Musings about life on two wheels

Tl;Dr Updates: So. Hard. Made it 20 miles to camp, ate my last food for dinner. The best thing about Hopewell Lake was Kate, Merlin and Yeshe who provided food, water, and conversation. So great to meet them. Pancakes in the morning was over the top. (Repeat picture, but they’re worth it.) I left Hopewell…

Tl;Dr: work in progress. Mostly off cell service, next update probably Friday. Weather says: Rainy. Might consider Vallecitos Mountian Ranch or a near by cabin if thing looks iffy. Update: Vallecitos Mountain Ranch is to busy hosting bhuddist retreats to offer water or shelter to travelers, but they assure me it’s beautiful. Huh. You know…

Tl;Dr; Colorado is in reach, but more than a day away Platoro Colorado is the next sizable town on the Tour Divide route – it’s 125ish miles away and ~14k feet of elevation. This is a stretch, since I just did a 70 mile day in… 2 days. The goal for Day 15 is: Hopewell…

Tl;Dr: made it to Abiquiu, not sure what’s next. Work in progress, come back later. Song of the day: Back on the chain gang Surfaces: highly variable: Santa Fe forest roads: terrible. Everything else: nice pavement 20 miles, even 20 rough miles, doesn’t seem quite adequate, and El Rito is just a bit farther down…

Tl;DR: going up was (relatively) easy. Rough roads at the top & going down. Strava. Surfaces: Mixed. 1st 2/3rds: very good pavement & forest roads. Last 3rd: Horrible. Top 5 worst. Last night Laurel & Hardy were really killing me.  I made some adjustments and lowered my saddle by a quarter of an inch. I…

Tl;Dr: tough riding & huge elevation: take 2 days. The route distance is fairly low: 78 miles. But it’s almost 7k of elevation – by far the biggest elevation per segment, and it tops 10k feet at the pass. And… Reports are pretty consistent that the roads are really bad.. Given the condition of the…

Tl;Dr; Short day, mostly paved. Feeling pretty good. L&H say Hi It’s a big day on the Tour Divide: Belt Day. I don’t think my shorts will come off on their own, but in a strong gust of wind I might be in trouble. We shall see what Cuba has to offer. Hmmm. This blog…

Tl;Dr: Safe & Sound after a rainy ride to Chaco Wash, bike is less muddy. Cuba tomorrow. Song of the day: 100% Endurance going out to Lava Flow house mate Sarah and Scrum Yoda. Thank you Jeremy, I have a new strategy for Laurel & Hardy (yes, my saddle sores have named now).. Apparently some…

Tl;Dr: almost everything has worked well. There’s a lot to a trip like this: planning, logistics, fitness, grit and gear. Let’s be honest: a lot of what drives adventures like this is shopping (for gear). I’m happy to say all has worked well, except left-brake, and even that is doing ok. Tires: Everybody goes with…