Second Zero Day then heading north!

After the challenge of the last few days I needed to just stop today. We are in Horca, high in the mountains which still have snow on them. Last night was so cold 🥶…we lodged in a yurt on the grounds of the cafe. But the wind howled in, and it was raining which ingressed in to the yurt. I think the earlier deep freeze I experienced had not abated…I was wearing everything I had and I was still so so cold. I awoke at 5:30 and went inside the cafe when it opened at 7.

Mike had decided to skip the Indiana pass….as it was impassable…so decided to make his way north alone along the road. Jake and I were just too stuffed to move! We had a hot breakfast, the first in 5 days, then set about cleaning the bikes, which were a complete mess. The damage of the trail is showing – the headset is smashed, wheels buckled, bolts broken, brakes not working due to clogging with mud. Nothing that hot water, an old toothbrush and tools couldn’t fix, but it took 2 hours to get Bob ready for the next crash-fest. I have come to connect with this inanimate object called Bob and felt so bad I was consistently damaging it every rock I crunched in to!

That done, it was a day of clearing out stuff, washing filthy clothing, (and I mean filthy….my beanie washed out black mud….even by our standards on the trail, pretty damn bad!) clothing repairs and reconnecting with the world. We charted a route north which would reconnect with the trail after Salida where it was supposed to be better trail conditions – I’ve come to take those assessments with a huge dollop of salt! So we have 130 miles to get further north and we think /hope/dream that that’ll be two -three days to get to Salida. I for one will be happy for a bit of tarmac for a day or two, as to be honest, I’m done with the unrideable trails which only seem to want to destroy bike, moral and physical ability!

In the evening the host of the cafe where we are based invited us to sleep indoors on the floor of the cafe once it was closed for the evening -oh, that was such good news as the rains and snow were starting again. So I dragged my clobber in from the yurt and found a small corner in the cafe and crashed for the night.

Zero days have a hideous ability to fly by so fast….before you know it you’re back in the saddle!

Heading North again:
Jake and I got up around 5:30 and sorted out the bikes before getting a hot breakfast of oats and coffee courtesy of a microwave we could access in the cafe. At 7:45 we hit the road as the temperatures started to lift above freezing. The aim was to get 115k done on tarmac towards Salida. Gee it was so so good to be on hard stuff after the last week. The valley road was stunning and beautifully downhill for a good 20 miles. We stopped every 20 or so miles for refuelling. As we came out of the Horca valley we hit wide open rolling hills which were easy riding, but not very engaging to look at, tho always in the backdrop were humungous mountains capped with snow. By 1 we had done 93k. We headed to Maccas to refuel….and it was there I decided I’d done enough-I needed a shower, a bed, sleep, clothes washed and warmth. So I got us a hotel ….sod the cost. I also had two slow punctures and didn’t want to fix them in a freezing campsite which we had earmarked for tonight. Gee it was sublime to sit in a bath for an hour. That’s the first soaking since I left Cork….and the bathwater colour told its own story!!! I fixed the punctures (I think) and just rested, and gorged on social media bubble gum for the brain crap….i felt incapable of anything else!! Today was enjoyable in that I was in my happy place on the tarmac, Bob sounded like a bike and not an explosion in a gravel factory, and we dodged the afternoon hail! Win!