Day 43: Hachita to Antelope Wells (FINISH!!)

Today we rode from Hachita, New Mexico, US to Antelope Wells, New Mexico, US. Sunny weather with no clouds. Road conditions include a paved road only. Highlights of the day include reaching the endpoint of the route.

Riding statistics: on Monday September 12, 2022, the 43rd day on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route route, it took 04:59h (03:45h moving time), between 07:27 and 12:26, to cover 73 km (45 miles), including 158 m (518 ft) elevation gain, with an average speed of 19 km/h (12 mph). During today's ride the average temperature was 28 °C (86 °F) with a minimum of 21 °C (72 °F) and a maximum of 37 °C (104 °F).

Totals: So far, it took 12 days, 20 hours, 25 minutes and 27 seconds of cycling time to cover 4521 km (2810 miles), including 52047 m (170766 ft) elevation gain, with an average speed of 15 km/h (9.3 mph).

Leaving Hachita

After a special night (glad I was in my tent inside the Hachita Community Center), our alarm clocks went off at 6am again. This way we could get up, and reach the endpoint around noon. We got up, packed our gear (made sure there were no bugs in there), and left the Community Center. We first visited the Hachita Food Market again for some morning drinks. After chatting with the lady in the Food Market we learned that current Hachita first was named Eureka (based on a military base end of the 1800s). The original Hachita was build because of mining activity. Unfortunately they build the town on top of the mine, and all eventually collapsed. After that, Eureka was renamed to the current Hachita. It used to be a rich and crowded area. Now it looks poor (no jobs in town, closest are dozens of kilometers away), and there are hardly any persons (population: 49). We also met Jeff Cullum in the Food Market. We talked about his cycling activities. He even raced the Tour Divided. Best result, 10th in 2021! Well done Jeff! After the chat we continued our ride to the end point.

Antelope Wells (the border station)

We had to cycle a little over 70km this morning. Fortunately we had not really any wind (quite the opposite of yesterday afternoon with a very strong headwind). The road had no shoulder, but there was hardly any traffic. Mostly Border Patrol. Sep-Oct used to be the season the tarantulas migrate. We saw two right after we had left Hachita. We hoped to see more, but it seems that during the heat of the day they do not migrate. Furthermore it was dead snakes, lots of caterpillars, horned lizards, grasshoppers (again the big ones), etc. Also, many color flowers because of the rains. When reaching the border station, we already saw the big fence from very far away. Not a pretty sight to be honest. At noon we reached the Mexican Border. Enjoyed reaching the end point and finish cycling. Not really realizing, but already a bit sad that it ended. Now it was waiting for our ride our of Antelope Wells.

Albuquerque

30 minutes after reaching the border, our ride (significant other of Anna) arrived. Happy to see each other again. We prepared the bikes (removed bags, etc) to load them in the back of the pickup truck. Changed into clean clothes, and we were ready to leave. Now it was official, our ride has ended. It took a couple of hours to ride to Albuquerque. Around 5:30pm we reached my hotel in the city. I will be here for two days, and I’ll fly back on the 14th, arriving the 15th. I have really enjoyed the trip and there was no single moment of regret. I only changed the chain on my bike (once, and I can still use the current one for a while). The new tire I got was just for my state of mind. I have not needed it, and I could even ride more on the current tire. The trip went absolutely perfect without any real issues, although the knee was a concern for a couple of days.

Gallery

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