Day one of the Divide….Gulp!

Dust Storm

As I traveled on the last leg of the flight to El Paso I sat next to a couple who live in the town. They enquired when I was planning to ride to Hachita, the start of the Divide for me (about 45k from the official start). I noted I’d be going on Tuesday. You know when you say something to someone and their look says something you don’t want to hear! Well, they proceeded to tell me that Tuesday was an extremely windy day…westerly…(headwinds), with dust storms and temps of 34-36!

On Monday morning I awoke after a restless night, jet lag and a noisy highway outside the hotel. I knew I simply wasn’t going to enjoy an 80 mile ride on a highway in those conditions as my first day of riding. I knew another rider going north bound was getting a lift from a guy called Jeff who runs a bike ranch in the desert outside Hachita. So at 7 I made the decision to hitch a lift with Chris and Jeff. Jeff was quite a character, hosting us long distance riders doing the Divide. As we drive across mile after mile of barren wilderness with the ‘wall’ just 100 metres from the road, I knew I had made the right decision! By Monday evening the winds were picking up and the dust storms arrived! Chris decided to ride from Antelope Wells back to the Ranch in the evening/night….i decided to read and relax! And then tried to repack and load up Bob. We had stopped outside El Paso to get supplies….no supermarket now until Silver City, so stocked up for a few days. Never easy to be in a shop with a 1000 products and you can only have about 4% of what’s on offer as every gram has to be hauled up every hill!!

After a snack in the evening …..I haven’t had a good meal since Cork, we retired to our cabin. Well, Chris did, as he snored the damn roof off after about 10 minutes. I decided to go in to the main house and sleep on the floor there. I was awoken by a bright eyed and bushy tailed Jeff at 6….sweet lord, all I wanted was to sleep! Anyways, eventually we got loaded up and it was then I realised my bike was outrageously overweight. Just stupidly so. Once I got on it it wasn’t too bad to ride by I knew there and then there was no way I’d be able to ride the trails with this load. The first stretch was tarmac with a rising rail/cross for around 20 miles, across a dust bowl arid landscape with only cacti for company. At the intersection of the interstate highway we started our first bit of gravel and I got my first puncture! A pinch flat. The winds were picking up so we had 9 mile stretch in to the wind before the one and only shop. We stopped there for food and water, then tried to call a camp ranch to stay, about 20 miles north. We were told they were full but we could stop for water and shade. As we left Separ the real Divide started, with hideous washboarding and sand, heat and a rising dust storm , peaking at around 32mph (yes, that’s mph!).

I nearly lost the bike a few times as it bogged down with the weight in to the sand, then my pannier flew off with the corrugating trail. I was truly struggling with the weight and exhausted from the heat, but we knew we had 52miles before any campsite. This truly was the Divide experience that it’s fabled for ….just pure brutal. Eventually we arrived at Thorn Ranch for water and rest. The owners told us a massive dust storm was about to hit so they let us stay in the ‘cowboys’ quarters garden which had a bit of protection with a low wall. We were so so grateful. After a wash from a garden hose and tents pitched we spent the following hours sheltering from the incredible dust storm, which peaked at 51mph. I was so done and so hungry but there was no way of lighting a stove! So it was pitta bread and Nutella for tea! I know I need to get a big feed tomorrow in Silver City. So that’s day 1, only 48 miles done, 1 puncture, one dust storm and a true Divide experience unfolding ….and it’s every bit as testing and demanding as its ’toughest gravel trail’ deserves. All I can do is go slow, try to drink as much as I can and only think of one day at a time as the prospect of this for another near 3000 miles is simply too much. I know theres tons of climbing ahead – at the ranch we were at 5,000ft and every day for the next 3 weeks at least there’s a minimum 2000+ft of climbing. Every day! I’m not sure quite what I need to jettison as everything I have I’ll need at some point. Now it’s 36 degrees so hauling thermals and long sleeve tops seems stupid but out of NM the temps will drop! The fact I’m carrying 4litres of water, 700ml of petrol and 3-4kg of food is the killer! I’ll just have to get used to walking!