1st Section Complete!
I’m currently in Grants, NM, which means I’m about 390 miles into the ride, and Section 6 (or 1, in my case as a Northbounder) of the GDMBR is officially behind me. I’m writing this update from my bed in a hotel room, which is absolutely glorious.
Yesterday I made it to Pie Town around lunchtime (I’d intended to get there for breakfast, but I screwed up my mileage the night before and actually had 30 more miles to pie town instead of 15… math is hard. In general, but especially when you’re wiped out from bikepacking).
En route, I stopped for water at this amazing spot called The Davila Ranch, which is basically a little off grid outpost for hikers and cyclists consisting of a bathroom, two showers, a stocked camp kitchen, wifi and more. Super cool.
My math goof worked out perfectly, though, because I rolled into The Gathering Place, the best food spot in Pie Town, just after three other cyclists—David and Sally from Tucson, and Brent from Vancouver Island. Turns out they’d camped just about a half mile up the road from me the previous night.
The Gathering Place (and Pie Town, in general) is somewhat of a Divide hub, both for cyclists and hikers on the CDT. Star, the owner/waitress at the restaurant, took great care of us as we all ate as much food as we could stomach (I had a pulled pork sandwich, fries, side salad, 3 lemonades and a piece of pear ginger pie, for those wondering. No key lime, unfortunately). They finished up before me and headed out, but suggested I check out “The Toaster House” before I leave Pie Town. So, I took notes from my new friends and ordered a burrito to go (for dinner later) and was about to leave when a motorcyclist walked up and offered me the remainder of his blackberry pie—he said he couldn’t pack it on his bike, and I assured him I’d find a way to get it on mine.
I cruised over to the aptly named Toaster House and found Sally, David and Brent hanging out with two other guys—Ken, and “Oldtimer” (that’s his trail name, as he just turned 70). Turns out there are like 4 Bryan’s riding northbound right now, so people have started calling me Santa Fe Bryan (was hoping for a more creative trail name, but we’ll see).
Toaster House is another hiker/cyclist oasis. It was owned by a trail angel who passed away last year, and her kids donated it to the CDT Trail Coalition. It’s stocked with all sorts of snacks, food, soda, beer, plus things like mini soaps and shampoos, etc, and it’s all free, they just ask for a donation. I took a shower and did a load of laundry, and hung out with everyone until about 5:30 when we decided it was getting cool enough to roll out to the next camp spot 15 miles away.
They all left a little before me, and we were all feeling pretty good because we’d been told the road out of town had just been graded. As soon as I got onto it, though, I began to wonder whether it had actually been graded or if someone was talking about a different road. The washboard wasn’t terrible, but there were pockets of deep sand hidden underneath loose stuff on top that was tricky to ride through. I was very thankful for my wide tires.
I got about 10 miles down the road, and all of the sudden saw Brent waving me down from the side of the road, where Sally and David were sitting. Turns out Sally had crashed in some deep sand and broken her collarbone. They’d already pushed the SOS button on her InReach and a truck from the fire department was on its way.
There wasn’t much to be done at that point, but Brent and I waited and helped them load their bikes in the truck and made sure they got on their way. I heard from them today and it sounds like they spent the night in Socorro after visiting the ER (her collarbone was indeed broken), and are already headed home to Tucson. Such a bummer! But, I have to say, I’ve never seen two people in such good spirits and with such positive attitudes, even as their tour was ending. Total pros, those two.
Brent (who’s also riding solo) and I took it a little easier after that and continued on to camp at TLC ranch, which is another incredible little spot. A family allows hikers and cyclists to camp on the front half of their property for free, and puts out water and fruit for everyone. They even built an outhouse specifically for campers! So much trail magic yesterday!
Brent and I chatted and ate our burritos under the porch of the old homestead on their ranch. Turns out Brent is also doing this tour as a birthday ride—both he and Oldtimer turned 70 in April. They both are absolute rock stars, and definitely something to aspire to. Oldtimer’s piece of advice if you want to be able to ride the GDMBR at 70? Don’t drink, don’t smoke or do (too many) drugs, and stay off the couch.
I rolled out a little earlier than Brent this morning and took the Tour Divide/El Malpais alternate into Grants. Got here around noon, and stopped at Walmart to resupply before heading out again. I grabbed a meal, and thought I’d ride a few more miles but decided to get a hotel instead and rest up a bit. I plan to leave super early in the morning to get a bunch of miles in before it gets hot (it was 93 here today).
I’m still on schedule despite two shorter mileage days, and am getting very excited because I’m about to get into the Jemez mountains (a little higher elevation and close to Santa Fe) AND, more importantly, I get to see my wife and best friend in two days—Sarah’s bringing Eric out to ride for about 5 days with me on the 8th. Can’t wait!
