Rhea's ribs were still painful from her crash the day before so she hitched a ride in the RV with Jody while Joe, Sarah and I rode. We were a bit apprehensive about the road conditions because of yesterday's mud bath but were looking forward to an elevation profile showing 5000 feet of descent and only 1000 feet of climbing. We set out at a brisk pace trying to keep up with Sarah who must have heard that there would be pie and ice cream in Abiquiu. We raced along through the trees and valleys enjoying several long downhills before arriving at the dilapidated old Spanish town of Vallecitose. The town's main street was made of dirt and was lined with a mix of trailers, rusted automobiles and the collapsed remains of 100 year old adobe buildings. The only inhabitants appeared to be vicious dogs who greeted us with a chorus of barking and darted out of driveways to snap and snarl as we ran the 1/4 mile gauntlet. About half way through two behemoths that had been lying in the street fell in on either side of us and "escorted" us to the edge of town before the barking finally subsided.
After leaving town we started up the day's only significant climb trying to keep up with Sarah who seemed to be running on adrenaline left over from our dog encounter. I tried to slow her pace (and keep her from killing me) by reminding her that she was NOT a beneficiary of my life insurance. I persuaded her to stop for a short lunch at the top of the climb before we started another looooooong steady descent on a road with lots of loose gravel and soft spots which finally succeeded in slowing her pace. During the course of the descent the terrain changed from Ponderosa pine forest to New Mexico desert complete with sand, cactus and spectacular rock formations. The desert terrain continued as we rode onto pavement and drafted the last 20 miles into the Abiquiu where Jody, Silas and Rhea were waiting at Bode's country store with cold drinks and ice cream. After our snacks, we said our good buys to Rhea and Joe who were staying at a B&B and headed out to our campsite at Abiquiu Reservoir. 
More pics here
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