Day 304 and 5 May 29 and 30, 2017 Deming to Lordsburg, NM and a rest day.

We talked about today's ride. Our original plan was to ride 54 miles NW from Deming to Silver City today, then ride 47 miles SW on 5/30 from Silver City to Lordsburg. The purpose of the two day excursion was to avoid the 64 mile ride, mostly on I-10, from Deming to Lordsburg. BUT. Wind today was forecast to be up to 17 mph from the ESE. What the hell, lets go with being Windstrong!

Today's ride: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/21597808

We started the day by replacing our almost 4,000 mile old front tire. While we slept last night, some of the plies gave way, and the tire had a serious bulge in the morning. No problem. With a new Schalbe Marathon plus in place, we headed out of town.

Old steam switch engine on display in downtown Deming.


Passing under I-10 in Deming. Why don't more towns decorate stuff like this? New Mexico seems to do it a lot.


We were concerned about being able to get enough water and food during our ride today. Soon billboards reassured us we had nothing to worry about. Truck stops along I-10 are abundant in this area.


I mentioned in a previous post that any road that required you to enter it by crossing a cattle guard, was to be avoided.


I've changed my mind. If the cattle guard has round bars, avoid it; if the bars have flat tops, it is OK, if a bit unnerving to cross.






They do like their fireworks at these truck stops.


More miles and miles of miles and miles. I don't know why the distant mountains are hazy. The humidity is in the teens.






When I originally looked at today's profile, I noticed that we gently climbed until about mile 36, and then fell gently almost all the way to Lordsburg. Go look at the route link, and you will see what I mean. Curious. Then at mile 36 I was given the answer.


Once we passed the divide, we really started to pick up speed. Between the tail wind, and the down grade, we averaged over 20 mph from mile 46 to 56. Averaged almost 15 mph overall today.

Lordsburg, while the county seat, is kind of a run down little town. Makes me wonder what industry moved out. We will spend 5/30 here as a rest day, and then ride to Rodeo, NM for our last night in this state. Probably. Unless the wind looks like crap.