Thursday, September 20, 2007

Grants, NM

We just spent two days on dirt roads crossing over from Cuba to Grants (route mile 2310). With the exception of a 9100' crossing of the shoulder of a small mountain range, we've spent the last two days at about 7000' in arroyos, buttes, cactus, volcanic plugs, and of course the dreaded cow habitat. The roads in this area have provided by far the most difficult riding we have experienced for any extended period of time. Sand pits, washboard, deep water cuts, loose rocks, steep sections and so forth form a large portion of the road. While we have had short stretches in the past with technical difficulties, they were always over quickly; not so for the last couple of days. Great southwestern landscapes.

The section yesterday afternoon and part of this morning had some really poor road conditions, and the going was quite slow. Last night we had a terrific campsite at the bottom of an arroyo (which was still damp from the rain a couple days ago), on a nice flat sandy patch with no plants with thorny parts :)

The last 20 miles downhill, from San Mateo Spring in the mountains into the town of Grants we had a good little downpour of rain. The roads in Grants are all full of huge puddles.

I probably mentioned a few weeks ago that we passed a couple - Dave and Michelle - also riding the GDR. Their website is http://outsideforever.com/

We're about to start our longest stretch without access to much of anything: 260 miles from here to Silver City. We pass through a cross-roads called Pie Town, which has a cafe that is famous for its pies, but other than that there are no other amenities. This should be an adventure.

We're going to spend the night at a motel here in Grants and get prepared for the next leg.

Take care, Amy & Jim

4 comments:

Rickson said...

These riding conditions sound like a memorable challenge. I am envious.

Unknown said...

I just saw this write-up of GDR, http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/001903.php, on the Kool Tools blog (one of my favorites)! Also talks about five other, less-adventurous, rides.

Continued good luck, Amy & Jim!

Ed

christine said...

Jim and Amy: what kind of pie are you having in Pie-Town?

Christine said...

Amy -- Another Christine posted to your site!!! That was not me, your sister Chris, asking about pie!

I noticed Richard failed to post his phone #, which could be more useful to you when you get to Silver City than his e-mail address, so here it is: (505)534-4841.

Can't wait to talk to you when you get back to CA.

Love,
Chris