We Made It!

A loud thunder clap at midnight snapped me out of a sound sleep. I looked out the hotel window and it was pouring! I looked down at the street and it was a river from curb to curb and flowing fast. The water was flowing up and over the wheel rims of our bikes parked in front of the hotel. It was quite a sight so i got my GoPro and recorded it. I will attach it later. The news said it rained 2.46 inches in Silver City overnight. I thought of Bob who was up in the Gila camping. He probably wished he would have opted for a hotel!

We planned an early start but at 6am it was still raining. This is the weather radar map of the storm above Silver City.

We waited an hour and once it started to lighten up, we took off.

We crossed the CD for one last time in a flat area just south of Hachita.

At 10am we arrived at Antelope Wells and the US/Mexico border. Here are some pics and a video.

The border agents were super nice. They congratulated us, took pictures of us at the crossing, and gave us an ice cream! The border agents in Blaine could learn some things from these guys. 

They pointed out a new border structure built at a cost of $20 million years ago and yet sat empty due to various ongoing issues. The biggest one is they can't get enough electricity to the building. At the same time, they've been waiting 2 years to get a broken door window, held together with duct tape, replaced. The govt can't find the $200 in the budget. Insane.

After all the pics, hugs, and congratulations,  we headed back up to the 10 to meet my brother, Dave. Dave brought a trailer to carry the bikes back the 4hrs to Phoenix. We were super happy to see him.

We did it! We traveled the entire length of the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, 850 miles on mountain bikes to Jackson, Wyoming and the rest of the way on motorbikes. We covered over 2,500 miles. We've seen some amazing country and met lots of interesting people. We've had ourselves quite the adventure and created some unforgettable memories. The best parts of our lives are the experiences we accumulate and the memories they become. And for me and Doug, this trip was a treasure!

Thanks for following along.

  

 We made it!

 

 

Dave met us and brought a trailer to haul our bikes back

Mother Nature Finally Got Us

A 12:30 am, while camped next to the river at Gila Hot Springs, we were awakened by a loud crackling and a big boom. Thru our tents we could see the sky flash white and more crackles and booms followed. Then slowly at first, the rain started. Soon the sky let loose and it poured. Parts of my tent began to leak. I hoped the river wasn't going to rise and sweep us away. But it didn't last long. Still, when we got up, everything was very wet!

First order of the day...go for a soak in the hot springs.  I completely stripped down and walked over to one closest to the river. Ah....

We tried to dry out our stuff as best we could, packed up, and headed 40 miles to Silver City.

First stop Javalinas (pretty clever name for a coffee shop, eh?) for a latte and muffin. Just around the corner is the historic Palace Hotel. We decided it would be appropriate to stay somewhere 'palatial' on our last night on the GDMBR. 

It was a lazy afternoon.  We lunched at Vicky's and toured historic downtown.

When we returned to the hotel we ran into my brother Dave's friend Bob, who was just starting his GDMBR motorcycle trip heading north. We gave him our best advice, shared some maps, and had dinner at Jaliscos with him. He then left us to get a campsite before it got dark. Good luck, Bob. Be safe!

Both of us received flash flood emergency warning texts to our phones. I'm glad our route tomorrow is all on pavement and we are in a hotel tonight. 

We will start at 6am tomorrow. Only 125 miles to Antelope Wells,  the terminus of our journey.  I'm excited to get there!

Tire Wear

This is Doug's rear tire after 1719 miles. I think we need a new one.

Wow! Beyond my expectations NM!

Just when I had written New Mexico off, she surprised me with one of the most beautiful days of the trip.

We decided to get up early today and beat the afternoon thunderstorms storms and heat. It was hot and arid yesterday with sporadic thunderstorms. We expected more of the same.  And since our path was remote, we wanted to try to get through it and avoid a messy, rain plagued surface.

I sensed the finish, and was anxious to get there.  Two more days of 255 miles and 125 miles.

We planned to leave around 5am, but it was still dark then. The days are shorter than they were when we left on June 22, and we are over 2000 miles farther south.  We had to wait until 6am to get some light. We left at 6:45.

The cool morning air penetated our mesh jackets. It was brisk. First stop: Pie Town.

The residual effects of yesterday's rain made the dirt road a little slippery. You had to pay close attention and avoid the muddy parts.

It was only 70 miles to Pie Town.  We were there by 8:30.  We, of course,  stopped and had some pie - freshly made that morning and still warm. Mmmmm.

We asked about the three options for gas: Quemado to the west; Datil to the east; and Old Horse Springs farther down the road off the 12. Datil was the recommendation from the locals - 22 miles down and the same back. I decided to empty the gas can into Doug's bike and then have him wait for me while I went for gas, since I had a bigger tank and range. Just as we were finishing our pie, the cook overheard our questions and asked what octane we took. Well, we take high octane but can run lower so I said I'll take whatever you have. So for $10 we got 2 gallons, and now had enough to get us the 185 miles to the next station in Silver City. Whew! That was a relief!

The route from Pie Town was surprisingly scenic.  We went thru forests of huge Ponderosa Pines and high lush green valleys. There were small canyons with interesting rock formations and grand vistas around every corner.  We saw elk herds and herds of proghorn antelope. The riding was fun with just the right amount of challenge. It might have been the most delightful section of the whole route. We kept close to the CD, and by the end of the day crossed it 11 times!

It was a long section, so I had to concentrate on the navigation and make no mistakes.  It was remote country,  and we saw little activity. We had limited fuel with little room for a mistake.

The Android app Maverick came in handy a couple of times. I have a gpx file of the route saved on my phone and when I bring it up the app shows me where I am relative to the route. It has saved me more than once and is a nice confirmation that I'm correctly on course.

Evidence of recent heavy rains was abundant.  We got some pictures of the residual of a flash flood down one of the canyons. Scary stuff!

We stopped briefly at Rocky Canyon campground to snack and rest. While there, a thunderstorm caught us and we sought shelter in the outhouse.  :-)  It was brief and not too bad.

When we finally exited the wilderness and hit the paved 35, a euphoric rush came over me. We had made it! We had just completed the last bit of challenge.  From here it will be smooth sailing to the finish in Antelope Wells.

We had a cushion on time, so decided to head off route to Gila Hot Springs and spend the night. We will descend the 45 miles to Silver City after visiting some ancient cave dwellings in the morning.

It was an excellent day! 45 miles to Silver City, and then 125 to the border Thursday morning. Dave will pick us up.

Back on Route - Ojo Caliente to Grants

We slept in to 7:30 this morning. The beds were super comfy and we were awake late watching the western classic, Shane, filmed in the Tetons. We knew we had an easy day planned and felt no need to rush.

30 miles down the 285 and then up the 84 rejoined us on the route at Abiquiu. We had studied the route for today from Abiquiu to Cuba and the description was intimidating - rough and rocky. We figured the rain may have exacerbated the situation.   After yesterday's tough ride we decided to opt for the easier route and take the paved 96 into Cuba.

In Cuba while filling up at the gas station I asked a guy for a nice place to lunch. He pointed us to El Brunos. We chatted for a while and found out he is the fire chief, a veteran who works with Wounded Warriors, and has a 5,000 acre ranch with a guest house and 17 miles of trails. He invited us to come up and stay! If it wasn't so close to the end of our journey I would have taken him up on the offer. Maybe in the future? Thanks James Sanchez!

From Cuba we took the Chaco alternate route on the 197 then the 509. We expected it to be more interesting. It was quite barren with not much to see.

We passed a mtb'er about 15 miles from Grant. It appears he too was leery of the rocky dirt and effects of the recent rain on the dirt roads.

We pulled into Grant (not much here either), grabbed a hotel, and got horizontal.  It is nice to have a short day.

Tomorrow we head to Pie Town and maybe Silver City. We need to figure out if our full tanks and a 2 gallon spare will take us 253 miles. If not, we will need another plan.

Thanks for all the emails

I've received lots of emails since we began our adventure.  I though I'd share my favorites.  So without permission...:
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okay - i am all caught up - you is crazy man - the water crossing was awesome... ;-) ...hope all is well and look forward to next post.

- Nate Loman
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Hi DJ.  I've been following your adventures and reading your blog posts. I must admit, I even teared up when reading about the agonizing decision. But the coolest and most inspirational thing is how you handled it.  Take a little time to relax and clear your mind.  Think it over. Then come up with such a great solution to carry on and finish, just using a different means.  Brilliant!  What a great adventure you've had.  Nicely done!

- Kent Wheiler
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Motorcycles?!!?

This adventure keeps getting better and better!

Your post made my morning. 

Keep at it! 

Best wishes,

- Linsey Corbin
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I love this!! So cool. Great you stepped out of your comfort zone re decision making!Keep having fun. No crashes pls.

- Urs
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You guys rock! Not only are you conquering the great divide, but I can tell you guys are having way too much fun! Inspiring and very cool! Thanks, for the posts!

- Emily
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You are cool DJ!  You are very cool!  What an awesome time you are having. Good on you for making the most of the  dodgy Achilles. 

- Tom Landon-Smith
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Well played boys!  Well played.  Whodathunk?  Way to "Quitchyerquitchen" Thanks for the alert - I'll stay tuned.

- Ken Dailey
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Into New Mexico!

Sunday we woke up early, packed our camping gear (we're getting good at it), and road 15 miles into Del Norte. While filling our tanks we asked an old timer where we should eat breakfast. He told us Boogies, which is owned by a guy who used to pick his nose when he was a kid and the nickname stuck. Funny. Good breakfast.

Earlier we bought a 2-gallon gas tank for the longer stretches between gas stations in New Mexico. We thought we might need it so filled it up today.

After breakfast we began the climb to the highest point of our trip, Indiana Pass at 11,910 feet. It was beautiful up high. The open meadows were green and lush against the rich blue sky. We were lucky to hit this section on a Sunday and thus avoided all truck traffic from the big mine at Summitville. Doug of course stopped and took lots of pictures.  We will update the blog later with them when we get access to a computer.

The road wasn't bad but we did have to gear down on some of the tight and narrow turns on the way down.

The water in the rivers here are full of natural chemicals you wouldn't want to drink. (Can't remember the names but pretty sure one was arsenic).

At the base we came to the scrappy little town of Platoro. We stopped and shared a peach cobbler. Bleck! It was terrible.

To get to Horca at paved highway 17 we had to ride across 23 miles of washboard road. We kept searching for the smoothest bit, but got rattled and pounded by this dirt road.

From Horca we climbed smooth pavement up to Manga Pass at 10,200 ft, and past the Toltec Scenic Railway and a hugely bloated dead cow.

Four miles the other side of the pass we turned left on the 117, a rough and rocky narrow road that lead us into The Cruces Basin Wilderness and the State of New Mexico.

The 117 turned into the 87. It was rough going and I thought it would never end. The trail (it could hardly be called a road) kept splitting and coming together.  Sometimes we would choose the good one, sometimes the bad. Navigation was tough too and I was particularly attentive because I didn't want to waste gas in this long desolate stretch, and run out. The terrain was rough and we spent most of our time in first gear using a lot of gas, which fueled my anxiety.

Doug in his 350 had an easier time navigating the terrain than me and my heavy 990. I dumped it once and couldn't get enough leverage to pick the bike back up. Doug was ahead but had luckily stopped for directions at a turn and had turned off his bike so he heard me yell for help.

Once we made it thru about 20 miles of this stuff and summited, the road became better. The scenery was beautiful,  but I must admit I didn't enjoy it very much. Purple clouds were all around us and I figured we wouldn't avoid them today

Doug must have been a hankering to finish because I couldn't keep up with him today. Yesterday he couldn't keep up with me. Weird.

We finally pulled out of the remote region - 60 miles and 3 hrs!

Highway 64 lead us 4 miles to Hopewell Lake where we were to enter another 20 mile remote stretch to El Rito. There was a huge purple mass of clouds sitting directly in our path.  And no matter how "well" we "hoped," I didn't think we'd get lucky this time.  So we solicited the advice of a local. A Mexican looking guy who was out fishing with his daughter had just come out of there and his opinion was very clear: TAKE THE PAVED ROAD. So we made sure there was a gas station in route (we were low) and headed east and north on the 64 and then south on the 285 to Ojo Caliente, 40 miles away.

The clouds were ominous in every direction and we were headed straight for a big purple mass. We kept getting closer and closer. The winds started picking up. The road became wet. We were chasing the rain. And then, right as we felt some small drops, we curved right, right into the path of the sun, with clouds in all directions, and it lead us into Ojo Caliente.  The bells from Harry worked again. :-)

We decided to call it a day a stopped at a cute motel, The Taos Trail Inn, on the main drag, run by David and Pam.  They quickly cleaned a room and got us set.

The kickstand on my bike had broke its welds and would not work properly.  Doug figured it out (I'm a mechanical retard). Pam knew just who to call and an hour later a guy in a welding truck came over and welded the kickstand for us - for FREE!

While Doug and I were finishing up a pizza across the street,  we could hear this angelic voice singing, "somewhere out there, beneath...."  It was Pam! We went over and talked with Pam and David on the front porch,  listened to their life story (they were professional musicians - Pam a singer and David a drummer and band leader), and had Pam serenade us with her lovely voice.

Hard day. But nice detour.

We will get back on course tomorrow.