GDMBR Day 03
Start: Hachita Biker Ranch
Finish: Ridge RV near White Signal, NM
Miles: 64.9 miles
Odometer: 114 miles
Location: https://share.garmin.com/Judice
Highlights:
All three of my readers have asked me about Cheddar, the Biker Ranch cat. Cheddar, in fact, visited in the middle of the night and scared the crap out of me. I turned my flashlight on and she bolted out the door. This morning, she came back for a more socially appropriate visit and wanted a lot of attention. After I chastised her for making my wee my drawers, we played string and she got a quite a few scratches around her proud ears.
The desert landscape is lovely. Some desert flowers are blooming and I even saw a group of 10 deer grazing nearby.
I stopped for breakfast at the Continental Divide Historic Trading Post, a tourist attraction right off of Interstate 10. The extra friendly staff started asking questions about whether I was touring from east to west, west to east, north to south, or south to north. They get all directions stopping by. They walked me over to help me refill my water bottles, showed me the bathrooms, and wanted to know about my trip. I love meeting people like this when I travel.
Lowlights:
Despite drinking 9 L of water on my ride, I got very dehydrated as evidenced by a reduced, concentrated urinary output. This was unrelated to my night with Cheddar. I felt weak, a little dizzy, and experienced some mild nausea. I did not sweat. The dry heat, wind, and elevation created a salty grime on my body. I ran out of water (again). After 65 miles of desert riding, I limped into the campground.
My cousin Rosie died yesterday at the age of 70. She was a wonderful person. My two fondest memories of Rosie: I had a little motorcycle in college and she bought me a leather motorcycle jacket with all the back and elbow safety padding. I cherished that jacket even though I looked a little stupid in it riding little more than a scooter to school. The jacket was so padded and stiff it would hold me upright when I’d take a snooze in physics class. And Rosie helped arrange and sing the music at my wedding. She will be missed.
In my dehydrated state I sought some rest on a stump under one of the few trees in the desert, about 5 miles from my campground destination. When I got up to continue my cycling, I left my favorite tarp on the stump and rode away. I love that tarp. It has been with me on many adventures and it’s the size of a yoga mat, very light weight, and very durable. I lay the tarp down to stretch out in the mornings, to sit on and rest on the side of the road, and at the campsite where I sit and cook my food on my stove. I was really disappointed about leaving it. But there was no way I could ride back 5 miles to get it. Meet Bill, the owner of the RV park who drove me back in his pick up truck to look for it. He and his wife also made an extra burrito for dinner and brought that to my campsite. I was so happy to get that tarp back, you just don’t know. Linus has his blanket.
Observations:
I completed listening to Gawande’s “Being Mortal” about how to live well until the time of death. If you might die, or know someone who might die, consider this required reading. If you’re over 50, living with a terminal illness, or love someone in the aforementioned two categories, buy it today. You’ll be wanting to make notes in the margins.