Odyssey CONTINUES

Day 60—Friday, September 30—Dispersed camping near San Mateo Springs to Grants, NM 

20 miles; 600 foot total ascent; 2,900 feet total descent

Tim, TJ, Eric, Andy. The four amigos and riding partners:  

the trip would not have been nearly as fun without these guys.

Ah, September 30, a day on a calendar.

And my deadline for concluding my time on the trail and heading up to Denver for a great wedding celebration. And Grants, a point on a map that I have studied since last October. I see you two have finally met …

In the early morning, the converging emotions of finishing this trip (for now) and leaving the trail after 2,600 worthy miles and the excitement of the coming wedding caught up with me. I had been using this past week as something of a transition period to smooth the abruptness of spending most of my days alone on two wheels to a reunion of 100+ family and friends in joy.

Coming off the mountain into the valley below and Grants, NM.  Fun downhill topping off at about 35 mph, but bittersweet knowing it was my last glide on this trip.

Rising early at over 9,000 feet, the morning was quite chilly and I swear the temperature dropped between the time Eric and I emerged from our tents and the time we packed up and left. Knowing this was a short downhill jaunt, we headed into Grants leaving TJ to enjoy the warmth of his sleeping bag “until the sun hits my tent," which in the fold of the ravine where we had camped would be a little later!

Wonderful downhill ride most of the way on a gravel road that eventually changed to pavement. The trees gave way to a long view into the valley below: the next destination for Eric and TJ, and my final one on a bike.

Eric and I planned to “camp” at the KOA for convenience. Coming into Grants we passed some newer subdivisions which belied what seemed to be the reality of this town.

Looking back up the mountain

Grants is a struggling place through which historic Route 66 passes. The abandoned and boarded up up buildings, old gas stations, and motels along this route point to another time: when Grants was a bustling uranium-mining city prior to the construction of interstate 40. To get to KOA on a bike, the route took us on a parallel road. The residential stock along this route was pretty grim with many secondary commercial buildings also closed or shuttered.

I did note that there appeared to be recent investment in a new healthcare center and high school, and the city parks we passed were quite nicely maintained. So municipal money is coming from somewhere.

Eric outside Gabbys

Second Breakfast at Gabbys: Gabby (not “the” Gabby) Tamara, and Amy and the “New Mexican”

Eric and I were famished and we found Gabby’s for our second breakfast—delicious!

TJ arrived as we were leaving Gabby's and we made plans for dinner that night. TJ elected to stay at the local hostel.

We made our way to the KOA under a late morning sun that was growing ever more intense even as we were still at 6,200 feet.

We showered, caught up on phone calls to family, laundry, etc. Don and Dan from Seattle (see Abiquiu) were camping next to us and wrangling with a new tire.

Lumberjack, TJ, Eric, and Andy

Good friend and ride-to-Denver-benefactor Andy arrived at 5:30 pm and he, Eric, and I met TJ and Jeremy “Lumberjack" for supper at Pizza 9 and had a good final supper. Jeremy is from Austin and just finished the Continental Divide Trail (on foot) the day before. He got his trail name “Lumberjack" when he tried to hang food from two dead trees. Just as he tried to raise his food on ropes, both trees came down. He deflected one tree with his forearm and fortunately only came away with a nasty bruise.

Eric and I said our (kinda emotional!) goodbyes to TJ who is staying in Grants for a few days while Eric will continue towards Mexico on Day 61. We got back to the KOA and crashed.

Though the bike ride has ended for now, I have a few more posts in me, and we might get a guest blog from TJ or Eric. The Odyssey continues on four wheels up to Denver.  

Stay tuned!

Note: the fundraising web site will remain open for the month of October! I am so grateful to have raised 88% of my goal for Apprentice Learning, a fantastic educational organization serving Boston middle school students. Many thanks to all who have donated, and thanks to anyone who would still like to donate and help me reach my goal.