Day 5 23 miles...
We left Silver City, ready to ride but in the pickup truck. The bike route would have been fun on the pavement, up and then down a long windy narrow mountain road with no painted lines, limited sight lines and no guard rails and drop offs into pain/injury/death zone. We had driven the road the day before on the way to the Cliff dwellings and I had my doubts about the other drivers on the road, on our way back to Silver City a few close calls in the truck made me realize that the risk to the kids was higher than my liking, and the fact that we could avoid the risk with a short shuttle by truck we took the shuttle/bump. We started our ride at the start of the dirt road, we were fully loaded and I started the day by tipping over, a common thing for me these days, I haven't fallen on a bike in years and now I'm doing it almost daily, maybe switching to clipless pedals recently was a mistake. The nice thing is with the bike fully loaded the bike lands on the panniers and not me. The bike is a beast! We started with a climb and it was a grind, the road had been freshly graveled and the gravel was deep, the back wheels would spin out and/or the front end washing out in the loose gravel. As we topped the climb the gravel got deeper and the washboards became brutal. It was rough first day with fully loaded bikes our pace was brought to a crawl as we renamed our trip the family hike a bike the divide. we found ourselves pushing our bikes up the hills as the gravel was so thick and the washboards so big. The washboards were of the "perfect" size spacing in that we were never sitting flat but always climbing a bump or dropping into one. Ina and I were both thinking the same thing with out sharing our thoughts, "If this is what were up against then I quit." We ground our way north and up watching the hours tick by as we swallowed dust and felt our joints and bums aches from the constant abuse. By mid afternoon we had finally gotten a decent downhill into the trees/ shade where we met up with our Mary( our sag wagon).
While resting in the shade we met a local who laughed at the "fixed" road we had just ridden and he assured us the coming miles would be better and that the road we had just been on was much worse now that it had been "fixed". With no water in this drainage we decided to push on another 9 miles to the next drainage where there was water. In a move to build success into our day we stripped the panniers off our bikes and tossed them into the truck. The truck drove on and we started our hike a bike up out of the drainage. We made it to the top and then had a wonderful downhill dominate run into the next drainage, what a rush! We pulled into the next drainage refreshed, laughing and feeling like maybe we can do this crazy adventure.
Day 6 32 miles..
Well we said good by to our sag wagon on this day. Mary meet us for our last mid morning break, a much missed break in the next few days as she always had fresh fruit, and snacks for the kids in the truck. The sag wagon was a doubled edge sword, it was an incredible safety net, but it also limited us in being on the "ride" I was worried about my 70+ year old mother on some rough dirt roads in a rental truck, at the same time I was worried that we might not make the miles we needed to to meet her in a timely manner so she wouldn't worry. The gift it gave us was hauling water/gear/food during these first few days though gave us some time to ready our bodies and minds for the rigors of the ride. Saying good bye was tough but good, knowing we were on our own was scary but it was also liberating. Thanks to you mom for starting this wild adventure with us..
So the truck drove off and we followed in the dust cloud only much slower. Yesterday and today we had been riding in the mountains, happy to be out of the desert. shade was plentiful and the scenery was incredible. Coming from the northwest it was really cool to see other places that are just a beautiful but in a different way. Our fist lunch with out Mary was a familiar feeling as it finally felt as if we were back on a bike ride, a simple lunch, no truck sitting near by and just the four of us. We took a short break next to a small lake where we saw a small cliff dwelling across the lake, that would have been cool to check out but the no trespassing signs where thick, and as we mounted our bikes 20 minutes later we were told that we were trespassing(we were on the side of the road) and that everything around us was private...time to move on.
We rode on to a work center at Beaverhead, which is hours by car or truck to anywhere but to us was a great break as there was a clean pit toilet, a frost free for water and conversation with two local fire fighters. As the evening wore down smoke from a distant fires drifted in, a few days later those fires would merge and blow up and the smoke would be felt in Dallas Texas. (We watch the smoke build up from the north as we left Pie town a few days later.)
We made camp and found our old routine of making camp and cooking for four and I fell asleep wonder if we could make it on our own.
Day 7 43 miles
We got up early, loaded ourselves down with water and headed off to the north. We left the tress and found ourselves in grass lands with little shade and no water, we crossed the Divide a few more times. Crossing the continental divide is a non event, many of the crossing are un marked and in a non descript area. the only way we tell is by marks on the map or a beeb from the GPS.
The roads are dirt but we have found a groove and feel as if we are cruising, Maya as always is dusting us on the climbs and in the flats, only her timidness on the down hills slows her down. Wiley is coming into his own and is powering along putting down a huge day. Ina and I still find ourselves in the hike a bike mode at times. We are feeling good and progress is happening, we top off our water bags at a stock tank and continues to ride as the kids wanted to put down some miles. we ended up coyote camping on the top of a hill in the trees where we ate well and sleep even better.
Day 8 27 miles
Today was a special day as Maya turned 14 and I turned 48. She was and still is the greatest birthday gift ever.Well the day started out with a downhill that didn't last anywhere near long enough. We found ourselves back in the flats riding around the edges of a huge dry lake bed, the lake last had water during the Pleistocene era, so the land is dry! It was a hot day and a dry day , then we found ourselves in climb mode. Once again a mix of hike a bike and we slowly ground our way up and back into a few trees and shade. We had been told that there would be stock tanks at the "campground" and we found the stock tanks but they where dry. Ina found the "spring" or what is now a stock tank for refilling our now close to empty water bags. After pumping a few quarts of water and our new pump broke! what a piece of s____. We had used the origianl PUR filters for years and loved them, but for this trip we figured we should buy a new one and let our 20 year old gear retire, what a mistake! Luckily we have a limited supply of iodine tablets..
We curse the pump and "improvements" and make dinner along with birthday treats/(thanks mom) and crawl into the tents for a well deserved rest.
Day 9 31 miles.
Well today is Pie Town day. A place we have dreamed of and we are motivated. We figure we'll get to town sometime after lunch. We get up and ride and the kids are moving. They are motivated and by 1 pm we are riding into Pie Town. As we ride thru town a house grabs my attention and I think to myself that is familiar place and I'm sure we could get help there if we needed to. We ride into town... not much here but the Daily Pie is open and we go into order lunch and of course Pie. We are greeted by Michael the cook/chef/owner? who makes us the biggest 1/3 pound burgers ever, which we inhale. Maya wants to stay in the cafe and never leave as we order slices of pie and drink glass after glass of water and steal sips of chocolate milkshakes from the kids. Michael came over to chat and had a neat conversation with Wiley about how he thinks of cooking as the ultimate art, cause you make it someone enjoys it and you move on and hundreds of years later no one is discussing what you did or didn't do. Michael also mentioned the Toaster house which sent the little bells to ringing in my head. The Toaster House is a home in Pie town that has been opened to hikes and bikers on the great divide. Nita, the owner has moved a few miles out of town, but when she lived in the house with her family of 5 kids she had an open door/porch policy with the thru travelers who always found a place to rest/hydrate/restock. Now that she has moved out the house is a mail drop for hikers and a home with beds, couches, tables, shower, toilet, etc open for use.
We headed down to the house and moved in for the night. What a treat to spread out and get clean. If the walls could talk the house would tell stories of not only the travelers who have recovered and rejoiced there but the story of Nita family s there are memento's thru out the house of her family. a friendly face on a photo in a knot hole in the interior finish, to the books on the shelves. what a place.
I head a few miles out of town on my bike to the local "store" to buy more food as the Daily Pie shuts down at 4pm and when I return there is a car in the driveway and we get to meet Nita. What a joy.. we share stories and agree to meet for breakfast in the morning at the cafe.
We fall asleep feeling that there is so much good in the world, and that we have just found some of it.
Day 10 55 miles
Breakfast is incredible and Michael shows his stuff in the kitchen again not only with food but with passion and conversation outside as well. Nita is truly a local and greets everyone who comes thru the door, and is treated to a breakfast that isn't on the menu. After breakfast Nita gave us a tour of Pie town and we got to check out the VLPA site that has a cousin in Brewster, very cool. Breakfast is incredible and Michael shows his stuff in the kitchen again not only with food but with passion and conversation outside as well. Nita is truly a local and greets everyone who comes thru the door, and is treated to a breakfast that isn't on the menu. After breakfast Nita gave us a tour of Pie town and we got to check out the VLPA site that has a cousin in Brewster, very cool.
We rolled out of Pie town late in the morning to warnings of high winds and rattlesnakes.
No rattlesnakes but lots of wind, a little head wind a lot of side wind then at the end of the day tail wind. We had plans of a shorter day than we did but when we came to the area we wanted to camp there wasn't any shade or break from the wind so we pushed on. the washboard and deep sand paid a toll on our bodies and minds. Lots of tipping over, washing out in the sand or grinding to a stop in the deep sand. We finally hit pavement around 5 pm. Our bodies were aching from the washboards and we planning on taking the paved alternative to Grants.
Earlier in the day I had stopped Maya to readjust part of her load when she looked off the road and there were 2 bikers who said that the dirt section was dry and not very pretty. Where the folks in Pie Town all talked about the paved road and the beauty of the "Narrows", so pavement it was.
we all loved the smooth ride and the tailwind at times we were cruising 18 mph with out pedaling and the miles flew by as we worked our way closer to Grants and a rest day. 22 miles after hitting the pavement we rolled into a campground where the wind hammered us all night long.
Day 11-12 18 miles.
Well we were motivated to make it to Grants and by lunch time we were outside the hotel. The miles were a grind with the tail wind shifting to a side/headwind as our course changed. The wind was so strong sometimes we came to a stop in the middle of the road. all we could do was grin and bear it and grind our way up and down the hills a mile at a time till we reached the confines of the hotel.
Now here we sit, updating, eating, resting getting ready for the next push to Cuba, NM. Maya has been asking for more weight and her bike has had a load on it, a good size load and all on the back, so every once and a while when maya is off the bike it will wheelie on her and send her scrambling as everything crashes to the ground. a new front rack and panniers are on their way as we speak via fed ex so hopefully maya can ride a more stable bike, tomorrow , we'll see how it goes..
More when we land again in a few days or weeks
cheers