Today we rode from dispersed campground 22km before Cuba, New Mexico, US to Chaco Trading Post (GDMBR Chaco Alternate), New Mexico, US. Sunny weather with little clouds. Road conditions were perfect, only paved roads. Highlights of the day include the scenery change from the last forests and mountains to more desert and ‘flatter’.

Riding statistics: on Tuesday, September 6, 2022, day 37 on the route, it took 08:46h (05:08h moving time), between 08:10 and 16:57, to cover 103 km (64 miles), including 654 m (2146 ft) elevation gain, with an average speed of 20 km/h (12 mph), while reaching a maximum speed of 55 km/h (34 mph). During this ride the average temperature was 31 °C (88 °F) with a minimum of 11 °C (52 °F) and a maximum of 47 °C (117 °F).

Totals: So far, it took 10 days, 23 hours, 12 minutes, and 21 seconds of cycling time to cover 3810 km (2367 miles), including 46172 m (151490 ft) elevation gain, with an average speed of 14.8 km/h (9.2 mph).

For this morning, like the previous day, no alarm clock. We got up around6:30am, made the bikes ready, ate some breakfast snacks, and continued our ride. We were glad that we had stopped yesterday evening when it got dark, there were still a couple of (steep) climbs, and some sections where we needed to be carful, between the campsite where we slept and the paved road.

There was a beautiful morning sun, and we made good progress once we were at the paved road. Way before noon we already arrived at Cuba, a small town with services (like gas stations, a grocery store, a motel, post office, etc.). Now that we saw Cuba, we were both glad that we had slept in the forest, way more relaxed. Our first stop was the grocery store where we bought food & water for the next two days. Next stop was the gas station / McDonalds, to buy some more snacks, an additional breakfast, and sit down to study the map.

We already decided that we would take the official alternate section between Cuba and Grants and spend the night at the Chaco Trading Post. The main reason is that the original route will be impassable when there is rain. On our map it is mentioned to choose the alternate when cycling in late summer (because of the possible afternoon rain showers). The roads on the original section are of dried-up clay. Some rain, and it becomes impassable. Your bike will get stuck completely because of the sticky clay. You will need to clean up your bike and wait for the road to be dried up again. Later we found out that others had made that same decision.

After our extra breakfast / early lunch, we continued our ride. Via the post office we left Cuba. Today, and most of tomorrow we will be riding a paved road in a more desert like country. Fortunately, it turned out to be a quiet road with a wide shoulder. Now that the scenery has changed from Cuba onwards, we were convinced that last night, and this moment, was the last time that we have been in a big forest on this trip.

After 35km (22 miles) we reached Torreon, a small Native American settlement. It had a modern gas station with a very good convenience store. We decided for a break and bought refreshing snacks (like iced coffee, ice-creams, and cold sodas) in this warm afternoon. We sat down for over two hours in the shadow in front of the building. Mainly because we were comfortable in this heat, and we knew we only needed to ride another 35 more kilometers (22 miles). We also got a text message that Max & Jack made the same decision and would also be heading towards the Chaco Trading Post.

After we had relaxed enough, we decided to move on. The road was a bit hilly but easy to ride. It did not take too long before we reached the Chaco Trading Post, a gas station, convenience store, and laundromat. On both sides of the road, there was construction work being done to install gigantic solar power plants. AT the property of the Chaco Trading Post we met Tom, and older guy riding the GDMBR by himself. He already went inside and got instructions. You can pitch your tent for free on the property. We decided to first setup our tents, then do laundry, and then eat dinner. The laundry was in the same building as the convenience store so while waiting for our laundry to bee washed and tried, we could use WiFi and eat snacks we purchased at the store. After finishing laundry, we walked back to our tents and at that moment Max & Jack arrived. They had taken it easy as well. We warmed up some of our food in the microwave at the store and enjoyed our meals at the tents. We had some more chats with the five of us, enjoyed the sunset and the lightning of a thunderstorm in the far distance. Meanwhile the mosquitoes started to attack us, and we all went into our tents.

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