Up at 5:30 this morning. Good sleep last night but hard to get up this morning..
Left the hotel at 6:10 nice morning calling for thunder showers this afternoon so I might get my first rain today.
Stopped at a gas station loaded up on water drinks orange juice and then ready to hit the road
Stop by McDonald’s for three breakfast burritos.
8 AM I’m 18 1/2 miles in reach the turn off from 605 to 5:09 this is where I have to take an alternate route to get around the forest fires again. I’m having to do this through most of northern New Mexico to avoid the fires in the national Forrest’s. it’s gonna swing me way out west and then come back around north to Cuba instead of doing pretty much a straight shot across the canyons. Problem is it’s 100 miles of nothing, no water, no nothing from here to Cuba. Oh well it’s early I’m feeling good.
9:10 AM I’m at 31.6 miles back up to 7,500 feet. Been slowly climbing all morning one to 2% grade just finished my second big climb about 7 to 9% grade. Resting at the top finishing off some orange juice and water before I go down the other side. It’s about 85° nice breeze feels good. I worked up a huge sweat coming up this climb, my jersey is soaked, it’s dripping from under my helmet, but on the ride down the other side I completely air dry. Making good time and feeling good.
12 o’clock and 65 miles in and I came to the place where I thought I could get water and where I was possibly going to camp for the night but it’s just a barren waste land—it’s a closed up market and it’s noon. I’m feeling good I’ve got plenty of water so I’m gonna push on to Cuba today.
12:30 and it is hot. Just up the road I saw what I thought looked like a store, but I was sure I was hallucinating. As I got closer I thought it was just some public works facility. Then I saw the sign for a laundromat. Sure enough it was a little market and laundromat out here in the middle of the desert. I hadn’t seen a single business in 70 miles and thought I wouldn’t see one for another 50. Got an ice cream sandwich, peach tea, coke, bottle of water and cup of ice. Sitting here in the laundromat cooling off and enjoying it. Really needed this break to recharge for the next 50 miles to Cuba. Just have to resist the urge to site here for too long.
3:06 PM I’m at 84.3 miles in the last 15 miles or so has been brutal. I’ve been heading south east into a headwind and just going up and down between about 6700 feet and 7000 feet. That’s sort of a bike riders worst nightmare or close to it peddling into my head killing yourself going up the hill and then you still have to pedal going down the other side.
3:50 PM 93 miles in I came to another little oasis out of nowhere in the form of a little convenience store. I got a large Pepsi with a bottle of ice, Diet Coke and orange and a bottle of unsweet tea. I’ve been fighting the wind and heat for hours, So this is like heaven. I’m gonna sit here and enjoy this for a bit and then I’ve got about 29 miles to make it to Cuba. That will complete this 120 mile Choco alternate—road ride in hell— to circle around the Cibola national Forest and miss the fires and road closures.
I’m not sure what’s north of Cuba, So we’ll have to research tonight and see what tomorrow holds.
4:30 and 94.7 miles in finally heading north northeast got the wind helping me out again—I needed this.
6:04 PM 111 miles in and I’m trapped between two huge thunderstorms. The one in front of me is hovering over the mountains has a lot of lightning and that’s the one I’m headed straight toward. I think the one behind me is headed in the other direction. So I pulled off the road by a big pile of dirt probably 10 feet high and I’m just sitting beside it — don’t know if that’s a good idea or not. I should’ve looked up what to do when you’re in open land in a lightning storm. I do that tonight for future reference.
7:30pm and I finally pull in to Cuba, soaked to the bone. The first motel I come across has a sign reading “Welcome Divide Hikers”. That hotel looked scraggly even compared to my standards, so I did something I rarely do and passes it up. Rode about a half mile more into town and saw a little less scraggly one and decided to take it. Stopped and the lady said $79 a night and she only takes cash. Being an old fashioned kind of guy I always carry cash so, no problem. Stayed in the .5 star motel—can’t remember the name in Cuba…not a tourist town from what I saw. Got in the room, got dry and went looking for food. The restaurant closed at 7, walked down to a McDonalds, but they only had drive through, can’t enter due to Covid, walked on down the street to Subway and it was closed. So, stopped in the gas station and grabbed whatever looked edible—the only corn dog the had left for hot food, fretos, cheese dip, Diet Coke, cup of ice, peach tea, and water.
Went back to the room, ate and crashed…I was done for the day.
As I rode today I kept seeing signs with “Water is Life”. I know what they mean by that after riding this today. Wasn’t sure if I was going to include this or not, but at one point today I came upon a horse with its leg stuck in a cattle grate. It had obviously been there quite a while—it was mid day and hovering around 100 degrees. He was alive, but didn’t even have the energy to look at me…just sitting there in a daze. I stopped and saw a truck coming down the dirt road…the driver drove past the horse and didn’t even look at it. I sat there for another 5 minutes and another truck came down the road and passed by it—I waved down the truck and the guy rolled down the window and asked if I was ok. I said yes, but is anyone going to help the horse. He said the horse is done for, someone would come out later with some equipment and take care of it. As I biked on down the road I saw three more horses and a colt walking by the road toward where that horse was—they all looked about half starved. I saw several other horses eating sage on the side of the road today. The land is fenced on both sides of the road. I noticed everything inside the fence was brown and dead—the only hint of green was some sage growing alongside the road. I never saw water anywhere along this stretch. I came to the conclusion that the horses would look for a way to get past the fence to the green by the road—that was probably what drove that horse to try and walk across a cattle grid to the road. I don’t see how anything lives out here in this 120 mile stretch I just rode—it is brutal.
pics:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/hlovh302wqyq5n2/AAAs9yrt15EvGe5_nF1Pmts-a?dl=0
