September 22, 2024
Zero Day: Grants, New Mexico.
We came into Grants, New Mexico running on fumes. I commented on it but it bears repeating. At one point Peter said 18 more kilometres to Grants and I said “WTF, you must be joking!” He just threw his hands up in a don’t blame me expression. Then, we had to climb another giant road hill and that put me over the top. We made the top and then it was a fast roll into a city that has sprawled every direction. When we found the motel the last little push required us to pass over an overpass on a 4 lane road with a disappearing bike lane. We love that when that happens! “Whoops, we’ve run out of space for bikes. Hold your bars real tight. Don’t worry about the massive trucks. Ride fast! It will all be okay.”
I was absolutely hungry when we got here. Peter grabbed a shower and I said I’d pass for faster food. I found there was a Denny’s within 500 metres of our hotel. Getting there on foot was entertaining. We walked through a few rock gardens, a sidewalk that disappeared, and then through a wasteland where I said “watch for needles”. We both powered back a smoothie, huge breakfast plate, and a pancake. There was nothing left on any plate.
Today we will go to the Walmart and carefully plan for the next 4 days. I’m concerned about space. We will try to throw out as many packages as possible but my strategy to open and dump cans into ziplock bags only works for 1 or 2 days. I have given up on the baby sunscreen. I think it’s formulated to give parents the feeling that they didn’t miss a spot. You can’t get it to run in fully so I looked like a ghost when I arrived here. And it’s on several pieces of clothing as well. Oh well, no burns except my lips are so dry!!
I think my feeling right now is that this trail delivers relentless climbs. I mean sure it’s easy to read about and think in kilometres but it’s the hills. It’s the hills! They never let up. And I truly love climbing and still do. It’s an incredible sense of accomplishment to see a hill and reach the crest but when the crest never ends it digs at your psyche sometimes. But, that’s it really. You just have to keep going. It’s mental. Your legs can keep going. It’s the mind that shuts down from time to time.
We had routines when we started. Good ones. Check the bolts. Fill the water. Charge the batteries. Stretch. We have forgotten many of these. Yesterday our chains were squeaking and that’s when we remembered to lube the chains. Thankfully, eating and drinking our hardwired into our brains and we still excel here.
I miss vegetables. I’m excited about eating things that are green. I mean don’t get me wrong being on a rampage eating everything in sight and more is fun. I’ve lost weight despite all the eating. I’ll have to seriously cut back when I’m back to a ‘normal’ calorie burn.
I was talking to my brother today and saying that we’ve been so busy that it’s kept my mind very active. Sure, on the bike there is a lot of time to think but I’ve mostly listened to books, podcasts, and music. I guess it’s a way of meditating, although I’ve never done much of that. The emotions have somewhat subsided although I know they will appear again. I don’t expect to get to the border with dry eyes. And that’s probably a good thing.
For now we are off the reality TV show. They’d get bored seeing two guys sitting for hours in a motel room. Gone are the other riders. I’m sure we will see them again because the riders behind should catch up and possibly pass us today.
Edit: We met Danielle at the Walmart. She went off route a couple days and headed back out.
We have 635 km to go with the 400 km stretch starting tomorrow with possibly a restaurant and one gas station. That is very slim pickings for food. On the plus side the climbing is fractional compared to this last stretch. If the surface holds we should be able to move far but I’ve been wrong so many times. I learn and relearn that you just ride for a time and see where you end up. Goals are good but the trail is really in control.
We’ve accomplished a lot on our zero day. We loaded up with groceries for the 4 days. We booked the shuttle for the 169 mile trip to El Paso. And we booked our flights home!! We will likely stay 3 nights in El Paso. During that time we will box our bikes and likely try and see some sights. Possibly even duck into Mexico but not making any plans.
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Good luck with that. 🤣
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