Alien Capital, USA

We made it! Well, to New Mexico at least. And what better way to be welcomed into the state than a massive Halloween celebration? 

Not so fast...that part only existed in our heads. What began as an ambitious plan to stuff our faces with candy and frolic awkwardly around Carlesbad, NM in costume ended...well...not as planned.

While taking up temporary residence in the city, we determined that Carlsbad was unfortunately a pretty bleak place. In fact, one women even told us to leave since there was never anything to do there. We think she was right. 

Unfortunately from what we've seen, that characteristic seems to plague most of New Mexico.

So sitting around in an empty bar at 5:00 PM on the day before Halloween, we decided to do what any logical person would do - we left.

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Day 19: Artesia to Roswell, NM

Happy Halloween!

A short day of riding today - only 40 miles to Roswell. Unfortunately, we got hit hard with a headwind, so it took us a dreadfully long time to bike it. No matter, we didn't have anywhere to be.

The road to Roswell was open, straight, and uphill the entire way. 

Welcome to Roswell...

Right off the bat, the city seemed a lot cooler than Carlsbad. This was quite misleading. We decided to finally buy a roof for the night, so TJ haggled the local hotels until we found a steal at the Best Western. After we showered and changed, we set off to run a few errands.

For the rest of the day, we relaxed in the hotel room watching Halloween movies, eating candy, and drinking beer...what a life.

As the sun began to go down, we started to second guess our optimistic perception of Roswell. We tried searching for a bar

...there were no bars

We tried looking around for people in costume

...no one was in costume

We tried finding something to do

...nothing was open

Live and learn. Don't go to Roswell for Halloween, and don't eat 1,000 candy bars before bed.

Miles in a Headwind: 40

Halloween Dreams Crushed: 1

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Day #18: Carlsbad to Artesia, NM

Well, the decision was made. Carlsbad was no good, the wind was blowing from the South, and all signs pointed to Roswell. It seemed like a great plan - ride our bikes 75 miles at night to a city infamous for spooky alien stories. It must be bumping on Halloween...right?

So off we went...riding into the sunset with TJ Henderson:

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As it turns out, no matter how many lights you have on your bike, riding at night on a quasi busy road is not the smartest of choices. Apart from the large trucks, you also can't see anything that you might not want to run over.

Case in point: My tire got absolutely dominated by a double-sided nail. Flat tire #2.

Also, due to some kind of oil / natural gas boom that is currently plaguing New Mexico, the entire road was lined with oil infrastructure that gigantic trucks kept pulling in and out of. Although this picture sucks, we actually rode past some (cue environmentalism rant) natural gas flaring.

 

Luckily, we were closing in on the town of Artesia, where we decided to call it a night. We strolled into Ihop, ate some much needed dinner, and resided to never ride our bikes at night again.

We set up camp in the city park on the edge of town and surprisingly was able to get a fantastic night's sleep.

Miles That We Should Not Have Ridden: 40

Flat Tires: 1