Day 2: Radium Springs, NM – Hillsboro, NM

Today was a challenging day, but we made it through in high spirits!

Last night my sleeping pad decided to stop holding air so I made do with a bed of barely-covered gravel. I was lucky to be so tired from the day’s riding that I was still able to get a decent amount of sleep despite the circumstances.

First thing in the morning, I found my rear tire had lost all of its pressure overnight – luckily the patch lasted long enough to get to the campground! So I set off on installing the new tube. Attempts to find the leak in my sleeping pad were unsuccessful so I called ahead to a shop in Silver City and found that they carry sleeping pads! We hope to be there in a couple days.

With so many things to take care of in the morning, we weren’t on the road until 11am. Donald’s hopes from yesterday were dashed – all morning we pushed through a stiff headwind. Lunchtime brought us to the town of Hatch, NM – the home of hatch chili peppers. We stopped for some much-needed Mexican food and once again braved the winds.

A dust devil swept across the road, barely missing us, and we took respite from the wind and sun underneath a tree. These afternoon miles were hard-earned, and every time the road turned briefly away from the wind we were reminded that we are not, in fact, completely terrible cyclists, but rather the wind is making us work for it.

The sun was lower in the sky and the road turned north to give us a respite from the wind. We had a choice to make – stay in the town of Caballo, or try and push 20 more miles uphill to Hillsboro. Caballo is at an exit off the interstate so I figured there might be some decent services, but it turns out the only thing there is a RV park. We decided to turn west towards Hillsboro and the winds came back in full force, reducing our speed to a crawling 7-10mph as the mountains ahead inched nearer. The approaching mountains are also more than a faraway sight – we had 1300ft to gain as we approached Hillsboro at an elevation of 5200ft. On a normal day mid-tour, 1300ft isn’t much to worry about but we’re not yet in touring shape and the long day of headwinds made the final push to Hillsboro a heroic effort.

We rolled into town right after sunset and were unable to find the motel listed in town. There are several old buildings that used to be motels but none are still operating. Already this trip is a reminder of what I learned on my first cross-country tour – small town America isn’t doing so well. The main streets of towns are covered with shuttered businesses, and if the town is large enough there will be strip malls on the outskirts of town with all of the thriving businesses. In communities too small for this, I imagine folks have to commute long distances for essentials.

The sole non-tent lodging option in Hillsboro is a B&B operating out of a family’s home. They don’t have any other guests tonight and so we get our choice of room.

Breakfast tomorrow is 7:30am – we have a long day in store for us as we head towards Emory Pass at 8200ft.

Note from Donald: “We should take up farming. There was that pecan farm by Hatch that was for sale. Also, I know a great place to build a wind farm!”

Today’s mileage: 67 miles
Total: 141 miles