Onwards from Pie Town

The road ahead 😊

Despite feeling better, the sense of exhaustion is not abating, and my cough, tho not productive, is irritating. Any exertion triggers a feeling of physical emptiness which is frustrating. I’m holding food down, the nose bleeds have stopped and the fever is definitely abating, albeit slowly. So I am having to face down a key decision very soon – a ‘sliding door moment’ as Corrine mentioned; from here there is a part trail, part road section of the Divide, which takes me to Grants, the next town for restock. The option of continuing up the trail to a town called Cuba is obviously there, but there’s also a one chance Plan B – ride to Albuquerque from Grants along the infamous Route 66, and grab a car hire, lift or bus to get ahead of my schedule in to Colorado. If I miss that opportunity, I’ll have no option but to stay on the trail until at least Denver, a very long way away over the Indiana Pass. Common sense dictates that there is no real choice if I’m honest with myself. Leap frogging forward and trying to enjoy the rest of the Divide is a no brainer, especially given how I’m feeling.

The afternoon was spent sleeping and packing in between bouts of running to the loo….I’ve been force feeding myself, perhaps a bit too much, as the stomach is not appreciative at all 💩🥲. I met a few other volunteers at the Hostel. One thing is very clear – there are some weird people here! There is a common belief in conspiracy theories, alternative whackery and a strong undercurrent of damn right stupidity! All lovely lovely people, but as mad as a cut snake! You start chatting and it starts out well, very cordial and ‘normal’ (whatever that is!) but then they throw in ‘the stars are watching me as we speak’ or ‘the government have been spying on me through YouTube’ or ‘I don’t read any books – I let the music of words give me wisdom’ …..yep, grand, sure…..!

I availed of the services of a food truck that parks up close to the hostel – now that’s smart business…..a constant supply of hungry hikers and bikers…- then hit the sack at 8. I was able to hook in to someone’s hotspot so it was so lovely to reconnect with friends and read emails, and chat to Lu about her upcoming travels. Anything to draw my mind back to the fact that there is a life going on out there! This is alien territory for 99.9% of folks, me included, being so isolated. But there’s also something quite guttural and historical about it too, with echos in our DNA of times long past.

I got up at 6 and started packing up in between copious (that was an error I paid for later given the amount of pee stops I made!) amounts of coffee and chat before heading out. Jake….Mr Hotspot….was also bagging up when I had the bad news to share that his back tyre was, er, flat! Cool dude just shrugged his shoulders and set about fixing it. Me….id have cried! I hit out at 8ish stating I would see Jake on the road no doubt. The first stopping point was TLC Ranch where they put out water etc for us hikers and bikers. It was 15 miles away. And bang….straight after leaving the hostel the most hideous washboard I’ve seen or experienced started….and stayed….all the way to TLC. It was however a bit overcast so I just dialled in a low gear and cussed and swore my way to the Ranch! About 5 k in I was given a vivid reminder of just how fragile and dangerous it is out here. A Subaru hatch came toward me about a k ahead (you can see the dust for miles) and then out of nowhere he simply disappeared. I came across the car, which was crushed having rolled a few times and landed on its wheels. The driver got out, very matter of fact, and surveyed the wreck! He explained his front wheel got stuck in a sand bog, he lost control….and this was the outcome….flipped a half ton car like paper and off he went! He called for a mate with a jeep to come tow him out. He was unscathed so I carried on….you can imagine my surprise when about 3 k later he drives pass me, no windshield, the car moving sideways as much as forward, exhaust on the ground, and him smoking a fag!!

I got to TLC ranch and stopped for half hour to just rest. The 15 miles was not too demanding thank goodness.

Jake arrived about half hour later so we shared horror stories of the washboard. I set off to an agreed campsite off trail about 15miles north. I think that they were the most hideous trail ride I have had the displeasure of riding. I was riding around 5kph – the washboard was excruciating and the space between each one was just full of sand. Bob really struggled with the constant bombardment and my will to live evaporated. It was unendingly painful. I eventually got to the turn off to the camp site and just when I thought I had seen the worst it got worse. It was a sand ridden single track which could not be ridden. I got to the ‘campsite’ and decided there and then I wasn’t going to stay. It was remote, dry and full of animal tracks. I walked back to the road from hell but couldn’t see Jake. So I left a message in the dirt for Jake and left for the main road some 6k further on the road of hell. I eventually got to the road and met Leon, a goat farm rancher who was parked up at the start of the road of hell. He explained he had gone 50k around a route to avoid the road from hell, so I felt less of a whingy softy! He gave me a tangerine and water. I turned on to the road and cried….it was so so soft! It was a tail wind and slightly down hill through some stunning landscape. I caught up with some hikers and then met two Aussies riders. Then Jake emerged. And he had missed my note in the dirt and had traced my steps to the disused campsite! We all eventually got to the campground and pitched up with a couple in an RV who made us all so welcome. We had an incredible evening of story telling and tales of the trail….this is bike touring at its best. Then Jake went to empty his food plate only to stumble on a rattle snack! This bugger was huge! Didn’t exactly settle people’s nerves! We chatted for hours. And retired around 9! I cleared 80k which has been the longest ride so far.