March 17, 2023: Rodeo to Columbus, NM. 93 miles, 2,000 feet of climbing, and 10 – 15 MPH Headwinds

Today was a tough cycling day. To set the stage, it began around 8:00pm Thursday night, with the winds and rain pounding the tents. The temperature dropped into the 30’s, and the wind was so strong that it caused the tarp covering my bike to flap furiously, creating some crazy noise and commotion. I elected to uncover the bike and take the tarp into the tent around 11:00pm, knowing that the rain would inevitably saturate the bike but at least keep the noise down for the other campers. The storm finally subsided in the early morning, allowing a little sleep before the long day began.

Five of us started out right at daybreak, which was about 7:15am. I hadn’t ridden 2 miles before my left mirror detached and hit the pavement, causing me to make some minor repairs while the group sailed on. Only 30 minutes later, I ran into one from the group who experienced a flat tire, and stopped to help him replace the tire, only to discover another rider a few miles forward, who was dealing with a leaking tire himself. All of these unplanned stops put us well behind the other riders, and set the stage for a pretty long day.

Long story short, our second longest ride of the tour, a 93 mile trek from Rodeo to Columbus, NM, was made even more difficult by some significant headwinds, with some gusts measuring beyond 20MPH. So much for the theory that traveling west to east would be easier due to the easterly direction of the trade winds! For some reason, the flow worked against us all day. Counting stops, it took us about 10 hours to cover 93 miles. By the time I was finished at 5:15pm, I was ready to throw the bike in the dumpster and head for the airport, but alas, all flights out of Columbus, NM International (population 1,500) had already departed for the day. :). So the tour continues for me! 🙂

I can tell you that the sites between Rodeo and Columbus are few and far between. Marked only by a simple sign, we did cross the Continental Divide, which did give me a little boost of enthusiasm that we were making some actual progress. Beyond that, I can tell you that in 10 hours, we experienced very little road traffic, and absolutely NO people or wildlife, with the exception of about 10 circling vultures, who seemed to follow me throughout the route. (I am convinced that, given my obvious struggles, to them I must have been perceived as a possible snack opportunity). At one point, we came across a plot of land for sale, listing the 10 available acres for $20,000. From what I saw, the $2,000 per acre asking price was very aspirational, and I would strongly encourage anyone interested to offer significantly less, as the potential your offer would be accepted is relatively high. To further paint the picture, I did not even see telephone poles and wires until we were within a few miles of Columbus.

Along the route, one of the riders commented at mile 70 that if he were back in his native Holland, he would have ridden from end to end, and be out of his home country by that time. Living in such a large country as the United States, it is hard picture an entire country slightly less than twice the size of New Jersey. Despite our challenges with the route, our luck seemed to change as we entered camp, as we were immediately met by none other than Esequiel Salas, the mayor of Columbus, NM, (population 1,500). Ever the politician, he suggested that if we could not find anything to eat in his town, we would be welcome at his home, where he signaled his willingness to cook for us all. Instead, we elected for Dominoes Pizza, which we devoured in our new, posh living conditions here in the gym of the Columbus Community Center. By now, I have gotten used to sleeping on an air mattress, and am very thankful for my down jacket, which helps keep me warm in our mostly unheated overnight locations. Speaking of that, we just received our “10 minute lights out warning”, so I must close. I promise to write more tomorrow.