Welcome to Budville:

Well actually we are in Albuquerque but I couldn't think of any thing catchy to do with Albuquerque, although they do have the Atomic museum here, which is where all the stuff from the White Sands test site is. They even have nuclear weapons that you can see. Also wasn't it Bugs Bunny you took a wrong turn at Albuquerque. Just kidding it is a very nice place.

The 81 miles from Grants to Albuquerque was a very pleasant ride except for 5 miles along the interstate which were absolutely terrifying. There was construction and they had the road blocked down to one lane in either direction, except the lane was way over on the shoulder of the road. So semi trucks were passing you with in about 18" . Jim was right behind me and we just pedalled as hard as we could. The very edge of the road where we were was broken and rough, which made it doubly treacherous. At one point you had to go over this bridge over some railroad tracks and there was piles of debris up against the rail and you had to go into the traffic lane. All the cyclists agreed that was the most terrifying cycling experience they had ever had. A number of the cyclists got off there bikes and waited for the support to ferry them past the construction.

The majority of the ride was along the old route 66 which is now just a secondary road used by locals to access their homes. At one point there was this really vicious looking mogul dog which chased all the cyclists. Jerry who is 80 years old hit the dog and was knocked down. He has a really nasty looking gash on one arm and some road rash on one knee. The majority of the road was good and I made good time despite light head winds.

Twenty miles out was the last rest stop and from there was a 5 mile long hill climb. Although it is no more than 3% it was getting hot which made it a tough climb. Once you get to the top though you are at the top of what is known as "9 mile hill". It is a absolutely perfectly straight road with great shoulders into town. The view is stunning. I was sure that Murray's record was going down, but no such luck, I didn't make it the best I could do was 43 mph.

Today's picture is of a closed up gas station at a little town out on Route 66. I guess the name says it all.

Thanks for visiting my blog and thanks for the great comments. I really enjoy reading what you have to say. If you haven't figured it out just press the word comments and leave a message.

See you down the road.

Terry