Day 30: Wetter, Colder, Slower

September 17, 2024

(Name that band)

Distance: 82km

Climbing: 798m

We’ve been at this for a full month now without a day off. We haven’t felt the need for one so why stop? We have, however, covered less distance yesterday and today due to our first days of really challenging weather. Yesterday’s ride over Indiana pass was the first time we were really wet, cold, and muddy. Today was similar but much, much wetter.

The night in the Airstream was warm and pleasant but the rain and lighting continued through most of the night leaving us wondering how this morning would go. Fortunately, it cleared as the sun rose and we were off in nice temperatures and rapidly drying roads. Two nice stops along the way saw us enjoying coffee and meeting a kiwi couple. We got a weather forecast saying rain and thunder would start around 1pm.

The morning after a storm is often spectacular.

Coffee, hospitality, and free treats left over from a party held at an RV park.

Looking back at where we had come from on a switchback.

The pass after today’s climb. The wind had knocked us around but the rain hadn’t started yet.

We tackled the biggest climb of the day up a switchbacked, paved road and the wind started to pick quickly until gusts were knocking us off the road - a first for this trip. Further along it started to rain and eventually, after 55km covered, go so bad we stopped to decide whether to carry on to lose some altitude, or find a stand of trees for shelter. While stopped we heard someone yelling and saw another rider we had chatted with in Del Norte enjoying the shelter of some trees. We joined him and had a pretty dry lunch and were then joined by the Kiwis. The weather varied from heavy rain to heavy rain in wind-driven sheets.

Sheltering in the trees with Ken, Grum, and Juliette.

We all agreed that a detour was in order as the route soon left the pavement and entered a very long wilderness section on gravel prone to New Mexico’s famous peanut butter mud. Given the two days of rain it wasn’t really an option, although we might have found that out the hard way. We all decided to head out at the same time but the weather intensified and we had an epic ride with full-on headwind-driven rain and hail in our faces and filling our shoes. As long as we kept moving we were reasonably warm, but stopping would have been brutal. We crossed into Mew Mexico and as we lost altitude the rain abated and we started to dry out. We arrived in the town of Chama and found a motel where two other riders, the first Canadians we’ve run into, were already set up.

The forecast for the next week looks really good so we’ll continue the detour to the closest point where we can rejoin the trail. I would guess that relatively few people complete the trail without at least a few detours due to weather or fires. This is our second detour and it’s just part of the experience.

Chatting with the Kiwis, a Los Angeleno, the other Canadians, and some shopkeepers today has been a lot of fun. For weeks we barely met any other riders, but in the last week we’ve probably run into more than the rest of the trip.

Today's ride: 82 km (51 miles)
Total: 3,350 km (2,080 miles)

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