Mexico, then Texas
After awhile you have to think hard about what day of the week it is. On Thursday we were in Hachita staying at the Bike Ranch which gets a lot of traffic from both the Foottrail and bicycle versions of the Continental Divide Trail. The end of the CDT is only about 50 miles south at the Mexican border.
Hachita
Hachita is part ghost town, part occupied but with many more abandoned than occupied buildings. The local store is the town’s gathering spot and also helps resupply the CDT hikers and bikers with a good selection of trail food. We ran into a couple of hikers there on the last few miles of the CDT- they usually covered 25-30 miles and would be done in 2 days after starting June 30.
Friday- Columbus and Paloma
On Friday we rode to Columbus, NM, which is notable as the location of the cross border raid by Pancho Villa in March of 2016. We stayed at a campsite in the Pancho Villa State Park. After meeting a neurologist, Alan, who was out walking his dog, he allowed us to stay on his campsite. He had an AWD Mercedes Striker van and a yearly park pass. He works about half the year and then travels the rest of the year. Thanks for the beer and the place to stay, Alan!
Alan and His Chocolate Lab Mix
After setting up camp we headed down to Paloma, Mexico and saw a bit of the town, eating at a nice outdoor patio at Pinks (I think they forgot to put the tequila in my margarita). The city was dusty and seemed a bit down after the border was closed for so long. We crossed and returned easily on our bikes with only our drivers licenses as ID. As a side note this was the first time either Brian or I have been to Mexico.
Outside Dining at Pinks in Paloma
It’s the Little Things That Count
As a side note, after 15 days of riding, I developed a new way to sit on the gravel and goathead thorn infested berms during our rest stops every 15 miles or so. Simply place your camp towel on the ground in front of the top surface of the panniers, sit down, and lean back- see picture above. You are suddenly in the lap of Luxury!
El Paso - Saturday
On Saturday we rode the final leg of my part of the ride to El Paso on a fairly flat road with little traffic. The highlight of the ride was dried red chili peppers along the road that fell out of the trucks from Mexico. Brian gathered a few of these to add to future meals. In many places we rode close to the border wall but the only people we ever saw were the border patrol.
For the first time in several days my legs felt good. Either that or the slight downhill, lack of wind, and knowing that this was the last long leg of the trip for me, sped me forward.
In El Paso we stayed with a very nice Warm Showers family, Mike and Rebecca. They treated us to an excellent grilled chicken and Tartifletta (type of cheese) potato dinner.
Mike is an avid cyclist and a radiologist in the military. Turns out he is also an expert skier who often skis backcountry. He aspires to ride the CDT but first has to learn to tolerate tent camping. He has done some hut to hut mountain bike tours while on Europe- it sounds like touring at its finest.
Rebecca tried her best to fatten us up with some splendid muffins…and I think it worked.
El Paso - Sunday
Today I rode with Brian on the El Paso Scenic highway (closed to traffic) which has some fantastic views of the city and Ciudad Juarez. He made friends with some road riders at the overlook and they generously volunteered to show him the way out of town at the bottom of the hill.
I rode around downtown El Paso after sending Brian on his way east and found it to be a very clean town with a few historic areas that could be explored.
Adding to my travel experience I actually sat at a Starbucks and nursed a coffee for a couple of hours. I started chatting with another guy sitting out on the patio area and it turned out that he was a radiologist who worked with our Warm Showers host.
In prepping for my trip home Brian and I had earlier stopped at Walmart where bought a 32” rolling duffel bag for $22 to carry my gear home. When I came out, my tire had gone flat. While I inspected the tire Brian found the leak point- a hole at the stem. I used my engineering skills and determined the root cause- me. I must have flexed the stem when I pumped the tire this morning. That makes for flat number 7.5 for the trip (the rear tire seems to have a slow leak- probably a goathead thorn).
I headed back to Crazy Cat Cyclery after riding so they could pack it for shopping. I was able to fit my gear into the duffle by donating my roll of toilet paper to the Cyclery and then jumping up and down on the duffle whilst zippering it.
Come tomorrow, Monday, I am very much looking forward to the flight home and seeing Kathy again after a couple weeks on the road!
Rides-
Hachita to Columbus / Paloma: 57 miles
Columbus NM to El Paso, TX: 71.5 miles
Tour de El Paso: 17.8 miles
Trip total: 835 miles
Comments
Post a Comment