New Mexico here we are!!

Today checks off another STATE! Goodbye Colorado, hello New Mexico!!

Finally!! We are in New Mexico!

Long before we started racing the Tour Divide, we started watching videos and listening to podcasts about the race. Whether it was Lael Wilcox, or Dirty Teeth, or any of the other better or lesser known YouTubers putting videos about the race out, two things were constants: 1) New Mexico is incredibly diverse, beautiful, and a favorite place of many GDMBR riders and racers, and 2) New Mexico is perhaps the hardest state of the route.

This was echoed by Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, whom we had met and had breakfast with the morning of our start in Whitefish, MT. He said, “New Mexico will bite you in the ass if you’re not careful”!

So with that as a preface for our ride through our final, and home state, we started the day just about 25 miles from the New Mexico border.

We rose early in Platoro, CO, to get our now clean clothes packed, our bikes loaded, and in time to drink several cups O’ Joe!

We started down the road from our cabin and to the awaiting Lodge. As we arrived, we were once again warmly greeted and welcomed inside. The gentleman inside asked is we wanted some breakfast burritos for the road. We certainly did! He took our order and in short time was back with two burritos each for Ray and I.

While he was gone we were asked to sign the TD board. The Skyline Lodge has a board they ask each TD rider to sign every year, and they keep them. We had now signed the board and were part of the lore of the Tour Divide (OK, that’s how I’m characterizing it anyway!). So we were buying supplies for the day that would see us ride, hopefully, about 100 miles to Hopewell Lake in Northern New Mexico between Tres Piedras and Tierra Amarillo.

After we left the lodge we made our way to the Gold Pan RV Park, the location of last nights supper fare. We were greeted by the owner and quickly went inside to buy more supplies. Both the Lodge and the RV Park were so good to us, that we bought items at both places as a sign of support.

Now fully loaded down with water and supplies, we started down the dirt road that paralleled the Conejos river down the valley, and towards the first feature on the route today, the climb up La Manga Pass, and towards the NM border. The 20 miles, as it was following the river downstream, rolled easy and provided beautiful sights of the world class fishing river just to our right. A few anglers were on the river, and we could see some incredibly large trout as we rolled along. (I’ve got to go back and employ Dan, an employee of the RV Park who also serves as a guide on the river).

After about an hour and a half, we arrived in Horca, CO and the right turn onto CO Rd 17 which would take us up the pass and towards NM. We stopped at the intersection to eat our burritos and soon were starting up the climb. The first part of the climb was brutal! Having just basically coasted the first 20 or so miles of the day, our legs were still not warmed up and the 10% grade of the road, though paved, were a shock to the system. Finally after 15 minutes or so, the legs were awakened and we were once again climbing at our own paces. The 6 miles to the top of La Manga pass took us almost exactly an hour. We were getting close to our home state now!!

Topping out, the smooth pavement and wide road towards Chma was a welcome relief from the morning climb.

After only another 6 miles were took a left tun on a dirt road, leaving the pavement behind. Now, while climbing the pass, we were subjected to a bright and sunny Colorado morning. It was bordering on hot as we had made the climb, but now, only 30 minutes later, things changed dramatically. There’s a saying in NM. If you don’t like the weather, stick around for a few minutes and it will change. Yep. Not 1 minute after leaving the pavement behind, it started to rain on us. Light at first, but threatening to change to something more severe as the dark clouds started to envelope us. The other thing that changed was the road surface. Pardon my French, but it went to shit! Almost immediately! We found ourselves pushing our bikes up rock strewn stretches, then riding slowly, then pushing, etc. After about 5 miles, we saw it. The sign indicating our entry into the Carson National Forest, and our home State!

Continuing on past the sign, the roads continued to degrade. Ray and I spent the next several hours bouncing and rattling down the New Mexico roads we had been warned about! The undulating roads, with climbs that were never long as in Colorado, were as fatiguing as they were unrelenting. We rode for hours on high country roads alternating between pinion juniper country and mixed conifer forests. Finally the roads gave way to nothing more than rock filled ruts!

All the while gaining altitude, we soon found ourselves in the middle of nowhere, on a horrible rock-garden road, pushing our bikes through baby head boulder and going straight up the fall line. After having pushed for 20-20 minutes we noticed a truck bouncing slowly down the road. Right as he got to us, he stopped dead in the road! I thought to myself, “Now I’m going to have to push my bike off the road and around him?? WTH??” As we closed on the vehicle, both the driver and the passenger got out. To my surprise, these two Texans (I saw the license plate on the truck) yelled, “You guys need any water!!??” Instead of some random strange making our lives harder, they were random friends making our lives easier! They were a husband and wife couple from Texas that had come out to the remote roads in Northern NM simply to support Tour Divide riders! AWESOME!!

After accepting their offer for water, now that it was mid afternoon, we spoke at length to this kind couple. Super nice folks. Soon we were back to our push up the road, but only for maybe another 100 yards or so. The boulders gave way to a much better road as we summited the climb overlooking the Cruces Basin Wilderness.

We have seen many incredible places in our 3 weeks of riding, but there is something incredibly special, and to me more spiritual, about New Mexico. It was VERY hard (actually not possible) to fight off tears as I rode, stopped, and stood in awe at the beauty of New Mexico. Maybe it’s because this is home, but something felt different and special.

We eventually stopped under a large Ponderosa Pine (though not THE tallest, as it was still raining and lightening on and off) to eat a lunch. We had many miles to go before we reached Hopewell Lake. After 20 minutes or so, we were again on our way south.

We climbed and descended for many miles, each climb sapping our strength and our desire to push on the pedals any harder than necessary.

We FINALLY started descending. The route then took on a decidedly different look as we dropped into the wind-swept grassy plains that interspersed the mountains of Northern New Mexico in the vicinity of San Antonio Mountain between Tres Piedras, NM and Antonito, CO. Another turn and we were heading south through the mountains toward US Highway 64 that would drop us into the area of Hopewell Lake.

Well, “drop us” might be a wholly inaccurate way of describing what US 64 did. As we exited the forest road we were riding and intersected with the highway, there stood a sign. Hopewell Lake 8 miles. We were deposited on the the road, which I have been on numerous times, on the East side of Hopewell. That meant that we had to climb 8 miles to the lake! This news did not get a warm welcome from Ray and I. After riding for hours on the harsh roads, rocks, and weather of New Mexico, the last thing we wanted to do was climb another hour to our campground!

There was another reason that this additional climbing was irritating. Lola was in Taos that week, and was going to meet us to say hi and take some photos of us at Hopewell Lake. It was something I looked forward to for days! Knowing that I would be late arriving, and late in seeing her, more importantly, was incredibly frustrating!!!

I was pissed and the now seething anger went directly into the pedals. It still took me about 50 minutes to get to the lake, and when I did I was soaked with sweat and exhausted from the effort. I arrived a few minutes before Ray and was simply overcome with emotion upon seeing Lola. She said I looked like pretty bad when I rode up. I am about 15 pounds lighter than when I last saw here, and my beard is now much longer.

Not too long passed before Ray pulled. Lola and I both noted how pale he was. Not sure why.

I do know that it was a long and challenging day of cycling. We have been on the GDMBR for over 3 weeks and as I have said before, there are NO easy days on the Tour Divide. It’s just damn difficult!!

Seeing and visiting with Lola made the day beautiful and incredible.

More New Mexico tomorrow!

We’re South bound and down!

Shane and Ray