(January 30)

Day 36 - Deming NM to Lordsburg

Hammer Time!

 

From this moment onward I was riding through the Gila-to-Colorado River watershed vs. the Rio Grande watershed. Somehow, the new watershed felt absolutely no different than the old watershed :)

More of my Tribe! I ran into Becky, Chase and Chris at mile marker 42 between Deming and Lordsburg. They've been on the road 2 weeks from San Diego (well, Oceanside technically, but close enough) and are planning a 60 day journey to the other end of the Southern Tier route in St. Augustine. This is the first meeting with fellow tribespeople in which I have actually been out touring longer than they have. Weird.

 

 

Wow, what an effect two days rest, a knee that felt fine via wise application of ice & Advil, no wind, a sunny, warm day a slight bit of downhill, mostly decent pavement and a LOT of snack consumption can have on one's riding ability!

 

I made the 60 miles today feeling good! The were stretches where it was flat-to-slightly downhill where I was averaging around 19 mph FOR MILES at a time. I was feeling great...really great! If I had realized that today was going to be so good, I'd have left Deming about an hour earlier than I did so that I could have ridden another couple of hours to Duncan AZ and done 90 miles today. No, not a typo. I really was feeling that good on the ride. If I didn't have such an aversion to getting into towns in the dark, I'd have gone for it even leaving at 8am this morning.

 

And, to top off the great day, I met some more of my bike touring tribe just after I'd passed over the Continental Divide.

 

I needed a riding day like today after the Great Knee Panic of '17 and the generally bad ride days I'd had for about the past week or so. A day to cherish and be grateful for.