Sat-Sun, May 27-28 – Days 8-9
Yesterday we cruised into Pie Town in the morning and feasted on pie and chili burgers. The lady (Kathy?) at the Pie-O-Neer told us about a house where the CDT hikers hang out, so we stopped there and I fixed another flat. Nobody was home, though, we cruised out again at 5 or 6 after the burgers had settled a little. There were fences for miles, and we ended up pulling off and setting up camp right behind two “no trespassing” signs – the only place that wasn’t fenced in.
Turned out it was about 300 yards from somebody’s house – basically in their front yard. They drove in about 25 yards away and I swear the guy looked right at us, but either they didn’t notice us or they didn’t care.
We packed up early, and I left just as the sun peeked out. Tim was going to take the paved road (60 miles), and I was going on the official 75 mile route on gravel. We’d meet up in Grants. It was one of my best days ever on a bike – great scenery, favorable winds (gale force by the end), good roads, the works. I was into Grants by 3:00 or so. Tim made it by one and already had a hotel by the time I got there.
The knee is a little stiff, but in a different spot than it was before. I will survive.
Tim and I have at least a temporary fix for our pace issues. We’re just going to set a spot and meet there at the end of the day. The miles will stay sort of low (we need 50 a day to avoid me being divorced when I get back, and we’ve been well short of that so far). But, we both get to ride at our own pace, and I suspect that at some point the totals will edge up. Tim is already a lot stronger than he was when we started.
Water is still an issue, but it’s becoming a little less critical. Everything is very dry, and some of the forest along the way was closed. But it’s a little bit cooler, we’re also covering more miles a day, and I think we’re getting more used to the heat. All of those things mean we don’t have to carry quite as much water as before.
Day 8 stats:
45 miles
2500 feet climbing
Day 9 stats:
75 miles
2000 feet of climbing
Turned out it was about 300 yards from somebody’s house – basically in their front yard. They drove in about 25 yards away and I swear the guy looked right at us, but either they didn’t notice us or they didn’t care.
We packed up early, and I left just as the sun peeked out. Tim was going to take the paved road (60 miles), and I was going on the official 75 mile route on gravel. We’d meet up in Grants. It was one of my best days ever on a bike – great scenery, favorable winds (gale force by the end), good roads, the works. I was into Grants by 3:00 or so. Tim made it by one and already had a hotel by the time I got there.
The knee is a little stiff, but in a different spot than it was before. I will survive.
Tim and I have at least a temporary fix for our pace issues. We’re just going to set a spot and meet there at the end of the day. The miles will stay sort of low (we need 50 a day to avoid me being divorced when I get back, and we’ve been well short of that so far). But, we both get to ride at our own pace, and I suspect that at some point the totals will edge up. Tim is already a lot stronger than he was when we started.
Water is still an issue, but it’s becoming a little less critical. Everything is very dry, and some of the forest along the way was closed. But it’s a little bit cooler, we’re also covering more miles a day, and I think we’re getting more used to the heat. All of those things mean we don’t have to carry quite as much water as before.
Day 8 stats:
45 miles
2500 feet climbing
Day 9 stats:
75 miles
2000 feet of climbing
posted by Mike at 11:56 AM
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