Summary of Leg 2 Day 17

The 8-mile ride from Santa Rosa to the park was uphill and against the wind..... I kept wondering why I couldn't get up into the higher gears..... until I came back....now that was a fast ride....in 20th and 21st gear downhill the whole way with a really quick curving downhill for the last mile.... you know the kind that begins with a sign of a truck on a decline.... I like those especially at night!

Santa Rosa State Park was beautiful but the administration was a little confusing.... I first went to the Visitor's Center.... cause I was a visitor.... and met Bob Munford, who I thought was a State Park Ranger, but actually worked for the Corps of Engineers who, the way Bob tells it rents the land around the lake to the State Park system.... I sensed a little conflict right off. 

So I got the park and trail information from Bob and exited the Visitor's Center which is run by the Corps of Engineers and went to the Santa Rosa State Park Office, the building behind the Visitor's Center, and talked to the Park Manager, Mario Andrada.

I told him I knew about the blackout days 1/14 & 1/15 but that I was on a bicycle and was self-sufficient and could I come in and camp on the 15th..... it was worth a try!

Mario was nice but the answer was no which was what I expected.... so I asked him about the trails and decided on the Shore Line Trail which started right behind the Park Office.



It was a well-maintained and well-marked trail along a beautiful man-made lake in the High Plains of eastern New Mexico... as I indicated on my posts, there was abundant bird life including mergansers, blue herons, ravens, gulls and bald eagles.

I was tired today..... I could feel it in my legs.... they didn't have much bounce so I didn't push it.... I meandered on and off the trail and just kinda explored.... seeing mule deer grazing on the next hillside and flushing out juncos, jays and other smaller birds....keeping an eye out for the secretive resident of this park.... the mountain lion... the park host, Dixie, said she had smelled and heard one in the area recently.... didn't see one but I could feel that the canyons and draws running into the lake would be a great place to live... if I was a mountain lion.

I eased back to the Park Office where I had left my bike, loaded up and eased my bike past the closed and locked gates of Santa Rosa State Park....wish I could've woke up there tomorrow!

End of Day Totals:

Leg 2

Day 17

Date Thu, 01/14/10

From Santa Rosa NM

To Santa Rosa State Park and back (round trip)

This Day's Miles Cycled = 16

This Leg Total Miles Cycled = 593

This Day's Miles Walked = 10

This Leg Total Miles Walked = 58

Discovering America on 2 Wheels Total Miles Cycled = 1103

Discovering America on 2 Wheels Total Miles Walked = 86

Discovering America on 2 Wheels Total Miles Cycled & Walked = 1189