Day 28 was the battle of the hills.  Would I ascend or descend more.  All the grades were just too steep for an old guy like me to use high gear up or down.  It was a slow slog up and down all day from Silver City to just beyond San Lorenzo NM.  Consequently I did not log very many miles.  I couldn’t help thinking about all the good riders I know who would have been bombing down those hills.  But for me it is not a race I have to live to pedal another day.

The route played a very cruel trick on me today allowing me to climb up to 6600 feet only   to descend again to 5600 feet losing 1000 feet of hard earned pedaling.  But the best part is the 5600 feet is where I get to start my climb to 8000 feet.  I felt like a yo yo today on a 500 foot string.

I have to admit today was a bit tedious and it was a bit hard to stay up.  I am going to take the day off tomorrow then attack the climb fresh.

After the ride I stopped in at Bike and Hike bike shop to pick up a couple of things.  They were very supportive, took my picture and gave me a free T-shirt.

Gila Bike and Hike Shop

My paparazzi took the day off and joined the rest of the crew shopping and sightseeing, hence few pics.

Stats for day 28: I rode 26 miles at 8.2 mph (can you say snail), Ascent won the day with 2346′, Descent coming a close second with 2044′, Max elevation=6626, Min elevation=5608′, Ave heart rate=109, Max heart rate=143, Ave temp=74 degrees, Calories burned according to Garmin= 1060.  I beg to differ and am going to eat accordingly.  Garmin doesn’t know how hard it is to ride a unicycle down hill.