Day 20: In the back of beyond (NM)

Thomas left the motel 15 minutes before me. Like every morning I needed more time until all my gear was stored. It was still dark as I left the motel. I switched my flashlight on and followed the main street out of town. Unfortunately I forgot to buy new sun glasses yesterday and the gas station were we did our resupply was still closed. But a second one had open, already. I bought some simple sun glasses for just $15. Not too expensive, just in case I am gonna loose it again (…and I will).

One hour later I switched off my flashlight. The ride on the smooth ascending paved road toward Indiana Pass was the warm up for the following gravel part. Overall with 4000 feet of climbing the longest and with 12.000 feet at once the highest point during the whole Tour Divide. The uphill gradient was alternating between comfortable and uncomfortable. In the lower third of the gravel road my singlespeed friend caught me up from behind, pasted me by and was never seen again during the rest of the race. Unbelievable! How he is doing this?

It was most impressive riding in thin air on nearly 12.000 feet and be still surrounded by a deep forest. The timberline in the Alps is close to 7000 feet.

The climb wasn’t as easy as the last few passes on the past days but it was better than expected. I reached the totally unspectacular highest point of this tour for the mandatory photo. No sign that reflected the name of the pass. What a pity! At 12.000 feet in the early morning and it was not really cold at all. The first downhill was quite short. A lot of up’s and down’s on gravel roads crossed some kind of plateau. The landscape was amazing. Fir trees on fresh green shining meadows under a clear blue sky. I stopped a lot of times for some photos or simply to enjoy the view. One of the rare moments on the Divide where the alternating terrain during the last 10 miles didn’t bother me. On the main downhill I got problems to keep an eye on the very rough and bumpy road. The surrounding landscape was one reason, but the other one appeared in terms of a sudden fatigue. I was just about to fall asleep among this bone shaking downhill, no chance to keep my eyes open anymore. I was remembering the uphill to Huckleberry Pass on day 5. But this was a monotonous uphill and not a very rough downhill. Just with trouble I was able to keep me awake. Never was I so happy to reach the end of a downhill. I took a small break and on the very bumpy and rough uphill toward Platoro I felt like nothing had happened before. On the also rough downhill to Platoro everything seemed to be fine again. Very strange!

I stopped for lunch at the Skyline lodge. Thomas had finished lunch already and was just about to heading on. I ordered a burger in the restaurant and bought some water and snacks for the afternoon. As I left the lodge the sky was covered with clouds and the first rain came down. Most of the next 20 miles until Horca was downhill on gravel roads. Like every afternoon I had to take cover under a fir tree due to a heavy rain shower. I heard the thunderstorms, but today they left me alone. In Horca I hit the paved mountain pass road up to La Manga Pass. Completely out of my mind was the La Manga Challenge. This was a competition for all riders to beat the time of 37 minutes up to the pass. I also didn’t see the start line on the pavement. But in my condition with my already done legs I would need 1 hour and 37 minutes. Getting to the top was a single retching. My goal today was entering New Mexico and set up a camp at Lagunitas campground, just 15 miles behind the state line. With La Manga Pass the big major climbs were laying behind me and if everything would be fine I was able to finish in less than 25 days. But what I didn’t know at this point was the fact that New Mexico turned out to be a disaster for me.

And with leaving the paved road the disaster had announced its arrival.

Like someone pushed a button the gravel road was some of the worst during the last 3 weeks. Even the smother uphills until the state line were hardly ridable. Not even a nice good bye for an otherwise nice state like Colorado but a gusty welcome to New Mexico. For the 15 miles to the campground I estimated about 2 hours. But in the end I will need almost the double time. The landscape was getting more and more boring the track more and more worse. Steep, unridable sections alternating with bumpy and tricky downhills on gusty double track roads. With every mile I went on the angrier I got. Getting to the campground before darkness looked like a distant goal. As I pushed up my bike a further non ridable section I first didn’t noticed in all my ranting and raving the tent next to the track. The bike looked familiar to me. It was Thomas and he was still awake. Similar like me he was fed up about this absolutely crapped track. Because it was almost dark I used the rest of light to build up my tent next to Thomas tarp. Dinner was a Coke and half of some big pastry what I’ve bought in the Skyline lodge from that I didn’t know what it was, actually. Just with an also limited breakfast tomorrow and a “maybe” resupply possibility in Canon Plaza best preconditions for a real mother of day. I took New Mexico in my heart, already now.