65 miles, 6:24/8:00

My friend Susie is picking us up in Antelope Wells, NM at the end of this trip on October 4th. We’re looking forward to a fun drive up with her, which will include a short stay on the way in Ojo Caliente, some hot springs I’ve been hearing about for years but have not been to yet. Susie had that particular time available to pick us up, so that’s when we need to be done. In order for us to have a rest day we must ride a double and earn it. As we’ve talked with other riders we learn this seems to be called a “Double McCoy” since McCoy is the writer of the guide book we follow. Anyway, today seems like a good day to ride a Double McCoy so we do. The mileage is just a bit more than yesterday, and the last few miles are downhill on the elevation profile, so we think we can get to Del Norte before the post office closes so we can retrieve our supply box.

The day starts with another chilly morning as we start the rolling but gradual descent from mixed conifer forests through various ecosystems as we lose elevation. As the miles roll by we find ourselves past the pinyon-juniper forests and down in another sage-filled basin heading into the wind. Across the basin lie rolling lava-rock strewn hills one after another, and the miles tick ever-so-slowly by. This kind of riding slows us down. The area is so rugged and beautiful all at the same time, and we watch hawks soar by, gliding close to take a look at these rolling figures passing through their territory.

As the sun gets lower we realize we’re not going to make the post office before it closes. That’s OK, we can go in the morning on the way out of town, but it’s much better to do all the re-packaging and sorting before we head to the grocery. Always so much to do when we get into a town.

The last ten or fifteen miles we climb up over rolling hills on roads of decreasing quality. Then we find ourselves on a two-track, sandy and rocky jeep road rolling over the hills and we’re sailing along like we’re riding single track. This is fun stuff on an unloaded mountain bike, and just a little more work on a loaded one. As we crest the final hill we see Del Norte down below and we’re anxious to zoom down there and get dinner started. It’s been a long day. We start down and get slowed by some sand. Then some more. And soon we’re pushing. And pushing. And pushing. Ugh! Good thing we didn’t really need to get to the post office tonight! Finally we hit the end of the sand and ride into town to find the RV campground by the river.

It’s getting late so I put up the tent and Dave cooks dinner. Then he heads out to get groceries and scout the restaurant options. While he’s gone I write up the last few days from my journal notes so I can hopefully post updates in the morning. We’ve discovered there’s wireless internet available at a restaurant where we can have breakfast. I do laundry while he’s shopping. We both take showers, get to bed late and sleep hard.