The End

I am sitting in an air conditioned library in El Paso and bike is in my motel room packed inside a box. My legs are stiff and my back is sore, a familiar feeling that is usually relieved after 15 minutes of riding. My last two fingers on each hand are still numb (due to compression of which nerve, med students?) I reached the border two days ago, at Palomas, although I might as well be in Mexico now as everyone is speaking spanish. The ride to the border was quite a push, not something I would have expected to be able to do 2 months ago.

The day started in Silver City when I woke up at 3:30. I packed up with my headlamp, inhaled a bagel, a cinnamon bun, and some pop tarts, and was on the road by 4:15. I rode in the dark for a couple hours, then just as I turned onto gravel the sun was rising and I could appreciate my surroundings. South of Silver City and into Mexico is the Chihuahuan Desert, mostly cacti and grass, enough grass that people still attempted to raise cattle (although in a much lower density) At about 50 miles I crossed the interstate and stopped at a gas station for some cold gatorade. At 80 miles I stopped at an abandoned gas station in Hachita to eat lunch and repair a flat. Although I'm not sure which one was responsible, I pulled 3 cactus thorns from my rear tire. The last 45 miles paralleled the border to Columbus; I rode against a constant headwind stopping only if there was a big enough bush that might offer shade. It is more comfortable riding in the sun then it is stopping in the sun, as I require a constant breeze to keep the sweat from running into my eyes. The border patrol guards were very helpful, offering water and reminding me to be safe. Apparently this section was a popular entry point for illegal aliens and drug traffickers. By mile 115 I was riding mostly out of the saddle, not so much because I was racing to the finish, it just hurt too much to sit down. At 6:00 I arrived in Columbus, 125 miles from Silver City and 3 miles from the border. I found a burger then continued to Palomas. I took a picture of the "Welcome to Mexico" sign, turned around and returned to Columbus to camp. I fell asleep before the sun could set.

The ride to El Paso yesterday was probably the most boring of the entire trip. The road ran flat along the border, and I was riding at just a high enough intensity that I could not kill time singing, instead I alternated between watching the miles go by on the odometer, or watching the minutes go by on the clock.

But I'm done now. It has really been an amazing trip, it may take me a while to get back to real life. There really is nothing more freeing than having everything you need to live for 4 days, riding all day, then pointing to patch of land and calling it home for the night. Every morning I awoke with a clear goal for a day and a passion to get started on it as soon as possible. I ended each day so exhausted that I could sleep anywhere, satisfied that I was that much closer to Mexico, and looking forward to next day, when I knew my legs would be fresher.

I'm glad I did this.

I'm not ready to leave

I am loving it here. I am especially happy after just realizing it was Saturday and not Sunday. I walked around town early this morning thinking nothing was going to be open.

The road from Grants to Silver City has been very diverse, with lots of short, steep uphills and equally steep downhills. I can go from subalpine, to prairie, to desert and back in a day. It stopped monsooning down here so it is HOT.

Pie town was everything I dreamed it would be and more. They have no gas stations, payphones, groceries, but they have 2 pie cafes. I ate my pie before noon, and, feeling quite satisfied, was ready to continue south. But this pickup truck stopped my and told me I had to stay at the "Toaster House", a hostel for bikers and hikers. They showed me to this old house with toasters decorating the front entrance, and told me to be at home. The owner was actually in Sweden at the time, having a grandchild, but I helped myself to a bed, shower, laundry. There was a guest book which I read all evening; every hiker and cyclist that has travelled the continental divide had stopped there. Later that evening "cowboy Jim" stopped by to welcome me, as did a few other characters. As I was falling asleep upstairs Jim and company returned to the house and played guitar on the porch. Coolest place ever.

I'm hanging out in Silver City, taking my first 0 day. I need to kill some time before my flight leaves.

New Mexico: The Land of Enchantment

That is what the welcome sign said when I first entered the state.

New Mexico is certainly the strangest state I have visited. In one day I had 40+ dry heat, followed by rain, followed by snow. I've was warned that New Mexico would be much hotter than I'm used to, which is true, when it's not raining. It has rained every day since I've been here, which can be scary when there are no trees in sight. I'm not quite sure if my tires protect me against lightning; I was discussing that with a kind stranger who waved me into his warehouse when the lightning got close.

I've met some other interesting people over the past few days. On Thursday I took a side trip to the Christ in the Desert Monastery. They are located at the end of a 13 mile gravel road through a stunning canyon. When I got there one of the brothers invited me for lunch. He was a benedictine monk, an extremely disciplined calling. Most of their day is spent in silence and solitude, so he had ALOT to say over lunch. I hadn't talked to anyone in a while, neither had he, so it was quite a long lunch. After the visit he gave me a benedictine cross and a St. Benedict's rules for monasteries. (73 reasons not to become a monk). But if anyone has some prayer requests that are too heavy to be handled by the average christian, I have his email. First prayers start at 04:00 every morning so you know he's dedicated.

While biking through the forest between Abiquiu and Cuba (a town of ~1500) a ran across a hippie party. Real authentic new mexican hippies with buses and volkswagon vans and barefoot hippie kids all camped in the forest. From what I could gather they had been cleaning up the forest for the past couple weeks and someone had a birthday so they were camping and celebrating. I tried to figure out more but a rainbow appeared and they all got distracted. I camped around the corner from them knowing I would not have to worry about bears that night.

And here I am now, in Grants, right beside the legendary route 66. All the campgrounds in town were flooded and could not accomodate tents so I am in a motel. I haven't slept in a bed since Dillon, MT, almost a month ago.

Road Impassable when Wet

Hello from New Mexico! I first attempted to ride into New Mexico yesterday afternoon. As soon as I hit the border it started raining. Just a light rain, nothing too threatening. But as I approached the summit of this pass it started pouring. The high subalpine country gave me great views of the surrounding area so I was able to see lightning from all four directions. I found a nice patch of trees and took shelter in there. When I could see it was only raining harder I pitched my tent and hid inside.
As the storm progressed streams started to develop through my area of "shelter". There must have been some water under me because puddles were forming all night. I discovered, however, that biking shorts make great sponges, and was able to keep the puddles to a manageable size.

By this morning it had stopped raining and there were few clouds remaining. The dirt roads were absolute muck though. The clay in the soil formed a very thick mud that stuck to my tires until they could no longer turn, even when I tried pushing my bike on the grass. I removed my rear fender on the trailer and found a good stick for routine mud removal, and eventually made it to rideable gravel.
So I decided to turn back and walk to the highway; I returned to Colorado and rode in New Mexico a second time. I can ride the highway to Abiquiu tomorrow and be right on schedule. I am a little disapointed that I'll miss part of the route, as the map mentioned many "stunning views" and "awesome descents" in between notes of "road impassable when wet".

Since last posting from Salida I have climbed the highest pass on the route, Indiana Pass (11 900 feet), rode some sweet singletrack into Del Norte, and not showered. But I will tonite.

End date determined

So I booked a flight this afternoon. I'll be leaving El Paso August 5th. I spent a while with the maps and book last night trying to anticipate when I'll reach the border. I added a couple days to back-track and bike over to El Paso.
I now have 2 defined goals for this trip:
1. Get to El Paso before August 5
2. Eat an entire pie in Pie Town

The last few days of riding have been awesome. Yesterday I biked out of Summit County up Boreas Pass, the highest continental divide crossing on the route (11 400 feet). Then it was down into Hartsel, South Park, which is the complete opposite of the previous town. Only 3 stores, no ski hill, no campground. Their idea of landscaping was scattering old trucks on the lawn. Still, it was a very cool town. I camped behind the church for the night.

Today I had a long descent in Salida. Possibly one of the best descents on the route. I started with a wild view of some of the 14000+ foot peaks and within 10 miles was in a dry valley, full of these funky conifers. All on nice, hard gravel.

urban rural

This part of the tour is very technology dense it seems, as I am finding a computer every day. I am now in Silverthorne, a town built for tourists, so it is full of cookie-cutter vacation homes and outlet malls.
This morning I stayed in Kremmling for breakfast; they had a place that opened at 6. I ate with a couple of guys doing the transamerica route on road bikes. They were nice guys, just finished their engineering degrees and doing one big trip before starting real jobs. It was nice to have a real breakfast (I haven't stopped for breakfast since mcdonalds in Butte) with real conversation with real people. I can only sing to myself so long.
The ride into town started with a long climb and then a descent on highway 9, possibly the busiest highway on the route. I'm relieved to finally be off it, as I can take a dedicated bike path now to my campsite tonite.

A long day

I've been biking since 6:45 this morning. I got lost trying to navigate the bike paths in steamboat springs but eventually made it out. The weather has been amazing though; just as I was beginning the 8 mile climb to the top of Lynx Pass it started raining. Not too much, just enough to cool me off. And it stopped as I reached the top so I could enjoy lunch without a coat. The descent afterwards was unbelievable. After I forded a stream I hit the highway and coasted almost all the way to Kremmling, where I am writing from now. I hit 49 mph, a new record for my bike.
Colorado is a beautiful place. Full of great landscape and great people. Everyone still waves to me on the gravel roads and some campers last night even had me over for a beer. I ran across alot of mountain bikers today, many just going out for a ride before work. This may just be the state for me.