Silver City and a Day Off. Yippee

Sluggish this morning, after yesterday, so by the time I got this darned tent packed it was 7.30am before I left. Only 36 miles today so although still hilly made it to Silver City by lunchtime. We passed through the continental divide and as I was with a group there was much photo taking. In Silver City we are 6000 ft up and I can feel the slight effect of altitude. Heart racing a bit. Went into town in the afternoon and bought a skirt !!!!! Just what I need on a bike tour. Also bought Mace, a dog deterant spray as some cyclist got chased by 3 dogs the other day. This is one of my biggest fears. Will have to ditch the spray afer the tour as it is illegal in the UK. Good campsite, great laundry and shower facilities. SC is the home of Billy the Kid. He committed his first crime of stealing here , aged 15, and was jailed but because he was so slight, escaped through a chimney. More about the SC area later but must get some sleep....still loving it...

New Mexico Here We Come

This has to be the hardest days cycling I have ever done. 74.7 miles of relentless climbing in heat in the high 80's. Up, up winding, zig zagging through mountain passes. My legs were sore but breathing was ok so knew, although it was tough, that I was coping. We climbed 5400 feet and man did I know it. General Kearney passed through this way, guided by Kit Carson opening up the route from New Mexico to California. Had a great compliment paid to me by Dave, our fearless leader, he said ' You are good, you are strong. You will have no trouble on the mountain.' That gave me a great lift and kept me going for the next 10 miles. We passed into NM, putting or watches forward by one hour, and immediately the terrain changed from scrubland to a lovely pine forest. After 45 miles of hard climbing we still had another 30 of steep rolling hills. Lisa and Robert C rode in the van again. Robert C lives in flatlands and is not used to hill cycling. He is feeling quite depressed. Camp tonight was not the best, one toilet and one shower between 14 of us and other campers but we managed. Thanks to Andrew, Betty, Cams and Michael for there support. The comments keep me going. Much harder now but guess what ....still loving it...