Day 19 - Deming to Leasburg Dam State Park

Today we have about a 70 mile ride on roads that we don't have much data on because they aren't part of the official Adventure Cycling Southern Tier map set. After today we will have completed our detour around the close 152 and will be back on course and our itinerary.

Today I have cooking duty with Alisha. She suggested we do spaghetti which seemed like a good idea to me. Unfortunately the nearest store to camp is in Hatch some 20 miles prior to where we camp so we will need to coordinate buying and transporting groceries.

List was made, volunteers took responsibility for obtaining certain items and we are set. I think.

Since it is a long day and the last time we had a 70 mile day I had a great deal of difficulty completing the ride due to a heavy head wind I'm planning on an early exit.

Rather than move my tent last night to avoid the goat heads I put a layer of clothes and other miscellaneous articles under my mattress in case I missed some when I was setting up my tent. Turns out that worked well.

As camp sites go this one was good.  The only negative was the less than ideal surface for a tent.

According to plan I arose early and packed my stuff. Then got breakfast and snagged some food for the road and took off a little before dawn.

Here we see the sun rising over the ridge of mountains that we will cross today.

It turns out that the road from Deming to Hatch is one of the best roads we have ridden. A wide relatively clean smooth shoulder most of the way and while there was some climbing, it was mostly very slight so the ride went fast. I arrived in Hatch about 1/2 an hour before Mitch showed up. I checked out the first food store and found that it appeared to have everything that we needed.

For anyone considering an alternative route to avoid the normal pass this is a good option.

When Mitch arrived we decide that since it was about noon that we would go down to Sparky's and have lunch. Sparky's was recommend to us by multiple people that we met. Hatch is famous for green chili peppers and Sparky's is famous for their green chili cheeseburger and other things with green chili peppers in them.

I opted for the green chili cheeseburger special with a  side of green chili beans. This is not to be missed if you go through Hatch. I was slightly dubious, but the burger was very good.

We happened to arrive just as the live music was setting up and got to eat to some Mississippi blues. I could have stayed there the rest of the afternoon. As soon as Mitch and I had ordered we found that several more our our group had showed up and were in line waiting to eat as well.

Outside at Sparky's. Mitch catching up on ride business.

After lunch we went back to the store and purchased the bits of dinner that we were responsible for, loaded up and headed out for the last 20 miles. Google seemed to think it was all downhill, and indeed it did trend downhill, but there were quite a few rollers. The heat of the day and the long ride wore me down so by the time I got to camp I was pretty tired.

Dinner went off more or less as planned. Nothing spectacular, but it seemed to have satisfied everyone.

The campsite was not the best. It was a pull through for RVs with a  large concrete pad, which didn't work all that well for pitching some of the tents. And the gravel was compacted so pitching tents off the pad was also somewhat tedious. While the camp site was OK and the showers were good, this is pretty low on my list of places that I would ever want to go back to.

Sunset from the camp site. This is looking almost directly back toward where the sunrise photo was taken on the other side of the ridge.

After cleaning up after dinner and getting a shower I went to bed. I was thinking that for such a long day it was nice that my legs hadn't cramped up. Then a bit later they did. I probably didn't get enough electrolytes. Tomorrow is another 70+ mile day so I'm planning on doing a better job with the electrolytes.

In the middle of the night two dogs had a bit of a fight right outside of Ron's tent. Not sure whose dogs, but Ron had a few choice words directed at the owners who were likely no where in ear shot.

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Day 18 - Mimbres to Deming

Today we go seriously off the normal southern tier rout to avoid the washed out 152. We are heading to Deming and then back up through Hatch to get back on our planned route and itinerary.

Last night we ate dinner at the local restaurant/store/gas station. We had salad, green chili stew, and chocolate cake for dinner. It was very good.

We woke to fairly cool temperatures. Again in the 30's and it seemed colder last night, I think because there was a steady breeze blowing all night.

I got up as late as I could without missing breakfast. I packed my stuff, which was thankfully dry, but cold and donned my riding gear along with an extra jacket and took off.

I only took this photo, looking back up 61 toward the range of mountains that we would normally have crossed today. The road was mostly downhill with rollers in places. The road surface was fairly rough but not real bad.

We had a tail wind for the first section along highway 61. Then we turned onto 180 which was yet another very long straight stretch. The wind was now a side wind varying from tail to head depending.

I finally took off my cold weather gear when I reached the Rest stop on 180, which was nearly 30 miles into the ride.

For the most part 180 had a nice wide smooth shoulder, but toward the end the shoulder was really bad for quite a few miles.

For most of the day I kept Ron in sight catching up with him at the one rest area along 180 and again just before we reached town. Just before town he pulled away from me again. As we went through town I lost sight of him and when I got to camp I was surprised that I was the first one there. It turns our Ron stopped for a bite to eat at a Wendy's. I'm not sure why the rest of the group that left before me didn't make it in before I did. But it was kind of nice being the first one into camp instead of last.

I set my tent up and then discovered that there are goat heads under the tent. I'm probably going to move it so that I don't puncture my air mattress.

After getting my tent set up I rode back down the road to Wendy's and had a burger. Then came back took a shower and decided to update this blog.

Things seem to be getting more routine, but I still find myself struggling to get things packed up in the morning. I'm getting a little more organized, but still have a ways to go. I am pretty efficient at setting up my tent and taking it down now.

Tomorrow looks like a long day a bit over 70 miles with the first part of the day being a steady gentle climb, if I can trust Google Maps. We do drop about another 1000 ft from the elevation here at Deming so the overall is downhill.

Mitch just got in, he had 3 flats and carried about two six packs of coke from the camp. Apparently one of them exploded in his pannier which made quite a mess. Sound's like we may have bbq chicken tonight as there is a bbq grill here.

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Day 17 - Silver City to Mimbres

Today we have options.

Option 1: Carry our stuff.
Option 2: Have Mitch drive it to Mimbres and ride light.
Option 3: Long ride north toward the Gila Cliff dwellings 50 plus miles.
Option 4: Short ride via 180 and 152 to Mimbres a little over 20 miles.

I chose option 2 and 4 which made for a very easy day. There was still about 1800 ft of climbing, but it was nice to have what amounts to a second rest day.

The day started out cold again. We tore everything down and packed it up so that Mitch could leave by 7AM. Then some of us met at McDonald's for breakfast and to wait for warmer temperatures.

The ride took us by the Santa Rita open pit Copper mine. Which was interesting to see.

We got into camp fairly early. I met Ron and Alisha at a small Restaurant about a half mile from camp and had coffee and biscuits and gravy then rode on down to the camp site.

Ron is on deck to cook tonight. He disappeared for about 1/2 and hour checking out the options for gathering food. There are a couple of very small stores here but the pickings are kind of sparse. He came back reporting that the Restaurant where we ate agreed to stay open past 6:30 and make us a salad, green chili stew and chocolate cake for dessert for about $8 a head.

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Day 16 Rest Day

Today we go to the Gila Cliff Dwellings. Mitch has reserved a van and a car for us to drive. I volunteered to drive the car. We are planning on a small group stopping at the hot springs on the way back.

Loading the SUV that I drove with food and drinks. The cooler was loaned to us for the day.

Stopping to take pictures on the way up. Mitch drove the van.

Here are some pictures of the dwellings. This is a must see if you are ever in the area. It is about a 1 mile hike on a fairly easy trail, but there are some areas that don't have guard rails that you need to be careful on.

On the way down we spotted this snake in the bushes along the side of the trail.

Tomorrow, since we have the van until 9AM we are going to load up our gear and shuttle it to the next camp site.

Back at camp I returned the SUV to the rental place. The cooks grilled vegetables and beef and chickens on the BBQ grill at the Silver City RV park where we are staying. It was good.

Need to pack up as much as I can tonight and then get my tent taken down before 7AM so that it can go on the Van in the morning. It will be odd riding light.

Due to flooding our planned trip over Emory Pass the following day will require us to detour through Demming. There is a short and long route tomorrow. I'm not all that motivated to take the long route so I'm currently planning on taking the short route. We have a lot of riding to do before our next rest day and I'm feeling like a little bit of a break will help. Besides we drove about half of the longer route today so I've already seen the scenery, which, while nice is really just a lot of views of mountains with relatively sparse trees.

Day 15 - Buckhorn to Silver City

Today we ride to Silver City and a much needed, for me at least, rest day. Today's ride is on paper similar to yesterday's ride in terms of climbing and distance but the climbs come at the end, with a bit of a downhill into Silver City.

The ride was fairly straight forward. The road was relatively quiet with slightly increasing traffic as we got closer to Silver City but overall good. The road surface was mostly pretty good.

The day started out cold. 38 Degrees F. At least there wasn't frost. Time to break out the cold weather gear. It is a new time zone as well so there was some confusion about when dawn would come.

Here Phil and Max are catching up to me, I think this is where I decided to take off my cold weather gear. Did I mention that I like the cold better than the heat?

The most significant milestone today is crossing the Continental Divide about 4 miles before reaching Silver City. Looking forward to a rest day. Got to camp early enough to get some laundry done.

We ate out at a Mexican Restaurant. It was very good, but I failed to note the name of it. Tomorrow we rent 2 cars and drive to the Gila Cliff Dwellings with an option for hot springs on the way back.

 

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Day 14 - Three Way to Buckhorn

Today we ride to Buckhorn, New Mexico. A fairly short ride mile wise, but starts with a long hill  with lots of switch backs and then a fair amount of downhill after that.

The notch in the mountains in the center of this photo is where we are headed.

Looking back down on some of the switch backs about 3/4 of the way up the hill.

The day was a good day. I did struggle on the climb in places because it was so long. On the way up Judy and her crew passed me up. They decided to skip riding up the hill. I don't blame them as it was long. Judy offered me a gator aid and candy bar, but I still had a gator aid and was busy eating a cliff bar at the time so I declined. The offer was very appreciated. It is good to have friends on the road. I'm not sure we will see them again, I suspect we will.

At the top. Notice the cow grazing in the background. 193 was her tag number.

After crossing the top at 6295 ft the vegetation changed to forest with a fair amount of what I would characterize as scrawny ponderosa pines. It was really refreshing to be riding in the partial shade. I stopped here to eat lunch.

Then just a few miles later the forest ran out and we entered New Mexico. I'm not a real fan of the terrain in Arizona, although the final  few miles were nice. Then a down hill into Mule Creek.

Somewhere around Mule Creek the vegetation changed to rolling hills and grass land. There were a lot of rolling hills which made this part somewhat more tedious.

At one point we encountered a flooded part of the road. I'm not sure whether to call this a New Mexico Car Wash, or "Bridges, we don't need no stinking bridges". Either way the water wasn't deep enough to cause any problems so I rode right through.

When I got to camp the cooks had managed to flag down a Schwan's truck and were buying frozen food from the driver for dinner and breakfast. The store in town was pretty sparse, so this worked out well.

At bedtime there was a lot of chirping from a variety of insects and some road noise which made it a little hard to get to sleep.

Even though this was a fairly hard day it was a good day with a lot of variety of scenery.

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Day 13 - Safford to Three Way

Today is in theory an easier ride. Just over 30 miles with a decent climb just before we get to Three Way.

For me the day started out with me having a hard time eating. I managed to eat some breakfast but it was difficult. I fixed my flat from the prior day. An extremely small hole that required immersion in water to find. I'm not sure of the cause. I found one slit in the front tire, but it didn't look like it went all the way through.

I was the last one out. As soon as I hit the road I found that we had the same headwind as the prior day. When we got to the point that 191 turned off the wind became somewhat of a side tail wind so it was an improvement. 

I knew as soon as I started riding today that I was not fully recovered from the prior day. The route north was somewhat uphill with an obvious up tick in the grade in the visible distance.

Looking back down the hill. Probably about 3/4 of the way up.

I made frequent stops along the way and was not making the kind of progress that I thought I should. Just before I hit the hill I noticed an SUV with a bike rack on the back slow down as it went past. After climbing the first bit of steeper slope I noticed the same SUV on the side of the road. I stopped and talked to a very nice lady Judy who was doing support for her husband and another rider that are doing the Southern Tier ride without carrying all their gear on their bikes.

She offered me water, Gator Aid, and food. I initially declined, but then thought better of the Gator Aid and took her up on the offer.

After chatting for a bit I noticed one of the riders approaching the bottom of the bit that I had just climbed. I decided that I would move on, thinking that they would surely catch me before the top some several miles of climbing ahead.

They never did, but what did happen was that I felt like I was strong again and the hill went smoothly after that. On the other side I stopped at the store in Three Way and had a soda while talking to Hal and Shelly who were hanging out at the store. The camp site is visible from this location, about 100 yards to the south.

Here is Judy with her support vehicle in the background.

While hanging out there an interesting guy in a beat up old pickup rolled up and started talking to me about the solar panel on my bike. It turns out he is off the grid with his own solar powered set up where he lives. He gave us a couple of pomegranates and as he was leaving Judy and her husband Roger rolled in. I bought him a soda in thanks for the help.

We also see a fair number of these quite colorful grasshoppers along the road. This one is about 2 inches long.

She is also blogging about the ride here.

The day is almost done. Dinner was excellent and we are going to the store for ice cream for dessert.

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