Day 40: Caballo, NM to San Lorenzo, NM

Daily Miles: 51.4 Total Miles: 2192.4

Starting the day

Today was a BIG, but very good day! We woke up early, ate leftover pizza, and then drove back to Caballo to start the ride. I was on the road by 9am and immediately started up a gentle climb. In my head I divided my day into three sections. The first 17 miles from Caballo to Hillsboro was the warm-up. I climbed about 1000-1200', but the grades were fairly gentle and the scenery was beautiful. As I was slowly rolling along a German couple, also riding the Southern Tier, caught up with me and we briefly stopped and chatted. It turns out Mary had met them a few weeks ago in Texas Hill Country. I was ahead of them, but they made the executive decision to rent a U-Haul, throw their bikes and gear inside, and drive from Del Rio to El Paso. I told them that was the best decision of their lives.

Gathering of cyclists in Hillsboro

I pulled out ahead of them today and before I knew it I had reached Hillsboro. I stopped there to eat a snack and chat with Mary. While we were waiting a couple from South Carolina on a tandem bike showed up. They had met the German couple on the road and were travelling with them. We had a nice chat with the two of them and a 68-year old local cyclist who loves to compete in races. The local cyclist told us she didn't start racing until age 63. There's still hope for Mary!! After saying goodbye it was time to tackle section #2 of the day, the big boy.

The view from 8228'

I had to ride 17 miles from Hillsboro to the highest elevation of my trip, Emory Pass, climbing to 8228'. The first 9 miles were to Kingston, and although I was climbing, I was still in the foothills and only gained around 1000'. From Kingston, the real climb started. It was tough, but definitely manageable. I will say that I have never sweated so much in my life. By the time I finally struggled to the top I was completely soaked, but the feeling, like the view, was incredible. I stopped by the lookout point and ate lunch with Mary. It was a very cool accomplishment and now I can definitely say that I would rather climb a mountain than ride into a headwind.

Celebrating at the top of Emory Pass

After about an hour I headed off once again to tackled the third, and by far easiest section of the day, the descent to San Lorenzo. While the ride down was much less challenging, it was by no means easy. The road down featured very poorly paved roads and multiple hairpin turns, cautioning cars to keep their speed below 10MPH. It was also FREEZING cold. My clothes and helmet were still soaked from the ride up, so I rode down from Emory Pass with my teeth chattering. After about 6 miles of cautious descent, I once again faced a big climb. What the heck?!?!?! There were another 3.5 miles of up and down (but mainly up), before I finally hit the real descent to the Mimbres River near San Lorenzo. Once I reached the turn-off for San Lorenzo, I had another mile to climb before reaching today's stopping point.

The hair-raising descent from Emory Pass

When all was said and done I had climbed 5128' over today's 51 miles. And lived to tell about it. Tomorrow promises some more big climbs over the 24 miles to Silver City, and then rolling hills and a big descent into Lordsburg, where I hope to finish tomorrow's ride. After tomorrow's ride Mary and I are driving back to El Paso to pick up my dad, Jay, who will be joining us for the next week. I will also be flying to Dallas on Thursday for a two day conference with my old employer, so we'll be taking a 3 day break after tomorrow's ride. We are really excited for dad's visit and we look forward to continuing this great adventure with him.