In Espanola I'd somehow gotten off the highway. When I aw a sign "To 285/84" I had ahard time deciding if it was a mistake or not, but I decided to trust it and, after crossing the Rio Grande, there it was. Just past milepost 197, 285 splits off to right from 84. At the Chevron station there, I bought and overpriced little bottle of Mazola corn oil for my trailer bearings, chain, and cracked feet. It helped everything except the feet.
Route 285 was numbered differently. Milepost 337 was only about a half-mile away from 197, so call it 32 miles at MP337.
Just past milepost 339, a rumblestrip in the middle of the shoulder made it unusable. Crossed MP 345 at about 1724 to make 40 miles for day 8. Got to Ojo Caliente just in time to have a grren chile cheeseburger and iced coffee at the Mesa Vista Cafe before they closed. Spent my last $10-spot. Plastic just doesn't work in these parts, and places close early. Need cash and cache (plenty of food and water).
Realized the linkage needs to be rigid at both ends or it sags to hit the road. Needs to be reinforced with thicker walled tubing or solid rod, brazed on.
A spring over seatpost would be better than the piece of plastic tubing I have now.
Bad shoulder again around mp364, gravelly and/or rumblestrip down the middle. And after mp371 the shoulder is gone.
The wind has been intermittently from a Southerly direction yesterday and today. If I had a sail I could get a lot more "free" miles.
At this point I ran out of food. Now out of both food and cash, except for some pocket change. For the sake of bikers and hikers, it would be nice to have some services every 10 miles.
After mp 379, a newer road with something resembling a shoulder appeared. Got a sandwich and water in Tres Piedras with the last 4.50 or so of coins in my purse, at the Line Piñon Trading Post.
No shoulder again after mp 384.
Got to mp 386 before 1730, for total 41 miles day 9.
This is sagebrush country, cool breeze all day.
After mp 392, a new road with shoulder. Crossed the Colorado line about 0335 local time. Last milepost on NM side was 408.
Note on gear: the charging port on Black and Decker's Start It doesn't grip tight, and both the rain cover and charge adapter keep falling out.
last updated 2009-08-10 19:44:57. served from tektonic.jcomeau.com