Day 11 Silver City Rest Day

May 20

Silver City, NM

Rest day

We spent our first scheduled rest day doing primarily that. Resting.

We slept late and when we got up, took our time getting ready to go explore a bit.

What a blast riding the bikes unloaded. Even unloaded the touring bike is about twice the weight of my road bike but after getting used to the load with panniers, it felt like a featherweight without.

I remembered Gila Hike and Bike from visiting Silver City in the past and thought it would be a good idea to stop by and see if they could check the torque on a couple of drivetrain components for me. Jay was super accommodating and Chama, the mechanic, was happy to help.

When I removed the panniers in the morning I noticed that I had lost a set screw from one of the mounts and asked Jay about a hardware store. We also asked about a place for internet access and a full sized computer too. He steered us to a hardware store and the library.

But first, the priorities of coffee and lunch, in that order.

First stop, Java the Hut. Excellent coffee and very nice people. Second stop, Diane's for lunch. I've been garlic starved for a week and a half and made up for it in one meal. I think we'll be safe from vampires for a couple of days.

Then we went to the hardware store and got the parts and on to the library to post some pictures, sewing our blog address as we went.

For a guy who made a living connecting things together with cables (video and audio equipment) you'd think I would have learned to triple check everything. When I sat down to plug my camera into the USB port at the library, I realized that the cable I brought fit my handheld (the thing I'm using to post) but not my camera. We went looking for a cable but the town is a little small for that. No luck.

I'm sorry for not posting pictures. I'll try again at our rest in Austin.

We walked around downtown while the bike shop had my bike and after picking it up we went back to the motel and got our laundry together for a laundromat trip. What good fortune that Silver City Brewing Company was an easy roll to the laundromat. Alternating between a wonderful IPA and changing loads we had a very pleasant time getting our clothes clean and sitting on the patio sipping one of my favorite energy drinks.

Then it was to the market for water and sandwich fixings for Wednesday's ride.

We have one more significant mountain pass to ride over before almost a hundred miles of downhill. Emory Pass is a bit daunting at over 8200' but after talking with Jay at the bike shop it sounds like a good steady, long seven to eight percent grade. It shouldn't be too painful but it will take awhile.

Then it was dinner, the Boston vs. Detroit game (NBA Eastern Conference Finals) and early to bed to get another good night's sleep.

More to come.