Day 17 - September 26, 2017 - 37.25 miles, 798 feet ascent

Duncan, AZ to Lordsburg, NM

Short ride today, with very little climbing.  We are getting set up for crossing the Continental Divide tomorrow, then twice more on Thursday, after a rest day in Silver City.

Last night we camped in the City Park in Duncan.  After a late dinner at Hilda's, we all settled into our tents.  I took the time to write yesterday's blog, then closed my devices and my eyes.   I woke up at 0030 to the sound of barking dogs and howling coyotes.   They didn't seem to stop the rest of the night. Then, at 0400, the roosters in the yards adjacent to the park started crowing.  They were loud!  Not sure how many there were, but I counted about five different rooster voices!   We all got up at 0530 to break camp, make our lunch, and head to Hilda's.

After a hearty breakfast at Hilda's, (our third consecutive meal there), we hit the pedals at about 0900.  This is our latest start, but we have only a short ride ahead.  I rode with Erwin and Tom C the entire 36 miles.  Erwin pulled 95% of the time, not that we were drafting, as that would be against the rules (for safety reasons, with fully loaded bikes).   We cruised along at about 14 - 16 mph, against a moderate quartering headwind, with one short break at the halfway point.  Riding conditions today were excellent on US 70.   Very little traffic, smooth pavement, and no transverse cracking of the pavement on the shoulders.

We left Arizona behind, and entered New Mexico, where our Garmin devices and smartphones all advanced one hour as we entered daylight savings time in the mountain time zone, as Arizona does not recognize daylight savings time.

The random photo of the cattle grate and dirt road shows where we pulled over for a short break.  Out of all the dirt roads we have passed and sometimes stopped, it was very funny when a truck with a horse trailer pulled off the highway, and maneuvered around our bikes to get to the cattle crossing.  In the trailer was a saddled horse, as if the driver were getting ready for a cattle drive.  We apologized for being in the way.  Like I said earlier, there was very little traffic on this highway, so it was just bad timing, although the driver did not seem to mind too much.  

Tonight we are staying at the KOA in Lordsburg.  The plan was to camp, but since there is a forecast of rain, we elected to rent the cabins, which all together cost not $15 more than it would have if we all set up tents.  Since there are ten of us, on thre person cabin gets to accommodate four.  That would be my cabin.  I am lucky, though, as I have the bottom bunk of the bunkbed.  Also, we don't have to worry about breaking camp in the rain.  On the downside, we do expect thunderstorms during tomorrow's ride.