Our first ride in Silver City was up the Continental Divide from the Jack’s Peak Trailhead and the whole way up I was thinking this sure would be better as a descent. So, we put together a loop that allowed that! The ride itself was short mileage at only 15.1 miles but it featured 2446′ of climbing and topped out at 7971′.
Our loop started on the Continental Divide towards Lordburg, but once we reached Gold Gulch Road we turned right and descended down into the wash for a couple miles. At Jack’s Peak Road we turned right again and started the climb. The dirt and rock road is rough in some spots, and pretty steep, but all rideable. Sure, we were in our lowest gear, but hey, we’ve got time. As you climb higher and higher, the views of all the surrounding mountains opens up.
We passed the Continental Divide Trail we rode the first day, and kept going to the very top of Jack’s Peak. Towers of all sorts crowd the mountain top and I climbed around them to get a picture looking east. It was a bit hazy on the horizon so the visibility wasn’t entirely clear, but still a cool view. I was looking down on the Tyrone Mine with Silver City in the background. There was some sort of old settlement up there with a few crumbled foundations and an old fireplace scattered about.
The best part of the ride was getting to descend what we’d climbed the first day. This trail flows MUCH better downhill but it is still very technical. It’s a lot of sharp turns around rock drops and the trail is a jumble of loose sharp rocks that want to hurt you. We safely finished and congratulated ourselves with post ride beers.
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