Cycling with Grit and Perseverance

Total miles – 2135.55 Total ascent – 145,704 ft We left the Cuban Lodge this morning. The town of Cuba rivals Ephrata, which isn’t saying much. Not a place to spend any vacation time. We biked on the highway for 10 miles. At about mile 8 D’Arcy got a flat tire from a piece of…

Total miles – 2090.25 Total ascent- 143,894 ft So today was the hardest day yet of the whole ride. The first 30 miles included lots of rock and sand, both going up and down. We were under a time crunch because our leader/sweep Steve thought we wouldn’t finish until after dark. We started riding at…

Total miles – 2023.85 Total ascent- 138,064 ft Today was a short day because the van and trailer could only make it so far up the dirt road. Tomorrow may be our toughest day yet. About 68 miles with lots of elevation gain on loose, rocky roads and probably some hike a bike.

Rest day in Abiquiu. We are staying in a couple of Air B and B’s, kind of a small compound. Most of us spent the morning leisurely cleaning our bikes. For lunch we went into the town of Abiquiu. Tomorrow it’s back on the trail. Only 11 more riding days left.

Total miles – 2003.35 Total ascent – 135,626 ft There was a nip in the air this morning. It felt different from the other cold mornings we’ve had. Maybe it’s just me knowing fall is on the way. After bouncing down more rough, rock strewn trails we passed through the hamlet of Vallecito. Hard to…

Total miles – 1953.55 Total ascent – 133,053 ft We left Lagunitas Campground under partly cloudy skies. The scenery was amazing though.

Total miles – 1918.35 Total ascent – 130,083 ft Today was a rough day, literally. At least the second half was. We started out with a five mile climb on pavement. We finally entered our fifth and last state, New Mexico.

After such a big, hard day yesterday at high elevation my body had nothing left today. While the elevation profile looks like we were descending there were still enough rollers to make it an effort.

Total miles – 1855.75 Total ascent – 124,152 Today we hit the highest point, elevation wise, on the trip. We climbed to close to 12,000 ft and then rambled at that elevation for awhile. I didn’t have problems breathing but my stomach felt a bit queasy. It was a lot of climbing, much of it…

Total miles- 1812.50 Total ascent – 118,850 ft Today’s ride was gorgeous! We are moving towards the southwest and the rock formations were amazing.