September 17, 2024
Day 30: The trail strikes back part two!
Thank you Colorado, welcome to New Mexico!
We woke up in the warm airstream to the sound of thunder. It rained overnight pretty hard and you would think we’d pull the bikes under cover. Somehow that good idea slipped through the cracks. I checked the pannier which I emptied and it was dry but my frame bag was partially full of water. The pocket stove was submerged so it took a bit to get it working again but it’s fine. So, no damage. We cleaned and lubricated the chains and the bikes were good to go.
Fortunately the threat of rain was short and the sun started to peak out. We didn’t have a forecast so we just plugged our noses and got started. The riding was great this morning. We made easy distance on relatively flat roads and we came on to another little place called the Rocky Mountain Lodge after about 25 km of riding. Peter mentioned coffee and I was in! When we went inside there was no one around so I called hello and sweet lady welcomed us and made us a couple of coffees. Then she said they had a fish fry recently and they had brownies and cupcakes to eat. We obliged and I think I had 4. There’s no limit to the hunger while riding.
While we were inside enjoying the coffee, a couple riding came in. They are from New Zealand. I learned about a great trail there from Jason (Aussie) so I asked about it and then exchanged contact information so I can get more information from Grum and Juliet. It sounds spectacular! As we were leaving another rider they have been leap frogging the whole trail rolled up. She rolled past and then we caught up with her and chatted while riding to the next stop. She’s from LA and doing the trip solo while stopping at a few friends along the route.
At 37 km there was another small hamlet called Horca. I know I said it was isolated for 300 km and that’s true. These are small places! We went inside and this place was a treasure. There was a couple inside and the husband was selling us on everything including individual pies. We each had a cherry pie that was delicious along with some other snacks. They had WIFI so we jumped on and let a few people know we were okay.
Back on the road we turned off the gravel into a paved highway that started climbing steeply right away. It was a long climb and about 3/4 of the way up the wind was howling. At one point it literally stopped me from moving and then blew me sideways. I had to lean into the brakes because there was a fall off to the right. The wind continued for the rest of the climb making it very difficult. I estimated the gusts were 50 km/hr. It was some serious gusts.
It got to 12 and then the rain was seriously threatening so we got on our rain gear again proactively. That was a good decision because it started teeming rain. We pulled off at one point for some reason and we heard someone call out to us. We rode about 20 feet and spotted another rider up in some trees about 30 feet off the road and up. We had just talked about taking cover so we joined him. We met him in Del Norte and the again at the Skyline but he had ridden ahead so it was a surprise to see him again.
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His name was Ken and he was from Minneapolis. We decided to eat lunch since it was pouring anyway. Then our Kiwi friends were riding by so we called out to them. They came up and joined us and the rain was coming in sheets and then it was hail briefly. We all wanted to get going again but it would not stop. We thought we had a reprieve so we all jumped on our bikes to ride the last 22 km to what we hoped was a town with motels.
The riding was fine, actually easy but the rain made it very difficult. It was pouring so hard. I’ve never been on my bike in rain like that. Our feet were absolutely soaked and we had on the winter gloves to keep our hands warm. After about 30 minutes of riding we saw the sign for New Mexico. I let out a little cheer and thankfully the rain stopped.
When we were under the cover of the trees we all decided that we would divert from the trail. At that time we were about 5 km from a turnoff to a 90 km section of gravel where we would be risking getting into the peanut butter mud. That was not worth the risk.
We arrived in Chama, New Mexico about 2:30 and made our way to a couple motels to find a room. It’s funny because our neighbours on one side are the Kiwis and on the other side are two French Canadians from Quebec City; they are the first Canadian we’ve met.
The room looks similar to last night. Clothing hanging everywhere but we will sleep well and the forecast calls for sunshine for the foreseeable future. Thank goodness! This rain and cold weather takes a toll on the spirits. Today I commented that I am so grateful that I carried the rain pants for the whole trip. It was feeling like I’d never need them but they were fantastic!
Tomorrow we will ride some roads to get back to the trail.
Highlights:
-cherry pie in Horca
-meeting other riders and commiserating together
-finding a motel to dry our stuff
-the store in Horca and Rocky Lodge; such friendly people!
-having rain gear
Distance - 82 km / 798 m
Today's ride: 82 km (51 miles)
Total: 3,356 km (2,084 miles)
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