GDMBR Day 8: Pie Town to Chain of Craters Backcountry Byway

We woke up early the next morning. Knowing I had to stop by the post office in Pie Town to send home my big camera and pick up the new camera, Willy had spent all his time riding yesterday contemplating what else could be sent home. We were definitely carrying too much weight so before heading over to breakfast we figured out what could be sent home and redistributed the common gear. It was no longer “What about BOB?” but “ALL about BOB!” and anything we could do to lighten our load.

Items not making the cut included:

• ULock and cables: these weighed at least five pounds and there isn’t anyone around in the places we stay to even steal our bikes (or so we hope).
• Books for pleasure reading: there is so much work to do around camp and by the time we turn in we’re completely spent and the big tomes we brought are simply too heavy.
• Clothing and other miscellaneous sundries: other than cold weather gear, if we haven’t used it yet then we probably won’t need it.

In all honesty, most of the stuff to be sent home was mine. Willy had done a good job of weeding through the unessential items he was carrying in Silver City. We redistributed what remained, repacked with BOB configuration v2.0 and headed to The Daily Pie Cafe for breakfast.

Our server, Barbara, and everyone at the Daily Pie were extremely friendly. They let us spread our maps all over the table, kept the coffee coming and served up a delicious breakfast and pie ala mode. Knowing the pay phone in town was broken and cell phone coverage is non-existent they even have a second phone line dedicated for hikers and bikers to use. We spent the morning gorging ourselves and talking on the phone. If you ever find your way passing through Pie Town, New Mexico definitely stop in for the pie and some of the finest hospitality you’ll ever encounter.

The final stop before getting on the bikes was the Pie Town Post Office. I was excited to get rid of the extra weight but I was a bit anxious about the shipment from Amazon. We checked with the postmaster and nothing had arrived from UPS. She offered to forward the packages on to another post office when they did arrive. I was a bit despondent because I didn’t want to be without a camera but it was the best we could do. We boxed up the gear to send home — almost 17 pounds worth and as we prepared to pay the UPS truck showed up with my packages from Amazon. I was the proud owner of a new Canon SD 800, a spare battery and a few SD cards for all of our pictures. The timing was perfect — serentripity strikes again!

After saying goodbye to the ladies from the USPS and the UPS we pedaled off on what was supposed to be a fairly easy day of mostly downhill. The New Mexican sun was shining and we were going through our water (almost 4L a piece) pretty quickly. The maps and guidebook mentioned several tanks and windmills where we could stop to get water but they were all dry.

After 10 miles of stopping to check out every tank and windmill without luck we came across what we’ve dubbed a “New Mexican drinking fountain”. It was a huge tank in the middle of the desert, standing next to a broken windmill and a strange solar array on top. Had it not been for the solar panels we would have pedaled past figuring it was yet another empty tank in disrepair. As we walked closer we could see water dripping from the top from where the spigot was supposed to be. We found pieces of the faucet on the ground shattered in pieces. The nearby cattle tanks were full so we knew there had to be way to get water out of it. Again, we were two perplexed city slickers who knew water was close at hand but unable to get to it.

After 20 minutes of investigation I decided the only option left was to climb the ladder and see what was on top. I found a small hole and was able to stick my hand inside far enough to find the tank was nearly full of clear, cool water. It took nearly 15 more minutes, with both Willy and I climbing the tank, a rock and some rope to rig up a MacGyver-esque setup which yielded almost 5L of fresh drinking water. Mission accomplished — we could pedal on.

When we stopped for lunch a few hours later, of course there were no trees for shade. The only thing casting a shadow was an old wooden sign for a housing community being built which we had passed nearly 15 miles before. We set up a tarp in the shade, devoured our tuna sandwiches and even took a quick afternoon siesta.

As we packed up the bikes Willy turned around and saw a scene which spurred his creative side.

A Long, Unwinding Road

We turned on to the Chain of Craters Backcountry Byway which is part of the El Malpais National Monument. After a long day of pedaling we stopped at a trail head for the CDT. It was a cool spot because it was the first time, to our knowledge, the CDT and the GDMBR routes crossed. We set up camp, had a dinner of Ramen noodles and proceeded to clean up just as we normally do. While we were washing dishes both Willy and I heard a growl in the distance but neither of us said anything. After the second growl we looked at each other with a “Did you hear that too?” look. We quickly finished the dishes, packed the food and other items of interest to bears and stored them well away from camp. It was a beautiful clear night and a full moon was rising. As we sat in our camp chairs we only heard the growling one more time and it was much further off. None the less the can of bear repellent was within easy reach between us.

GDMBR Day 9: Chain of Craters Backcountry Byway to Grants

Supplies were definitely getting low. I ate the last packet of oatmeal for breakfast and Willy ate Ramen. We planned to make it to Grants by evening but any nourishment during the day would come from gooey PowerBars or whatever we found along the way. During the ride we’ve been making reference to accounts posted by others, mainly Scott and Paula and Mike. Scott made reference to a little cafe at the Bandera Ice Caves halfway through the day’s ride where he and Paula had eaten burritos. We were banking on that little cafe still being around three years later for our lunch today.

We pedaled into the Bandera Ice Caves just as the Schwan’s truck was arriving. We’ve seen a number of Schwan’s trucks on the trips. It seems when you live more than 50 miles from the closest town with a store it is just more convenient to let Schwan’s bring the food to you.

While we waited for the fresh delivery to be unpacked we hiked to the ice cave. After pedaling through desert in the relatively cool (yet very hot by Chicago standards) morning sun it was amazing to walk down a few flights of stairs to find an exposed sheet of ice more than 12 feet thick. The air temperature was a very cool 31 degrees and while it felt refreshing at first we were quickly chilled.

Back at the Tradin’ Post/Visitor’s Center we dined on cheeseburgers and Ranchero sandwiches freshly cooked/thawed in the microwave. It wasn’t gourmet but it hit the spot. Before leaving the ice caves we hiked to the crater of the Bandera Volcano.

The El Malpais National Monument visitor’s center was just down the road. Since I’ve been a kid I’ve collected stamps for every National Park I visit. Since the visitor’s center was six miles off route round trip and it included a two mile climb on the return Willy and I split up. He headed to Grants and we agreed to meet up either at the KOA or the Mission Coffee Shop and headed off in opposite directions.

After getting the stamp in my National Parks Passport. I collected my BOB from where I had left it at the Bandera Ice Caves and set off to Grants. About two miles into the ride I was again on gravel and after another mile or two I picked up the tracks of Willy’s tires climbing to the summit to cross the Continental Divide for the fifth time that day. I couldn’t resist — I felt like I was in the Tour de France and the Director of my team had called out over the radio to chase down the breakaway. I had roughly 20 miles to give it all I had to see if I could chase Willy down. Willy knows me well enough to realize I’d give chase so we both rode hard all the way to Grants. I never quite caught him but when we get a free minute we’re going to compare the GPS tracks. I contend with just another couple of miles I would have caught him. Regardless, we both had a great ride flying through the downhills of a beautiful canyon. I think it was the best downhill yet.

Grants is on Route 66 and since I-40 superseded the “Main Street of America” many years ago it doesn’t look like much has changed. After talking to a few people at the Mission Coffee Shop everyone suggested we stay at the Sands Motel if there was a vacancy.

We checked for availability at the office and they had a room for us. It was supposedly “very clean” and we were allowed to bring our bikes in the room. And at $40 a night it included breakfast. We figured it was a good deal and checked in.

The room actually smelled like it had been painted the day before. However, it might have been easier to just paint over the dirt rather than trying to clean it off. But the room had two beds and the water in the shower was hot even if the pressure left a little to be desired. The room next door was the Elvis Room and not sleeping in the tent after some long days in the saddle counted for a lot.

After we got cleaned up, we asked about dinner and where we could get the film in our disposable camera developed. People suggested El Cafecito and of course there was a Wal-Mart nearby for the film. We had a decent meal and were introduced to sopapillas, a delicious New Mexican treat which is like fried bread which can be stuffed with the usual five ingredients Taco Bell has managed to make into so many different combinations or can be eaten plain with honey on top. Personally we both liked the sopapilla and honey for dessert.

Being a “big-box” store and since Willy and I live in Chicago we don’t get to check out the inside of Wal-Marts very often. It was a bit overwhelming at first but I found the photo drop counter and they promised they would be ready the next morning at 10:00.

I think we felt a little lost not having the usual chores around camp to take care of like cooking, cleaning up and pitching the tent. So we did what we know best when you have a free evening, we stopped by the local package goods store and grabbed a six-pack. Back in the room we enjoyed a beer, watched TV and caught up on phone calls before turning in and looking forward to a rest day tomorrow.

GDMBR Day 10: Rest Day in Grants

After a decent night’s sleep at the Sands Motel we woke up and headed over to breakfast in the hotel office. It consisted of coffee or tea and donut holes. It was lucky neither of us was really expecting much more out of the place but it was a enough to tide us over to take care of the morning errands. We needed to head back to Wal-Mart to pick up the photos and shop for supplies. Again, Wal-Mart was a bit of a trying experience for us both but we were successful. Afterwards we split up and Willy headed off to do laundry while I headed back to the Mission Cafe to start uploading photos. Our plan was to spend the whole day relaxing with coffee, a newspaper and WiFi access.

We met a number of interesting people throughout the day. We shared our story and heard a number of stories of how people ended up in Grants and how most of them were hoping to get out sometime soon. After the cafe closed we walked around town a bit. We’d only been here a day but I wanted out already. Part of it was yearning to get back in the saddle and make progress on the ride but really Grants wasn’t all that nice of a place.

Everywhere there were rundown or completely shut hotels. I walked by most of the places and cringed. It reminded me of the house I lived in at college with nine other guys (as you can imagine that wasn’t exactly a pretty scene). You know that in an earlier time it had been a really nice place but now it was beyond hope and somehow had avoided the wrecking ball far longer than it should have. When my parents came to visit I think my mom only set foot in that house out of motherly obligation and after the super abbreviated five minute tour we headed over to the Student Union. Here in Grants I got the same feeling my mom must’ve had back then and rather than walk a few blocks away a couple day pedal seemed like the only salvation.

Everything about this town made me wonder if all of Route 66 was in this kind of disrepair. This road has such a romantic appeal in American folklore but if Grants is typical then I certainly won’t be looking to get my kicks on Route 66.

That night Willy spent some time working on his bike. We had adjusted the gears for cable stretch back at Beaverhead and it had been shifting fairly well. But in the last day it was getting rough. Anyone who has ever biked with Willy knows it must’ve been causing problems for him to roll up his sleeves and start fiddling with it. I tuned up his old bike once and cleaned off the chain in the process. On his very next ride the chain snapped because the dirt and gunk was all that was holding the bike together. Willy just doesn’t believe in tune-ups. After a while of tinkering he seemed happy and we headed off to dinner. We looked forward to another night’s sleep in a bed and then getting out of Grants early the next morning.