Day 19: Raton to Clayton

Today's 93 mile ride was very enjoyable - a marked contrast to the anguish of yesterday afternoon's headwinds. We headed east out of Raton on Highway 72 and for the next 39 miles there was almost no traffic and terrific scenery. After a steep (~12% grade) 1 1/2 mile climb we emerged onto Johnson Mesa which sits above 7000 ft elevation and is beautiful in it's starkness - rolling prairie as far as the eye can see with virtually no trees or shrubs. However, in the middle of this empty mesa sits a little stone church built in 1897 whose door is always open. It was beautifully maintained and inside there was a poem hanging on the wall which really captured what the mesa and the people who have lived here are all about. I've included a picture of the church and the poem. If you enlarge the picture of the poem it is very readable - and definitely worth reading.

I had separated from my group during the climb to the mesa and enjoyed the solo riding so much that I asked them to leave from the church without me. I slowed my pace and for the next 30 miles had a wonderful time riding solo across the mesa and descending down it's other side on a winding tree-lined road devoid of traffic. And guess where I ended up - in Des Moines! It is a small, tired village of about 150 people (as of 2000 census - probably less now) which reminded me of Ree Heights, SD where my parents grew up. It had a gas station and cafe/gift shop - that was about it. I heard later that several of the riders stopped at the cafe and had a great freshly baked cherry pie - I should have stopped.

At Des Moines I turned onto Highway 64/87 East towards Clayton and stopped for a roadside lunch shortly thereafter. Our riding group re-formed after lunch and, thanks to favorable winds, we made great time covering the 40 remaining miles to Clayton.

Clayton is a small town of about 3000 people which is located about 12 miles from the Oklahoma border. Clayton was an active community during the 1800's as trade caravans and homesteaders traveling through the Cimarron Cutoff of the Santa Fe Trail passed through the town.

Tomorrow we head into Oklahoma where we will spend the next 6 days traversing the entire length of the state - and a long state it is! For cyclists who have made this trip, it is also notorious for the strong prevailing easterly winds.

Steve