Emory Pass - Southern Tier

[mudmin]

I am wondering if someone can give me an idea on a scale of 1-10 how bad the 8228ft Emory Pass is to ride.  I haven't done much mountain training yet, and I could use some advice.

Also, if anyone knows any shortcuts along the southern tier or to avoid some of the harder climbs, it would be appreciated.  Someone suggested taking I-10 for part of it, but it doesn't link back up with the AC maps for a LONG time.

Thanks in advance.
Dan <><

[fcatwo]

We haven't ridden it but did follow the maps driving from San Antonio to San Diego at the end of an auto trip in March. IMMSMC you would have to cut south somewhere west of Silver City and ride the Interstate from there to El Paso to avoid the pass. Much of the route is Interstate anyway. We had planned to ride it this fall but our riding buddies can't get away before mid-Oct so we'll do the West Coast instead.

I googled up a couple of diaries of people who have ridden the ST but no longer have them. You should be able to do the same. My concern is finding water along that route. People have obviously done it and survived but there are long stretches between water sources.

Frank

[mudmin]

I've been e-mailing several great people back and forth who have done the ST route... I'm just looking for as much advice as possible.  It's my first distance trip. (I'm starting big, although I'm taking a year to train).

Thanks,
Dan <><

[ATSFfan]

I rode Emory Pass east to west coming out of the Rio Grande Valley last spring (2004). On a 1-10 of climbs, I'd put it at a 7. Not too difficult, just plan to go into a low, low gear and enjoy the scenery at 7MPH. If you're coming from the west, I would highly recommend you NOT pass up climbing this since the geology on the western side is very unique (although I was flying past it at 30 MPH!)and the scenery is beautiful once you get into the pines. You'll ride the interstates in other areas, don't add to it by bypassing Emory.

[ATSFfan]

Also - noted in your post about bypassing other climbs - the only other brutal one that I had was from Ft Davis up through the Davis Mts in Texas. I'm glad I did that climb too since bypassing it by going on US 90 through Marfa is supposed to be brutal - minimal services for many miles - not unlike what you'll experience between Sanderson and Del Rio. Bring lots of extra water (a gallon at least) I ran low and really dehydrated during that 100+ mile day.

The Davis Mts are in the 7-8 out of 10 range also.

[mgarnett]

My husband and I did the Southern Tier east-to-west this spring, and ending up skipping both the Davis Mtns. climb (planned) and Emory Pass (forced by terrible wind conditions to alter our route).  We did, however, see both climbs by car and thought that the Davis Mtns. climb looked much worse than Emory Pass (which seemed more long than brutal).  To avoid the Davis Mtns., we stayed on 90 through Alpine and on to Marfa.  We did the ride from Marfa to Van Horn on 90 in one afternoon -- nearly 80 miles (long for us).  It is nice and flat and not a difficult ride.  The only services are a dilapidated grocery in Valentine (but don't count on it still being open).

Our shortcut around Emory Pass took us on 1-10 from Las Cruces to Lordsburg over two days.  There are few services on 1-10 on these days -- one "trading post" on the first day until you get to Deming, and then a couple of "trading posts" that have Dairy Queens between Deming and Lordsburg.  Then we took US-70 from Lordsburg to Safford, AZ, rejoining the official route just outside Safford.  The bonus is that US-70 is an amazing ride -- almost no cars, great shoulder, beautiful scenery, and a town (Duncan) with a couple of restaurants and a small grocery about halfway.

Check out our journal at http://thebigtrip.crazyguyonabike.com if you want more info, or email us.  Good luck!