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The Ordeal

Day 7 sept 11


The night before was a lightning tempest of biblical times. While awake in my tent, dodging lightning strikes, I formulated a solution to our current dilemma. 

We were well past three strikes: 

Strike 1. Flat tire on the truck 

Strike 2. Starlink, our backup communication system (which we had become quite reliant on) was down

Strike 3. Rain created sticky mud 

Strike 4. Going forward was thirty miles of remote terrain 

Strike 5. New Mexico forest roads were horrible compared to Colorado. 

I’m sure my mind could come up with more. Send me yours!

My solution was to go backwards to Colorado with everyone. 

I was worried that it was going to be met with considerable resistance. Usually no one likes to go backwards. Usually the plan is to “divide and conquer “. Before I had a chance to present my case in a jury of my peers, Stu had proposed my exact solution so I hardily agreed. There was some grumbling amongst the others but they eventually subsided like an echo 

After another instant oatmeal breakfast, we shoved our sopping wet tents into their bags packed our gear. The whole time we were packing up , a black and white cow stood only twenty feet away staring at our efforts. After some time, I asked the cow, “yes ma’am, do you have a question?”  She didn’t say a word. 

We jumped on our bikes heading backwards on our route. We hadn’t gone a half mile and had to start scraping mud off of our tires. Eventually we learned what to look for so we weren’t riding in the worst of the mud. Our chase truck was slip sliding all over the road to make progress. We took a break back at the summit. 

A herd of sheep joined us along with three big sheepdogs. One of the dogs took an interest in us and doggedly trotted over to us for a head scratching. I gave him a good amount of lovin’. . I perhaps got a bit misty eyed missing my own doggy at home. 

There was no time for nostalgia as we watched the truck submarine through a mud puddle. 

After some time, we made it back to the nice roads of Colorado. Before we loaded the bikes , we chowed through lunch. 

After some time more, we got to a town with a service station. “Ernie” the owner was convinced that the tire had a leak. We were hoping that the tire had just pulled off the rim. Five men stood around with much anticipation watching the air pour into the tire. With glee, the rubber popped back onto the rim and started filling with air but…. 

When the air stopped going in, the air started coming out just as fast through a side wall slice. 

Everyone’s shoulders dropped two full inches. 

The real issue was that the fancy rims that were on Ron’s truck also meant that the tire size was a unicorn. 

After some time more and then some more, Jeff found that a tire could be delivered to Santa Fe New Mexico the following day. 

Five tired men headed towards Santa Fe. 

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