22 sept, 2015. New Mexico Border
New Mexico welcomed me with some fine quadra-track
And rain...
It appears that the roads here don't hold water well. Here is a glimpse at the ALL-NEW 29" fatbike!
Still work in progress, there are few quirks. One: it's a bit on the heavy side. Two: the wheels don't turn. Luckily I didn't have to carry it far.
One of the perks of traveling alone is that there is nobody to annoy when I MOO at every single cow.
The guardian of road 87.
Cold, wet and tired. I pulled off to camp under a tree, rain didn't stop until 8, I hope the roads are better tomorrow.
Looks like all these cows are getting shipped off somewhere...
...Somewhere less muddy... this was as bad as it gets: both wheels locked and the only way to move forward is to lift the front and slide the rear wheel in the mud. After hopelessly doing 50 or so yards, I carried the bike up into the forest, removed as much mud as I could and pushed it alongside the road.
Upon reaching the main road, I decided to take a "pavement retreat", Trois Piedros seemed like an interesting town to have a burger then leave and the wind was blowing that way.
Downhill and sunshine and lots of parked cars beside the road - locals are picking Pinon (pine nuts)
Spotted: solar panels in the shade!
To add some more excitement to my life, I set up camp at a wash as thunder roared in the distance. I can hear it getting closer and the neigh of horses nearby.
Beware of the dog in El Paso
Green chilly burger in Abiquiu and I am off to do that typical "out of town" climb.
The best part: CDT bike route and GDMBR were the same, so no need to choose. Pretty challenging slickrock/sand ride to the top but ride-able nonetheless.
Later I met two dutch cyclists, we set up camp just after the highpoint on an old cut block.
There are few types of happiness, one of them is "happiness in the suffering of others." I won't lie, watching Lucy and Tine tumble down, fully loaded on the rocky road made me happy. Really happy!
We said goodbyes and I rushed to town to have lunch at the golden arches. They were staying in Cuba but I rode out few miles before setting up camp.
Sleeping mat has seen better days. I wake up about every 2-3 hrs on the ground and have to blow it up. Although being in the sand definitely made things better.
Looked like the tour divide route was following the paved alternate. At a gas station I had the brilliant idea to try a redbull. I turned up the music and hit the pavement. I don't really recall how the first half of the day went... too much caffeine and candy.
Seeing freerange horses on the highway was great and even a pack of wild dogs chewing on a carcass. I would never forget the look that one dog gave me while he had his mouth full of fur. I shared half of a family size BBQ chips with them and promised to get dog food and ride back if White Horse, NM had a store. It didn't.
Lots of garbage everywhere - most of it beer cans and cartons. The signs that don't have graffiti are shot up. Or both. Very poor homes, some of them barely standing. Big contrasts to riding in Colorado and seeing expensive houses everywhere.
Some huge trucks at a coal mine, almost as big as the titan. I bet they must cost at least half a million a piece and fuel economy about 2-3 gallons PER mile.
115 miles and I am at McDonalds again... chewing on a burger, looking at the map. Looks like no grocery store for the next 4 days until Silver City. I step outside to catch the sunset and head out to stock up on food.
As I'm riding out of town in the dark, a woman pulls over and offers me a place to stay. I say yes and I follow through a rough road to her place. My first shower in 10 days and the best burritos I've ever had. As we are having dinner I realize they are also the spiciest burritos I've ever had. I alternate a bit with sip of water trying to hold back the tears, my nose is runny and my mouth is burning.
I am grateful but also worried. how could I possibly ever forward such kindness?
You certainly don't need to be a mammal to do it like they do on the discovery channel.
The rutted road to Pietown
Obviously the best thing about Pietown is not the pie but hanging out with some horses.
Pie was so-so, looks like the main pie joint is closed for few more days and the other pie cafe wont open until 10am tomorrow. This will have to do for now.
Up before sunrise and headed south. It's a 2 day ride down to Silver City if I manage to make 100 miles on one of the days. I had to make the most of the cool weather in the morning as the temperature during the day can get pretty high.
Some of my last-minute supplies from Grants. 1.1 kilograms of peanut butter M&M's
Having not seen him since Montana, Smoky the bear makes a return in New Mexico. Only YOU can prevent forest fires!
New Mexico is by far the toughest state on the GDMBR and the most varried. One moment you are in the plains, dodging dust twisters...
Then you are looking at cows playing in the sunflowers...
Next, climbing up a cool canyon among big trees
...and crossing vast open fields at a mountain pass...
At 100 miles, you are looking at the setting sun and wondering if there is some water nearby...
And just before you know it, you are desperately searching your bags for change for the Dr. Pepper machine...
It got dark under under a million stars, hearing coyotes and horses in the distance. The only light was he bright moon and yet the brighter Dr. Pepper pop machine. It occasionally turns on and off to keep the valuable payload cool. Oh... only if I had some change...
I remember from looking at Lucy and Tine's maps earlier that there were quite a bit of climbs before Silver City. Munched few poptarts and it was time to MOOooove.
I met Adam, who is cycling the GDMBR on a unicycle. Pretty neat mode of travel, top speed of 11 mph and no cruising down hills but very light and definitely much fewer things that can break. We did a whole bunch of climbing together and then parted ways before a long downhill.
Even after hitting the pavement, the road kept going up and down. Really tough hills down in the Gila National Forest. 1km to the second last KoM!
You definitely don't need to be a kid to ride in the back of a pickup!
Arrived in Pinos Altos just in time for sunset.
Tonight I stay with Damie and Carl, two warmshowers hosts in town. They have been part of the Tour of Gila for years.
The bike got a good bath.
Which revealed some pressing issues with the rear wheel.
As much as I enjoyed riding it this summer, 29" parts are incredibly difficult to find in mexico, the shock maintenance will be fairly expensive and not to mention the drive train and a new set of wheels.
So I need to get to St. George, Utah and grab my old bike, replace few things and return to Silver City, NM then go into Mexico. 600 miles one way.
HITCHHIKING!
Damie drove me up 40 miles to the town where she worked, then I got a short ride to a junction in the middle of nowhere, there I waited for 3 hours.
A conversation between two old motorcyclists:
"If you had to, would you eat that?"
"Eat what? Is that a grasshopper?"
"Yeah if you were stranded..."
Then came a pickup, two guys hopped off and started filling buckets of gravel from the pullout. I guess it's cheaper than buying it, haha!
At almost noon I was just getting ready to start walking when somebody stopped. Vincent was going about 140 miles in the right direction! He helped me figure out a route and even suggested where the best places to wait on the way were. He's been a trucker for 18 years, I asked him:
"Out of all the places youve seen, whats your favorite?"
"Home."
Well into Arizona now, having lunch at the gas station I sat next to some natives, the wind was pretty strong and it reminded me of Ontario. Except that instead of leaves being blown around there was garbage here.
A woman driving 15 miles to pick up her kids gave me a lift, short ride but rule #1 is to never refuse a ride. I walked across the town of Snowflake and found a decent spot.
A rancher stopped but he was only going 10 miles up the road, I figured this was too good of a spot to give up. Shortly after a woman from Washington stopped. She is going all the way up to the I-40 but headed east to Albuquerque for the hot air balloon festival. I almost went but that would add a couple of days to this trip, time which I don't have.
The I-40 ramp at Holbrook was nothing short of "You ain't getting a ride here"
Traffic coming from 3 different directions and barely any place to pull over.
But with at least 40 min walk to the other ramps which may or may not be better I figured I'll stay here today. A man driving to Flagstaff managed to pull over. He is a shoemaker for Renaissance shoes, normally drives all around USA attending Renaissance festivals.
"There's two cop cars from here to Flagstaff" - I could see where this is going...
"Do you have a radar detector or something?" I asked.
"Nope. It's all here." He said while pointing to his heart and accelerated to 100 miles per hour.
shaky shot of a train driving into the sunset.
Made it to Flagstaff and called my friends at Tuba city to check if they were in the area. I missed them by about 40 minutes, they were already driving back. I promised to stop by on the way back to Silver City and walked for about an hour to get to the Arizona Trail. Quiet, free camping just minutes from the highway.
Hitching out of Flagstaff was pretty good, just like last year when I hiked the Grand Canyon. A UPS driver (not in ups truck though) gave me a list 60 miles north and then I caught a ride with natives from Tuba City, headed up to Page to shop. Initial plan was to go via Marble Canyon and Jacob Lake but there are too many tourists that way and I doubt many would pick up hitchhikers. Plus to be honest I should have at least shaved before hitting the road.
Especially those Chinese tourists. It makes my day looking at their face expressions as they pass by. Two cars slowed down to take photos of me with their cell phones and another with a DSLR. Funny stuff!
"How far are you going?"
"Saint George."
Bingo!
Navajo man driving to see his kids in Utah. He also runs a wildhorse healing and taming place in Shonto, AZ. Maybe if things work out, I can stop by on the way back.
manhole covers... made in India... go figure!
Looks like the parts beat me to town. The money in the paypal account covered all of them. Even a suspension fork!
Thanks to everyone who has ever put some in there! :)
Reunited with Deadhorse!
There were even some left to send out some cards. So everyone that put in an address (that did not look funny!) should get one.
I'm staying few days with Bob and Carol, whom I first met in January 2015, then again as they were cycling across USA (riding the tandem up Monarch Pass).
I got a chance to put together a short video/trailer of this summer's ride:
So the whole blogging and video editing does take a lot of time. I can't think of many rest days that were actually spent resting and not on the computer. Its a lot of work to be doing while on the road but honestly, I just love seeing some comments and messages of people who have decided to start a bike trip because of this. :)
plus, since I don't know when I'll get to sit on a computer... I decided to put together SEE THE WORLD 4: National Parks.
Nothing fancy, just straight editing. I didn't get a chance to review before rendering but it looks alright!
1 hour video below:
Bob dropped me off just into Arizona, where I started hitching. In Kanab I caught a 4 hour ride in the right direction, at one point i woke up to overhear this conversation:
"He's in a car with strangers and then falls asleep"
"Should I stop to surprise him?"
I doubt I would be more surprised than the last time I woke up in a car, the driver fell asleep and we went into te ditch of the Alaska Hwy in Yukon.
The more I talked to that couple, the more I wished I had more time to spend near Zion park.
Another quick ride and I was in rock point, I saw a man sleeping just inches away from the white line on the road. Tried to wake him up but he seemed too drunk to move. I ran over to a school to ask for help, to which the man said:
"Don't worry, that's normal"
...
So I got a permission to camp on schoolgrounds on the condition I wake up and leave before school starts next morning. Decided to save time and sleep without tent tonight.
Great idea! 11pm I woke up to a dog licking my face. Brown dog and black dog (that's what their tags actually say) were a little too friendly.
After I managed to get them off me, they went to sleep few feet away, only to wake me up at 2am when they started howling... ah, dog life.
the dog days are not over. This is just the beginning!!!
View from where I slept, definitely roughing it out tonight...
In the morning, I made the unfortunate mistake of giving ach half a burrito. They were now glued to me and I wasn't sure if people driving by thought I had two dogs with me...
Few rides later, I made it to Sanders, where I spent an awful long time waiting. A man hitchhiking with a jerry can came and got a ride right away. A woman picked me and a navajo man and drove us 3 miles up.
He took off while I stood at that junction. Next ride got both of us and we both sat in the back.
Navajo man, not impressed!
He took off again while I waited. A minute later, a pickup pulling a trailer was turning around with him in it. The woman backtracked 10 miles to give both of us a ride. Below: the navajo man walking down the road.
Two more rides in the back bought the total to 5, a new record!
Sometimes there wasn't much space...
Next spot had a nice goat to hang around with but I was definitely missing out on rides.
I grabbed him some fresh grass before I left.
#6 in the back, this is absolutely awesome.
Another short ride, bringing the daily total to 13 and only 210 miles. He dropped me off at Luna, New Mexico where I walked for 2 hours with no luck. Clouds and dark used to bother me before but it wasn't a big deal now. That kind of bothers me...
I set up camp off the road. A truck pulled over, 2 men came out toward me with flashlights.
"US fish and game, is everything alright?"
They came close enough to see my tent and then left. Photo flash courtesy of US fish and game, still cant believe they spotted me in te dark while driving from the highway.
Man it poured all night, woke up few times from water dripping from my tent. Second car in the morning picked me up, got to sit in the back again but after Kevin got me breakfast, I got promoted to the front seat (with some re-arranging of all the photo gear there!). He then decided to drive me down to Silver City.
Got a borrowed wheel from Chris Murray, as my supernova infinity hub had siezed. A rebuild costs $30 plus shipping. For $20, I can get a new hub that can be serviced anywhere. So long dynamo...
The super awesome Gila Hike & Bike and the Bike works helped me put the bike together. Blackburn hooked me up with a frame bag (since the one I had on the Jet 9 is specific to its frame).
The other good news is that I found my Alaska and Northwest Territories license plates! They were not lost to TSA as I thought!!! So I'll be rocking those in mexico!
Nothing too interesting on the road today, pavement was boring but the dirt was great riding.
Just as I was thinking how boring today was I rolled into Hachita. A man drove up to me honking.
Jeffrey offered me a place to stay, a mile down the road and asked:
"Do you want a beer like right now?"
"No, I'm ok".
Trailmagic in the works. I am thankful to have a place to stay tonight.
Jeff runs the shuttle service to the CDT and GDMBR start/end points on the border. He's been doing that for years and is now working into making Hachita's community hall into a cyclist/hiker hostel. Iits people like him that make those tiny dots on the map welcoming places for travelers!
So we came to the conclusion that its best to leave the Alaska plate but I'll be keeping the Northwest Territories one, get a South African flag and if asked where I'm from, I'd say The Netherlands... the only black-haired man in the whole country!!!
As for the Alaska plate, it will stay here on the wall until I go and race the Tour Divide someday...
Well, it's been a long time since I had to ride in headwind. It took a while to accept that doing 6-7 miles per hour wasn't that bad. The CDT ends on the other side of the Hatchet mountains but antelope wells is 25 miles south.
So I was gonna reflect on the ride this summer... but it's not even over. Its just getting started. Can't believe I finally made it to Mexico. After 10 minutes of nodding and smiling, I think I got a 6 month visa. The woman at the actual border spoke little english, she searched my backpack probably wondering why I am carrying so many books (I don't know either).
An hour later on the wrong road and I already got lost. It was either 8 mile backtrack or try to cut to the highway. I chose the latter. I think I'll love Mexico!!!
Meanwhile, updating this blog post on my tablet was probably the most difficult and frustrating thing I've done since pushing my bike over Tioga Pass in Yosemite. There probably wont be many updates thru central america unless I find a laptop or pc I can use.
see you out there!