EL MORRO, NM—I got up at 5:00 AM to post yesterday’s story. The internet connection had returned to Halona Plaza! Breakfast at the Halona Inn is something to behold. They serve darn near anything you could imagine. Their signature dish is blue corn pancakes. Oh yes. But what I liked best about eating there was that you sit down at the table with strangers, other guests at the B&B. Always interesting.
We had gone ten miles out of our way to get to Zuni, but thinking back on the dances, the breakfast, the good night’s sleep…well, it was certainly worth while. We hadn’t gone too far down the road, however, before misfortune befell us. I had a flat.
It was on the rear tire (naturally) so I had to take off the panniers and fiddle around with freeing the wheel from the chain. We found the leak all right and we had scuffed up the tube and were about to put on the cement when something pretty unusual happened.
A Ferrellgas truck out of Grants that had passed us a few minutes earlier, turned around and came back to see if we needed anything. The driver was Destry Romancito from Zuni Pueblo. There were no strangers to a person like Destry, and he wasn’t about to see us stranded by the side of the road. What a nice person! I’ll never forget his kindness. In reality there was nothing he could do for us right then, but it sure is nice to know that people like Destry Romancito are still out there. Thank you Destry!!
Unfortunately, that same tire and tube went flat again within two or three miles. Maybe we missed another hole…maybe we just didn’t seal the patch correctly. We put in a new tube. Tonight, immediately after writing this post, I’m going to have to re-examine that first tube to see what the problem is.
We met a group of half a dozen cyclists out of California. They were strung out over several miles along Route 53 on light, fast bikes with no baggage. They were averaging a hundred miles a day. We saw them later at the Stage Coach Cafe in Ramah. I asked them if they were going to visit El Morro just up the road. It didn’t sound like it. “Why, what’s there?” one of them asked. Not all cyclists approach long-distance riding in the same way.
They had a support van and an enclosed trailer big enough to store all their bikes and equipment. They took turns driving. In a way, those kinds of cyclists are sort of invisible. They are here, there, and gone from town in a few minutes. Even so, every 100 miles they are eating three times a day and sleeping in a motel at night. That is quite a bit of business for being invisible.
Nevertheless, back on our loaded touring bikes, Mike and I managed to put in 35 miles of ever-ascending rolling hills today. We didn’t get to El Morro National Monument until after it closed, and barely made it to the Ancient Way Cafe just east of there before it closed as well. We had rented a cabin from them for the night. The cafe closed at 5:00. I rolled in at 4:45.
“Is your kitchen open?” I asked.
“Only if I can make you a plate and you can eat it in your room,” the manager said.
“Wonderful!”
So here we are. Sitting on the porch of a cabin on the highway called the “Way of the Ancients.” We are full of chicken, vegetables, and a brisket sandwich. See you tomorrow…and once again…Thanks Destry Romancito! You’re quite a man.
