Day 4: Tuesday

Distance: 49.10 mi.
Average: 11.3 mph
Maximum: 30.2 mph
Time in Motion: 4:20:41

A plan formulated last night just before we went to bed. I was to get up early and leave for Silver City. Jesse was to take my cell phone and start pedaling for Silver City at 11:00 a.m. If I got a message at the motel in Silver City to that he needed help, I would rent a car and find him along highway 90. If he didn’t show up by 4:00 p.m. (cellular coverage is spotty in the mountains), I was to get a car and go look for him.

After breakfast at Kranberry’s family restaurant, I hit the road. The first few miles heading north along highway 90 I felt like I was descending. But I was going so slowly. I couldn’t understand it. Eventually, I stopped out of exhaustion and looked behind me. I had definitely been climbing. Lordsburg was far below, and I had a great view, pictured above and here: .

The climbing continued for at least 17 miles. While in the Gila National Forest , I powered up my GPS. To my surprise I had climbed 2000 feet. A few miles late and after some more climbing, I reached the Continental Divide at 6,355 feet . The marathon climb soon became a mix of descents and small hills.

As I neared Silver City and was climbing the last hill before town, two cyclists caught up to me – Dorothy and Tim . We chatted for a mile or two and they offered to go look for Jesse and give him a ride to town. I followed them to Tim’s house where I was offered food, a shower, and use of the Internet while Dorothy went looking for Jesse.

I appreciated the generous offer, but declined. I didn’t imagine it would be long before Dorothy was back with Jesse. By then, we could check into our motel.

Dorothy showed up without Jesse. She met up with him 10 miles south of town and he declined the offer for a ride. He decided that since his shaky wheel held together for 90 miles, it would probably hold for the last ten. And it did.

Dorothy gave me a quick tour of Silver City in her pickup truck and dropped me off at the motel. Jesse showed up soon after and we wandered around downtown while Annie Crawford of Twin Sisters Cycle & Fitness (http://www.twinsisterscycling.com) rebuilt Jesse’s wheel with new spokes.

The ride today was tiring, at first. There were some great views from high up in the mountains. I saw massive copper mines just south of Silver City .

This little town is nice. There are many small shops and restaurants downtown. And there are two bicycle shops. According to a book in our motel room, Silver City has often been rated as one of the best small towns in the nation to live in. And as one resident put it, “Art is big in Silver.”