Blog--Lemonade

We started the day with big expectations but got even more than we bargained for.

More climbing early on--BIG rollers starting right away from Silver City heading over to route 152 and the climb to Emory Pass.  A fabulous descent to the Mimbres River and the start of the climb.  Perfect weather--cloudless and around 50.

Maybe because we had days to prepare psychologically, the climb wasn't as hard as I expected.  Sure was beautiful tho.  Pictures can't do justice. 

On the way we met Mike & Ellie S riding the other way.   They live near by and sure looked strong.  Sure would be nice to do these climbs without panniers!

We planned to spend the night in Hillsboro, 17 miles past the Pass but the motels were, closed and so was the cafe.  Since it was downhill we decided to go another 40 miles th the next town with a motel,  per our maps, Hatch.  But we called ahead--once we got cellphone coverage--and learned that motel,  the only one in town, was closed.

So we ended up riding 15 miles north,  off course, to Truth or Consequences.  I'll try to write more about it all tomorrow,  but we rode 90 miles, climbed at least 6000 feet,  descended even more, and were blessed with lots of tailwind.  It looks like T or C, as the locals call it, is our lemonade,  and we will likely hole up here for a rest day due to a windstorm predicted for tomorrow.