Taking the High Road

Do YOU know the way out of Santa Fe? I certainly don’t. There’s really only two ways to get to Taos, but somehow I invented a third route that took me through the village of Cundiyo and met some rather startled locals ("n0 one ever comes here on a bike") who realized I was trying to take the 'high road' and pointed me in the right direction. It turns out there’s a reason they call it the 'high road'… you have to be really HIGH to try and do it on a BIKE. Oof! Big hills and alpine altitude. Needless to say, the entire route was not completed, but a good showing put in. I scored a free ice cream cone in Penasco from a sympathetic storeowner. Her nephew is in Kuwait now.

In Taos we were hosted by Judith Rane at her house with a fantastic view overlooking the valley. The night we arrived we were greeted by a full moon rising over the mountains. It was wonderful to catch up with her and to find out, for example, that back in the day she was a top-flight speed skater. She spends most of her days at the Rane Gallery and with the support and love from friends and family is dealing with the loss of her husband Bill, who’s art is featured. You can send her a virtual hug at rane@billrane.com. On our rest day we had a potluck and were joined by her son Omar and his wife Roxanne (many thanks for her help in planning the route) and their two sons. Author Sean Murphy stopped by and he and Darryl and Omar swapped songs for a while and Judith favored us with a scene from one of her many performances. BTW, she showed us a video of one of her recent rolls – that of a nun in several television commercials. What a hoot!

Leaving Taos I took a side trip to the Rio Grand Gorge – 800 feet from the bridge to the bottom. It looks like a great place to do some rafting or kayaking. The river, that is. I’m sure the kayaking on the bridge leaves something to be desired.

Last night we camped in Eagle Nest where the tops of the mountains got at least a foot of snow. Very cold in the morning, but a nice downhill run through beautiful Cimarron Canyon State Park and basically flat into Raton. Along the way I saw some deer, a couple of eagles and - I am not making this up – antelope playing. Very cool.