Day 31: Our Last Climbs Over 10,000 Feet

Monday July 19

Abiquiu to Cuba, NM

79.5 miles, 8228 ft climbed, 2046.5 cumulative miles

Today was a big day and we got it done!

We had some anxiety about this section for the amount of climbing, possible heat, lack of water and quality of the roads. We were right about the climbing and the roads (if you can call them that) were absolutely awful. The first 20 miles took us 6 hours. Much of the day was spent taking our bikes for a walk both up and down hill. Luckily there was some shade as the road went through a high alpine forest. The heat was manageable although sweat still pooled behind our sunglasses and dripped off out foreheads and we sweated our clothes many times over.

We did our best to stay disciplined about our water and food intake to ensure we’d have enough for the day. We watched butterflies land on our bags and grasshoppers jump out of the way on the road as we rode through. The ant hills on the side of the road were a couple feet tall and built with the finest sparkling sand crystals. We joked they have a taste for bling. The cows are still mostly afraid of us and scurry when we pass by.

Just when we thought the climbing was over, there was more and more and some more. The day would take us up past 10,000 feet in elevation 3 times and it would be the last day where we’d climb that high so as we descended after the final pitch, we watched our Wahoo displays as the elevation dropped and cheered when we saw 9999. Finally finding pavement about 10 miles out of Cuba made the downhill smooth and fast.

Some logistical issues with our motel landed us at McDonald’s just before they closed and finally getting our room at dusk.