Day 5 – Datil to Socorro

If a 74-mile day can be considered a rest day, this was it. U.S. 60 east from Datil stretches across the flat Plains of San Augustin, rises to the old mining town of Magdalena then continues level until a fast drop to the Rio Grande valley and the city of Socorro.

The actual distance between Datil and Socorro is only about 62 miles, but I took the 8-mile detour to the Very Large Array and also wandered around Socorro for four extra miles.

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory VLA is perhaps best known as the backdrop for part of the movie Contact with Jodie Foster. This is perhaps the most incongruous sight you may experience in the Southwest. Out in the middle of nowhere – and 15 miles east of Datil sure qualifies as nowhere – in the 7,000-foot-high plains of west-central New Mexico — arise an army of mammoth radio telescopes, 27 in all, each dish 25 meters in diameter, aligned on a Y-shaped configuration of railroads tracks extending 13 miles in each of the three directions.

Completed in 1980, the VLA is the largest such observatory of its kind. The 27 telescopes, which can be configured in four different ways, are tied together by computers so that they in effect form one gigantic telescope scanning the skies for radio waves emitted from cosmic sources that include distant galaxies, black holes and the Big Bang origin of the universe.

Standing at a rest area along U.S. 60 and chatting with an older couple from Monterrey, Mexico, we suddenly noticed that the line of telescopes to the north had rotated the dishes 180 degrees. All this is done by remote control by technicians working at the VLA.

The Visitors Center is 4 miles off U.S. 60 and well worth the bike ride. To be honest, the VLA is the main scenery on this leg of Bikecapade II so I figured it was a required side trip. I visited the VLA back in 1987, before the movie made it even more famous.

Along NM 52 leading to the Visitors Center, I saw my first “big game” of the trip. See for yourself at http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=q0xr8qy.161e7da2&x=0&h=1&y=-t70kx&localeid=en_US

The Visitors Center offers a pleasant self-guided walking tour of the facility plus an informative film and various displays inside.

Magdalena is another 21 miles east on U.S. 60. I stopped to ask a pedestrian where to eat and he directed me to the Magdalena Café one block off the highway. Great recommendation. Like most restaurants in the small towns along this trip so far (and there generally is only one or two per town), the menu is basic: hamburgers and enchiladas. I decided in advance of this trip I had no hope of maintaining my normal vegetarian diet.

In Socorro, I also gave up any attempt to find a cute, quaint place to stay. I chose an Econo-Lodge for $35 that offered wi-fi and breakfast, and was next to a Walmart, Smith’s supermarket and Laundromat, all of which I took advantage of. The motel even had a well-equipped weight room, but I wasn’t feeling quite that rested.

I will need all the rest I can get for the next three days. Thursday will be a 96-mile ride that includes crossing the north end of the Tularosa Basin. There will be some climbing before the descent into Carrizozo, then some tough climbing to Nogal and Capitan.

For nearly all the trip until U.S. 60 I had kept my iPod in my handlebar bag. I listened to some music on the last part of Day 4 and then some more today. I will definitely be plugged in Thursday on the long haul between San Antonio, N.M. and Carrizozo.