Somehow, I expected Lordsburg would have more to offer. Maybe it was wishful thinking and maybe it was because there are so many motels. Lordsburg is like a shell of a town. It seems this is a town that people only stay over night on their way to some place else. Our rest day was Sunday and most everything was closed including the one small grocery store. We did manage to find a very good Mexican restaurant open. The train was stopped on the tracks and we needed to cross the tracks to get to the restaurant. We ended up walking to a crossing under the tracks but the restaurant was worth it.
Fantastic pecan rolls for our ride
Feeling more rested, we got packed up for the longest ride of the tour so far. Today we would ride over 60 miles to Deming. All on noisy I-10. We were well fueled by a huge breakfast. It was so big we took half to go. The pecan rolls looked too good to pass up so we had plenty of calories for the big ride.
Trading post stop for shot glasses
I-10 isn't very interesting but the shoulder is very wide and the road is graded gently. It is legal for bikes in this section of the interstate. Our first stop was to the Continental Divide trading post. They had my favorite Asian style snack mix. I love the wasabi peas! Maryann also picked up some New Mexico shot glasses so we could enjoy our night caps in style.
Nightcap purchase
Bikes are allowed on I-10
The next section of I-10 had about 3 miles of construction and this was a very frightening ride. A bridge for an exit was being redone and the construction company had reduced auto traffic to one lane. The shoulder was repaved leaving 6 inches of asphalt between the gravel edge and the rumble strip. There was no warning or other riding options. We were placed much too close to traffic. With our left wheels on the rumble strip and our right wheels in the sloping gravel edge we had no choice but to ride through it. This had to be very scary for vehicles as well, especially the semis. They all drove as close to the cement barrier on the other side of the lane as possible. No one honked or gave us any problems. Everyone seemed to understand that this was simply a terrible situation and tried to make the best of it. I was furious at the short sightedness of the construction company and took pictures of the name and phone number as well as the New Mexico DOT info. They were all going to hear from me. To put us in such a dangerous situation made my blood boil and I wasn't going to let it pass. The construction company should have posted a number and offered a shuttle service for cyclists since there wasn't a frontage road to take. We took a long break to recover and calm down when we got through it. At least we did get through it!
Trucks passing very closely. Notice the shoulder width.
Here is a video I sent to the New Mexico DOT:
Birdseye view of riding in the construction zone on I-10
We arrived in Deming as the sun was setting. This is another I-10 city with lots of cheap hotels. These hotels weren't as cheap as Lordsburg but we got checked into comfortable rooms for $45. Tonight I had the trikes in my room. Again we found good Mexican food for dinner and toasted our lucky escape from the jaws of death with new shot glasses.
Highest point on I-10
The mornings continue to be chilly in the upper 40's as we are gently climbing to Las Cruses. We are right around 4,000 ft in elevation. Today again, we would be on noisy I-10 with, hopefully, with no construction! Often, I-10 doesn't offer anywhere to pull off and rest. We have started going to breakfast and ordering something big where we can eat half in the morning and use the pancakes to make a sandwich with an egg and couple slices of bacon. It's just too hard to make our usual lunch in the shoulder. This way we have plenty of calories for the ride. There was another trading post type stop where we could take off the highway just before the fabulous down hill into Las Cruses. Here we could take a frontage road which was much nicer than being on the interstate.
We probably won't be picking up hitchhikers
Downhill into Las Cruses
Debbie and Kerry loading up the trikes in Las Cruses
Catrike purple for Maryann
Today we are meeting up with friends of Maryann, Debbie and Bill. We flew down the long hill into Las Cruses and Debbie met us at the KOA with another friend who had a trailer. Kerry loaded up the trikes and drove the few miles through the city center to Debbie's house. This family couldn't have been nicer. They have a large RV in the driveway where Maryann and I were made very comfortable. Maryann hadn't seen these friends in a long time and we ended up staying for 3 nights. Bill is a terrific cook and made us fabulous meals. It was wonderful eating home cooked food. We went out for long over due pedicures and Debbie showed us around the White Sands National monument. This is a really beautiful place. Bill's daughter and nephew were also staying and they took us to historic Mesilla and the famous La Poste Mexican restaurant. We had a really nice time with them all. Many thanks to Debbie and her family for a very nice stop and much needed break.
White Sands
Enjoying White Sands
Another one of Bill's fabulous meals
Las Cruses sunset
Ostriches tried to get my phone
After a 3 night rest stop, we got packed up for the ride to El Paso. This was a cool ride mostly on a frontage road. We stopped at a very interesting feed supply store that had lots of animals outside. There was a pen with a camel, a bull and an unusual looking cow all hanging out together. There was another pen with ostriches. The ostriches pecked at my phone while I was getting pictures. This sure caught me by surprise. The store was completely surrounded by dairy farms and feed lots. The winds were blowing very strong and in our favor. We flew down the road ending the day on the north side of El Paso at another Motel 6. The weather forecast for tomorrow wasn't good with a big rain storm on the way. Sometimes these storms materialize and sometimes they don't...we'll see what tomorrow brings....
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