New Mexico and Arizona

Greetings from Payson, Arizona! Wait, we’re in Arizona already? How did that happen!? Well, by the numbers, we’ve gone…

3,069 miles in

56 days including

11 build days and

2 days off.

That means we have less than 1,000 miles to go in just 19 days, which includes 3 more build days and a day off at the Grand Canyon. I know these last few weeks are going to fly by, and I can practically taste the salty water of the Pacific that I’ve dreamed of every day for the last 2 months. Here’s an update from our trek through New Mexico and into Arizona.

NEW MEXICO:

Crossing into New Mexico leaves me with just three states left until I’ve visited all 50 (South Dakota, Alaska, and Hawaii, in case you’re wondering), and it easily takes the pie (see Pie Town below) for my favorite state of this trip. The landscape quickly changed from feedlots and farmlands to broken mesas and wide deserts filled with cactus, wildflowers, low shrubs, and pinyon pines (a shorter, bushier version of pine than the ponderosa I’m used to in Montana). Along with the barren yet beautiful geography come smaller towns and limited services, oftentimes meaning longer riding stretches with fewer breaks. We’ve learned to cherish every air-conditioned gas station, knowing the next one may not be for another 60+ miles. Fortunately the weather has been on our side, with unusually heavy late-summer rains keeping the state cool and green. The desert that I envisioned being chalky and brown has been surprisingly emerald and dotted with colorful flowers. What a nice surprise!

Portales – Our first New Mexican town of Portales welcomed us warmly into the state. We had a short 52-mile ride day, allowing for plenty of time to explore the town, which is home to Eastern New Mexico University, our host for the night. Staying on campus meant that we got beds for the second night in a row after our home stays in Friona. Dinner at First UMC was attended by mayor Sharon King, and I even got to sit next to her. After a meal of fried chicken and homemade casseroles, she surprised us with an official proclamation declaring Aug 2^nd Bike & Build Day in Portales. We even had a police escort out of the city the following morning, allowing all 32 riders and our support van to roll out en masse on the road to Roswell before splitting into smaller groups.

Roswell – We had a 90-mile, 90-degree day leading into our much-anticipated day off site of Roswell, home of the infamous Roswell UFO Incident of 1947. My riding partner J and I were greeted into town by a Sonic and without hesitation stopped for happy hour slushies (my favorite way to end a ride). That night we rallied our tired bodies for our very own prom, a Bike & Build tradition, complete with randomly selected dates, thrift store outfits, and group photos. The following day was our first day off in 5 weeks since Pittsburgh, which meant sleeping in and a full day to explore the area. I joined about a third of the crew on an excursion to Bottomless Lakes State Park about 15 miles outside of town. The park consists of a series of lakes formed by sinkholes ranging from 17-90 feet deep (ok, so they aren’t actually bottomless). We hiked around a few of the lakes and swam in and across the largest one, Lea Lake. The blue-green water felt so refreshing and surreal, as we were surrounded by an arid desert and huge rock formations. After the lakes, we continued our tour de Roswell by hitting up the Anderson Contemporary Art Museum, which featured an extensive exhibit from the Roswell artists-in-residence program. I was especially struck by the landscape paintings of the museum’s namesake artist, Don Anderson, as well as some whimsical hanging sharks made from reused golf club bags and vacuums. We ended the day by checking out some of the alien shops on the main drag, but I was quite underwhelmed by downtown Roswell and glad I spent the majority of my day elsewhere.

Carrizozo – I say this a lot, but our ride to Carrizozo really was my favorite of the trip thus far. I rode with Nick, and we started out our morning with a couple local Roswell cyclists cruising alongside us for the first 20 miles or so of the 90 mile day.  They were so enthusiastic about our journey and eager to share with us their knowledge of local geography and history. They told us we’d be ascending a hill where Billy the Kid once outran the local law enforcement to escape their jurisdiction into the adjacent county. We road extra hard over the hill and continued to follow the trail of Billy the Kid into Lincoln, where he was jailed with the intent to be hanged before he escaped, killing two guards in the process. We were conveniently halted by a rain shower in Lincoln and killed time exploring the historic buildings and hitting up the coffee shop. Another 20 miles or so down the road brought us to Capitan, the birthplace and burial grounds of Smokey the Bear.  Turns out the character is based on a cub that was found in a tree in the Capitan Mountains after getting separated from his mother in a wildfire. The remaining mileage to Carrizozo consisted of a big climb followed by a long descent, dropping 1500 feet into a picturesque valley with mountains jutting out on every side of us. How sweet it is to be surrounded by mountains! Carrizozo is a tiny town whose claim to fame is that the Book of Eli was filmed there and the first atomic bomb was tested right outside of town in 1945. The church that hosted us was incredibly gracious and eager to host us and provide meals, despite the town being plagued by poverty and the resulting problems. The pastor urged us “don’t forget about us”, referring to small towns across America being viable options for a place to make a home and a difference.

Socorro – Five miles outside of Carrizozo on our route to Socorro was the Valley of Fires Recreation Area, an old lava flow that we ventured through by bike on a paved walkway (perhaps not intended for bikes, but it was empty at 7 in the morning, so we figured what the heck!).  My legs were sore and stubborn after the climbing and long mileage from the day before, but as always, the ever-changing scenery and conversation with my riding partner Rose helped me through the day. We crossed the Rio Grande, which was toffee-colored and less grand than its name would suggest. Our host in Socorro was conveniently located across the street from New Mexico Tech’s campus, where we talked our way into the pool for a competitive game of 4-4 pool basketball with some local kids. I quickly forgot about the soreness in my legs and butt.

Pie Town – Our last full day in New Mexico was a ride to the tastiest town on our route – Pie Town. As the story goes, the small town at an elevation of 7,500 was a popular rest area in the 1800s for travelers through the region. One wise merchant began selling homemade pies that became so famous that they eventually named the town after the popular treat. It’s a shame the bartender across the road didn’t end up winning the town’s naming rights, because I’ve always dreamed of biking to Beer Town. Unfortunately, I was driving the van on the ride to Pie Town. As reported by riders, it was one of the toughest rides of the trip due to weather and elevation gain, and I wanted to be right there with them facing the challenges (honestly). It rained the majority of the day, leaving everyone wet and cold as they climbed up and over the Continental Divide. What awaited us at the top of the pass was a quirky town of 150 with two pie shops, including one that had a free slice of pie waiting for each of us thanks to a rider’s mom. I sampled several types, including apple-cranberry, coconut crème, and raspberry, but the prize-winner was the New Mexico apple-green chile-pine nut pie. Our group stayed at the “Toaster House”, a hostel for travelers that is literally covered in toasters. Somehow we managed to cram an entire loaf of bread into one toaster, with all 33 of us along with two continental divide trail bikers sleeping in the various rooms, porches, and decks.  We had a dinner of enchiladas and other Mexican dishes provided by the locals, followed by a sunset hike and a campfire sing-a-long led by the only twenty-something living in Pie Town, according to him. I didn’t question him, based on his glowing excitement to be around other young people. I think all of us would have welcomed an extra day in Pie Town, but our schedule and waistlines begged otherwise.

ARIZONA:

While I would have loved more time in New Mexico, crossing into Arizona made it feel like we are in the home stretch, even though we’ll spend a full two weeks here. The rocks have gotten redder, the air drier, and the temperatures hotter as we make our way into the state. A couple of pit stops at Fool’s Hollow and Willow Springs lakes along the way have helped us stay cool and refreshed amidst the continual rolling hills and elevation gain. Our ride into Payson marked our final one in a 6-day riding stretch without a build or rest day. A mere 52 miles, the ride included nearly 30 miles of downhill at a 6% grade. All of that climbing in the days prior finally paid off.

We had a build day in Payson today with the local Habitat affiliate, which has been incredibly eager to work with us. They not only arranged meals for us for two nights but also coordinated entertainment for us by local high school students – a singer/performer and a semi-professional yo-yo team. For the build day we broke into three groups to work at various sites. My group worked with the Brush of Kindness home repair program to work on the modular home of a woman with disabilities to paint the house, repair a wheelchair ramp, and replace damaged siding.  As always, I was amazed at how much we were able to finish in just 5-6 hours. In the days ahead we’ll hit Sedona, Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon, so it should be exciting to say the least.

PICTURES: I wasn't able to upload any pictures to this post due to slow internet connection, but you can see tons of pictures related to this leg of the trip and everything before it on my Facebook page: Katy's Bike & Build picture album

On a final note, thanks to everyone who mail-dropped me in Pie Town. We also received our affordable housing grant packet from the Bike & Build office, and in the coming weeks we’ll be doling out $45,000 in grant money. More to come on that!

Cheers,

Katy