Day 6 - Pueblo Pintado to Cuba

The laundromat near Pueblo Pintado turned out to be quite a hotbed of activity. Many of the homes in the area don't have running water, so there were a lot of people at the Chaco Wash to do their laundry and take showers. Once again, he received a friendly reception and was told he could pitch his tent anywhere.

Unfortunately, most of the land was fairly rocky and dog poo, presumably from the 2 dogs roaming around, was quite prevalent. When it started to rain, he decided to set up in front of the laundromat near the road, so that he could stow his bike under a roof. He thought he'd be alone there for the night, but was glad when the older couple who owned the laundromat locked the gate after the business closed and went into their nearby house. Due to its dilapidated state, Matt had thought it was abandoned and he was surprised than anyone lived there.

By 2:00 p.m. the next day he had reached the town of Cuba and was checked in to the Del Prado Motel. Once again he was enjoying the wonders of cable TV (and always searching for Versus, which never seemed to be there), but was looking forward to a meal soon at El Bruno's!

Tomorrow he'll head back into the mountains near Abiquiu. Stay tuned!

UPDATE FROM MATT
Day 6 – 52 miles, 4:14, 12.1 AVG

This was a pretty short day but was very painful on certain body parts for some reason.

Turned out to be a good night at the laundromat. Dinner was rushed as a massive rain cell moved in and threatened. So, I moved my operation under the roof in front of the building and had one young woman ask, “Are you going to sleep there?” I talked with the owners when they got home to shut the gates, and they were super nice. I didn’t realize they actually lived on site in a dilapidated trailer, so I felt a little safer to pitch my tent in sight of the highway. When I left in the morning the place was packed with kids and parents doing laundry and taking showers. I realized this was a great community asset (and meeting place) since many of the people have no running water.

Chaco Wash camp

The ride started off into a headwind and slowly going up over some large rollers. Made it to Torreon and found more Mariettas Fig Newtons (my new fave snack) and an egg/sausage biscuit sandwich that saved me. This was also where the highway turned from SE to NE, giving me a sort of tailwind. The ride wasn’t very hard, but this is where the pains set in for some reason.

I made it to Cuba and got some info from the ranger station. Found the El Prado motel and had a New Mexican feast at El Brunos, a longtime local landmark. Also found that the ranger I talked with worked there. No wonder she plugged the restaurant! The green chile burrito was spicy and I’m stuffed. Time for a nap.

BIRDS

Black-throated Sparrow - Yellow-breasted Chat

Today's map here.