GDMBR Day 06

This is my first internet access in days and it won’t let me post photos. I’ll post those when I make it to civilization.

• Start: Silver City, NM

• Finish: Lower Black Canyon Campground

• Miles: 61.7 miles

• Odometer: 191.1 miles

• Ascent: 7,700 ft

• Descent: 6,700 ft

• Location: https://share.garmin.com/Judice

Highlights:

I had spectacular cool, sunny weather cycling out of Silver City. I wasn’t sure how my legs would perform with over 7,000 ft of climbing ahead, a fully loaded bicycle, and four days worth of food. I set a goal to ride 30 miles to Lake Roberts and if I felt really spry I would try to make the next campground at the 45 mile mark. I ended up cycling over 60 miles and felt pretty strong. That’s a confidence builder.

Just as I was pulling into the rustic campground I could feel the air temperature start to drop and the rain sprinkles fall from the sky. I found a great private campsite next to a creek at the end of a short dirt road and quickly set up my tent, and just as I was throwing all of my gear into the tent, the skies opened and the rain came pouring down. Perfect timing! I love when things work out. After cooking dinner inside the vestibule, I curled up in my sleeping bag listening to the pitter patter and quickly fell asleep after a long day.

Lowlights:

Back in 2015 I was cycling down the Pacific Coast Highway from Vancouver to Mexico and I left behind my really nice padded cycling gloves on a lunch break. Ever since then I have been paying the “stupid tax” and buying cheap Ace Hardware work gloves. Interestingly, they are touch sensitive with my iPhone and I like telling other bikers that I’m sponsored by Ace. And here’s the lowlight: When I was planning for the GDMBR trip I went ahead and purchased some really nice padded cycling gloves, and don’t you know it I left them at my lunch spot today. I noticed their absence only about 2 miles down the road but it was after a long steep descent. Ugh! I turned around, climbed back up the hill, and retrieved my gloves. Some of the words that were coming out of my mouth are not fit for publishing.

Observations:

Why am I leaving things behind on my breaks (tarp and gloves)? What’s next?