. I am standing on a bridge put in service in 1936.
This is the world famous Randalls ranch. It’s one of the few places where concrete Jersey Barriers grow naturally.
There was quite a stand of them that stretched nearly one-half mile.
I was able to carefully climb up to get a shot of these beauties. Notice how these barriers grow naturally in a very symmetrical pattern. Some attribute it to the molecular structure of the concrete and the perfect growing conditions here in New Mexico. These are nearly ripe and ready for harvesting and placement!
Another original alignment bridge just to the right of the 1934 alignment.
This bridge had the date and number plaques still intact in the concrete. Many of the bridges’ plaques have been stolen/vandalized, and all the remains are the bolts where the plaque used to be.
There was a break in the railway traffic and I was able to get this shot.
Ok the sign said ‘No Tresspassing’ but the gate was unlocked. Not on the route card, but Lon told me during the morning loading that he thought this road might go through and reconnect to I-40. I had plenty of time and decided to give it try.
I was a mile into my trespass, when I heard a vehicle coming up behind me. Meet Jake, his brother owns this ranch. He told me this was private property and that I couldn’t ride here. I used the old ‘well this is old Route 66 and there is a right of way easement.’ He corrected me; ‘it used to be a right of way, now it’s private property.’ I asked if I could continue on because this should reconnect to the I-40. He said no, and it would be hard to climb back to the freeway. I told him I was game, but he said, I’d like to you go back the way you came. He was very cordial, and after I told him what we were doing, I thought he might relent. No, he told me that cyclists have come through and left gates open in the past and the cattle have gotten out. I laughed and told him I might jump gates but I always close them! He let me take his picture and I headed out the way I came!
I did hop this fence (it was easy) to get off the I-40 and rejoin the Old 66/Frontage road where it dead ended into a different ranch. All on public property!
The frontage road takes you to the west end of Tucumcari, where the 1950’s 4 lane alignment leads out of town. It was like a mini-ghost town. None of these businesses survived the I-40 bypass.
After two miles of closed businesses, I reached the visitor center with a great Route 66 monument and mural. The center was closed when I rolled through. From here it was another two miles to our classic motel.
The Blue Swallow Motel opened in 1940, it was originally called the Blue Swallow Court. The original owner died in 1958 and second owner, Lillian Redman, took it over and operated it for another 40 years. When the Interstate came through traffic dropped dramatically. Redman sold the property in the late 1990s and extenstive renovations took place to restore it to its 1940’s look. A series of owners continued to make improvements. Robert and Dawn Federico purchased the property in 2020 and operate it today. Robert gave each of us a guided tour of each of our rooms.
I am in Room #1 and it includes furniture from the 30’s and 40’s and even a 1939 rotary dial telephone!
Each unit has its own garage, but today they contain patio furniture and antique bicycles! Our bikes are not allowed in the rooms. So we stored them in the garages between rooms 4 and 5 and the owners closed and locked them. I think there is one other guest here that is not part of our group!
After I checked in I took a lap around the neighborhood. This motel is closed, but had a Model T in the driveway. About 1 in 4 buildings are operating in town.
This curio shop was very nice, and I bought a Route 66 watch cap that I had been looking for. These businesses are only kept alive by the persistence of their owners and the travelers that are looking for the Route 66 experience.
We had dinner at Del’s, about 4 blocks from the motel. It was very busy, and appeared to have a good local following in addition to Route 66 tourists. Its competitor about a block away; Kicks on Route 66 was another diner in town. But it had a fire several years ago. There was a sign pledging to reopen, but nothing but sky showing through the roof when I peaked in.
Whew, that was a day.
Breakfast at 6:30 at Del’s, load and go at 8am. We had wind and rain walking back from dinner, who knows what tomorrow will bring!
Steve
