On the cue sheet, it was a 46 mile day…. Carol warned us about the false flat for the first 14 miles.

She didn’t warn us about the 30 mph wind at our right shoulders for that distance. I was able to keep the bike upright at 3.4 mph, though we walked part of the way, when the wind seemed to be making us stand still. We were very happy to find the first sag stop and just get off the bikes.

Just as we entered the Gila National Forest, the scenery changed, and we saw trees for the first time in many days.

Donna and Helen were my riding partners; Nancy joined our group shortly after this photo.

We climbed and climbed, finally making it to the Continental Divide (the GPS indicated 4,000 feet of net ascent today).

Even our bikes were tired.

We were quite excited to see the sag stop at mile 37, but wondered about the Christmas tree nearby.

While a final downhill was reported, we still had more climbing to do, passing this large reclamation project; we are assuming a silver mine.

One assumes Silver City is known for silver, but this billboard suggests otherwise.

Sadly, just before entering the city, we passed this memorial to a cyclist who died in 1999.

Tonight, we said goodbye to Nancy Howard from Massachusetts, who broke her upper femur in a fall 2 days ago. We toasted her with champagne. Her wife Emily flew in last night to escort her home.

Total miles 46; average 8.2 mph.