Quit pecan at their nuts

Somewhere along the road this ride got less stressful and more fun. Things are getting easier and I think we're finally learning how to really relax. This is a snap shot of the last couple days.

Day 20:
Woah. 20 days. Time is flying. Today we left Silver City. Contrary to popular belief, the city is not made of silver. Jerome was feeling nervous about how much climbing we were going to have to do, luckily his hitch hiking thumb was strong today. But first we had to make it to the base of the climb. This was a cool day for me because I've raced through the same roads that we were taking at the tour of the Gila. Along the way we found some evidence of the race.

1300 watts to go 16mph. Sprint game is on fleek.

After going over a bunch of steep rollers on the way out of town, we took a little break at an overlook of an active mine.

Jerome almost filled the mine with pee

They also had a giant tire at the resting area  with the bottom 1/4 cemented into the ground. It made me think of when I was a kid, we had a smaller version in our back play area. We used to just piss all over the inside of that thing instead of going back in the house to use the bathroom. I'm pretty sure my neighbor even took a dump in there once. Moral of the story; I wasn't going anywhere near the inside of the tire, BUT

Rules are made to be broken.

Once again, the views were amazing as we were starting to head up the big climb of the day.

What you don't see here is me drooling all over myself

At some point I had taken off to get the climb over with and, sure enough, once again I find myself getting honked and yelled at by a big ol' truck. It pulls over and there's Jerome with his bike in the back. So of course, I unload my bags and continue towards the Gila National Forest.

If you look close, you can just barely make out a signature Jerome peace sign coming from the back seat

Once again, I suffered up the climb while Jerome sat at the top. The climb up Emery's pass was worth it, though.

While you're suffering, why don't you go ahead and break your neck trying to look at everything.

When I finally got to the top, there was Jerome patiently waiting. He made some new friends and got to take a little nap. To that I responded:

Fuck you.

We rode another 200 meters to the very top and were rewarded with a wicked sweet view of everything below.

Signature Jerome peace signs. He promptly turned around and pissed off the edge.

The ride down the hill was perfect. Maybe 17 miles of downhill, I'll save you the boring details and give you the pics.

This

Ride

Was

Sick

We finished off the day in the town of Caballo. We were planning on staying at the state park, but after shooting the shit with an RV park owner, he offered us a small cabin for $25. Fuck yes, we'll take it.

Jerome pissed off the balcony as soon as it got dark out

We dined on cold canned soup and corn chips, couldn't be happier.

Day 21:
We took our time leaving the cabin, it was fun just hanging out there.

I sure hope these weren't some sort of prostitution love shacks.

As we were gearing up to leave, we talked to a guy named Joe Ellis who had a lot of interesting stories and a dog named "little dog". One of his most interesting was about how he built his own motorcycle (machined everything himself) and pushed it to 198mph on the salt flats. To prove it, he showed us a newspaper clip with him on the front page. My life will never be as impressive as 72 year old Joe's.
The day wasn't a very eventful one, we rode through plenty of farms, though!

Veal farm! Each pen had a small fence in front of it with a calf hanging out. I bet they're all on their way to leading long fulfilling lives.

The whole day we followed the Rio Grande River, made for a fun windy road.

I wonder how much veal blood gets washed into that river?

We went through a very small town, and Jerome got really excited about this

What's JT stand for, Jumbo Tits? Oh, right, Jerome Tempel.

One of the coolest things about today's ride was how many different types of farms rode through. Cotton, corn, more cotton. One of the coolest was the pecan tree farms.

Each tree strategically placed for optimal growth

As we got closer to Hatch, we noticed more and more pepper farms. They're known for their peppers/chiles. If you've ever had hatch chiles, they're from Hatch, NM.

Jerome contemplating pissing on some chiles.

A few more miles and we made our way to Las Cruces.  There are lots of nice people here, comfy bed, and toilets to piss in. Good night, and next time I write, we'll be in Texas. Hook 'em horns!