Phil: I have been stabbed, shot, poisoned, frozen, hung, electrocuted, and burned.

Rita: Oh, really?

Phil: …and every morning I wake up without a scratch on me, not a dent in the fender… I am an immortal. – Groundhog Day

Ride to Reserve NM

Well we didn’t ride to Reserve but a campground about 7 miles away. It was a ride of about 69 miles all pavement with an unknown but decent amount of climbing. The route was changed because of the rain and mud from track to pavement.

We started out extremely fast and averaged over 20 mph for the first 20 plus miles. We then turned south and I faded a bit from the lead group. I caught up to them at lunch and stayed with the lead group of Per, Patric, HP, and Ariberto. It was an easy and fast ride and even the climbing was done at a good clip.

We needed an easier day after what happened the prior day and what we had coming the following day. Also, we didn’t start to ride until mid-morning. Everyone could sleep in, clean up and reorganize their stuff. Only 3 more riding days left and everyone is starting to realize it will be soon over.

Ride to Silver City NM.

This ride was all on pavement and gets us back on the Great Divide Route after Silver City. The ride was to be 110 miles which makes it my second 100 plus mile ride in less than a week. It was an unknown amount of climbing but I estimate based on other’s Garmin readout it was well over 7000 feet.

We started out fast again and I was in a lead group, but it was evident that Patric was the class of the field today. I couldn’t keep up with him. The pace was fast to lunch at about 45 miles with plenty of climbing and fast decents. Some riders had elect to just cycle ½ the route. When I came into lunch, the only two full riders were Patric and Peter. Deron came in a little after me but we all left before anyone else arrived.

From that part on, the ride was a real slog. Climbing and fierce headwinds. It was one of the most brutal rides. My feet were killing me and I tried to play mind games to keep my mind on riding. At the 2/3 mark. Jim was there with snacks and I gratefully stopped for something to drink and eat and replenish my supplies.

From that point, it seemed to get worse. I expected the heat to be worse because we see more desert-like scenes but it was moderate. However, there was a lot of numbing climbing without corresponding descents. To make matters worse, my rear tire (it is always the rea tire) developed a slow leak. I stopped Jim as he was passing me and we pumped it up and that lasted about 8 miles and then I pumped it up by hand.

The scenery on the day varied from desert to shrub to evergreen forest with lots of mesas, canyons and mountains. We rode through passes with great views but I did not stop to take any photos. It was another day that I contemplated / fantasized about getting a ride to town. The closer we got to town, I kept thinking there must be more downhill, but there wasn’t. I arrived at the motel behind Patric and Peter among the full 110-mile riders. Most of the folks who started at lunch were already there but all exclaimed that it was a very difficult day.

We finally got great downhill 2 miles from town. I slowed some because of my tire and trying to find the motel. Rob put us up at a motel an extra night. I guess part of the rationale is because of the Pie Town fiasco, nevertheless we are all grateful.

I think most of the riders would agree that this was one of the hardest days of the tour. I still need to fix my tire and didn’t go out to eat with any other riders but elected to order Dominos in my room. Right now, I am sore and tired but content that I kept going on a tough day. I had plenty of drinks and ate quite a bit on the bile between gels and bars. That is atypical of me unless I feel the ride is depleting my resources.

Only two more days of riding and from what I hear they are shorter bit no walk in the park. Tomorrow will be more off road but the last day with be almost exclusively on the highway.

At this stage, it is hard for me to process this incredible adventure. I just take it a day at a time. The ride has been harder than I ever contemplated even accounting for the fact that I didn’t do enough terrain-specific training. If you are not well-organized, all the extraneous duties such as setting up / taking down camp, laundry, meals, clean-up / serving duty and cleaning / maintaining the bike, quickly become overwhelming. I am not the most organized person.

 

Thanks for reading

Tailwinds

Chuck Hardesty – Riding for The Backstoppers.com