So. Today I didn't get on the road until about 10. I very much so planned on getting an earlier start but unfortunately I had to pay my bills. Usually this takes no more than 20 minutes but with the super slow internet it took about an hour.
Once I got going it was great! My legs were like pistons from hell. I hauled ass for like 20 miles. Then I hit the big climb. I still killed it for the majority of it. The last 4 miles of Emory pass was pretty painful though. It went from a gradual climb to straight up. At 8000 feet it was super cold too. I had to stop and put my warm gear on. I didn't get to the top until about 3:30. That was only 40 miles into the day. However. It was a 4000 foot decent from there. I soooo wish I still had my Gopro video camera because I really bombed the decent. I reached the fastest speed on a bike I have ever been today. I got up to 46 MPH. Easily could have gone faster too, but my bravery ran out right there at 46. After 40 miles per hour I start to imagine all the bad things that can happen at those speeds. I start to imagine hitting a pot hole or loose gravel or my bike breaking in half--it happens. Most importantly I start to imagine what would happen to my body on the asphalt.
Other than that bad image, I had a blast on the way down. It was pretty much 20 miles of straight down.
I passed javalinas and cows and horses. At one point I decided to get a close up of a cow. Or bull. I don't know what it was. I am not a animal doctor. Anyhow, I stopped about 10 feet from Mr Cow and opened my handle bar bag which is secured with Velcro. As soon as he heard that noise he squared up with me. I quickly aborted the mission and hauled ass out of there.
I came to the town of Hillsborough NM right before sundown. I was ready for a hot meal and some water. (I had ran out before the peak of the pass about 2 hours before) While Hillsborough is a super nice little town--they roll up the sidewalks at about 5. Everything was closed. No water. A couple of the townspeople directed me to a spicket that I could top off with and showed me where I could sleep. In a park, for free. I am not a big fan of hose water but I had no choice. I filled up and contemplated sleeping in the park.
At the last second I decided not to because the people were obviously werewolves. There is now way they could be that nice and not be. And they had German accents. Hello! Here is your sign. If you live in a super nice little town and you have a German accent, you might be a werewolf. (I know they were not vampires because I rolled up on them in the daylight).
So I took off down the road in the dark. This is the first night riding I have ever done on my trip. It was peaceful. Only a hand full of cars and a beautiful night. After awhile I started to give myself the heebie jeebies though. I kind of started to sike myself out. Much like when myself and my great friend Warren G (not the singer) convinced ourselves we were about to die in a fiery plane crash. We were on the approach to Tucson and it was especially bumpy. In retrospect, it was just a case of bad turbulence. At the time though, we really got ourselves going. She was like, "It sure is bumpy." And I said, "yeah, it doesn't feel right". I wonder if every thing is OK, she says. And I point at the wing and say "Hey, is it supposed to be moving like that? Pretty soon we were convinced we were dead. When we landed we cheered the pilot like he was Captain Sullivan.
Anyways, I stopped at the first store I came to and ate pretty much crap food. A cheeseburger and a rib sandwich--both the microwaveable kind. I also asked the nice lady if I could charge my light (which was almost dead) and she agreed. She also provided me with directions to the nearest campground.
I took off and when I came to a bar I was sure I had gone too far. I went in and asked and I had gone a mile too far. I asked if I cold sleep behind the bar and he said yes. So I set up my tent and drank two beers and went to sleep. It was 9 at night. A very long day on the bike.
One last thing. I also made a little dinner creation. I used instant mashed potatoes and cold water. Added Tuna and raisins...whallla! Tuna Casserole on the road. It needed butter and pepper and heat, but it wasn't that bad at all. Also, instant oatmeal out of the package? Amazing. I will keep eating it like that for life.
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