58: El Malpais
Riding from the top of Mount Taylor down to Grants, New Mexico, is as technical as anything I’ve ridden on this trip so far. Classic desert riding. Rocky, loose, Sharpe, and with plenty of cacti about to keep you honest. Overall, very fun riding.
Grants proved fairly charming (I visited two coffee shops and enjoyed each!).
I continue to be slightly under the weather today. After a poor night of sleep tonight I feel vaguely feverish with a cranky G.I. system. Fortunately, today’s riding is easy miles, so I just need to keep spinning the pedals while whatever ailment this might be passes through. I’m henceforth adopting a strict policy of filtering all my water, even from spring sources. 😬
Pedaling up Zuni Canyon I was surprised to see so many wildflowers! (Though I can only assume by their ubiquity and proliferation that empty Miller Lite cans must be the state flower?)
The miles through El Malpais National Monument this afternoon were easy, aside from a drenching thunderstorm. Fortunately, the roads dried out again in short order and I was once again back on my way.
I’m camped this evening at the piñon pine transition zone to a vast plain, affording views of remote peaks in every direction. The sky is painted in pastels as last light fades.