Sunday, August 11, 2013

Back in the Mountains

August 6, 2013
Roswell, NM to Carrizozo, NM 

Today I rode with Sam. We are in the same chore group but haven't really ridden together all that much so it was really fun to spend the day with her. We stared out in flat land but could see the mountains in the distance. 


Before we knew it, we were in the mountains! It was unbelievable. Since it had been so long since we had climbed anything real, we were stoked and powering up the hills. All we could think about was the amazing views and what was over the next peak. 


We had some pretty incredible downhills that left us speeding down the hills, mouths wide open in awe. We kept repeating phrases like "No way" and "This is not real". Needless to say, we stopped a lot to take pictures.  We went through some pretty cool small towns today that just seemed to pop up out of nowhere along the route. The sweepstakes for the day was the best pose or portrait with your bike. We had some pretty creative poses if I do say so myself. 



Just before second lunch we stopped with some other riders at Smokey Bear restaurant in the town where the infamous Smokey Bear was rescued from a forest fire. We were all starving for some reason and I ended up eating way too much. After second lunch we continued climbing and reached a peak of over 7000ft in elevation! 


That's the highest we've been all trip. The downhill into Carrizozo was another incredible reward for climbing so much. 


Eventually the downhill began to flatten out and the headwinds made it difficult to coast, but we were still so in awe by how beautiful everything was that we didn't care. We stayed at Carrizozo High School but had dinner at a church nearby. Today was our first night with HOSE SHOWERS! They weren't as bad as I thought they were going to be but I definitely wasn't squeaky clean (not that I really have been on this trip anyway). That night a bunch of us slept outside and were able to see so many stars. However, the motion sensing alarm system in the school was activated at 10pm so any time someone went to the bathroom or walked around the inside of the school, a loud and annoying alarm went off for about 5 minutes. It was even louder outside than it was inside. Luckily someone from the police department came and eventually disabled the alarm so we wouldn't keep setting it off. 

On a different note, our trip is planning a prom for mid-August and I was asked today by my friend Jeff in chalk going up a hill after second lunch. No one had asked anyone yet so I wasn't expecting anything until I saw my name written in the shoulder of the road with "Prom?" above it. I'm excited for prom and the craziness that will ensue from this group. 

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