Fairly early start as it was another longish one and I would lose an hour as I passed into New Mexico. After a lovely tailwind for the first 10 miles, it completely switched and became a block headwind for the remainder of the day. On dead straight roads this quickly becomes pretty tiresome. I ground it out, knowing this would be the last full day of desert highway riding. Entering Lordsburg was a real eye opener. I’d routed to avoid the main road through town but needn’t have bothered. It was essentially a ghost town. 

 

Some other places I’d passed through had felt a little edgy but this was different. It wasn’t threatening but just sad, with virtually every other house or business closed down, abandoned or in varying states of collapse. The town seems to exist solely as a stop on the I10 with very little else to offer. Which is a shame as, again, the people I met in the motel, shops and restaurant were all incredibly friendly. Still it offered a cheap motel room and the ability to do some laundry and get reset and stocked up ahead of the remote stretch ahead.