Kingston, NM to Las Cruses, NM

3/24/18

Today was a very long, hard 87 miles. Head/side winds at 25 mph and the threat of rain made things tough. We left Kingston this morning at 8:45 after having a wonderful breakfast made by the Black Range Lodge. The first 10 miles was down hill. then a 3 mile climb and then down hill again. At mile 26 we had a SAG stop right before beautiful Caballo Lake. We turned into the wind at this point. At every curve in the road the wind would feel like a headwind. The road had no shoulder so we had to be in the car lane. There were a few small towns along the route with a convenience store but not all were open. Our next SAG stop was at 50 miles which was outside the town of Hatch. I was feeling tired and I needed some lunch. The one place they had told us about "Sparky's" had a line at it. I went to a grocery store and bought a banana and a Nectar juice. I started on the road again. The idea of 37 more miles was daunting. At about 68 miles I was almost out of water and was considering stopping at a house and asking for water. I did make it to the next SAG stop at 72 miles. I took a short break and ate fruit, fig newtons and pretzels and filled with water. I left there hoping to beat the rain to the hotel. This last 15 miles seemed to take forever. When I got into Las Cruses I got a flat tire a little less than a mile from the hotel. I decided to walk the bike in instead of changing the tire on the busy street. I arrive at the hotel at 4:30.
I was exhausted at the end of the ride. It really is too bad that this day was so hard otherwise I would have been able to enjoy all the pecan farms, crossing the Rio Grande three times and other scenery along the route.
Tonight is the last night in New mexico!

Total Miles: 909
Flats: 3
Ruined Tires: 1