Two Mates, Two Bikes, & 2800 Miles to Mexico : Day 46 - Magdelina to Elephant Butte State Park

Trip Overview

This blog will follow two totally inexperienced bikepackers, Geoff and Cam, and their journey from Banff to Mexico via the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. The route follows the Continental Divide, exposing riders to high altitude, diverse wildlife, and solitude. To learn more about the route, check this out. Randy will be the official bookie so get in touch with him if you'd like to place a wager on how far we will actually make it.

In the mean time, you can track our progress here thanks to our SPOT device.

This will be a site where we will try our best to post some pictures and stories along the way. Happy reading!

Sunday, 17 August 2014

Day 46 - Magdelina to Elephant Butte State Park

We left this morning headed for Elephant Butte State Park. This was located on New Mexico's largest (and only??) lake. The ride consisted of 41 miles of dirt, and another 40 of pave. The thing about NM is this... we were riding in the monsoonal month of August. When it rains here, the "dirt" roads are impassable, as the sand/clay becomes extremely sticky and destroys your bike. The maps advise you don't ride in the rain, and after having takled to some North bound riders earlier in the trip, this caution is to be taken seriously.

We awoke to a menacing forecast of thunderstorm and flash flood warnings. Great. We began pedaling at 8am hoping to beat the storm. We were surrounded east and west by dark, dark storms. But once again our main lady Mother Earth was looking out for us. We rode through a crease of nice weather no wider than Moses' ocean path. Cam is convinced Mother Earth thinks Geoff is Jesus so that's why we've been treated so nicely.

We made it onto paved unscathed but with storms chasing us. We stopped for lunch and down came the rain. What timing! We began the paved portion of the ride and within minutes were caught in a monsoon. The rain drops must have been 8oz patties. It hurt when they hit you. And they also turned all the forehead sunscreen into iris sunscreen.

We eventually made it into Elephant Butte State Park. Home of the best tentsites ever. They had built these three-walled shelters that protected you from the wnid and rain. We fell asleep to super loud thunderstorms and showers. It was quite peaceful.

Dips and dives

View from the campsite

Geoff caught a lightning bolt

No comments:

Post a Comment

Geoff Gerhardt

Growing up in New Brunswick, Geoff’s passion for adventure and the outdoors was firmly planted in the forests and bays of the Saint John River Vally. Over his life Geoff continued to seek adventure, sometimes close to home and sometimes farther afield. From the waves and beaches of the Outerbanks in North Carolina to the mountains of Honduras, he has continued to seek adventure, through life guarding, paddling, hiking and riding. Although biking has always been a passion from the road to the trail, this will be Geoff’s first multi-day trip.
Apart from sports and the outdoors, Geoff enjoys countless hours of Coen brother’s films and the odd Tarantino flick. Craft beers and greasy diner breakfasts are other driving forces in Geoff’s life.

Cameron Wade

Cam just finished studying Physics and playing sports at Acadia and was most recently a professional prison door installer with his friend, Scott. He likes to spend his spare time at pubs, playing QWOP, or watching countless hours of riveting TV with his sister, Grace.

After the trip, Cam will be heading off to Europe to begin his master's in Mathematics. He figures now is a great time to take off an adventure to finally eat authentic tacos and learn a thing or two about himself.

Cam also finds it difficult to write in third person and will miss his nannies.