GDMBR Day 08
Start: Informal trail side campsite
Finish: Toaster House Hostel, Pie Town, NM
Miles: 65.7 miles
Odometer: 319.1 miles
Ascent: 3,600 ft
Descent: 3,200 ft
Location: https://share.garmin.com/Judice
Highlights:
Today I was a little concerned that I might be short on water because of the long exposed ride and I was trying to push mileage to get to Pie Town. To my surprise and joy I noticed a sign in front of a ranch house welcoming GDMBR cyclists to partake in a roadside cache that contained water and snacks. This came at the perfect time because I was just about to run out drinking water. The trail provides.
Lowlights:
Today was one of the hardest physical challenges of my life. It was harder than my Kiawah Island marathon where I crashed at mile 21 and my legs cramped up so bad I couldn’t hardly walk to the finish. It was harder than my Mardi Gras marathon in New Orleans where both of my feet blistered so bad that the blood soaked my socks. It was harder than the time I pushed my bike and my gear three hours up Bunchgrass Ridge in the mountains of Oregon. In case I have not made my point: Today was hard! It rained all day and was very cold. About 15 miles before I reached Pie Town, New Mexico I hit what the locals call “peanut butter” mud which is very sticky and extremely difficult to ride in because it sticks to your wheels and gums up everything to the point where your wheels won’t turn. Going up the hill is nearly impossible and you have to dismount and push the bike. My flat pedal shoes would not gain purchase and I just kept slipsliding while pushing. It began to sleet and I got a flat tire. I would push the bike a few feet and then take a minute break and then push a few more feet. All the while I was getting colder and started to shiver. There was really no place to stop. Exhausted and dazed, I finally arrived in Pie Town around 6:30 PM and road to a local diner, called The Gathering Place. The door was locked but there was someone inside cleaning up. Pam, the manager, came to the door and asked if there was anything I needed. I told her that I was looking to warm up before finding a camp spot. She invited me in and set me up next to the heater to warm up, made me a bowl of chili and cornbread, brought me a cup of coffee, and told me about the local hostel for hikers and cyclist called the Toaster House. Thank goodness for Pam. As I was leaving, my hands were so cold and numb I couldn’t zip up my jacket; Pam even helped me with that saying “I have kids. I can do that.”
I rode on down to the Toaster House and knocked on the door. One of the CDT hikers welcomed me in, showed me around, and fixed me a huge bowl of hot spaghetti. Twenty hikers and four cyclists slept in the hostel that evening. People were in their sleeping bags all over the floor and in every nook and cranny. I slept partway under a desk, and was glad to be out of the bad weather, fed, and among kindred spirits.