Cuba and Abiquiu

Cuba town
After a restless night I got up at 6 to start the process of decamping. We hit the general store when it opened at 7. The guy who owns it, Dennis, was already up and about, and his opener this morning was ‘coffee on me’! I had made the mistake of eating a burrito en route yesterday and gee, it played havoc with my stomach, so I had a dicky tummy this morning. Not pleasant at all! Anyways, we got bagged up and hit the road at 8, with 50 odd miles. We hit the first of countless short but steep hills towards the first pit stop, a general store on the reserve around 22 miles in. We were all struggling today with the hills, the headwind, and sore arses. One of the real problems with wild camping is not only not showering but also not being able to wash cycling clothes, so the opportunity to keep the nether region clean and thus free of infection is significantly reduced. We were all suffering from saddle sores due to lack of hygiene 🥲. We hit the general store around 11 and gorged on sandwiches and cola. It was getting very hot and we knew we had over 30 miles to Cuba. Given we were all shattered we rode our own ride, each lost in their own world of pain! After 16 miles we found a tree to sit under and had some food but we all had that issue of being over hungry and unable to tolerate food! But the rest was so welcome in the mid afternoon sun. We eventually got going again with 14 miles to go. Luckily it was mainly flat or slightly downhill. After another slog of a day we got to Cuba. There was supposed to be a free camp site in the town but it turns out it was at the back of the shabby shopping centre frequented by local addicts and those doing it tough. Michael rode ahead and got us a 3bed motel room – what a fantastic way to end two hard days. The shower was amazing! We were all totalled so there wasn’t a load of banter, but we did apply ourselves to tomorrow’s route. One option was the dirt trail, but feedback from others a day or two ahead was that there was no water for the total 77miles, at least a two day ride. The elevation gain was over 5,000ft! On the other route there was water at mid way but a 3,300ft climb in just under 13 miles….so a tough ride either way. The absence of water on option 1 led us to the decision to take the long climb option. Welcome retired early each lost in their own thoughts about tomorrow!

Abiquiu
We were up at 5:30 and sitting in McDs at 6:15! Over a 1000Kcal for over $6! A guy came over to chat to us and his opening comment was ‘Welcome to my fucked up country’!!  We hit the road at 7:30 and straight away I noted an issue with my bike with a serious shimmy – where the front end of the bike shakes uncontrollably. Bob was almost unrideable. After some adjustments I got it to where he was rideable enough! We got the first hill almost straight away, and the rest of the day was either going up or heading down! We had initially planned to wild camp about 30 miles in but as we were making good progress we kept riding until a campsite near Abiquiu. It was another tough ride, but only a side show to what’s to come – the high mountains. Altitude sickness is going to be an issue and the terrain is all trail. And very little water tho as we have headed north the landscape has really changed from desert to pine forests and mountains so we are hoping that the streams will be running. Tomorrow is a zero day – I’m shattered, with 197 miles in three days and over 8,000ft of climbing. Jake who I’ve been riding with is to be credited with a number of the photos!
Till tomorrow. Tx