Day 14: Las Vegas to Santa Rosa-- 72 miles
Today was supposed to be fairly easy as we cycled through a beautiful but desolate part of New Mexico. What structures we saw were either in ruins or looked as if they hadn't changed much during the past fifty years.
First stop of the day was in Dilia, a small town with a pretty church roofed in corrugated iron.
The big option for the day was the search for a near-mythical cutoff that used to go between Delia and a Stuckey's gas station west of Santa Rosa. No one was sure exactly where this long-forgotten part of 66 was, but Lon guessed that this county road 4Q, about ten miles south of Delia, might be it. So, about half of our remaining riders set off to see where the dirt and gravel went. Lon was guessing it would be a little shorter than the standard route.
Quite early during the detour, we had another antelope sighting. This is the first time one's stood still long enough for me to take a picture.
Turns out Lon was probably wrong. The route we were searching for apparantly started in Delia itself. The road we were on would take us to Stuckey's, but the miles would be longer rather than shorter. Detoured, but undeterred, Don, "Dr Dirt" Norvelle pushes on.
Dr. Dirt phones for a pizza. By the time we reached Stuckey's most of us had run out of food and water. Lon did manage to rescue a lost puppy, though, and return it to the little kid who was searching for it. Lon carried the puppy five miles inside his jersey, riding one-handed on his single gear over rough rolling gravel hills and into a stiff head wind. No wonder we're all in awe of him. Afterward, at Stuckey's, was the first time I have ever heard Lon say "I'm toast."
Not only did Stuckey's offer food and drink (there are times when even a bad milk shake tastes good), but I was able to get a head start on my Xmas shopping.
From Stuckey's it was an easy seven miles to Santa Rosa. It's a Route 66 town that definitely feels like it's slowing slipping off the radar of America, even though the interstate goes right past it.