Day 24: Pie Town - Bursum Road - SilverCity

As I woke up in the early morning I was shit-scared of the following 48 hours. I was shaking like a leaf. Don't lose the nerves now - I thought by myself. There were so many doubts. 250 miles in one single push after 23 days, almost no information about the reroute (resupply possibilities, dogs, how much climbing), riding the whole night in a remote area and so on. I was like paralyzed and couldn’t get out of my bed. But quitting the race, because I am a pussy was no solution. For sure this would be the toughest day in my life.

Just reluctant the breakfast found its way into my stomach.

In the dark I took the second paved alternative route called El Malpais alternate toward Pie Town. The new rear tire (hereinafter called “The compactor”) together with the inner tube seemed to have a rolling resistant far beyond from good and evil. The noises sounded like the tire would plow the pavement.   

In the dawn I reached El Malpais National Monument with some really nice rock formation. The rising sun dipped the rocks in a beautiful orange shinning light. That I really loved during the last three weeks. You see things in a foreign country what you never would see only as a tourist. I took all the time I needed for taking some pictures and reading information panels. I did everything just for switching my mind to other thoughts.

Like out of nowhere on this God-forsaken road a road cyclist caught me up from behind and we exchanged a couple of words. Ok, today was Sunday – maybe an explanation. About half a mile ahead of me he turned around. Apparently half of his training ride was over. As he came across he was cheering me. Such small nice touches were one reason why I was still in the race.

I stopped at a small gravel covered parking lot with some trash cans to dump my trash. As I hit the pavement again my front tire slipped sideward’s. The tire was loosing air. When will these miseries end, actually? There was a lot of broken glass around the trash cans. Obviously I got some into my tire. My sealant needed some time to fix the hole. Unfortunately the new pump had no adapter for presta valves inside and the combination of pump, my own adapter and tubeless valve didn’t want harmonize together. I was not able to pump up the tire with the necessary pressure. I was just loosing air through the valve while I was pumping up the tire. After almost one hour in the hot sun I was finally able to fix the problem and the tire kept the air. Just a short time after this glitch I left the pavement and with it the alternative route. This was now a hardcore test for the front tire. The exciting question now - would the tire be able to keep the air or not? It was!

The road was extremely dusty and dry and the ground was alternating from gravel to sand. It was a very exhausting section that in addition reduced my pace. The landscape wasn’t boring at all. In the distance some mountain ranges I was approaching to and some cattle ranches next to the road. For a little bit more motivation I cramped my Smartphone under my front harness for some music. Not so bad at all, some music at a hot dusty road with a view. I opened the zipper of my jersey until the belly bottom and the music pushed me more like the noises from my new compactor. I already saw the paved road that was traversing Pie Town as I rode over a washboard section. In the corner of my eye I still saw how my Smartphone slipped through the strap of the harness. I tried to grab it and just got the cable from my ear plugs between my fingers. The falling phone notched out the cable, bumped at the front tire and touched the ground right ahead of the tire. Next what I noticed was two times a bub, bub. I didn’t know whether I should laugh or cry now. I did the first one. Unbelievable! Of course the glass couldn’t resist my compactor and I was not able to unlock the phone anymore. If the shit of the last few days had happened two weeks ago I had definitely pulled the plug now. What was the slogan from Matthew Lee in the movie? “You will suffer through challenges”

This was the point where I didn’t believe in a concatenation of unfortunate circumstances anymore. This was a test, a mental endurance test. The problem what I now faced off was the fact that all the ACA maps, the cue sheets, my own excel list with all the distances and service points and the email from Matthew about the fire reroute were on the phone. I had to balance very carefully if I wanted be able to go on without this information. The cue sheets with its service points I had also as POI’s in my GPS. On the fire reroute all this information (except the email from Matthew) are useless anyway and for the last jump from Silver City to the boarder not absolutely necessary.

At the outside of the Pie Town Café I met J.D. Pauls again who was struggling with a cracked frame. He was now riding together with Hamish McKee. I was reassured that I am not the only one who was dogged by bad luck. Inside the café I met my old fellows Paul and Mason again. Mason gave me a copy of the email from Matthew about the reroute. In contrast to the email for the first reroute I had the description already stored firmly in my mind.

Normally in my opinion the Americans are not able to make good cake (sorry for that). The German cake is the best all over the world anyway. After two slices of pie (there were just two left of this special one :-( ) I was absolutely convinced that Pie Town Café is an exception and did its good reputation more than justice.

Now I had to inform my wife about my damaged Smartphone. But without a Smartphone??? I asked for a telephone call to Germany and the owner gave me her laptop so I was able to write an email. 5 minutes after I sent the email my wife phoned me in the café. That was very quick. We discussed the options and I told her that I will go on. Quitting the race so close to the finish was not an option for me anymore. Now she had only the option to rely on the Spot messenger. No emails and phone calls from my side anymore.

I stocked up my water resources to the top and at 2:00 pm I left Pie Town, the last outpost, before I hit a lot of nothing. Now 70 miles to the junction of road 28 (Bursum road) and I hoped to get there before it would getting dark. All the other guys who left Pie Town before me were planning to camp at the junction.

I was riding directly toward a thunderstorm but fortunately it passed away before I hit the rain. I just saw the deep tire tracks at the slightly muddy road. Sometimes it is better to start later. They had to struggle a little bit more like me, because the road was just about to dry out again. After I left the mountain ranges behind me the landscape got more and more boring. I reached a vast plain with ranch land. Who is running a ranch in this wasteland I was asking not just today by myself? And if I saw the cattle that wouldn’t even be enough for one burger. The road at the edge of this huge nothing got muddier so I had to avoid the muddiest parts by zick-zacking from one side to another. The mud slowed me down and in the meantime I hit the 120 mile marker. My legs were only pedalling because they had to. It was predictable that I wouldn’t reach the junction to Bursum road before dusk.

I switched my flashlight on. It was completely dark as I hit the junction. Left, the Gila and right – a leap in the dark, literally. A big advantage for me was that I had the entire Bursum road well marked at my OSM map on my GPS. If the map was correct I couldn’t get lost even in the darkness. Merely a little bit concerning was the fact that my wife told me some other riders needed more than 13 hours for this section. 13 hours for just 50 miles?? Both Google Maps and my GPS stated this section is paved, but obviously it wasn’t! After 140 miles my legs were done and I had not the faintest idea how much climbing was still ahead of me. And riding on a gravel road in the dark without any company was not so clever at all.

I took a seat on the ground right in front of a road sign, switched off my flashlight and leant my tired head at the pole for just a short break with some food. I saw the lightning in the far and parts of the starry sky. This was maybe the most wired situation at the whole TD, sitting tired in the back of beyond after 140 miles at 9:45 pm in complete darkness at a road sign without any idea how the next few hours will look like and having a snack.

This kind of gravel was new on the TD. Not rough but not really smooth. No worn out track to follow. Together with my compactor and the smooth ascending road I was done just after 10 minutes. Most of the following uphills with this very inconvenient gravel I was pushing my bike. Two hours later I became so tired that I began to search for a spot where I could place my sleeping pad together with my sleeping bag (we remember, my tent was on the way to Vegas). As far as I could see it in the beam of the light I was on a plateau with some huge pine trees and a lot of cattle dump. But with my Therm-a-Rest NeoAir pad I had to be carefully. One sharp item on the ground and the pad was done. I was looking for a suitable spot but I couldn’t find one. A sign pointed out 9 miles until Willow creek. Willow creek could be everything, really just a creek or some houses with an outhouse. I decided to wait until Willow creek with my nap. Also it would mark the halfway of the 50 miles. I don’t know how long I rode or pushed up and down this plateau, but at least the gravel became better.

Matthew Lee had spoken from some significant turns in his email. Now I was directly standing in front of one. I rode on these wide gravel road and the GPS sent me with a right turn over a cattle gate onto a narrow track. I was quite sure having seen not a single sign. What would those guys do who are only navigating with the ACA map and the cue sheets? Never in my life would I make this turn. I would stay on the wider gravel road.
The track became more and more bumpy and steeper. Just a few moments later I was struggling with the steep challenging downhill, maybe during daylight not as challenging as in the dark. My tiredness abruptly disappeared. I was wide awake. At the very last moment I saw the big hole in the road. Parts of the road had slipped away. For sure I was approaching the flooded area. I finally reached the end of the downhill. At the right side there was something like a streambed. The road looked like the room of a three years old kid after the battle of the Lego warriors. Big boulders, all kind of trees and heaps of wood were laying all over in a mess. The former waterline of the flood was several feet above me. Unbelievable! Now I knew what “with a delay” would mean. I don’t know how long I pushed and climbed over trees and big rocks attended by some really freaky sounds from animals and these were not just birds (we remember again – bear spray and whistle were on the way to Vegas). Normally I am not very scary, but I was happy when I hit a wider forest road again. That didn’t change the situation at all but that gave me a little bit more security than in this messy terrain.

Willow creek was really just a creek and nothing else. No outhouse or something else where I could make a nap. But with all these strange noises around me I was not tired anymore. My GPS told me the road will go up to the plateau again. It was a moderate climb, but I wasn’t able to climb anymore. I pushed my bike. Unfortunately my last “5 hours energy” I used this morning already. Back at the plateau I looked in several pairs of eyes. They were glowing in the beam of my flashlight. I remembered the night drive in a jeep last year in South Africa.

The eyes belonged to some kind of deer. They kept some distance but didn’t run away. The right and the left side of the road were crowded with them. But that I was moving in bear area I got completely out of my mind. Only when I saw the information panel I was thinking about my bear spray and my whistle. The most important sentence and very encouraging to me: “Don’t walk at night and just in groups!” A-ha! From now on I was a little bit more concerned maybe a little bit scared. Of course this was one of the spookiest nights of my life where all this childhood nightmares came up again. After I passed the “Road closed” sign it was a steady up and down again on a twisting and turning road. Finally I reached a parking area with an outhouse. I was completely done. I parked my bike at the wall of the outhouse and took a seat in the entry, leant my head on the wall and five seconds later I fell asleep. I woke up 80 minutes later. It was already dawning and I had enough light to continue my ride without my flashlight. The road was leading a second time down to the creek. I compared the downhill more to a free fall. I didn’t need a whistle anymore. My brakes were making noises for three whistles. As I reached the end of the downhill the view was similar like tonight. The creek and on the right and left a mess. But apparently some workers had already started to clean up. The road was still bumpy and rugged from the water. I entered a very narrow gulch with some very old and historical houses. It was a ghost town. Unfortunately I didn’t take any picture.

The road turned from gravel to pavement and climbed steep out of the gulch. The downhill on a narrow mountain road to the highway was steep and pretty fast. For the 50 miles I needed in the end (without my nap) more than 9 hours. What a delay! A breakfast now would be a real find. I haven’t got a clue about any towns along the highway, but just after 4 miles I reached Glenwood. One further jerkwater town but with a Trading post and a Café! I was really happy about that. The  Golden Girls Café was a usual house where the rooms were filled with tables and chairs for the guests. The kitchen was open, so everybody could see how the female owner was preparing the breakfast. The Café was a lifesaver for me. I ordered pancakes and some other stuff.

A visit in the Trading post for a resupply and some Coke was mandatory and it didn’t bother me as I saw the thick dust layer on most of the packed groceries. What a weird store.

64 miles until Silver City and 28 hours for 190miles. The spooky Bursum road had clearly spoiled the overall result.
Every climb was brutal to me. But the breakfast gave me for a short time the ability to climb again. The next stop for an ice cream and a Coke I did in Buckhorn. I packed two cans of this liquid gold into my back pack. But apparently I am not able to ride with two full cans of Coke longer than one hour without empty it.
Dark clouds over the Gila were announcing the next thunderstorm. Today's air was extremely muggy. I compared the every day thunderstorms to playing battleship. During the whole TD I relatively had been spared from thunderstorms, but today the ship should be sinking. It started with a very pleasant light rain shower. The rain passed away and came back every few minutes, but he sun was still shining. I heard the thunder roaring and the alternating rain became heavier. Totally out of the blue suddenly all hell broke loose. Within seconds the sky was covered with dark clouds and the wind was lashing the rain horizontally against me and was pressing me to the middle of the lane. I wasn't able to ride anymore. I got off my bike and pushed against the stormy rain. From the surrounding landscape I just saw silhouettes. Two minutes later I was soaked and one further minute the inside of my shoes became a lake. And if that not were bad enough the lightning came in. The Spot messenger was flashing red. The device lost its connection. I turned it off. In five second distance lightning followed close by thunder was surrounding me. The rain was so heavy that the cars had to stop. I was totally pissed off. The final push to the border today - I could forget it now. This was not a usual thunderstorm. It seemed it was standing still and not moving. As the thunderstorm was raging above me I thought by myself that walking while the lightning is straight around me is not really clever and a potential deathtrap. Unfortunately I was in a section with no cover at all. 
It was raining as if God had broken off the shower head. The soil left and right beside the road became flooded. The only chance was to hunker down right here on the road. In this moment a van stopped right next to me and the window lifted down. "Do you wanna live?" I looked in the eyes of a younger guy. "Yes", I shouted against the roaring thunder. "Then come in". Wow! This is America, from a nightmare to a dream in just a few seconds. In Germany they had clapped their hands while the lightning was barbecuing me, because it is my own responsibility, finally. Totally soaked I took a seat in the fond of the van. Four guys and a dog were introducing themselves. We had a lot of time for some conversation until the thunderstorm passed by. Of course, I had to tell my TD story again. When I left the car I was still totally impressed by this nice touch.
To make a long story short. The whole way until Silver City it was raining. Though it was warm, I was shivering like leaves. I needed a hotel room as fast as possible. But before I visited Gila Hike & Bike and changed both tires just in case and arranged my pick up from the border tomorrow with Barin Beard, who was accidentally in the shop. I checked in at the Murray Hotel and dried out my whole stuff. Even the bills I had to dry out. The hotel had no internet access, but the public library had. 
I got a guest account and was able to check my emails, sent one home and checked the possibility of flying out to Phoenix after the race. But the costs for a flight to Phoenix raised so high that it was cheaper getting to Tucson tomorrow and rent a car. I merely had to convince my driver bringing me to Tucson instead back to Silver City.
After I did my shopping at a gas station I passed the neighbour hotel and saw Ed and James. It was a warm welcome. James looked like he was the victim of a knife battle. The whole body was covered with cuts. He explained me that he felt into a plant. I had never heard about it. Ed and I talked for a while before I left the hotel to dump my groceries in my room. I had an excellent dinner in a Mexican restaurant around the corner. On my way back I met Jamie Thomson at the reception of my hotel who did the TD in 2009. We had a long and interesting conversation about the race and its consequences, he from the distance and I right before the finish.