Cross coountry March 20, Silver city to Kingston, NM

and the flatlander from Houston shouts Yes in exultation!

Today started out with some slow gentle climbing up to the first SAG stop at a viewpoint for the "kneeling nun" rock formation, a finger of rock at the base of the cliff which looks like a figure bowed in prayer in front of a really high altar. My sister Kris, swung by to wish us luck as she headed back up the road to Albuquerque.

The Kneeling Nun Formation

An open pit copper mine-possibly Santa Rita?

The climb continued for a couple of miles at a grade steeper than any we have done so far to get up and over the ridge where there was a great view of an open pit copper mine- now closed. This was followed by a long downhill done in a snse of dread. For every downhill there is usually a commenserate and longer uphill. The downhill leveled out into a lovely rural river valley, lots of greening cotton woods, small adobe houses, grazing animals and the lovely smell growing things, and gentle winding climbs. Eventually we left the valley behind and started climbing into the Lower Gila Canyon. We had hgih rock walls on either side of us, a small stream to our right and nothing but the sound of the birds, the crunch of the tires, and our breathing.

upper Gila Canyon

The climb was deceptive visually, most of the time the road looked level or slightly downhill, but the stream was making running stream noises and the peddaling continued to get gradually harder. It was the sort of canyon you could imagine people hiding at the top of and throwing rocks down at wagon trains or raiding parties passing through.

As we reached the upper Gila the terrain leveled out for a bit and then we began to climb again. By this time we had passed through the lower foothill vegetation of sage brush, rabbit brush and juniper trees and were getting into true pine trees.

We have been truely blessed in the weather, which has been cool to moderate and with a bit of a cloud cover most days. Today was no exception. We were sheltered by the mountains and canyon from whatever wind there was, and the sky had enough of a cloud cover that the temperatures stayed on the cool side for climbing.

We continued to climb at an easy enough grade that it was possible to get back on the bike and start peddaling without having to gear down or fall over. This made it possible to rest and catch our breath as often as we needed to without having to worry about having to walk the rest of the grade because it was too steep to get back on the bike. In fact, the only time that I had to shift down to my very lowest chicken legs gear was for the last couple of miles where the gentle curves turned into steep hair pin curves with gradual lead ins and gentle lead outs. I would say the last 3 miles of the 40 miles to the top were very similar to some of the roads and hairpins you might see on a Tour de France ride, however unlike Lance and the boys, I was chuffed that I was able to maintain a steady 4-6 mph rate instead of the 20+ that they achieve.

At the first hairpin I was oxygen deprived enough to look up the mountain and wonder where that road up there went until I realized that it was just the road I was on about three hairpin curves further up the mountain. As I climbed I began to see more and more sky along the skyline, along with occasional patches of snow off in the woods. At one point I paused and looked over the edge and noticed it was possible to see riders coming up the road for two levels down, but mostly I just concentrated on breathing and pedalling. As I rounded the final curve, thinking I see alll skyline up ahead, a spontaneous chorus of cheers broke out from the riders who had reached the SAG next to the sign for the pass.

Me at the top of Emory Pass, 8,828 feet

Imagine my delight when I read the sign and discovered that the climb was actually 600 feet more than Michelle the guide had said. it was 8828 feet, not 8280 feet that she had predicted. When I looked at the garmin stats later, I realized that we had climbed 2,000 feet twice and then gone from slightly over 6,000 feet to 8,828.

I am impressed with myself and delirious to think that it is all downhill from here, both physically and mentally. I'm sure the Texas hill country will hold some challenges but in the meantime, I am a climber, hear me roar.

After a long pause for many photo options as other riders arrived, we bundled up for the descent and headed off for the 8 mile/2000 foot downhill to Kingston for our overnight stop.

Part of the descent

The downhill was almost as challenging as the uphill as it was steep and very curvy with little or not shoulder, a precipitous drop to canyon floor on the right, and traffic, luckily sparse, coming up the hill swinging wide on the curves. Even though we were feathering the brakes, we had to stop every mile or so to let our wheel rims cool and our hands unclench. At several points we could see the road continuing on down another mountain and around certain curves when we could look into the valley we were descending into, it looked like a moonscape.

a view of the landscape on the descent

Finally at the town of Kingston, only half way through the descent, we turned off the main road and headed into the Black Mountain Lodge, our stay for the night. As we arrived and checked in, activity in the kitchen was already in full swing preparing a traditional turkey meal with all of the side dishes. This is a tradition the owners always perform for Woman Tours. I was also astonished and pleased to see that sweet sister Kris had stopped by and left a welcome and well done gift of cookies, cheese, fresh strawberries, flowers and a congratulatory sign with the owners of the lodge, who had made a lavish spread and display of it as we walked into the lodge.

The Black Mountain Lodge is a delightful place. The old historic building, dating from the middle of the last century, had been added to and expanded, with the result that the upstairs is a delightful maze of whimsically placed, decorated rooms based around a central gathering room. Several of the rooms have porches occupied by several resident cats, while others look out over a two story green room/solarium with banana trees and shciffilera with leaves large enough to shelter a small family. The downstairs is two basic gathering rooms complete with a pool table, piano, tables and chairs. Additional dining is in booths in the kitchen as well as the patio outside. The two additional guest houses are straw bale houses with all of the amenities.

We gorged on the turkey dinner birthday cake and homemade ice cream and wandered off to our various nooks and crannies for an early night content to know that we could have a slightly later start because the first 20 miles of an 88 mile day were downhill.

An outdoor horno or oven at Black Mountain Lodge

Today's Stats

46.7 miles

4:53

9.5 mph

total ascent 5,200 feet