Today we rode from Informal Campground, New Mexico, US to Abiquiu, New Mexico, US. Sunny weather all day. Road conditions included paved roads, gravel roads (good and bad). Highlights of the day include the changing scenery, our stop for the night (Retreat at the River).
Riding statistics: on Sunday September 4, 2022, the 35th day on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route route, it took 11:07h (07:01h moving time), between 07:45 and 18:52, to cover 108 km (67 miles), including 1228 m (4029 ft) elevation gain, with an average speed of 15 km/h (10 mph). During today's ride the average temperature was 27 °C (84 °F) with a minimum of 5 °C (40 °F) and a maximum of 43 °C (116 °F).
Totals: So far, it took 10 days, 6 hours, 50 minutes and 10 seconds of cycling time to cover 3588 km (2230 miles), including 43087 m (141368 ft) elevation gain, with an average speed of 14.8 km/h (9.2 mph).
Leaving the informal Campground
As on other days, our alarm clocks were set at 6pm. However it is getting harder to get up at that time. We probably need some more rest than earlier, but the sun is also rising at a later time, so it is still more dark at 6am. So we stayed in our beds to 6:30am and then decided to get out. We got our food from where we hung it, packed our tents, had some breakfast, and made everything ready to start our ride. While doing so we saw three other cyclists riding by. We met them yesterday as well (forgot to include that in my journal). A couple from Newcastle on a tandem! It must be so hard to do this ride on a tandem (in many ways). They must have a really good marriage. The third person was a dutchmen. Henderik (older guy), I knew about him because I’ve read his journals before I left myself (he left 2 or 3 weeks before me).
A morning of climbing and a more relaxed afternoon
When leaving the campground we had actually a pretty good gravel road leading us to a paved road. It was a beautiful morning. but riding at the shadow side of the mountain it was still a bit chilly at the hands. Once we were on the paved road a climb began. Good for warming up, and quite soon we take of all extra layers. After the climb we reached a formal campground and used its toilet. Checked if there was any water source (there was not, but fortunately we still had enough for the rest of the day). We continued our ride through the forest and a reasonable gravel road, sometimes it was bad however. The road winded through the mountains. Since it was a labor day weekend, there were dozens of families camping in the forest. Often the families had multiple RVs (sometimes very big ones, if on these remote roads) and set them up in a circle to make it a real camp. For quite a while we saw families gathered like this (often with all the toys, like ATVs, motor cycles, etc.). Eventually it got more remote and there were hardly any people anymore. We enjoyed the scenery because the forests became less and the scenery was changing to a more desert-like environment. Halfway through we passed a settlement where there were some houses, and a summer store (but it was closed, nothing more than a very very small building where you could get some snacks. Cars could honk their horn to get the owners attention and come over. We might have called the owner as well, but we were not really in need for anything special, so we continued our ride. We again turned off onto a more remote road and from here it was more downhill than uphill, so an enjoyable afternoon (my legs did not feel very energetic today). We saw sign about flooding, forest fires, etc. It was clearly shown what has happened here. In the first half of the summer there were many forest fires and flash floods in New Mexico. We met people going north on the route telling that they had to do a lot on paved roads because many sections where closed because of the weather. It clearly showed that nature always wins. Fortunately for us, most of the road was restored and we could cycle through it without any issues. But the marks of these events are still clearly visible. All of a sudden the forest stopped and we came into a whole different scenery. Already more like a desert (with many different cacti). We had a short downhill into El Rito. Again a small settlement. The restaurant was closed, so we moved on. Just before leaving town there was a small gas station annex convenience store (very old and authentic, nice!) and we bought some cold drinks.
Abiquiu
From El Rito is was mostly all the way downhill to Abiquiu. So nice for the legs. The scenery was stunning with beautiful yellow/red mountains/hills. Trees got less and less, especially on the hills and mountains. While getting to the ‘center’ (junction) of Abiquiu we passed a Dollar Family and decided to use that shop to already buy food / water for the coming two days. Tomorrow we will be starting our ride to Cuba (>120km) and a lot of elevation gain, so we probably won make it in one day. Water will be very hard to get, so we will take as much as we can. In the Dollar Family store we met a couple that was also riding southwards. They had an accident last year in this area, and are now finish their ride. They decided to stay at the Retreat at the River from a woman named Goldy. I heard about the place as well, and we decided to go there as well. Before we went to the Retreat at the River, we stopped at Bodes, the local convenience store (and were glad we already bought a lot at the Dollar Family store). Over here everything was very expensive and they had not as much choice. We did eat something warm (I had fries with chicken tenders) and it was not the best meal to say it friendly. At least we got some food. After that we rode to the Retreat at the River. It was a house with some cabins, a teepee, and places to pitch your tent. It included a shared kitchen you could use, a shower, and restrooms. The shower was great. A fenced place. The fence was about 1.80m high. So you could shower and see all nature, including the river. Nice! After this it was time to get some rest. Coming days will be harder and harder (especially since services are getting less and less).
Gallery
Wat een avontuur! En heel tof dat je nog tijd en zin hebt om al die updates te schrijven. Maar heel fijn want zo genieten we mee van al je verhalen.
Groetjes vanuit de Elshouter. (PS; je mist niks hier, business as usual)