Tour Divide '24: Day 4 - Cuba to Grants

 The third night on our ride had now passed with the sound of the 5:30a alarm, thank goodness I managed a few hours of actual sleep. Today was going to be a big day in the saddle and by taking the paved route, we now had a resupply on route almost at the halfway point.

We made our way back over to McD's for breakfast and took some for the road. It was a relatively clear, cool morning. Would the wind play a factor in today's ride? If so, there weren't many places to hide out there.

Quiet streets on an early Tuesday morning in Cuba, NM.

Our turn came quickly and so did the ranch land.

We had a nice tailwind to start the day covering miles rapidly.

This area reminded me of Arizona's Painted Desert.

Cattle ranch on the outskirts of town.

Looking south towards Mt. Taylor. Grants is on the other side near the Cerro Alesna marker. It's so far away!! Our dirt route option would have had us climb the flanks of Mt. Taylor, probably camped there. I'll have to come back and ride that section some other time. PeakFinder app.

Distant rock towers along the long open road.

Justin was in his element, I was hoping to keep him in sight today.

Fire station way out in no man's land.

One of the longer climbs, good grade and nice shoulder.

We were a few hours into the day, temps were on the rise but not too bad, maybe low 80's. So far the wind was playing nice and I was feeling good. I think my body finally accepted the task at hand. The loaded bike now just felt like my bike, everything was settling in for the long haul. We were some 200+ miles into our ride at this point.

We crossed over to the Navajo Nation.

Firmly entrenched on the 18 mile straightaway to Pueblo Pintado. The white tower in the distance marks the turn in the road.

Cockpit view. One GPS zoomed in for detail, one out for an overview. Third feedbag on the far right holds my dynamo USB charger. Sleep kit is tucked under the handlebars.

Things were cruising along, still feeling good and mostly hanging on with Justin. I could at least still see him. It was mile 233 when I felt a shift in my saddle. Uh oh. Sure enough the hardware moved and I couldn't get it to re-seat. Even if I had, I could tell I was about max'd out of threads. I think all the rain the prior two days had an effect. Plus the fact that I should have treated the leather more than I had. I tried pedaling a bit more, but almost immediately the hardware fell off the rails. Hammock mode engaged.

Justin was now long gone. I tried riding in hammock mode until the Chaco Trading Post, but my backside was having none of it. Another stop to adjust the height and tilt were needed.

Massive solar array on the south side of the road caught my attention, I didn't realize the trading post was coming up on my right!! Haha.

Looks comfy, no? No.

I rolled up to the building, but didn't see Justin's bike. Huh?

I picked up some cold drinks and ate a bit. I was about to send Justin a text when one came through from him. He said he blew by the store and was on his way back. I said I'd wait for him as he was only a mile away and that I had a seat mechanical. A few minutes later another text from him asking which side of the road I was at. I said the trading post by the solar array. The next text was: Eff that, I'm at a grocery store, I'll wait for you here. Come to find out, there are two resupply points barely four miles apart here. I wrapped things up and got moving.

More solar panels on the north side of the road disappearing into the horizon.

Meanwhile, Justin was enjoying an ice cream cone. Photo by Justin.

The tower is getting closer!!

All caught up.

We made the turn south and entered a really cool canyon area.

I love when you can see a long downhill ahead of you.

I couldn't find a sweet spot on the saddle. Something needed to change. Maybe I can tough it out to Grants, hit the local Walmart as there are no bikes shops in Grants, and buy some cheap saddle to finish the ride. Not optimal, but it had to be better than my current situation.

We stopped on the side of the road to see if anything could be done. I figured the saddle just needed support under the middle, what could I use? Then it hit me, my compression socks I sleep in!! I folded them up and put them under the saddle, wrapped a Voille strap around them and gave it a test ride. Nope. Too much. Took out one sock and tried again. Hmmm, I think that'll work. It wasn't perfect, but it was way better than the hammock I had been struggling with over the last 20 miles or so.

McGyver would be proud.

I ended up running a ziptie through the nose bracket under the seat and through the seat rail to help keep the nose of the saddle down and a bit more positioned.

It's always something with this guy. Photo by Justin.

I was able to settle in after the sock fix and I knew it would make it to the border.

A few miles later I passed by a pickup truck that had stopped as he came off a dirt road. I could hear it behind me, pacing me. Uh, are you going to pass or what? No other vehicles were coming and line of sight was great. Any longer and I would begin to question the motivation of the driver, but he went by. Not a minute later he was pulling off to the side of the road as Justin had stopped to chat with a northbound rider. The three of us converged as the driver hopped out of the truck and proclaimed he was putting us all under citizen's arrest!! We just looked at him and he said it again, then started laughing and offered water and beer.

He was a skinny, wry, native fella covered in tattoos. A bit too fidgety for my liking, but he seemed fine and was interested in our ride. We turned down the beer since it was warm and we still had a lot of miles ahead of us, but we did accept the water. We told this guy all about the Divide for about 10 minutes then he was on his way.

The rider we met had begun the dirt section, made it about five miles before the sticky mud ground him to a halt. He turned around and made his way to the paved route. That only confirmed our decision to skip that section. Glad we didn't have to backtrack to find out.

One of only three turns we needed to make today. Now past the halfway point.

We passed through a brief mining area.

I've seen this tunnel marked on many rider's cue sheets as it's the only real shade for miles.

Justin was now a good ways ahead of me as we approached the tunnel. It was quite warm now, maybe pushing 90º and surely he'll stop for a quick shade/snack break. Nope. Kept mashing those pedals. Well, shoot, if he's not stopping, neither am I. In one side and out the other. Grants or bust!!

A few miles later I was feeling the effects of the heat and needed to stop for some calories. Nice view for a snack break. I walked a bit up the climb just to do something different, it felt nice.

Going into this section I thought it may be boring since it's all road riding, but the local topography was really interesting, always changing.

It was now late in the afternoon, storm clouds were building. Ooh, look, a downhill!!

Mt. Taylor pops into view, now much more attainable. I think we're going to make it.

Menacing clouds as we approach town.

The light rain began just as we reached Milan, an adjacent town to Grants. The wind also kicked up, not in our favor. At least the road was now four lanes across and traffic gave us a wide berth. The rain didn't last too long and before we knew it we were in Grants!! Daylight too, how about that?

Of course we timed the train crossing well.

The Burlington Northern Santa Fe, BNSF, railway along I-40 is one of the busiest in the country. Trains go by every five minutes or so.

Caught a nice sunset leaving Subway.

We booked a Motel 6 about halfway across town, less miles to ride tomorrow. That pushed us over the 125 mile mark for the day and we were quite proud of that effort. It put us back on track, but it still meant the next three days needed to be in the 80 mile range.

A few miles of night riding through Grants.

Cool street art along the way.

Two nights in-a-row with a shower and bed. Nice. We were also glad to not have to pack up all our gear in the morning, maybe sleep in an extra 30 minutes?? We decided to do our resupply in the morning on our way out of town at the truck stop at the I-40 overpass.

Route:

Strava Link

Full photo album for Day 4

Here is a full Tour Divide Index from each day on the route.