9/22/18

After calling all the hotels in close proximity to Taco Bell I ended up staying at the Motel 6 last night. As soon as I arrived in the room all I wanted to do was take a hot shower to warm up, despite being already soaking wet. After warming up and finally getting dry. I had to pull everything, and I mean EVERYTHING! Out of my bags to dry out. Even though I bought the premier bikepacking bags for this trip but they are not waterproof against the soaker I went through.

Those that have followed along on this trip may guess that my Taco Bell stop would not suffice me for long. When I went out later to get the final supplies to take me to the end of this route, I was also on the lookout for dinner #2. On the way to the motel earlier I passed a Chinese restaurant and could only think about Chinese food while I was drying out my gear. Well, I was late again… The restaurant was not open today. Had to settle for a sub (not a Subway for those guessing) and half a gallon of chocolate milk. Before going to bed still had to take care of one more thing… When I jumped in the shower earlier to get warm, I had forgotten to grab my shampoo, so I took a second shower to actually get clean.

Everybody I talked to in Silver City yesterday said the rains were supposed to stay for two more days. Well heck, two days is what I have left of this trip, so it looks like I’m going to finish this adventure exactly the same way it began two months ago in Banff… Wet!

When I woke up this morning and took a peek outside, the rain prediction sure looked like it was going to hold true. However, as the morning progressed the clouds were beginning to let some sun shine through. Figured at least I can start the day dry. By the time I rolled out of the motel it had become a nice morning in Silver City. Needing some breakfast I didn’t have far to get my morning calorie infusion… The big breakfast at McDonald’s was waiting for me just across the street.

Leaned my bike against the outside wall of McDonald’s, and once I had my order I sat down in the booth adjacent to the window where my bike was parked. In the tables next to me were a group of old guys just milking the hell out of there senior coffees when I hear one of them saying; “bicyclist think they own the road” not sure if they were trying to goad me into a conversation but I kept my head down and kept eating. Then I heard one say, “The city puts in all these bike lanes, and bikes don’t pay taxes”. I’m thinking why do these old codgers think I don’t own a car? Besides, from the time I hit town the day before, I’ve put nearly $100 into the local economy. And there are hundreds of us that do this route every year. Bet they never think about that.

Was nervous about setting out for the day with the looming forecast of rain. Not that I’m worried about getting all wet again. I was extremely concerned about what the rains will do to the 30 or so miles of dirt road I need to ride today. I really don’t want to find myself in the notorious New Mexico soup and unable to even push my bike.

Had real good cell service for many miles out of Silver City and stopped a few times to pull up the radar. Yep, it’s coming, right up from Mexico just as it was forecasted. Once I came to the dirt section, the rains were still far away so I peddled on as if I had perfect weather ahead.

Also knew from the elevation profile printed on the map, the remainder of the route is very tame. For a few miles outside of Silver City, there are some climbs but very mild. As I put more and more miles behind me, I kept a close eye on the ever-encroaching rain clouds. Soon a few sprinkles were hitting me and thought; well this is it. Once it became more than a few sprinkles I stopped to dig out the rain gear one more time. About the time I did that a truck approached from the direction I was headed.

Since I was already stopped he stopped to talk. He was from San Diego and following the motorcycle version of the Great Divide Route. Not exactly the same as the mountain bike route but shares many of the same roads. We talked for roughly half an hour and the rains never really developed beyond a sprinkle. About the time he asked me if I had met other cyclists on this route here came a couple of bikes. I said well yes, but I’m not sure who these people are. As they got close they did look familiar. It was a Dutch couple that I had met all the way back at Yellowstone.

When they stopped they said there was a guy from California behind them. Soon he appeared over the ridge and joined the company. Frank and Margot were the Dutch couple and Tim was from San Fransisco. We talked for a bit and I asked what their intended stop was for the day and they said Hachita, Well I had not intended to go that far because I was nervous to sleep out, by myself, south of I-10. Let just say I have this little fear of drug runners and Hachita is about 20 miles south of I-10.

I figured safety in numbers and decided I would go on to Hachita too and camp with them for the night. After all the introductions were done, we were all off peddling to the same destination. I kinda of took the lead and soon Tim caught up to me to chat while we rode side by side. Was nice to be able to talk and ride with Divide brother. Had not done that at all on this trip. In fact, I had only ridden in the proximity of other riders for a very short distance and that was with the MS crew in the Great Basin in Wyoming.

 

The weather was becoming nicer with each passing mile and soon we were riding under beautiful partly cloudy sky’s. With the four of us riding together, and the very tame terrain, I took the time to also ride next to and chat with Frank and then Margot. Before I knew it we had reached Interstate-10.

I-10 was kind of a point of reflection for me. Back in February of this year, I had driven from Michigan to Tucson. During that trip, I knew where the route crossed I-10 and kept an eye out for the ‘Antilope Wells’ exit. Making a stop at the exit, I got out of the car, looked around and thought; well if all goes to plan later this summer, I will be riding through here on a bike after 2,700 miles.

Making those two paths cross has been on my mind for a very long time and today it became a reality. Was riding side by side with Margot the time we reached the I-10 exit and told her the story asking if she would be so kind to take my picture standing at the exact same spot where I stopped back in February, when getting here by bike was nothing more than just a very lofty dream.

From I-10 to Antelope Wells the road is paved, pancake flat and full of all kinds of crawly stuff crossing the road, such as Tarantulas. About halfway between I-10 and Hachita I made my very last divide crossing. Shortly after we made that crossing Tim got a flat and had to change his tube. Was very glad to be running my tires tubeless. While Tim was fixing a flat I was pulling several Goathead thorns out of my tires and letting the liquid latex fill the hole, losing but a minuscule amount air in the process.

With the sun getting low on the horizon we made it to Hachita. We stopped at the community center wishing we could get in to sleep there for the night. But instead, we figured the basketball court next door would make a fine camp for the four of us. About the time I had my tent laid out and ready to set the poles, a car pulls up tells us he can open the community center and let us stay in there.

Our trail angle to let us into the community center is Jeff Sharp. Jeff takes care of the cyclist as they come through town and somebody had tipped him off that we had ridden into town. I thanked Jeff for his hospitality and joked that the basketball court actually would have been the nicest spot I would have pitched my tent on this route. He said there is no way he could let us sleep out there because they have huge Rattlesnakes in town that come out at night to catch mice. Well then!