Day 16: Sunday 03/20/16, Columbus, NM to El Paso, TX

Day 16 distance: 78 miles

Total miles:  869 miles

Elevation gain: 1024 feet

Map of today's ride:

The dreaded headwind arrived today and we were punished for the past few days of good tailwind! I left Columbus, NM at 7:30 am this morning with an outside temperature of 39 degrees and no wind. I wanted an early start to try to get some miles in before the 20 mph headwinds that were forecast arrived. I had only ridden 15 miles before the wind hit. At the first SAG, 20 miles into the ride, four other riders and I joined up and rode in a line to make the ride more bearable. It worked well. We each took our turn at the lead, changing about every half mile to mile and averaged around 10 to 13.5 mph for the remainder of the ride. It was still a slow ride, taking 6 hours and 8 minutes to complete the 78 miles. When we arrived in El Paso, it was 65 degrees and as I am typing this, the wind is now down to 7 mph. The last of the riders just arrived and everyone is tired from the strenuous day.

At mile 74 of today's ride, we crossed the border into our fourth state, Texas, some 865 miles from the ocean in San Diego. All five of us who were riding together had planned on stopping at the state entry sign for a photograph; however, on the route we took into El Paso there was no sign. Hopefully when we leave Texas we can put our backs to the state we just crossed and get the photo we all want!

When riding in a line for a wind advantage, one does not stop and take pictures, so my ride picture offering today is limited.

The view as I left the Columbus, NM, school this morning at 7:30 am. It was actually lighter than this picture appears so was safe to be on the road. Plus I ride with both front and rear high bright flashing lights. (And that is not snow on the ground!)

About 8 miles out of Columbus this morning immediately before the headwinds hit.

The first SAG stop after the wind had arrived. Note the bending flag pole and flag. It was 39 degrees at this point and with the wind, it was cold! Everyone was dressed appropriately for the conditions.

The four other riders I rode with today to combat the wind: L to R - Gerald Allard, Gene Ice, John Ilenin, and Kurt Frederick.

The view from our second SAG stop today.

View from a stop close to the outskirts of El Paso, Texas.

The desert near El Paso is what most northern people think all deserts look like...a lot of sand and not much else.

Chandler Otis and Dave Moss, our two traveling C2C mechanics hamming it up for the camera.

This evening's view of the mountains north of El Paso from tonight's motel.

Another great dinner tonight! Since most of the riders arrived late tonight, the Quesadillas became part of tonight's dinner.

Tonight's dinner plate ready to eat! Seconds are always available if still hungry after your first pass. BTW, this was not my plate so no comments on my eating habits!

To close tonight, I want to revisit two photos of a dairy farm between Gila Bend, AZ and Casa Grande, AZ, that were in the blog post on Day 7, dated March 11:

This dairy along AZ-84E is simply amazing in size. The cattle continued for over 2 miles and I believe these Holsteins ranged in age from milking cow to heifers. They were in separate fenced areas by age. It would be interesting to know the number of the gallons of milk produced each day from this operation.

I don't know how far it was to the back of the pens, but like stated in the preceding picture, this continued for over two miles!

Jim Sporer's sister (Jim is a fellow coaster),  researched this dairy farm on the internet from the sign in the first picture and sent me the following facts:

1) There are 30,000 cows at this dairy.
2) 11,000 cows are being used for milking.
3) There are 350 employees.
4) The dairy produces 100,000 gallons of milk each day.
5) The dairy is on 12,000 acres of land.
6) There are 35 new calves born every day.

That is a simply amazingly large dairy! Thank you so much for sharing that information!

 LINK to Day 16 of my 2015 C2C blog.

Day 15: Saturday 03/19/16, Rest Day in Columbus, NM!

Day 15 distance: 0 miles (Rest day)

Total miles:  791 miles

Today, in Columbus, New Mexico, 14 days after leaving San Diego, we had our second rest day of this year's C2C. In those 14 days, we have ridden across California, Arizona, and about 2/3's of New Mexico. That totals 791 miles over 12 days of riding which averages about 66 miles each day. We have reached the highest elevation we will reach on this ride of 6000 feet near Bisbee, Arizona, as well as completing our longest distance one day ride (yesterday) of 95 miles.

The 2016 coasters are a solid group, hardened by the terrible riding conditions of day 2 and 3. Since then, we have had excellent weather and wind conditions. We all know it can't last forever, but are appreciative of every day of good weather, and in particular, no headwind days we encounter. By the end of tomorrow's ride we will reach Texas, spending the night in El Paso, Texas. Texas is a big state which will take with rest days, 19 days to ride across. Fortunately, Texas is a beautiful state with many different types of terrain to cross.

Happily, I can report that not any 2016 coaster to-date has experienced any accident or injury that has hindered their ride. Knowing personally how devastating it can be to have some misfortune end your ride before completion, I say thanks each day no one has a trip ending experience.

Since last year I joined in Bubba's planned activities for our day off in Columbus, I chose this year to go to the Columbus Public Library so I could get a WiFi connection and start catching up on my blog. For those of you that are following my blog because you have family and friends riding this year, if you click on the link at the end of this blog, you can see the type of activities this year's coasters enjoyed. (Actually, somehow at the Pink Store last year, I managed to tip my chair over backwards after one margarita and I was afraid to go back as I heard they may have barred me for life!)

Here are a few pictures I took this morning before today's activities began:

The Columbus school gym set up for C2C sleeping.

Drinking coffee and waiting for breakfast prepared by school staff.

The school staff getting ready to serve breakfast.

The Columbus Public Library where I spent my morning on the internet.

Maggie, the helpful librarian at the Columbus Public Library.

As a day off blog "extra", today I would like to introduce you to Amy Russell (59) and her son J.T.Turner (23), from Indianapolis, Indiana:
 

J.T. Turner and Amy Russell

J.T. and Amy are the first mother-son combination that Bubba has ever had on a C2C. In addition, J.T. is the youngest coaster to ride a Bubba C2C. J.T. just graduated from Purdue in Actuarial Science and has a job with an insurance company waiting for him when he completes this year's C2C. He has a hockey sports background (think strong legs!) and had done some cycling prior to the tour, but not for long distances. He completed his first century ride yesterday by riding an extra five miles before he started the day's 95 mile ride. He is a very strong rider and is getting stronger everyday.

Amy is retired from the finance group of Eli Lilly. She is keeping busy in her retirement by working half time for a non-profit organization. Amy is one of the 14 women in this year's C2C group, is a strong rider, and is a great addition to this year's group of 37 riders. She was thrilled late last year when J.T. first told her of his interest to ride C2C with her this year. And as a parent myself, I know and can see she is very proud and will cherish forever her ride from coast to coast with her son!





LINK to Day 15 of my 2015 C2C blog.

Day 14: Friday 03/18/16, Rodeo, NM to Douglas, NM

Day 14 distance: 95 miles

Total miles:  791 miles

Elevation gain: 1951 feet

Map of today's ride:

Yesterday was another beautiful riding day with blue skies and light tail wind at the start of the day. As the day progressed, the wind speed increased, and the 95 mile ride, the longest of this C2C, flew by. It was a day for not too many pictures as the scenery varied little.

We observed several working windmills that were pumping water for livestock.

 

 

Another working windmill and the only cattle we observed the entire 95 miles.

Two buzzards flew away from a dead rabbit they were self-serve eating on the highway. I believe we saw more animal road kills and buzzards on this ride rather than anything else.

These two riders are Treus and Jan from the Netherlands. They ride much heavier bicycles than most US riders but are among the fastest riders in our group. This photo was taken at a community center in Hachita, NM. The community center is about all that is left of the town, but they are kind enough each year to let Bubba use the center for a SAG stop. Since there are no stores along the route, each coaster prepared a sandwich at breakfast and placed it in a cooler. The SAG staff then brings it and other snacks and beverages to Hachita, the half way point on today's ride. The people from the community center had also prepared a cold pasta salad for everyone. I think most everyone was generous in leaving a donation behind for the center.

 

This picture gives you an idea of how poor the area is around Hachita. I mean if you look close, you can even see there was no water connected to the toilet!

This border patrol station was located about ten miles outside of Columbus, NM. This patrol station, Hachita, and one ranch, was all I recall seeing along the road for the 95 miles until right outside Columbus. There were more border patrol vehicles on the road than any other vehicles.

 

 

If you look very close at the sky, you can see a white blimp in the upper left side.  The border control uses these blimps for aerial observation of the border between the US and Mexico.

Close to Columbus I observed the only agricultural operation for the entire ride. This appears to have been a cotton field as if you look closely at the field, you can see white tufts of cotton on the furrows.

A historical museum greets you as you enter Columbus.

The school we are spending the next two nights changed the time that we could enter from 3 pm to 4:15 pm. This is a picture of some riders and Wolf Pack members killing time waiting to get inside for showers and rest.

Tomorrow is our second day off of this C2C.

 LINK to Day 14 of my 2015 C2C blog.

Day 13: Thursday 03/17/16, Douglas, AZ to Rodeo, NM

Day 13 distance: 59 miles

Total miles:  696 miles

Elevation gain: 1254 feet

Map of today's ride:

 

NOTE: Due to a lack of WiFi and no AT&T network service, this blog and tomorrow's blog are late. This will be experienced off and on during this ride, so enjoy your time off during these wireless blackouts!

Thursday was another day of riding with blue skies and strong tailwinds for the last 25 miles of the ride. It is fun to ride along, with only minor effort, up to 26-28 mph! A bicyclist's dream! 

It was a beautiful morning as we left Douglas, Arizona heading 59 miles down Hwy 80 to the Painted Pony Resort outside of Rodeo, New Mexico.

This was a typical scene along the highway. Looks like real cowboy country!

Confirmation came that we were in real cowboy country when a little further down the road, we stopped and watched about 7 riders driving a herd of cattle to a new range.

This was a sad sight I observed from the road in a wash. Both horses looked undernourished, but the rust colored horse in the foreground looked like it was close to starvation. Fortunately, someone had thrown hay to them to eat. One wonders if the horses had been neglected or if the rust one had cancer or some other disease.

Note the one lone cow in the center of this photo.

An interesting colored old abandoned bridge along the highway. I believe at one time the structure supported the train tracks for the El Paso and Southwestern Railroad.

No major grades on today's ride and the highway was almost completely void of traffic.

 

 

 

 

Thirteen days and 686 miles after leaving San Diego, California, we entered our third state on this C2C ride, New Mexico! This was the second time I used the selfie stick. Apparently the blogger does not take any better photographs!

I stopped at this art gallery in Rodeo to look around. It is operated by a coop of 49 local artists. There was some nice artwork, but decided it was impractical to carry a 2'x3' painting on my back while bicycling.

 

That is a yucca tree in the foreground, with the Chiricahua Mountains in the background.

We rode a 3 mile dirt side road into the Painted Pony Resort, our night's stop-over.

 

 

 

This is the main house of the Painted Pony Resort. This site was developed by John McAfee, the founder of McAfee anti-virus software. It was originally built as part of an ultra light aircraft center. Please click on the link at the end of this blog for some historical background on this failed venture. BTW, for those who followed me last year, once again I was a lucky coaster and had my name drawn to stay in a bed in the house, rather on the floor of a hanger on an air mattress. However, this year I shared a room with another coaster and did not garner the McAfee's master suite. :)

 Due to it being St. Paddies Day, Anne served a delicious dinner of corned beef and cabbage.

LINK to Day 13 of my 2015 C2C blog.

Day 12: Wednesday, 03/16/16, Tombstone, AZ to Douglas, AZ

Day 12 distance: 50 miles

Total miles:  637 miles

Elevation gain: 2411 feet

Map of today's ride:

 I dislike being redundant when summarizing the day's riding conditions except when those conditions are beautiful weather like we have had for nine straight days. One slight difference today was that when we left Tombstone this morning, it was already warm enough that I only wore arm warmers for about 5 miles before taking them off and finishing the day's ride in short sleeves. It currently is a very pleasant 79 degrees in Douglas. As you can see in the map above, Douglas is very close to the Mexican border, only one mile away from the Gadsden Hotel where we are spending the night. I blogged last year about the historic Gadsden Hotel, so if you would like information about it, please click the link to last year's blog at the end of today's post.

The ride today was definitely split in two half's as far as difficulty. The first half included a grade about 10 miles long with the lower part only in the 2-3% range, but the last five miles were a steady 5-7%. At the summit of the climb, we reached the highest elevation of this C2C, 5,982 feet. We rode through a tunnel just after the summit on our descent into Bisbee, Arizona. After leaving Bisbee, the 25 mile ride to Douglas had a slight downhill grade most all the way, making for a speedy ride. An excellent way to conclude the ride!

After leaving the motel this morning, we rode through the main street of Tombstone, Arizona.

The famous Tombstone Bird Cage Theater operated as a saloon, gambling hall, theater, and brothel from 1881 -1889 during the height of the silver boom.

I happened upon a man who called himself Johnny Bones as I was leaving Tombstone. Turns out Mr. Bones is a Tombstone entertainer. I should have guessed by his outfit! However, he was happy to pose for a picture at no charge.

 I just checked and this same scene is in last year's blog, taken a few miles outside of Tombstone on Highway 80. However, last year the sky was not nearly as nice and blue as today.

I snapped this picture just as we were starting the last steep ascent of our climb up the grade before Bisbee today. The contrast of the green shades caught my eye.

There were a lot of rocky outcroppings as we approached the top of today's climb.

This picture was taken of the entrance to the tunnel we rode through, a couple hundred yards beyond the summit elevation of almost 6000 feet. If not for the tunnel, we would have had to do more climbing to get over the mountain.

This is The Inn at Castle Rock in Bisbee. There are a lot of interesting structures in Bisbee. Bisbee is an old copper mining town that is built right into the hillside of a mountain. It is now a tourist destination and is full of what I would call artsy and eclectic type shops.

Space to build is at a premium in Bisbee.

The Bisbee Bicycle Brothel is a well know vintage bicycle shop in Bisbee that just reopened in a new location after being closed for a couple years. A lot of this year's coasters stopped in to browse.

Inside The Bicycle Brothel.

Copper mining led to the growth of the town of Bisbee. This is a view of one of the open pit mines. Check out the link about the Copper Queen Mine for more information about the history of Bisbee and mining.

A view of a cattle ranch a few miles outside Douglas, Arizona.

Our rider meeting was held tonight before dinner in the lobby of the Gadsden Hotel.

Tonight's dinner was provided by the Gadsden Hotel. Two days ago we all chose between butterfly shrimp, ribs, beef fajitas, or tilapia. The food was very good.

LINK to Day 12 of my 2015 C2C blog.