Today we rode from Horca, Colorado, US to Informal Campground, New Mexico, US. Sunny weather with little clouds, thunderstorms in the afternoon (but got no rain). Road conditions were very though today. Highlights of the day include entering New Mexico.
Riding statistics: on Saturday September 3, 2022, the 34th day on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route route, it took 09:29h (07:36h moving time), between 08:21 and 17:51, to cover 87 km (54 miles), including 1697 m (5568 ft) elevation gain, with an average speed of 11 km/h (7 mph). During today's ride the average temperature was 22 °C (74 °F) with a minimum of 11 °C (52 °F) and a maximum of 39 °C (108 °F).
Totals: So far, it took 9 days, 23 hours, 48 minutes and 49 seconds of cycling time to cover 3480 km (2163 miles), including 41859 m (137339 ft) elevation gain, with an average speed of 14.8 km/h (9.2 mph).
Leaving Horca
We did not set an alarm for this morning. We would see when we would leave. We both had our sleeping pads and sleeping bags in the same room (big formal general store), so one could get the other awake if necessary. The night had a thunderstorm, lots of lightning and thunder, so we were glad we were inside (although I was the only one noticing it). In the morning we were glad we could get up in a warm room, use the restrooms, and pack all while inside. I ordered a tire from Amazon. Will be delivered on Tue Sep 6 at the post office in Grants. Hopefully there are no delays, otherwise we might be too early in Grants to get the package. We’ll see, at least I tried something. So far the tire is still OK enough. The sun was already shining, but there was also some very light rain. Once ready we left a generous donation for the food & drinks, and the kind hospitality we got from them. We hope they can open their General store / Reception desk for the campground / … pretty soon. We locked the doors from inside, closed it, and left the building.
Marshall Pass and entering New Mexico
Almost immediately after leaving the building we slept in, we turned on a paved road, and a long climb started from there. Almost 9km and an elevation gain of almost 500m. Fortunately the road was paved, so it was not bad at all. It seemed there was coming some more rain, but fortunately there was none. Just before we left we saw some more bikers. It turned out we caught up with the organized group from Adventure Cycling Association, the organisation that also mapped out the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (and many others in the US). At the end of the first climb we already met two persons of the organized tour. A Dutch man (67) and a Brit (at least that age). The Dutch man told about the downsides of being in a group / being organized. So we were happy with our approach which is still working out perfectly. After the chat we turned onto a gravel road and continued our ride. It was a winding road with many short steep sections. And all of a sudden we saw a sign that we were entering New Mexico. Wauw. Colorado was good for us, now onto New Mexico. Almost immediately it became clear that all the stories of the roads in New Mexico were absolutely true. All afternoon we have been working very hard to make some cover some distance. The roads were indeed really bad. Steep, rough, etc. Many sections are just dried up mud with big boulders in there. If it rains you have an issue. And when it is dry, it is very hard to just cycle on it. We also had a climb of about 1km, which was just a very steep path of big boulders. We had to walk all the way. I don’t think I would get all the way up if there was no baggage attached to the bike and if I had not ridden all the way I did. Step by step we had to walk up. Careful not sliding away, either the bike or yourself with the chance of getting hurt. Eventually we made it to the top and decided to quickly eat something there (there was a very big thunderstorm building up). At the top we met an older Dutch couple who were also part of the organized tour. After our quick lunch we moved on again. Slowly but steady we were making progress. Eventually we did just a little less today than we wanted, but that is OK. We did again a lot of elevation gain, and the roads were so bad, not a shame to have a shorter distance (we will have to make up for at a later moment).
Informal campsite
At the end of the afternoon we found the informal campsite that we wanted to use for the night. There were more people there. There have been a lot more people since the hunting season started last Friday, but it is also the Label Day weekend in the US. Meaning that most Americans have a long weekend, and this getting outdoors. After all climbing yesterday and today I can see that my knee is feeling better and gives me more confidence. At this moment e both are starting to feel more parts of the body of all the biking. But we are still good. On the campsite we ate our dinner (I had Terryaki Noodles again). Cleaned up. Brushed teeth. Hang food and toiletries. And went into our tents for a good rest.
Gallery
