I'm writing this sitting in a nice plaza in Silver City on a rest day, as I'm two (now one, I suppose) days ahead of schedule and had some time to kill. I've had quite a fun last 36 hours or so, a good example of why being on the road is so much fun and travel is so rewarding.
The ride yesterday was great. I woke up early with the Kiwis, and as usual they got a out a little bit before I did. We had a big climb to start the day and all three of us got mired in mud trying to get out of the canyon due to yesterday's rains. I had a bit of a better time of it then they did and only had to push for awhile, but they have less clearance on their tires and actually had to carry their bikes for a bit when the wheels refused to turn. That's a rough go when it was practically straight up hill.
Eventually the mud dried as it got hotter and I gained elevation, and the rest of the ride continued the day before's survey of all that the Divide can offer. At times it felt like riding in Montana or the Wyoming mountains again. Roller coaster terrain, at times rough roads, and amazing views.
A bit into the ride I had one of the most fun downhills of my entire riding career, flying down banked rough gravel turns into a canyon, and repeatedly crossing streams that were flowing over the road. It was divide downhill at it's finest.
Of the 60 miles the last 40 were paved, and about mile 30 I met up with the Kiwis at Lake Arnold where there was a small store for lunch. Three miles later we parted ways as they headed for a side trip up to the Gila Hotsprings and I continued 27ish more miles to Silver City over a very big 10-15 mile climb.
This climb and the interspersed and subsequent curvy downhills also turned out to be some of the best road riding I've ever done. The downhills were well banked and I could take them at near full speed, and the incredibly steep climbs were - incredibly steep and hot - but beautiful.
People were also very nice. Two cars slowed to offer me water (I had way more than I needed already) and another was someone who'd see me at a brewery in Salida a few weeks ago, and gave me a lead on a place to stay in Silver City! People are very nice around here! It gave me hope since a town of 10,000 could be hard to find a place to stay.
I rolled into Silver City around 4pm after exploring an old ghost town up on a hill called Pinos Alto a few miles earlier. A storm chased me downhill into town so I forgot to write down my exact stats, but it was something like 8-4pm pm riding, 6 hours on bike (it was hard riding), and 60 miles. After arriving I waited out a monster storm at a restertaunt, perfect timing!
Now the story gets even more interesting. Just before the storm hit I went to the bike shop to follow up on the lead for a place to stay, and met Alyssa outside, a local musician, artist, printmaker, and EMT. She offered to let me stay at her place a few blocks away and even take rest day there!
We ended up making friends pretty easily, and I met a bunch of her other friends at karaoke last night and then we played music into the early morning. I've really missed playing music, one of the many sacrifices that bike touring usually requires (although it pales in comparison to seperation from Andrea). After a good sleep in I'm now exploring this super cool town and having a very relaxing rest day.
This place has a lot going on for a town of only 10k. It has a vibrant southwestern style downtown with art galleries everywhere, but it doesn't have the feel of a touristy Colorado-style town. It's very much like a little Eugene.
I leave bright and early tomorrow to beat the heat on a hopefully relatively flat 78 mile ride to Hachita, then only 48 miles to Antelope Wells the following day and I've completed the US section of the Divide. Very soon I'll see Andrea in Tuscon and we'll start a roadtrip back home. A week from today I'll be waking up in my own bed. A pretty great thing to look forward to, but for now I've got some town exploring too do.
Also, unsurprisingly, I already miss biking and my thoughts often return to the downhills of yesterday. Yeesh.
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