| layover day in silver city, NM - 0 miles biked |
| the only riders i can report on today are the 8 of us who rented a van & went to the Gila Clif Dwellings about 44 mi north of silver city. we left town around 10. the sign said '44 miles' to the gila cliff dwellings, & that it would take 2 hours. i was incredulous that 44 mi could take 2 hours...'til we started out on the road north. it was the windingest, narrowest road up to the top of a mesa, across the top of it, then down again, then up on another mesa & down. with bryn driving, it took about 1-1/4 hrs; she's an expert mountain driver. |
| we passed thru an extensive stretch of forest that had lots of snow; it was clear that a snowplow had come thru recently to push snow to the sides of the road. the vistas all along the way were storybook beautiful. |
| once at the dwellings site, we watched a short video in the visitors' center that offered lots of interesting background information on the area & the mogollon indians who lived here over 700 years ago. the walking loop to the cave dwellings is about a mile long, but some of it is quite steep. |
| we got back to the motel shortly after 4:30, just in time to attend the map meeting at 5. tomorrow we have a 48-mi ride to kingston, where we're staying in a lodge. again there may be no easily accessible phone jacks, so perhaps no web-site report for tomorrow 'til a day later. the ride tomorrow features the highest point on the entire southern tier route...emory pass at an elevation of 8228. michelle says the climbs aren't any worse (grade-wise) than others we've already done. i, of course, dread the long steep downhills. |
| the 8 of us, along with mary from boston, used the rented van to go off to a wonderful restaurant in silver city for dinner this evening...diane's. the food & ambiance were outstanding. i had a delicious salmon fillet; caroline had a filet mignon that she said melted in her mouth. everyone else's food was delicious, too. as time went on, more & more folks from our tour group wandered in, 'til there were finally 17 of us at various tables in the restaurant. needless to say, we know how to find good food. |
| a PS on our day riding from safford to buckhorn: becky has an altimeter feature on her cyclometer & tells me we did 5700 ft of climbing that day. i'll try to remember to check with her to find out tomorrow's climb data so i can include it in my report. |
| If you would like copies of the original, full-size photos, feel free to e-mail me, and I'll save your note and get back to you after the ride. Stay tuned.... |
