Great Divide
Cool People: Wim and Tiny
Since Del Norte, Colorado, we've been riding with Wim and Tiny, an incredible Dutch couple from Delft, Holland (where the blue pottery is made). They're so strong and so experienced and such a pleasure to ride with.
Wim and Tiny have cycled and hiked all over the world - the list goes on and on: Gambia and Zimbabwe and Turkey, Nepal, India, England, China. And now the Great Divide. It's such a pleasure to hear their stories about all those exotic places.
Wim and Tiny started the Great Divide at the Canadian border and plan to finish their trip in Antelope Wells, NM at the Mexican border, probably next Tuesday. We hope to be with them to celebrate their success (and the pleasure of their company).
The Checkerboard Navajo Reservation
Our ride around the mud from Cuba, NM to Grants took us through a very remote and terribly interesting part of the country - the Navajo Reservation. The part we went through is called the "checkerboard" because it's not all reservation - there's different ownership every mile or so, but much of it is reservation and most is Navajo.
In Pueblo Pintado we asked permission to camp next to the trailer of Dennis and Brenda Buckman, who own the little grocery store there. (In the 120 miles between Cuba and Grants there are 2 stores, no towns, no other services.) Well, it rained then, and they ended up inviting us in for dinner and having us sleep inside. What wonderful people. But the best part was that Dennis told us story after story about the reservation. Of course it was from the point of view of a white man, but he's lived on the "rez" for years and years, and we learned a lot.
Dennis says Navajos almost never start their own business because their since of family obligation insists that they always share everything with their extended family, and so assets could never be concentrated into a business.
The younger children are frightened of Dennis and Brenda at first, but become accustomed. The reservation is a *very* different place. read more here... lee mas aquí... »
Scott Rose, Country Singer
It was late when we got into Silver City, so Wim and Tiny and I set up our tents and then went in search of food. We showed up at a chain buffet place just as they were closing at 9pm, and were afraid they were the only place in walking distance. But guess who was being turned away at the same moment. It was none other than Charles Smith, aka Scott Rose, country singer. He showed us his guitar, told us about his gigs, and then loaded us into the back of his pickup for a ride down to another restaurant that would still be open. (It was Wim and Tiny's first US ride in the back of a pickup - they were shocked that it's legal here!)
Scott Rose is trying to make a comeback after years of hard times. We heard about his life and it sounded like the makings of a fantastic country music career. He's 60-something, quite overweight, dressed perfectly (with an embroidered hat that says "Scott Rose"), had a hard divorce, kids that treat him bad, and a hard life. He's ready to make Nashville music.
Anyway, we sat at the Red Barn restaurant and ate and broke bread with a coming country music legend. Then he drove us back to our campsite, and headed back to his home in Cliff, New Mexico.
Five Days' Provisions
It was a five-day stretch for us from Grants, NM to Silver City. There are no stores (there is one restaurant - at Pie Town), no gas stations, no nothing for 5 days and lots of miles. I'd never had to provision for that many days before, but we went to Walmart in Grants and stocked up. Then we had to figure out where to put it all, wonder if we could carry it, and worry about whether it would be enough. We got 2 large boxes of oatmeal for breakfast, 3 bottles of peanut butter, 2 jars of jelly, lots of trail mix, and four of our normal dinners (rice or pasta or ramen, something good to go on it, and some fresh onion and green peppers). We made it just fine, with a little bit of food left over, but certainly learned that we can provision for 5 days.
Lots of goodbyes
Jeff decided that 1000 miles of the Great Divide route was enough for him and that he'd head on back. We said goodbye to him in the wind on the way to Antelope Wells, and he'll either ride to Denver or take the bus there from El Paso, then return to New York. So we had sad goodbyes on the highway!
Then we got to the border and Ron and I said goodbye to Wim and Tiny as they rode back to Hachita to prepare for the ride to El Paso to catch their plane back to Holland!
Amazing Last Day to the Border
Well, the Great Divide route goes to Antelope Wells, the US Port of Entry for Mexico. In fact, the name "Antelope Wells" would imply there's a town there, but in reality there's nothing there but the Port of Entry and two wonderful US Customs agents.
We anticipated an easy, easy 45-mile cruise from Hachita down to the border - nice, even roads, no traffic. But we immediately got a big headwind and the 3-hour cruise started looking like it would take all day. Wim and Tiny led the pack (they were riding without gear) and pulled us all the way down there, and we eventually made it. But oh, what a day. (Jeff had decided to return and not go on to Mexico, so he found no reason to fight th wind going down there.)
Part 1
First I had a flat.
Second Ron had another flat, and Jeff got two big long thorns in his tire (but the True Goo worked)
Third Wim's front fork brace broke completely! He put a pipe clamp around it and continued cautiously.
Fourth Ron broke 2 more spokes (at least 10 total now!)
Part 2
We finally got to Antelope Wells about 130 after a long, tiring haul. We took all th required pictures with Wim and Tiy and hugged them goodbye and sent them home. Then Tim Balderston, the marvellous customs agent, helped us out with tamales, rellenos, and even an ice cream. We filled our water bottles and prepared to cross the border. read more here... lee mas aquí... »
Casas Grandes and Paquime Ruins
Today Ron and I rode from Janos to Casas Grandes, an easy 36 miles or so, and went to the most important ruins in NW Mexico - Paquime. Paquime is part of the amazing complex of ancient sites that's found all over the US Southwest, and had trade and various relations with places as far away as Mesa Verde and Chaco Canyon. And it was peopled by the same people group that made the Gila Cliff Dwellings we visited outside Silver City, the Mogollon. It's so interesting to see how these things tie together.
A Tribute: To all the little boys of Mexico
A Tribute to All the Little Boys of Mexico
In every town we stop in the plaza in front of the church and take a little break. And here come the little boys, on bike or with tops to play with.
They tell us what we need to know.
They take us where we need to go.
Yesterday, in the tiny town of Bavicora, we had an escort of a dozen boys, all on their bicycles. We were looking for a place to stay, and there was no hotel, no rooms for rent, nothing. But the huge cloud of boys took us from one end of the town to the other, until they found the Evangelical Free Church pastor Nehemias Ortega who ever so graciously put us up in the church bunkhouse. And the boys escorted us there...
Today, Ron needed to make a call in a town with no public phone. But the boys knew what to do, and took us to just the right place where an incredibly gracious woman opened up shop during siesta and let him make the call.
To all the boys of Mexico: Thank You!
We have been going so fast that we are just 1 or two days from Creel (Copper Canyon). We might arrive there tomorrow.
Finding a room at night
Since we got to Mexico Ron has pretty well sworn off camping - He had enough of it on the Great Divide route. So we´ve been looking for a room in each town we land in at the end of the day. Since we´re bicyclists, we can´t just make it to the next city. And many of these towns in Chihuahua don´t have hotels. So here´s our technique:
We get to town and look for the church. Every little town in Mexico has a church, and in front of every church is the plaza, a pleasant little park with some shade and some benches. We sit down and make ourselves comfortable, and before long some kind person comes along to chat and help us out. And they really help.
In Zaragosa, there were no hotels. But friendly, smiling Miguel made inquiries and found that a restaurant behind the church had rooms to rent. He came back, took us up there, and we ended up with a delightful little room just behind the chicken yard from the restaurant. And in the bathroom (across the chicken yard) was a hot shower.
In Babicora, there were not even rooms to rent, but those wonderful boys led us all over town until something worked out.
Riding in Chihuahua
Our ride in the Mexican state of Chihuahua has been amazing. We knew that we would start in desert, because we were familiar with the Chihuahua desert, and because we were already in the Chihuahua desert in southern New Mexico (after Silver City).
What we didn´t know was that we´d only be in the desert a couple of days. The day after Casas Grandes we ended up climbing over a huge pass (to Zaragosa) and since then the scenery has been completely different. Where we expected desert vistas and dry land we found piney mountains and green valleys. We followed beautiful green valleys all the way to the climb up toward Creel, when it turned completely to pine forest.
As we climbed up toward Creel, it started seeming more and more like the mountains of Colorado. Creel is at 7300 ft of elevation, so there´s a reason for the similarity, but even the building materials seemed more familiar. We started seeing houses of log cabin construction instead of the ever-present adobe. Seemed like home.
Most surprising are the fields of yellow flowers everywhere. We´re filling up our cameras with pictures of beautiful fields that we hope to share with you some day soon.
