It was tough to leave the dreamy bed and comfortable hotel, but.…. today’s forecast was for a mid-morning tailwind and we would need every bit of help available for the climbs ahead.  The cool 72° morning began with a three mile downhill backtrack; much more enjoyable than yesterday afternoon’s climb in to town.  Once on course, the road began rough and the shoulder filled with gravel, but with no traffic we could ride anywhere.  There was not much to see as we climbed through this vastness and we could see for miles, until we spotted Antelope (sorry MaryEllen).They seemed surprised, but not too concerned to see us, so photo ops abound.

Though we had no wind, the climbing still required a lot of stops on our slow pedal up.  Two hours of riding today and we just managed 14 miles with 1300 feet of climbing; we were ready for the tailwinds to show up and they were Late.  The grade was getting steeper and the air thinner,   as we slowly climbed.  Thanks to a two mile 350 foot drop, we squeaked in 21 miles in three hours of pedaling.  As our elevation inched toward 6,000 feet, trees began to replace the low shrub. Long before the wind assist came, we could hear it in the treetops.  By the time it reached our backs, we were struggling to maintain 3.2 mph, the wind pushed us to a blistering 4 mph pace up the mountain.  We finally reached the Continental Divide at 6355 feet (our fourth time over the Continental Divide).

The route now offered ups and downs as we rolled through the high valley.

Shortly after noon, we realized why there had been no traffic all morning.  We had known there was a big bike race in town, as we had to stay on the other side of town, but we had no idea, Tour de Bocrie would meet Tour de Gila.  This is the 30th annual five day event and we were arriving on the day of the time trials.   Took advantage of the signage for a quick rest, food break and a chance to see the racers go by.   The next ten miles was a blur of riders, conversation and massive hills.  We met Doug from Gallop, NM who had ridden over to watch the race and 14 year old K.J. from Tucson, who rode with us (after his race) for a couple miles, Great kid!

Once in town, we stopped for our daily (chocolate peanut butter) milkshake and then the mile Uphill to our hotel.  It had been a grueling 47 miles, but with the excitement of the race and the riders all around, we had forgotten the pain.  That was until we had to ride over a mile back in town for dinner; our legs were shot.  We are using the race in town as an excuse to take a day off, but we really need a rest and a little bike maintenance.  So we dropped our bikes at the shop and headed to dinner in town (more on that tomorrow).  Finally a delicious dinner (Apricot-Chipotle Chicken Alfredo)and a surprisingly amazing bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon from New Mexico.  A fitting end to our second week!