Here is some video from a couple of days ago, just after we crossed into New Mexico. This is really how things roll at Adventure Cycling!
Cruising at 5500 feet from Reg Prentice on Vimeo.
Today the group split and some took the easy, 20 mile route to Mimbres using the main road, and the others took the scenic (read: mountainous) route. It was pretty steep country, but the 50 mile narrow and winding road through the 4 million acre Gila Wilderness was well worth the effort. Expansive views over the forest dotted with autumn colors, little streams, almost no traffic. I saw a tarantula (body length about 2 inches|50mm), a gaggle of very large wild turkeys, a family of about a dozen Javelinas (small pig-like animals), and herd of deer. Bobbling up and down between 6000 and 7500 feet, two more crossings of the Continental Divide, this is about as close to flying as you can get without leaving the ground.
Elevation Profile for the last 3 days. We didn't do the center section; that is the spur that goes off the route to the Gila Cliff Dwellings.
Tomorrow we ride to the highest point on the trip: the 8200 foot Emory Pass. The total elevation gain is probably not as much as today though, which was 3000 feet.
