Today Steve and I made it to Silver City, NM. after 2600 miles of riding the Continental Divide I have 125 miles to go. Wow! It has been a long and increasingly arduous trip. NM has really challenged and hurt me both mentally and physically and I am not alone or unique to this phenomenon. Those few of us who have started in Canada have many miles and climbs in our legs and the terrain here continues to be almost brutal to ride upon. They have had unprecedented amounts of rain the past few weeks which have nearly washed away roads that were, well, not so great to begin with. The climbing is just something I do intermittently all day but the boulder-filled riding surface takes a toll on the body and mind. It can make the simplest of sections a literal gulag to try and navigate. All to add to the incredible adventure and experience. And both Of us (and I'm willing to bet most others) are truly exhausted at this point and look forward to the finish.

We will take tomorrow off to rest and figure out the somewhat dicey trip we need to take down to the border and the logistics of getting a ride back up here...and then to each of our final destinations. I got a flight out of Tucson and Steve is going to try and get to Albuquerque and then ride, yes ride, back to his home near Denver. Exactly, he is nuts!!

Tonight we ate at a salad bar...it was heaven to have something fresh and green to put in the stomach. We both almost get nauseated at the sight of candy bars. I'm certain that will be temporary for me!

We go to the bike shop tomorrow to get individual problems on our bikes repaired and to inquire about shuttle options. Baby we're almost home!