Day 295 May 20, 2017 Eunice to Carlsbad, NM

We were concerned about today's ride, almost 70 miles, and only one possible source of food and water along the way at the Halfway Bar & Grill, mile 37. We are in the Chihuahuan Desert https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chihuahuan_Desert , so we packed extra energy bars and extra water beyond our usual three liter camelback bladders. It is good to remember that when people out here tell you that there is nothing between point A and point B, they mean NOTHING.

Today's map: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/21301111

Leaving the motel. It was 51F this morning. The desert can be cold.


We started the day with breakfast at Rodriguez Restaurante in Eunice, a heuvos con chorizo with bean burrito for each of us, plus the necessary coffee. Even though we were in Mountain Time since crossing into New Mexico, we had decided to remain on Central Time so that we could more easily get up for an early start. We began our ride at 07:00 local time. The ride began with a twenty five mile climb, not steep, but persistent.


Extensive solar power field we passed. Between wind and solar, the desert southwest could end up providing us with a lot of energy.


One of the few short down hills in the first hour.


Average speed in the first hour, including frogging around in town: 9.6 mph.

Our faithful fans.


Margaret took a backward looking panorama after our first hour.


Google Maps kept wanting us to divert off roads such as this,

for roads such as this.

In general, any road that you have to cross a cattle guard to enter is to be avoided.

Our 7 mph cross wind slowly became a quartering tail wind, and our average speed after two hours was 10.8 mph, still climbing.

You see these signs a lot.

When you do get rain in the desert, it often comes as a down pour. The soil can not absorb it, so flooding is a real issue. People have died in shallow, dry creek beds that suddenly fill with a wall of water. It might not even be raining where they are; the rain was up-slope, and is rushing down hill.

Sometimes, when we are riding in country like this, I tell Margaret that I feel like a bug on God's windshield.


During our third hour, the road started to turn downwards. We were even in our largest chain ring for a while.



Our average speed after three hours was 12.2 mph, which is really good for us. Two miles later we pulled in to the Half Way Bar & Grill.

Which no longer exists.
 




The important information on the sign, which we had ignored, was "Bighorn Aqua Solutions." This will be a facility that recycles oil and gas drilling water so that it can be re-used. One of the guys working on the project came over and gave us each a cold bottle of water. Nice. Yum!








If you look at today's profile, you will see that we basically go down hill today from mile 25 to 39, and again from mile 45 to 62. YES, YES, YES!!!! We have climbed every single foot that we descended today over the last weeks. We deserved this.
 



 Guadalupe Mountains in the far distance.


Everything has cattle guards out here.


This country is austerely beautiful. It reminds me of Michigan in winter. You could die out here if you don't pay attention to business, just like you can in Michigan hiking in the snow.




Coming in to Carlsbad.




Our average speed at the end of the ride was 12.98 mph. Gradestrong! We got to the motel before 13:40, and diverted to Juniors Restaurant right next door for an enchalada suizas lunch.

We do not plan to leave Carlsbad until 5/24. In the mean time we plan to visit Carlsbad Caverns. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlsbad_Caverns_National_Park

Good night.