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Sunday, October 21, 2001 - The Emory Pass
58 miles. Mimbres, NM to Caballo Lake
State Park, 4 miles north of Arrey, NM
We finally did get our tent up and we needed it.
It was very cold at Rio Mimbres last night. At night the wind blows
down from the mountains and it is very cold. We got up at dawn and put on just
about every stitch of clothing we have. I had four layers above the waist,
tights, two pairs of socks, and two pair of gloves. We got out of there as
quickly as possible. In an hour we started the cyclo touring striptease as
the sky was clear and we began our morning grind up to the Emory Pass which is
the highest point we will reach on this trip, 8,228 feet above sea level. It
becomes very scenic as we climbed from desert scrub into a cool pine forest with
some aspen, cottonwood and oak thrown in to provide some Autumn color.
Reaching the top 4 and one half hours after starting
(20 miles) we began our longest descent yet, 17 miles of coasting and easy
pedaling into Hillsboro, NM. Here we encountered a west bound tourer named
Mike Kirkpatrick. He was riding a recumbent bike with a B.O.B. trailer and
was heading for California having started in Georgia. With his gear,
himself, and three pet ferrets he was pedaling about 300 pounds. He had
little money, smoked and was writing a book entitled Extreme Cycling With Pets.
Indeed!
His eventual plan is to finish circumnavigating the USA
next year and after that THE WORLD! He had had a bad accident back in
Texas when going down hill when his load shifted i.e. the ferrets moved all to
one side. He was lucky he was not hurt more seriously than with hip damage
and lots of road rash. It was three weeks before he was able to hit the
road again. The state of Texas did give him an X-ray but that was about it
since he was considered "indigent". I have made him the third
inductee into my Cycling Hall of Fame which is open to those worthy candidates I
have met in our travels.
After Hillsboro it was 25 mile run to our campsite with
at first a climb followed by a 20 mile run down to the Rio Grande with a nice
tail wind. At one point we were going over 23 MPH in a measured mile.
We passed an ambulance that was administering to a motorcyclist, a
reminder of the toll the open road exacts.
At the state park we were confronted with cycling's
Third Dimension, the wind pouring north from the day's heating from the deserts
of Mexico. It made setting the tent up difficult again and rocks are necessary
to hold down the tent. They are plentiful here.
Dinner was macaroni and cheese, corn and instant
potatoes and we felt like Lords of the Flies with a swarm of the aggressive
critters contesting for every bite of food.
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