Ride Day 13
Silver City to Albuquerque, NM
08.05.2011
The official Great Divide Ride had been completed, but we needed to get to Albuquerque where we would reload the trailer and fly (or drive) home. Fortunately, there were still plenty of good roads to explore and sites to see.
Riders assemble for final leg of the journey.
The truck was to take Route 152 east through the Gila National Forest to I-25, which would take us into Albuquerque. Of all the mountain roads I’ve been on, this was one of the most intense (but perhaps that was because we were towing a 24-foot trailer!). Turns were labeled 20, 15, and some even 10 mph; we were in first gear a lot. Both the scenery and the road conditions were breath-taking...literally. The 45 or so mile trip took us over 2 hours. The truck and driver (good job, Kurt) had again been put to test.
The riders pass by the Very Large Array Telescope, an observatory spread out over 13 miles of the desert (much of the movie Contact was filmed here although, contrary to popular belief, the VLA does not search for extra-terrestrial intelligence).
Heading into Albuquerque.
