After saying good-bye to my parents we drove long and hard into the West, finally landing in New Mexico for our first night in our new "camp" trailer. It's a tight fit, but two humans and two dogs can sleep warm and snug.
We were headed to Silver City NM, a town we had always wanted to check out. As usual, finding a gas station on the road less traveled was difficult.
We found an over priced tank of fuel just in time.
In Silver City I found the local bike shop and they turned me on to their local trails. Gus, Dinka and I went riding while Mary chilled out at a coffee shop. The trails were above town in a "recovered" mining area. They were fun, and I met up with a group of locals who showed me around. However, the pace was too fast for old Gus so I ended up letting them go on without us. We slowly picked our way back to the truck through the maze of trails. Gus was tired, but seemed otherwise fine.
We slept high above Lordsberg NM and awoke to a crisp beautiful morning. As we fed the dogs something happened that never has before...Gus wouldn't eat??? With growing concern we drove on to Tucson to meet Nancy and Erik for a ride.
I had planned to rip the gnar of La Milagrosa Trail by my-self, as it would be too hard on Mary's hands, but instead we all decided a fast ride on the flowy Fantasy Island Trails would allow us all to ride together. Glad we did, it was so much fun!!!
Balancing my front wheel on Mary's back is really hard, but I did my best...
We finished the day tired and a little sunburned. We were ready for food, which we ate in large ammounts, feeling no guilt what so ever. Gus would still barely eat when we got back to my brothers house.
The next morning Gus ate a little bit, but he was still struggling to get in and out of the truck and seemed very tired. Our concern was a bit less, since he had eaten, so instead of going to a vet, we said good-bye to my bro and headed through Tucson to the 50 Year Trails. I think that 50 Year Trail might be as fun as anything we have in GJ/Fruita. To truly "know" the trails many complex moves would take years.
This is my favorite shot of the whole trip. Dinka was back up to full speed after her surgery, and also learned just how bad it is get stuck in a Cholla cactus. After pulling out the spines she wouldn't let me touch her the whole ride. She thought that I had caused her the pain, not the cactus. Silly dog!
The next morning's plan was to head to Phoenix for a few days riding with Nancy and Erik, before finishing with more days in Sedona, but.....Gus seemed to be getting worse, so after a quick rip down National Trail we floored it for home. As of this writing Gus is in an Animal Hospital on IV fluids. He has Pancreatitus. If the fluids and med's don't work we will cross that bridge when we get there. It was interesting trying to describe the kind of fitness Gus has to the Veteranarian. Even sick and struggling for his life Gus seemed to her to be in darn good condition. It's hard for most people to imagine a dog as old as him still putting in such big miles with bikes, and playing with a 1 yr old puppy as if he was just as young. But up until four days ago that's just how our Gus was, still a puppy at heart. Our boy will pull through, he aint done yet!
