March 19

Hi guys. I'm at a real keyboard again so my capitalization, spelling and grammar should be better again. This was a miserable riding day. It was only 46 miles, but when we started out it was freezing cold. We kept riding and riding, but we didn't feel as if we were making any headway. When I looked back, I could see why. It was all uphill. In fact, the first 24 miles up to the continental divide at 6355 feet was ALL uphill, with a headwind. I did a lot of pushing today. Then it warmed up so I took off one layer of clothing, but then the wind started to blow and I was freezing again. It was on, off, on, off the whole day. Karen C. and Tanya caught up with me and we rode into Silver City together. There was a long downhill into the city, but it wasn't much of a consolation because of the headwinds. We immediately headed into the old town and found a great restaurant called the Little Toad Creek Brewery. I had a great Reuben sandwich and the others had some hamburgers. After lunch we pushed our bike through the picturesque little town. We ran into a lot of the women in town who were shopping or checking out the bike stores. Then we got back on the road and rode the two miles UPHILL to the motel. Gail's my roommate for the next two nights. She's from Texas and has some great stories to tell. When I got in I soaked in the tub for 20 min. My muscles are completely numb. Good, that we have a day off. Am just waiting to get to the wash machine to do my laundry. Tomorrow Sandy, Helen and I have rented a car to drive out to the Gila Cliff Dwellings. It will be nice to compare to the Pueblo settlement that Helen and I saw in Globe. This area is big on copper mining. Sometimes the slag piles just go on for miles. They really stick out in the landscape. It was just a long hard day. At 8 o'clock the receptionist at the hotel is going to put out a plate of cookies. If I can hold out until then I will grab one. Then It will be early to bed. I will post some pictures from my phone after this._________ Es war an harter Tag wil viel Bergauf und Vorderwind. Bergrunter war nicht so leicht wegen der Luft. Ueber die Kontinentale Wasserscheide, endlich kamen wir in Silver City an. Karen C., und Tanya habn in einem netten Restaurant gut gegessen bevor wir zum Motel bergauf fuhren. Jetzt warte ich auf eine Waschmaschine und Plaetzchen, die das Motel fuer die Gaeste serviert. Morgen fahren 3 von uns mit einem gemieteten Auto zu einer alten Indianersiedlung in den Felsen. Soll doch interessant sein. Foto folgt gleich. Bin total KO mit Muskelkater.