Musings about life on two wheels

Ambivalent is one of my favorite words – I always think of electrons orbiting nuclei (nerdy – check!): each of the orbits is called a valence, ambi-valent means moving between two orbits. Of course, it also means having more than one emotion at a time. And who-boy, am I having them. I’m excited about this…

My bike is boxed. Note to self on re-assembly:

Good news: the forecast for rain in S.W. New Mexico (Hachita, Silver City) is very low.  That means the chance of peanut butter mud is also low. Bad News: it’s going to be very, very hot. 105 degrees (in Hachita) on Thursday. Maybe a bit lower up in the hills (and forest?). But – really…

Tl:Dr; My bike now moves forward when pedaled. So… Big bike trip. Time to tune up the consumables: new chain. Right? Right. But, the chainring I’ve been running for many thousands of miles is acting… Weird. Like a little weird, then suddenly dropping my chain every 100 feet. Turns out it’s slightly warped. Enough that…

Sargents to Hartsel looks very doable – around 80 miles with a nice break in Salida in the middle. Looks like about a 2100 foot climb pretty early on, then relatively flat to Hartsel. The store closes at 6, which is a bit worisome. There’s a very nice ranch hotel there – very slim chance…

Del Norte to Sargent’s is 110 miles, a bit more to Salida. Seems like a long day. There’s a camp ground at Upper Dome Dam, about 75 miles in that seems most reasonable!

So I don’t think I’ve really settled this; why? Warning: Work In Progress. I just visited the tour divide tracker registration page. It paints a pretty clear picture: this is a race, if you’re not racing sign up on the GDMBR tracker. I’ve thought a lot about this – I’m still conflicted and honestly terrified…

Welp, I’ve started losing things. I suppose it’s good to do they’re still replaceable. One of my Zero camp sandals dropped off my bag while out training. I’ve now retraced my route several times, and it’s no where to be found. Backup plan: crocks :-/.

Starting to count it down. Still some loose ends to tie up: my drive train is really mis-behaving. Ordering a 1:1 cassette replacement & a new chain ring.  I want to take a closer look at the hanger too. Good ride at altitude today – Iron Horse trail. Easy pace, almost no weight. Riding Spot…