I don't like to bail on things I start, but I feel like I lost my will to continue. Mary started having some overuse injuries that precipitated her decision to stop and she knew she was bailing back in grants. I will share some tips for anyone else riding northbound. I think it would be beneficial to have done some training beforehand so you can do longer distances from the start. At least in NM. There are several long stretches where it can be hard to find food. Even omnivores were out of food by the time they arrived in town. This training aspect is even more important if you are coming from sea level.

We didn't have any gear failures so that wasn't an excuse. And no flats even though there are probably a dozen goat heads in my tires right now.

Maybe another year or another ride. You can't beat the scenery in this route, but your mental game has to be on point. If you want to do it, you need to be ready to do it alone.