(Sat, 3/8/25; 0 miles, 0 feet of climb)
Wow, did I need this day! I scheduled a rest day once a week, but this one kept getting postponed due to weather forecasts. But after 14 consecutive days of riding, I really needed a break.
You can skip this post if you want, since there are no exciting action pics or aerial videos of biking. But I know some people reading this are planning to do this trip, so I’ll share some of what I’ve learned today.
BTW, I realized today that Silver City, New Mexico, is the one spot in the world where the Southern Tier Bicycle Route intersects with the Continental Divide Trail for backpackers. (Hence the name of “Gila Hike and Bike” that I went to yesterday to pump up my tires.)
So here’s what I did today:
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(1) REST! I got a full eight hours of sleep, followed by a great hotel breakfast. It was really nice waking up knowing I don’t have to get my bike packed up and get back on the saddle. The remainder of my morning was consumed with research that I haven’t had time for lately.
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(2) BIKE SHIPPING — I contacted a couple of bike shops in El Paso. On my previous trips, I packed up the bike and put it on the plane with me. But that’s a major hassle, trying to get an uber to the airport that can fit a bike box. Also, getting the empty box to where I’m staying can be a problem.
Even if that all goes well, there’s still the trouble of moving two big boxes through the airport. And then there’s the debacle in Jacksonville last April, where Southwest Airlines wouldn’t even take my bike!
So this time I’m going to try using “Bike Flights.” You just drop off your bike at a bike shop, and they box it up and send it to your house. They say it’s way cheaper than what I had to use from Jacksonville. It’s more expensive than just taking it in the plane, but not knowing anyone in El Paso, this will be way easier. And then I am free to take any airline with just me and my box of panniers. I talked to a few bike shops and decided on Rad Dog Bikes.
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(3) EMORY PASS — the high point of the Southern Tier Bicycle Route from San Diego to St. Augustine is Emory Pass, elevation 8228 feet. Bicycling Magazine has called this “One of the great climbs of the country.” And doing it in early March, and with 94 pounds of bike and gear, makes it extra challenging.
From here in Silver City to the top of the pass is about 7000 feet of climb. No way I want to do that in one day, so I’m splitting it up into two days. So once I leave Silver City on Sunday morning, I won’t see any towns or even gas stations until Tuesday afternoon.
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(4) NIGHT BEFORE THE PASS — my only choice is an RV park in San Lorenzo, a little bit off the route. I will once again have to sleep in a tent when the mercury drops below freezing, but I’ll just have to do it. The RV park does have showers, but they didn’t answer the phone and I don’t know if there’s any food available, so I will bring extra food on my bike.
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(5) NIGHT AFTER THE PASS — I was hoping to make it to Hillsboro, but can’t find any accommodations there. I did get a text back when I called a hotel listed in the ACA app, but she said she no longer owns the hotel and doesn’t know anywhere else I can stay in Hillsboro.
So I backtracked and called a B&B further up the pass, just nine miles from the peak. My chat with Katherine at Black Range Lodge was very encouraging— she is saving me a room Monday night! It is such a relief to know I’ll have a wam bed after that epic day of biking, and I won’t have to sleep in a tent for two sub-freezing nights in a row.
To top it off, they offer supper and breakfast! Now I can take my time climbing up the remaining 4200 feet of Emory Pass, enjoying the views without worrying about food and shelter when I finish.
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(6) POSTCARDS — I sent out postcards again to my kids and previous hosts and my bike shop back home. (Some people, including my kids, highly value actual hard copy communication for some strange reason.) Last time I did this, in Yuma, I couldn’t find any commercial postcards, so I made my own “I made it to Arizona!” postcards at Walgreen’s, using a photo from one of my drone videos. I did the same today for New Mexico.
There is a Walgreen’s here in Silver City, but they were temporarily closed yesterday, according to Google. I called them and got transferred somewhere else, and they couldn’t tell me much, other than that it was probably only for an hour or two. Well, they are still closed today. So I found a CVS that I’ll use instead. I waited until the temperature got above the 30s before walking over there.
(7) EATING — the hotel I’m at is 1.7 miles from downtown, and I’m too lazy to walk there today. So I stopped and ate lunch/supper right next to CVS — at DENNY’S! Go ahead and laugh, but I got salmon, rice, onion tings, and garlic bread off the seniors menu for $10.99! And it was good!
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So tonight I will pack up the panniers and get another great night of sleep at Best Western. I will NOT be getting an early start tomorrow, as it will be 27°F when I wake up. I might even wait until it gets into the 40s around 10am (which is really 9 am before daylight savings time).
Thus will begin my two-day climb over the legendary Emory Pass. This will be the LAST BIG CLIMB of this trip — it’s all downhill from there to Texas!
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TRANSLATIONS/BACKGROUND: “CANTBIRD” = CA-AZ-NM-TX Bike Ride, my own nickname for the 1000 miles on the western half of the Southern Tier Bicycle Route, from San Diego to El Paso, using maps from ACA (Adventure Cycling Association). (I did the 1500-mile eastern half in March 2024, which I called GUMBIRD [Gulf of Mexico Bike Ride].)
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LINKS:
Old-fashioned BLOG if you have friends who don’t use Facebook:
“Old Scouter” Facebook page if you want to follow big adventures with more pictures and video clips (but not unrelated personal posts):
“Old Scouter” YouTube page (when I get time to edit after the trip):