Tl:Dr; Gila singletrack is hard. Take more water. Trail angles rock, hole in sleeping pad.
The plan for today was ride from Silver City to the Black Canyon campground, about 56 miles and 6200 feet of elevation. A fair bit of pavement with hiking trails (aka singletrack) through the Gila National forest. Seems doable…
Except: the Gila singletrack continues to be hard. Lots of sun exposure and a ton of loose rock on very narrow trails. Some really nice flowy sections but a lot of nerve wracking riding and walking. Oh, and some light bleeding. I am filthy.
After the Gila, a dry camp or two & more pavement. Around 4:00 I was running low on water and energy. Did not eat enough during the day (but I did have a huge silver City breakfast).
Two gentlemen saved the day:
Tom was out cutting wood, stopped and gave me his water.
Then John drove up and gave me half a gallon of cold water! He said there’s another rider a few miles back: Also John.
John caught up to me about 5 miles away from my bail out spot, Rocky Canyon. No water there, and it was already occupied (Hi Janice & Therapy). So we rode on about 8 more miles to Black Canyon. Good call – nice stream, totally empty.
I used my stove & made some dinner & traded for a PB&j.
And… My fancy ultralight pad has a hole. I’ll fix it in the morning, g’nite.
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