The agony and the ecstasy

Tough days! I feel like a marathon runner running the last few miles. I've done the hard work getting through the Great Divide Trail but fear 'hitting the wall' - not quite having the energy nor the good fortune to get me through. Indeed, the trail maps say "In addition to to having stout lungs and strong legs, to do the entire Great Divide you will need to have a little luck... on your side." AGONY: After suffering just one puncture in nearly two months my luck ran out between Grants and Silver City. In four days I had to stop six times to repair punctures and, invariably, I seemed to stop in places with no shelter, the sun beating down on me as I desperately tried to find the hole(s) in my tubes. At one stop before Pie Town my inner tubes resembled sieves, with multiple puncture points caused by tiny goathead thorns. This induced 'puncture paranoia' - hypersensitive feeling for my tyres, nervously stopping to check pressure levels in the belief they were deflating. Sometimes they were, sometimes they weren't. Stressful, but if you can't fix a puncture you shouldn't really be on the Trail.

AGONY/ECSTASY: My worst day for punctures was on the approach to Pie Town. Yes, Pie Town. I made an extra early 6:30am start to ensure I made the 69 miles to to the restaurants before 4pm closing, giving myself some contingency time 'just in case'. I had a glorious morning's ride through the relatively flat semi-desert. Red earth and occasional stretches of lava fields evoked the Great Rift Valley of Africa. Then in the afternoon the inner tube sieve moment happened and an hour of repairs threatened to derail all my efforts to get there. But, I had to get my pie! Head down, ridiculous frenzied cycling got me to Pie Town by 3:10pm and I was able to have my pie (peach-cinammon). How did it taste? No idea, I shovelled it down barely tasting it, exhausted from the ride.

ECSTASY: Apart from much celebrated pie restaurants, Pie Town is also home to Toaster House. This is a cabin set up for bikers on the Great Divide Trail and hikers on the Continental Divide Trail. I had such a wonderful stay there and, even after the serving of pie (and burger and chips), I had space for a huge plate of pasta, vegetables and cheese. It was great to cook indoors in a kitchen rather than outside on a stove. If only I'd thought to drain the pasta with my inner tubes...

I had great conversations with Amaya (above) and Eric who have been on the road since 2006! This is their blog/website: Amaya and Eric and also with Scott, an American cyclist, about the forthcoming Presidential election. I can't repeat what he said about Trump...

ECSTASY: Getting to Pie Town, frenzied, but early at least gave me some downtime and I enjoyed listening to The Who on a tapedeck. The next day, feeling well rested and inspired by the tales of Amaya and Eric, I set off with the plan of just making good progress. All about mind management, I planned to ride in 15 mile segments taking 15 minute food/water breaks between each segment. No looking at the bigger picture and, for once, forcing myself to break, not ride on. By late afternoon I'd made 75 miles comfortably and, with half-decent roads and gentle descent ahead of me I challenged myself to make 100 miles. Though I had to ride on into the dark I made it!

ECSTASY: Here is my campsite I found in the dark - Beaverhead Work Centre for forest rangers. I shouldn't really camp here but it was Saturday night, no-one was around and forest rangers are pretty supportive of bicycle tourists. This may not look it at first glance, but this really was a luxury campsite. Flat ground, toilet block and, most importantly of all, a precious water pump. It is so dry out here that you have to plan your water stops carefully and sometimes drink sparingly; not great for the body in a hot and dry climate.

DOUBLE AGONY: after the high of making 100 miles the next day was so tough! No doubt the fatigue of the previous day had an effect but mostly it was the hard the trail conditions; constantly undulating, terrible surfaces - washboarded, soft gravel, protruding rocks, loose rocks. The day didn't start well as I had to fix yet another puncture which meant that, by the time I got started, it was already seriously warming up. I was trying really hard but by 4pm had only covered just over 30 miles. I felt genuinely dejected and when I began to have issues with my rear derailleur and yet another puncture, I began to feel a little helpless. Nevertheless, I managed to, because I had to, fix each problem and in the end made 66 miles by the end of the day. I camped at 7:30, no cooking, just peanut butter sandwiches and energy bars and a good glug of water and straight to bed.

AGONY: I had some close, potentially hazardous, encounters with animals on this day. In the setting sun I couldn't see the road that well and was inches from running over a large rattlesnake (not this little one, I didn't dare go back to take a photo of the one I nearly squashed). Then, minutes later two unleashed dogs set upon me and I only just warded them off with the threat of stones before their owner came and took responsibility for his violent beasts.

You may ask why I'm pushing so hard, making the trail so tough. I can't help it, it's in my DNA to face a challenge head on. Some bikers are doing 20-40 miles a day but it's not how I want to regularly ride. Having said that, the reward for a string of long days through the desert and forests is that I could coast 20 miles down to Silver City this morning, put my bike into the bike shop for some much needed TLC and give me valuable rest time hanging out in cafes and the library. Civilisation, never underrate it! 

The Mexican border is now just two days ride away. If I do it in two days I'll have completed the whole Divide in 50 days. However, I am tempted to linger in Silver City an extra day, it seems to be a lovely place. I'll see how I get on with my Warm Showers host tonight...