GDMBR Day 15
Start: Cuba, NM
Finish: Cuba, NM
Miles: 0 miles
Odometer: 558.3 miles
Location: https://share.garmin.com/Judice
Highlights:
Today is a day of rest, repair, and resupply. My bike continues to creak and it’s driving me a little crazy. It does not affect forward propulsion but plays on my psyche after many miles of pedaling. I spent the day tightening down nuts and bolts, cleaning my chainring and chain and drivetrain, and making further inspections. I even called my home bike shop for some advice. Three teeth on my chainring are broken off and that might be the cause. I’ll need to replace that at some point.
The mosquito mesh on my tent is ripped, frayed, and repaired with tape. While mosquitoes haven’t been a problem thus far, I need a new one.
My water filter is running very slowly despite recent backflushing. I need to replace this as well.
A few months ago I purchased a cycling specific rain jacket and as it turns out it’s probably more water resistant then waterproof. I wore it in the shower for some testing and there’s definitely moisture coming through. I purchased a back up plastic poncho from Dollar General but I wouldn’t mind having my REI rain jacket from home right now.
So today I spent some time figuring out how to ship this gear up the trail to Del Norte, CO 260 miles up the trail. Thanks to Robin for the assist on this.
This morning I ate breakfast at the Cuban Cafe with the jukebox playing Stevie Ray Vaughan. That’s cool.
Lowlights:
Today I resupplied food for the next stint in the backcountry. Back home I drink a kale, spinach, and blueberry smoothie almost every morning. Other ingredients include flaxseed, matcha green tea, walnuts, hemp seed, ginger powder, magnesium, and collagen. I eat pretty healthy. I tell you this to set the stage for my fall from health food grace that is the small town grocery shopping resupply experience. There are very limited healthy light weight options that are easily packed on the bicycle. So the foundation of my calories will be obtained from rehydrated mashed potatoes and refried beans. Breakfast is a little better: oatmeal, pecans, coconut milk powder, dried cranberries, and dried blueberries. The rest of the day I will be eating protein bars and trail mix. The good news is that this diet will certainly limit my bathroom breaks.
By the way, if you’ve been following along you’ve read about fellow cyclists Max and Simon from Europe. I ran into Simon this afternoon and he was looking for a replacement front tire. His side wall was shredded and being held together by duct tape. It looks like he may have to hitchhike to Albuquerque to get a replacement. Dang!