We left hatch riding down route 26 at the advice of a local in the convenience store we were in and then turned onto route 27, the Lake Valley National Back Country Byway and rode that all of the way into Hillsboro. It added about 10 miles to the ride but was well worth it to avoid the traffic that we would have faced by following the adventure cycling route. Also, we got some pretty amazing views on the ride of the mountains and some wind mill farms.
We rolled into Hillsboro (65 miles) just as a thunderstorm was rolling in and took cover underneath an awning to a store in town. The whole town consisted of 200 people and had a very small Main Street with a few cool shops and diner-type restaurants and some antique and art shops and was naturally shut down for Easter so we sat under the awning and watched the storm come in eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, roasted garlic triscuits and canned pears. A delicious Easter dinner. Once the storm was beyond us we set up our tents across the street at the town park where they allowed free overnight camping so that the tents could dry and sat around reading and talking. We were in a "dead zone" for any kind of cell service.
Later in the night a guy by the name of Jim came over to check in on us and let us fill up our water bottles over at his water spigot. Jim owned the building we were taking refuge under and he also ran the Black Range Museum next door. He told us that in the morning he would make a pot of coffee and walk us around the museum if we wanted which we of course said yes to.
Sure enough in the morning Jim came back over while we were packing up our stuff with a full pot of coffee in his hand and filled both of us up and told us to come back to his house when we were done to get a quick tour of the place.
When we got over there we first got a tour of his greenhouse that was filled with all sorts of exotic plants and cacti. Jim was a college educated botanist, but had given up the material world when he'd moved out to Hillsboro in the early 2000's. After looking around the greenhouse we went into the museum which really was just a random assortment of old junk, antiques, and a really cool collection of antique cameras. Somehow it all worked and was a really neat place to see.
After that we got breakfast at the Hillsboro General Store where I ordered the Route 152 Pile-Up at the recommendation of Jim. It was 2 lbs. of sausage, egg, cheese, beans, potatoes, and red and green chillies served on a flour tortilla. This thing was massive and I devoured it in hopes that it would help fuel me up and over Emory Pass and get us the 58 miles to Silver City.
Thankfully, it did. Emory Pass was the highest peak we cross on the Southern Tier. The climb started just as we left Hillsboro and it was 17 total miles of climbing. Hillsboro sat at an elevation of 4,859 ft. From there we first climbed 9 miles to Kingston at 6,224 ft. And then from there it was another 8 miles to the top of Emory Pass at 8,228 ft. We climbed the hill averaging about 6.5 mph so besides being long it was not as steep as some of the other hills we've encountered already. However, it still felt really good to get up to that top and look back down and see what we had just climbed up.
At the top while we were taking in the views we met two guys who were from the area who were doing some training rides up Emory and we told them about our dilemma of not having a place to stay in Silver City. They looked at each other and then back to us and said, "you can try the bike house..." They proceeded to tell us to go Gila Hike and Bike Shop in Silver City and ask them about the bike house and tell them that Black Larry sent us.... We didn't ask questions... Just continued down the rabbit hole.
Once in Silver we went to the bike shop and the guy came over near us and without looking at us said, "Hey, you two!" We looked up at him but, he continued to look away. There were only two other people in the place and they were across the room so we knew he had to be talking to us. He walked over closer and again whispered, "Hey, you meet a guy at the top of Emory?" We shook our heads in unison hoping that we wouldn't have to say the words "Black Larry" who was an older man in his 60's of small stature and quite Caucasian. "Well, who did you meet?" We looked back at him..... Finally, I whispered back, "Black Larry....."
His head shot up and his eyes darted back and forth from John to myself and back again. Then, without a word he walked back to the counter and reached under it fumbling around for something.. We were just hoping it wasn't a gun. It would have been a shame to have gotten all of the way through Texas without getting gunned down only to get popped in New Mexico for uttering the words "Black Larry."
Thankfully, it wasn't a gun. It was a map and he drew a few lines and arrows and then starred an intersection a few blocks away. "Go here," he said and slid the paper across the counter to us. We grabbed the map and left following the trail he'd put us on. We ended at the star on the map which put us in front of a house with a bunch of bikes chained to the fence outside. We were going to be murdered we were certain. We walked up the front steps and opened the front door and then it happened.... (Back to reality here)
We entered the Bike House and were greeted by Mike, one of the seven guys who live there on and off throughout the year. He showed us around the house and to the bunkhouse where there were two beds for us and let us get situated.
We found out later that night over some beers with Mike at the Little Toad Creek Tavern that the guy that owned it was a big supporter of bikers/hikers and has gotten all of the guys in the house on board with him so whenever they can they try to help us folks out. Speaking of Silver City Mike looked both John and myself in the eyes and said, "It's a magical place, Silver, that's really all there is to it." That gleam in his eyes and that smile on his face made us know that we had stumbled our way into the right place and we needed to give this city the time it deserved.
i.e. BREAK DAY IN SILVER CITY!!!!!! So today, Day 41 we are taking a day off from biking and enjoying this city... I've been chugging coffee at the Javalina Coffee House since about 9:00 a.m. and am a little wired but today will consist of chilling at this coffee shop, hitting up the local book shop, O'Keefe's, and walking around this magical little town to see what we can get ourselves into.
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