A Bike Ride Called America: Georgia on my mind

I hadn’t really given much thought to the work of Georgia O’Keefe before this trip. She’s one of America’s celebrated modernist painters, and while I have seen some of her art in several galleries, I've barely given her canvases more than a quick glance. Little did I know I was about to ride deep into the landscape that drove her passion.

While I was preparing to tuck in for the night at Pagosa Springs, I struck a conversation with Barbara, one of the friendly campground hosts. She had lived a few years in New Mexico, so I asked her about my option of heading a bit south instead of going up the Wolf Creek Pass. Although I wasn't as concerned with the steep 3,000 ft climb, it was the relatively monotonous route across eastern Colorado after that that I was not really looking forward to. Hearing her description of the area in and around Santa Fe and its rich history and culture, I was convinced it was the direction I should go.

After a quick breakfast of canned coffee energy shake and high protein breakfast cookies, I started off on the narrower road towards Chama NM. Although not as strenuous as the steep climb up the pass in Colorado, there were some good climbs to the state border and the Continental Divide beyond. Dark clouds were scraping the high peaks, and I could see streaks of heavy rain in the distance. Just as I reached the sign for the divide, the clouds above me released their burden along with a burst of cold wind. I braced myself against the sign to block the gusts and took out my tarp to wrap myself and part of the bike to stay dry. It took more than half an hour for the violent squall to pass.

The spine of the Rockies

My personal water fountain: Refilling a water bottle from the reservoir

Rain up ahead

Into New Mexico the road had widened with the addition of deeply cut rumble strips. Judging from the litter of booze bottles, drunk drivers must be a big problem in this state — these rumble strips must aid driving in “braille”. I ran afoul with these strips when they installed railings too close with little clearance for my panniers. I swerved into the grooved line and lost control, grazed the railing and fell sideways. Good thing there wasn't a car around and, thanks to my gloves, all I suffered was a lightly bruised palm.

This was not the one I fell on, it had barely 6 inches of clearance

It was a nice little descent into Chama, A small town with the right ingredients that i like after a day’s ride: a decent campground within walking distance to a supermarket and a cafe for breakfast.

The following day started gently following the lush Chama river valley then climbed up some hills before dropping back down into the valley which had completely changed character. Suddenly I found myself back into the arid high desert. The highway descended along some dramatic stratified cliffs, past a unique rock formation called the Echo Amphitheater. I took a break from the saddle to hike in and explore, and of course yell, “Hello!”. The road narrowed into some rolling terrain, often with some steep climbs through the dry wash ravines.

The Echo Ampetheater

At Abiquiu, after 100 km of hot riding without any services, I came across the locally famed Bodes General Store. I was famished and I bought one of their huge leftover breakfast burritos for two bucks and a sugar fix with a 40 oz soda. I had no choice but to push on another 40 km to Española for accommodation. Fortunately, it was mostly downhill towards the Rio Grande valley with a tailwind and I got there before the sun set.

the Pederna, which Georgia would paint until God gave it to her

From Española to Santa Fe isn’t that far, about 25 miles/40 kms but it is a good 1,600 foot/500 metre climb up to a plateau. I took my sweet time, stopping at several places along the way. I had a great lunch at the really funky eatery at Tesuque.

One of the brightly painted overpasses in the Santa Fe area

Awesome little eatery at Tesuque

What's a desert without a camel?

I had not had luck with requests on warmshowers.org so far on this trip and I was surprised to get two offers in Santa Fe, one in the north/central end of the city and the other in the south. It was a great chance to meet some really cool local people, so I decided to stay a night at each host and explore the city between them.

My Schwalbe Marathon tires have been awesome, I have had no flat tires since Los Angeles and I’ve only had to top up the pressure at a bike shop in Colorado. I can't say the same for my aging Themarest sleeping pad, which had developed a slow leak somewhere in the desert chockfull of prickly stuff. Santa Fe despite its relatively small population (around 70.000) has an REI store so I went in search of it to get a patch kit.

Second time these socks have been to New Mexico. The saleswoman at REI noticed them

I had great time exploring Santa Fe, appreciating its cool Pueblo-style architecture and spent a good few hours at the Georgia O’Keefe museum. It was amazing to immerse myself into her story after riding though the very places she painted. Halfway through the exhibit I felt my mind click with her context of seeing things. I felt a quiet content after that, caught between seeing a through a window of a complex mind and a simplicity of a passion.