What's Fred Up To Now?: October 6 and 7 - Silver City to Kingston to Leasburg Dam SP, NM

October 6 - Thursday; Silver City to Kingston, NM; 50 miles.
I got off to a bit of a late start; 7:25 am. It was 43 degrees at the beginning of the ride so I wore my cold-weather gear; skull cap, glove liners, arm and leg warmers and rain jacket. There were some significant "rollers" from Silver City until around San Lorenzo where we started the major portion of the climb to Emory Pass. There was a serious down hill just before San Lorenzo where I hit 48 mph before breaking due to gusty winds. I stopped at the Santa Rita Mine for a photo. About 9:00 was when the wind really picked up. There were gusts to around 40 mph from the SW so it was mostly at my back for the climb to the pass. At times it was pushing me up the hill. The climb was 14 miles and about 2,700' with mixed grade and only a few really steep sections. RJ and I reached the pass (8,228') at the same time with Adrian soon to follow. We took each others photos then rode the short climb to the Emory Pass vista where we took a few more photos. The view east from the vista was spectacular looking down into the valley and mountains on the other side. At the vista parking lot we met and talked with a man from Durango, CO who was getting ready to start a 5-day solo hike into the wilderness area. He had planned to hike around Durango but snow had already fallen there. After the vista was an 8 mile SWEET winding downhill to Kingston. We camped at the Black Range Lodge, a B&B. Early in the climb, RJ and I did our good samaritan deed for the day by changing a woman's right front tire that had a huge hole in the sidewall. I'm not sure what she hit, but it did a number on the tire. Thanks again to Adrian's friends Frank and Eileen who stashed water for us at mile marker 17 on NM152 and again at Emory Pass. They left these the day before on their return trip to Denver. They had also stopped at the Lodge and left us bags of candy!

Fred reaches Emory Pass!!

Fred and RJ at the Emory Pass Vista

October 7 - Friday; Kingston to Leasburg Dam State Park (near Radium Springs); 70 miles.
We had breakfast at the lodge and did not get started until 8:00 am. It was cold again so I had on all the gear I started with yesterday plus my rain pants for wind protection. I knew the first part was down hill and that I would not get warmed up any time soon. The first 26 miles to Caballo (on I-25) were very sweet downhill with a gusty tail wind. We then turned south and had some significant headwind until the route changed direction to the SE. After that it was mainly a crosswind. Others in the group who were about 1/2 hour behind me got rained on but I managed to stay ahead of the rain. I had lunch at Sparky's BBQ and Shakes. Great food. The line was out the door from the time I arrived at 12:30 pm and was still out the door when I left at 1:45 pm. It must be the place to eat in Hatch. I'm at the Hatch public library and have 21 miles to go to Radium Springs. [Later] Once we arrived at Leasburg SP we pitched our tents in the gravel. Everyone that is except Dan and Gary who decided to sleep in their bags on the concrete picnic table areas. It sprinkled off and on while we were trying to cook dinner and there were several rainbows. One of the previous ACA ST tour guides who lives in the area brought us pie and candy. She provided some very good information on sections of the trip yet to come. Tomorrow we ride into Las Cruses and on to El Paso, TX.