Day 38: Down to Double Digits

Monday July 26

Silver City, NM to Hachita, NM

78.3 miles, 2001 ft climbed, 2473.7 cumulative miles

We kind of sprung out of bed this morning with excitement that this would be our second to last day, in spite of being up late last night enjoying beer and margaritas with Evan. Our decision yesterday to stay put in Silver City for the afternoon in order to avoid the storms and flash flood warnings down the road was good for our souls. Sarah spent a few hours getting her phone back in working order and we both hosed all the caked mud and cow poop off our bikes and bags which was a welcome luxury. The hostel we stayed at, Triple Crown, was really nice and it was so great to just lounge around for a bit on comfy, clean beds. We did laundry for the first time in 5 days. Our clothes were truly ripe after the daily rain and mud and never really drying out so we were so happy to get them cleaned. So getting up this morning to ride in clean clothes and knowing the route would be relatively easy today made us both extra cheerful, in spite of lack of sleep.

We went to a local coffee shop for breakfast and were joined shortly thereafter by Evan who graciously helped Sarah finally fix an issue with a stuck brake caliper. She was so relieved to have a quiet bike again without any unnecessary brake friction.

We said our third goodbye to Evan and rolled out, with him running up ahead to grab video of us being dorks on bikes. We climbed a little on pavement for a while and then enjoyed a bunch of fast rolling gravel through deserts of yucca and prickly pear. It was hot and dry. HOORAY!

At mile 50 we had our last ice cream stop of the trip at the trading post in Separ. After 8 more miles of gravel, we did our very last pavement dance, getting onto the highway that would take us to Hachita. No more mud to worry about! No more riverbed Jeep roads or baby head rocks or washboard!! We saw highway signs for Antelope Wells - the border crossing that is our finish line. We are close enough that there are signs!!

Tomorrow morning we cruise down the highway for 45 more paved miles to the finish. Is this really happening?

Published July 26, 2021