June 3, 2016 to June 4, 2016
Something I've been dreading for the last year
Days Three and Four: Silver City, New Mexico
We had originally planned to make it to Silver City today, the third day of riding, and because we did more miles than expected yesterday, it was only a 15 mile ride to town. We’d also planned to take a day off in Silver City, which looked like an interesting place.
We were in no hurry this morning, since we only had a few hours of riding to do. It was my 50th birthday, something I’ve been dreading for the last year in which I’ve received multiple annoying letters from the AARP reminding me that I will soon qualify for senior citizen discounts, etc. Blecch. Joy surprised me with a birthday gift — a little shower head that screws onto a two-liter water bottle. I will have several chances to try it out during the several multi-day stretches of remote camping that are coming up soon. Joy has been concerned that I will use all of our drinking water for bathing, so I believe the plan is for me to fill a bottle with creek water and take a shower with it.
The ride to Silver City had a couple of long, steep climbs, on which I averaged perhaps four miles per hour. Yes, I’m slow on my 100 pound bicycle.
Immediately upon our arrival in historic downtown Silver City we met a local cyclist who looked us over and guessed that we’d been on road only a few days because we “looked fresh.” I suppose the terrible beard I’ve been growing for a week doesn’t look too scraggly yet. Oh, but it will, it will (if Joy, who hates the beard, doesn’t force me to shave it soon.)
We checked into the historic Murray Hotel for two nights. The hotel is so historic that it doesn’t have air conditioning, which was a concern given that we are in southern New Mexico and it was 89F on the day we arrived. I examined two rooms and settled on a corner room on the fourth floor. It was actually fairly cool up there.
The rest of our stay we ate (mostly me) and organized our gear(mostly Joy).
The next four or five days we will be riding and camping in very remote parts of New Mexico. Also, we’ll be doing some major climbing, so we’ll probably only ride 30-ish miles per day.
Today's ride: 15 miles (24 km)
Total: 125 miles (201 km)
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