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, day 43 on the 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), while reaching a maximum speed of 30 km/h (19 mph). During this ride the average temperature was 28 °C (82 °F) with a minimum of 21 °C (70 °F) and a maximum of 37 °C (99 °F).

Totals: So far, it took 12 days, 21 hours, 39 minutes, and 29 seconds of cycling time to cover 4537 km (2819 miles), including 52253 m (171442 ft) elevation gain, with an average speed of 15.0 km/h (9.3 mph).

After a remarkable night (glad I was in my tent inside the Hachita Community Center), our alarm clocks went off at 6am again. We slept well. By starting early again, we should arrive by noon at Antelope Wells. We got up, packed our gear (made sure there were no bugs in there), and left the Community Center. It was again a beautiful morning without any clouds.

Before leaving Antelope Wells, we stopped at the Hachita Food Market to get some morning drinks. We had a chat with the lady behind the counter, and we learned that what currently is named Hachita, used to be Eureka (which was based on a military base at end of the 1800s). The original Hachita was build because of mining activity. Unfortunately, they build the town on top of the mine, and it eventually all collapsed. After that, Eureka was renamed to the Hachita. It used to be a rich and crowded community, but 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 raced the Tour Divided multiple times. Best result, 10th in 2021! Well done, Jeff! He congratulated us with our soon-to-be completion of the Great Divide Mountain Bike Ride.

Today’s ride would be about 70km (43.5 miles). The weather was excellent, there was hardly any wind, and traffic was very little to none (mostly border patrol). Just outside of town we saw our first tarantula. In September - October it is mating season; the tarantulas leave their hideouts and roam the desert in search of mates. A little later we saw a second one. We hoped to see many more of them, but unfortunately that was all. We did see more desert animals, like dead snakes, lots of caterpillars, horned lizards, grasshoppers (again the big ones), etc. Because of the rain earlier in the season we also saw lots of colored flowers.

A little after noon we reached the border station. From a big distance we already could see the big fence that was build, not a pretty sight to be honest. As we already knew, the border station is the only thing for miles, there is nothing else. We took our pictures at the Antelope Wells sign and could not really believe that our trip is over. We both contacted our friends and family, who also saw our satellite tracker reach the Mexican border.

We had to wait less than 30 minutes before John arrived. Excellent timing! Anna was very happy to see John and the dog again. John and Anna would be driving back to their home, and on the way back they will drop me at my hotel in Albuquerque where I will take a flight back home. We got most of the bags removed from our bikes and loaded them in the back of John’s pickup truck, changed into clean clothes, and we were ready to leave. The ride to Albuquerque took about 5:30h. While riding back we had rain most of the time, and the landscape was all the same, almost boring compared to the route we took south.

I will at the hotel in Albuquerque for two days, before I’ll fly back on the 14th, arriving on the 15th. It is impossible to plan it too tight, in case there would be any issues. Now I have a full day to make all preparations, such has getting the bike in the box (which John kept for me) and getting all the gear ready.

This trip has been a never-to-forget experience. I have enjoyed every single moment of it. Things couldn’t have gone better, and I could not think of any better person to enjoy this experience with. Thanks Anna! Of course, also a big thank you to Karin, Veerle, Stijn, and John for making this possible!

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