Well this one turned into quite the day…Ben had recommended an alternative forest road which quickly joined up again with the main route. The morning was genuinely one of my best experiences on the bike as I wound up the gravel road alongside Alpine-like meadows and pine trees. It was also incredibly peaceful and I didn’t see another person until the middle of the afternoon. 

 

Things started to change as I reached the top of the main climb - the highest point of the route so far at over 10,000ft. The sky began to darken and fill in from all sides. As the first drops fell I just had time to get my coat on before this became an extremely heavy hail shower. I sheltered under some trees and the hail/rain stopped after about 10 minutes. However, there was now thunder clapping from seemingly every direction. It seemed to be worse in the direction I was headed so I waited around a little longer. But clouds were not shifting so I thought it best to continue, knowing the descent was coming. 

 

I’d seen a few comments from people saying how rough the road down to Abiquiu was but it exceeded all expectations. It began as a rocky goat path and then turned into giant slabs of rock with sand filling the gaps. I had to very carefully pick my way down, going the same speed as it had taken me to ride up the other side. As I got about half way down I could see another storm coming in and feared the heavy rain could turn the remaining road into the famous New Mexico peanut butter mud. Eventually the road smoothed out sufficiently to release the brakes and let gravity assist me make some faster progress. It serves to show the challenges of the route in terms of terrain and unpredictable weather. 

 

Nearing town I caught up with Zach and Kara who I’d last seen on the road up to Silver City. They’d taken the main route the previous days and said it was very rough riding - but beautiful. We rode into town together sharing the accomplishment of getting down that hill and headed straight for the store for drinks and snacks. They were heading to the hotel, but a quick Google told me it was $220 a night so I opted for some hiker/biker accommodation along the river out of town. Goldie had a number of cabins outside her house which she let out to those passing through. It was rustic but for $20 I got a hot shower and didn’t have to put the tent up. 

 

Two other cyclists staying here, an older British guy called Steve and Peter, from Oregon.