(January 27)

Day 33 - Las Cruces to Deming NM

No Uncertain Terms

 

The view back into Las Cruces once I'd completed the climb up and out of the Rio Grande valley. If you zoom in, you can see the snow on the distance peaks east of Las Cruces.

If you zoom in, you can see the succession of signs advertising one of only a couple of stops between Las Cruces and Deming. When my family took driving vacations as a kid, one of the memories I'll always have of this part of the US are these series of big, yellow signs advertising things like moccasins, turquoise jewelry and kachina dolls.

With so few stops, I was on my own for lunch today. Ritz crackers with spray cheese and either Spam or Tuna Salad finished off with a CLIF bar. Pretty yummy!

 

The large, white object you can see the corner of is the dumpster I used as a windbreak so that everything you see didn't blow away to Mexico.

 

Up in these mountains at roughly 6500 ft. of elevation is Silver City, NM...a place I'll have come to come and visit another time because I'm sure not riding up there tomorrow!

 

 

After all the angst and indecision. After all the excellent comments and thoughts about my two route options, in the end I was told where to go in no uncertain terms. As clear as if a burning bush had appeared in the hotel parking lot this morning as I set out before dawn.

 

The wind was straight out of the North and blowing pretty hard. Now, you all know my recent experiences riding into the wind. Once was an adventure, but there was NO WAY I was voluntarily going to spend a day...which had to be a 60 mile day without fail if I went North since there were no hotels or even camping options at any lesser distance...riding into a wind like that. As it was, it was hard enough with it as a crosswind. But totally out of the question if I attempted to ride North.

 

So, West to Deming was not only the option I chose, in the end it was the only option.

 

To keep things pithy, here are the highlights in bulletpoint format:

 

• Before this morning I didn't realize it was possible to pair burritos and donuts. But Bosa's Burritos and Donuts has, apparently, made culinary history. Good donuts too!

• While the I-10 shoulder in Texas was so smooth, the I-10 shoulder in New Mexico was anything but. Wow, was it some terrible...TERRIBLE...asphalt. I can't even imagine how anyone could ride on that stuff on a road bike. It was hard enough on my gravel tires. Just brutal.

 

• I-10 was under construction so at two different points I was forced to get off my bike and walk it past huge lengths of roadway that literally didn't exist. Strangely, it was a welcome relief from the endless monotony of riding the shoulder of I-10 for mile after mile.

 

• For the first time I'm starting to get a pain in my legs: an ache in my knee. It's like I bruised my kneecap two nights ago without knowing it and now it just aches. It doesn't seem to affect my pedaling at all...just sore.

 

• My right hand is getting progressively weaker/non-functioning, which I know is due to how much time I spend with my hands on the handlebar in some position or another.

 

• Believe it or not, today was the first time all trip when I couldn't simply stop somewhere for lunch. See the attached pic for evidence :)

 

Today pretty much exhausted me. While not a lot of climbing, between the wind, the cold and my knee today was rough. I may need to take a rest day tomorrow...we'll see :)