Day Eleven, June 16 2009, Albuquerque to Cuba

Not many people can say they had a sleepover with their friend’s at the Mayor’s house. Luckily, we will be able to, after we all woke up in various comfy rooms and off of huge comfy couches. As we boarded our bikes, we waved goobye to the Abraham’s and thanked them one more time for their incredible hospitality. We rode back to the All Saints Church for breakfast, where we were welcomed with pancakes! Charlene and others had cooked fresh, homemade pancakes for us, with crunchy pieces of bacon to put on top! Least to say, I was extremely happy. I wasted no time, and threw down four pancakes with maple syrup, a cinnamon roll and PLENTY of bacon. Once everyone was filled, and I was hitting my food coma HARD, we headed out for a great ride dedication & hakka. I was psyched, since I lead the hakka, and I made sure to wear my black bandana for that added intimidation factor. Post-hakka, we hit the road and left Albuquerque.

The ride out of Albuquerque was amazing. Although we began the day with a 10ish mile detour, it was still a beautiful ride. We were expecting constant uphills the entire way out of Alb, so we weren’t phased by the long (but wrong) uphill we took. Thanks to our sag driver for the day, Colin, we were able to be turned around and head in the correct direction! After our first rest stop, the groups began to separate, and I rode with Kathryn and Jenna and a bit of Jon for the most of the ride. It was incredible. The scenery really began to change in front of us, with huge canyons and cliff walls, with deep red and yellow colors. I really felt like I was in the Grand Canyon, with the massive canyon walls surrounding us. All the way to the second rest stop, we had a long downhill, which really let us just sit back and enjoy the amazing view. Collin and Megan did a great job at the rest stop, with a tarp for shade and loud tunes to get our legs rocking.

For the rest of the ride, the groups were very spread out, and Kathryn and Jenna and Jon and I were really able to just enjoy the views around us. I was I could describe more clearly our surrounding scenery, but words and pictures just can’t do it justice. There were so many times that I would just take my hands off the handle bars, just to feel the air run between my fingers and feel like I was flying through the ancient canyon. The Native American Reservations that span across New Mexico really provided some breath taking views for us.

Once everyone met up at the last rest stop, we rolled into Cuba together, and grabbed some grub at Subway, where the church we were staying at bought our meals! Full & happy, we jumped around the corner to our abode for the evening. The Cuba Presbyterian Church let us stay the night at their church and use their hose for our showers. I opted for the “sink” shower this evening, since it was getting pretty cold pretty fast and I didn’t want to get my hair wet. Once I was cleaned, well sort of, we all just hung out, made a McDonald’s run for ice cream and had a team meeting. The dynamics of our team is definitely interesting to see come together. I love these guys! After our team meeting, I curled up into my sleeping bag in the church basement and dreamt about the century ride the next day!