Day 17 - Doyle-Baker ride the Southern Tier - CycleBlaze

March 6, 2018

Day 17

Hachita, NM to Columbus, NM

Tim started the day fixing his flat from the goat thorn, an easy job for him. We were up early, took down the tents and ate George's famous scrambled eggs and sausage breakfast. Today was probably the hardest ride for us , not in terms of length but it was the first day that we had faced formidable  head winds. 10-12 miles winds with gusting up to 15 can be quite trying. Fortunately for us the highway to Columbus was in good shape with very little traffic. In fact at one time Vicki described it as our private bike trail with our own police force. By this she is referencing the  very adequate supply of border patrol police who protocol this highway constantly. They are friendly and polite and stop to check that all is well with us periodically.  

Once thing I loved today was the appearance  of the sun. It had an aura around it all morning. 

Sun with Aura
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 Struggling along against the wind we arrived at our lodging the  Motel Hacienda De Villa by late afternoon. We are only 3 miles from the Mexican border, the closest we will come to the border on our trip. 

 We toured the Pancho Villa Park.  It was here in 1916 that the Continental U.S. was invaded by a foreign army.For us it became more personalized when we found  out that George and Tim's grandfather fought with the US army in this invasion under the direction of General John (Blackjack) Pershing. 

George & Tim Baker at the historic marker for Fort Furlong,Columbus, New Mexico
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Jeff,Tim & George examine a canon used in the "The Last Ride of the United States Calvery"
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Today's ride: 45 miles (72 km)
Total: 651 miles (1,048 km)

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