Moriarty to Santa Rosa, NM 04-26-2026 Day 16

We knew today’s challenge was going to be the wind. Fortunately, it was going to be mostly at our backs, pushing us along. Once again, the later in the day, the stronger the winds. You may think having a tail wind is a good thing. While it can push you forward, with the slightest shift, it can also push you sideways. Controlling the bike gets to be a challenge with too much wind. Last night when we were cleaning the bikes when Ron saw this.

We probably didn’t need Garmin telling us. we already knew. We got up for breakfast at 6. It was a good breakfast and we were pleased with everything about this Quality Inn. We were out the door at 7:30. The temperature hovered around 40 F, with (surprise) a strong breeze. Within 3 miles we were out of town on I-40 where we would spend nearly the entire day. There was not much to see, although we did see the outside of the US Southwest Soaring Museum. On another day it might have been fun, but we had miles to cover. In spite of the cold temperature and wind we were both getting a little warm and lost an upper layer within another 6 miles or so.

Where we had stopped, there was signage that said this parking area was for Windmill Trucks only. We saw one of the propellers last night and saw a lot of working ones around us.

Our first real stop was about 21 miles into our 79 mile plan at Clines Corners. We stopped to rest and get some relief from the wind and the noise of the traffic along the interstate. It was a huge truck stop with lots of souvenirs, snacks and drinks.

I settled for some milk, a restroom stop, and some of the best advice money could buy.

There was not much of anything worth stopping for before we got to Santa Rosa. A formal rest stop was closed. There were two gas station exits, but not much of anything we needed to eat or drink. The tailwinds had made our miles go by at 18-35 MPH when we had finished or climbing to Clines Corners. Ron and I made our own breaks to just take some time off the saddle. It was just after one of these breaks that I noticed my rear tire was low and then flat.

Once again the wires from the tire debris had literally bit us. I ended up pulling 4 different wire fragments out of my rear tire and might have also found one in the front. Ron pulled one out of his tire, but it hadn’t gone deep enough to cause a flat. While I was removing the wheel and fixing my flat, I had laid my gloves next to my panniers on the shoulder. As I was working, I noticed one glove was now in the near lane and getting blown farther from me. At a break in traffic I recovered that glove and found its pair another ten yards down on the opposite side of the road in the grass.

I had my choice of a tube with one patch or 2. I chose the one patch. I put in a patched tube because it is so hard to be sure you’ve found all the wire fragments while you are on the side of the road. It makes no sense to put in a new tube if there might be one more fragment you’ve missed. I rode safely for at least another 20 miles. At one of our side of the road rests, I had noticed my ride was betting a little “mushy”, so I felt my rear tire and it felt like it had lost pressure. We were still 15 miles from Santa Rosa. I decided to just pump it up some more and ride as fast as I could. With the tailwind and some occasional downhills, that was over 30 MPH.

I stopped and pumped it up 2 more times down the road to be sure I could ride it all the way into Santa Rosa.

We were quite happy to get to the hotel at a reasonable time. Though we were officially before the 3 PM check-in, the manager gave us our key without an extra fee. Our first order of business was to carefully examine our wheels for any more wires. Ron found one. I had to look twice to feel the entire inside of the tire before I could feel a small prick from the wire. I had to use a pen knife to finally get it out. It was only then that I felt confident enough to put in a fresh, unpatched tube.

Searching Google maps for a restaurant on a Sunday night, we found that several places were not only closed, but some were closed “permanently”. We weren’t in the mood for another burger place, so our other choice was a Mexican restaurant over a mile away. We decided to ride in our street clothes. The wind was undescribable. A tailwind on the way there, but headwind on the way back. We had a steep hill on the final approach to the restaurant. On the return downhill we still had to pedal hard to go against the wind. I was in my lowest gear when I got back to the hotel.

There wasn’t much to see today, but it was still an adventure. Besides the flats, I had a close encounter with a semi @ 75 MPH. Not his fault, but I had to go onto the road briefly to get around 2 trucks side by side that had taken up the shoulder completely. I got around with less margin than I had estimated. We do our best to stay safe, but you can never be too careful. We are excited to stay in a Warm Showers home tomorrow in Tucumcari!

Here are today’s stats – we were flying after the first 22 miles of climbing. And the 3D video is here.

The Not So Lone Rider.