So weird this new form of SPOT spying. It sure is fun.
The recent weather and the five day forecast do not bode well for Felix, Mary, Stephen, Jenn, Noah, and possibly Fred. I've been stuck in the mud on the GDR in southern NM, and I infer from his behavior that his bike is mud-jammed. Between SPOT-time 16:23 and 16:42 he moved about about 2500'. He just made the turn at mile 30.2 on map 6B. At both times he was 50-100' off the road. That means the road is sloppy sticky mud and he's walking off road trying to find higher ground that he can push his bike through without jamming the wheels and frame with mud.
The hopeful news is that the road can suddenly switch back to passable when it moves into a new soil type. That could be in 100' from where he is, or there could be miles of the mud stuff to go.
The forecast implies that it won't get a chance to dry out, so his best chance may be to just keep pushing his way until he gets to better soil.
When our bikes got mud-jammed down there, we just pulled over to sit and wait until the sun came out and the road dried. We stopped the first vehicle (about an hour) and asked for fresh water and food, since we hadn't planned on the delay and thought it might take a day or two. Turned out, the passing truck was already transporting two different GDR cyclists who had been a dozen miles behind us and didn't want to just sit and wait. The rancher happily gave us food and water, and all was well.
Felix may be hungry and frustrated and tired, but he's likely to see occasional vehicles and anybody passing will certainly give him food and water to keep him going.
Good luck to everybody who's still out there - they have hit a monsoon will slow things to a crawl at times.
Amy
Mud and slow progress
So weird this new form of SPOT spying. It sure is fun.
The recent weather and the five day forecast do not bode well for Felix, Mary, Stephen, Jenn, Noah, and possibly Fred. I've been stuck in the mud on the GDR in southern NM, and I infer from his behavior that his bike is mud-jammed. Between SPOT-time 16:23 and 16:42 he moved about about 2500'. He just made the turn at mile 30.2 on map 6B. At both times he was 50-100' off the road. That means the road is sloppy sticky mud and he's walking off road trying to find higher ground that he can push his bike through without jamming the wheels and frame with mud.
The hopeful news is that the road can suddenly switch back to passable when it moves into a new soil type. That could be in 100' from where he is, or there could be miles of the mud stuff to go.
The forecast implies that it won't get a chance to dry out, so his best chance may be to just keep pushing his way until he gets to better soil.
When our bikes got mud-jammed down there, we just pulled over to sit and wait until the sun came out and the road dried. We stopped the first vehicle (about an hour) and asked for fresh water and food, since we hadn't planned on the delay and thought it might take a day or two. Turned out, the passing truck was already transporting two different GDR cyclists who had been a dozen miles behind us and didn't want to just sit and wait. The rancher happily gave us food and water, and all was well.
Felix may be hungry and frustrated and tired, but he's likely to see occasional vehicles and anybody passing will certainly give him food and water to keep him going.
Good luck to everybody who's still out there - they have hit a monsoon will slow things to a crawl at times.
Amy