Help I Need a Durango detour from 66

[PeteJack]

On May 1 I'm restarting my Route 66 tour from Tulsa OK where I had a mishap and had to come home. Some friends of mine are going to be in Durango CO about the time I'll be there and I would like to make a detour from the ACA route to meet them. I could simply go to Santa Fe and head north from there but  I'm hoping there's a way I could leave 66 earlier and rejoin it past Santa Fe. As it is my wife and I are planning on a non-cycling trip to Santa Fe later in the year so I won't be missing much. Suggestions please.

[John Nettles]

I'm from Tulsa.  We used to go to South Fork, CO every summer when the kids were young.  Pretty area.

You basically have two options, shorter or slightly more scenic.  For shortness, go up to Skiatook via the rail trail, continue to Bartlesville, then turn left and take US-60 until it runs into US-64 west of Pond Creek.  Take US-64 to Chama, NM, and take US-84 to Pagosa Springs, CO, and turn left onto US-160 to Durango.  Not much scenery unless you like WIDE open country.  Also, LONG stretches with no services.

The other option is to take the BR66 route to near Las Vegas, NM, the take NM-518 to US-64 in Taos.  Turn left onto US-64 and follow above into Durango.  Longer route, slightly more scenic.

I guess a third option (and one I would take if biking) is to head WNW up to the TransAm (I have a route if you need it) then take that to Pueblo then jump on the Western Express.  At Ridgeway, CO, turn south toward Durango.  You will have much more scenery but at the expense of some MAJOR pass (10k+ feet) and a longer route. 

I will be traveling in early June but if you would like some more detailed info, contact me privately.

Happy Trails and glad to see you back in the saddle!

John