Day 30: How Much of This Mud Is Cow Poop Do You Think?
Saturday July 18
Hopewell Lake Campground, NM to Abiquiu, NM
56.4 miles, 2861 ft climbed, 1966.9 cumulative miles
After our epic day yesterday, we both slept like the dead and allowed ourselves to sleep in (haha) til 6am. We awakened to some of the heaviest dew we’ve experienced yet. It hadn’t rained but we both had little puddles on the floor of our tents. The sun was up and it was shaking up to be a warmer day which helped soften the blow of putting our feet back into squishy wet cold shoes.
Today we would have about 6,000 feet of descent and only around 2,000 feet of gain according to our mapping tools. Our fingers were crossed that the road surfaces would actually allow us to descend without a lot of work. But everyone says how bad the roads in NM are so we were braced for slow going. What we got was a mix. Some fast flowy fun downhill and some chunky rocky filling-loosening downhill and a lot more mud and huge puddles. We have both learned to keep our mouths closed while descending after muddy sections. Our tires pick up the mud and then as we descend, they flick clumps and globs of mud in every direction, seemingly defying the laws of physics. So an open mouth is bad. Especially since there are cows everywhere so the mud getting all over us most likely has cow poop in it.
We came to the tiny town of Canon Plaza where we enjoyed snacks and beverages sold by Joe from a roadside shed, filling in for the woman who usually runs it while she’s on vacation. She was featured in the film about the Tour Divide, Ride the Divide. It was fun to see it in person since we’d both seen the film and Joe was a jovial delight to chat with. Duke the dog soaked up love and took a nap with his head resting on Irena’s front wheel.
We passed through the town of Vallecitos next, bear spray in hand with safety off, as this town is infamous for vicious dogs that chase and nip at cyclists. Joe had told us some new folks have moved in and have been working to curb the issue but we felt better to be safe than sorry. Not a single loose dog was in sight. Phew!
After a little climbing and a fun descent where a gravel race was taking place and we got to cheer for the climbers heading up as we descended, we dropped enough elevation that in a matter of less than an hour, we went from ponderosa forests to desert. It felt like suddenly we were truly plunked into the southwest.
We had a nice tailwind speeding us down the paved highway toward Abiquiu as we watched with trepidation the progression of a huge storm cell not too far from us. Not 20 minutes after we got to our resupply spot in Abiquiu and were enjoying snacks under their covered entryway did the wind pick up, thunder start rumbling, and downpours commence. Close call! We were giddy with laughter at our luck on this one.
We arrived at the amazing riverside property of Goldie who hosts cyclists for $10 per night which includes a hot shower and WiFi. She also happens to be a massage therapist so Sarah’s quads got a blissful 30 minutes of TLC. Tomorrow we head toward Cuba.
Published July 19, 2021