Hello Texas!

Day 11

Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Clovis, New Mexico to Amarillo, Texas
111 miles
1,100 ft. of climbing

Today we’d be moving on to our 4th state of the tour - the great State of Texas.  We entered Texico, a border town, at mile 7.  The most notable aspect of today’s ride was the 10-15 m.p.h headwind that was in our faces the entire day.  Many in our group overcame that obstacle by riding in pace lines and taking turns at the lead.  Art rode in a pace line with Lon and several other strong riders in our group and was miles ahead of me the whole day.  I attempted to join and keep pace with that pace line, but was quickly (and gladly) spit out the back.  That’s OK, because we all have to ride at our own pace, otherwise, you get worn out very quickly.  I puttered along by myself for much of the morning and was just slightly maintaining the 12 m.p.h. average pace we were advised we had to maintain to make the cut-off times.  At mile 37, Susan joined me and we formed our own two-person pace line and made great time to the lunch stop.  It was fun riding and chatting with Susan.  We rode a comfortable pace in the headwind and, between the drafting and the good company, the miles seemed to click by quickly.  After lunch, Susan had to go back to work and I rode by myself again for the rest of the ride.  Although it took me almost 8 hours to go 111 miles, I thoroughly enjoyed every mile.  It was a gorgeous day, I had plenty of time, and I had nothing else to do but ride my bike.  (It’s a tough life, but someone has to do it!)  At one point, our route took us down a quick drop through Palo Duro Canyon, where there was road construction going on.  As I made the steep climb out of the canyon, I actually was applauded by some of the construction workers.  : )

Our destination in Amarillo was the Big Texan Restaurant and Motel - a quintessential Texas establishment. We had dinner as a group at the Big Texan Steak Ranch.  In true Texas style, it was big, loud and lively with people, country music and, of course, big platters of food.  One of the restaurant patrons (not anyone from our group) took on the restaurant's famous eating challenge: if you finish eating its hugest steak (72 oz. or something ridiculous like that), baked potato and a salad in 60 minutes or less, the meal is free and you get a free t-shirt, your picture on the wall, and all the prestige that goes along with that.  The guy that accepted the challenge (a huge behemoth of a man, of course) had to eat the meal sitting by himself at a table that was on a raised platform in view of the entire restaurant.  There was a big timer on the wall above him.  People were walking up to him and snapping his picture while he was eating.  It was an absolute freak show.  He didn't seem to mind.  Only in Texas.

In all, it was another spectacular day.  Having the time of  my life.  : )

Art in the pace line - successfully fighting the headwind

Susan & me

Art & his fellow pace-line pullers

Art taking a well-earned break

Doncha Just Love a Tailwind?

Day 10

Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Roswell, New Mexico to Clovis, New Mexico
109 miles
2000 ft. of climbing

Another beautiful day for a bike ride.  The morning was cool and sunny - about 56 degrees when we started riding.  It warmed up to about 82 degrees in the afternoon.  For our entire ride to Clovis, we'd be traveling on I-70.  So, today's ride was more about getting from Point A to Point B than about seeing interesting sights.  We had a tailwind for the first 80 or so miles and we were flying. Art saw three tarantulas on the road - one dead, two alive.  (I'm taking his word for it because I did not see any of them.)  We arrived at our lunch stop so early that we renamed it the "brunch" stop.  We did have to gain some elevation to get to Clovis, but none of the climbing was difficult or steep.  These were what I call "highway hills" - long, but gently graded.  The tailwind decided to change to a head wind for the last 30 miles, but it wasn't too bad at all.  So far, this was the easiest riding day of the tour.

Me, Art & Ron, riding in a pace line

At our lunch/brunch stop in Elida, New Mexico

Have bike, will travel

Aliens and Headwinds

Day 9

Monday, September 19, 2011
Ruidoso, New Mexico to Roswell, New Mexico
97 miles
2,910 ft. of climbing

Our destination today is Roswell, New Mexico - famous for the Roswell UFO Incident of 1947.  As one might expect, Roswell has sort of an "alien and UFO theme" about it.  For example, our hotel had a big sign with a picture of a cartoon alien sleeping in a bed, with the words "I feel at home here."  There is also the Roswell UFO Museum, which we had the opportunity to visit when we arrived from our ride, but Art & I passed in favor of rest and doing our laundry.
The ride today was relatively short - only 97 miles.  In the beginning, we had a great deal of climbing, as we had to backtrack 5 miles over all of those huge dips and climbs we rode yesterday, and then more of the same for 20 more miles.  We rode into the little town of Capitan (Cap-e-tan), and then through Encinoso.  From there, we pretty much left civilization and again began biking through dry, desolate, desert-like southwestern rolling terrain for about 60 miles or so.  At about mile 50, we encountered a rather strenuous headwind that stayed with us to the end of the ride.  The main thing to understand about headwinds is - you can't beat 'em or join 'em.  You have to just barrel through them as best you can.  So, my philosophy for riding in a headwind is simple:  "Nature is in charge.  You cannot change or control it.  Just shift into a low gear, put your head down and pedal."  In any event, when we arrived at our destination in Roswell, we were pretty tuckered out from what we all mistakenly anticipated to be one of the less demanding riding days of the tour.  Despite the headwind, we arrived at our hotel early enough to get our laundry done and get to bed early.  Another great day.  TIP:  Buy stock in Advil. 

Art finishing one of the climbs

Me - pedaling is bliss

“This Road is Perverse”

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Day 8
Socorro, New Mexico to Ruidoso, New Mexico
105 miles
6,700 ft. of climbing


Today’s route took us through the southern part of New Mexico - our last day in the mountains.  The morning temp was a pleasant and cool 56 degrees, with clear sunny skies and no wind.  Although we had only 105 miles today, we had a significant amount of climbing, some of which included some rather steep grades.  I was pleasantly surprised to find my legs still worked after yesterday’s long mileage (I had my doubts).

It was a beautiful day to be on a bicycle.  There was a degree of suffering that went with today’s ride only because of the steep climbs we encountered - most of which came in the latter 35 miles of the ride.  The quote of the day goes to Neil, one of my fellow riders.  We happened to be riding together going up one of the big, steep climbs.  The road ahead of us seemed to wind right up to the sky.  Neil (a CPA by trade), said, in his calm, matter-of-fact manner, “This road is perverse.”  I just about fell off my bike laughing.  Maybe I was delirious, but I was amused enough by that comment to make it up the rest of the hill.

We all were congratulating and high-fiveing each other as we rode into the hotel parking lot at the end of the ride.  Lots of Advil would be consumed tonight and probably tomorrow morning.  In all, it was a beautiful day of riding with some very challenging climbs.  Another day closer to our destination. 

Art - tearin' up the road

Me & my aero bars

Making progress

Hello New Mexico!

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Day 7
Springerville, Arizona to Socorro, New Mexico
156 miles
4,332 ft. of climbing

Today would be the longest mileage day of the entire tour.  Because we had to cover so many miles, we had to keep to a schedule and make it to all the rest stops by a given time.  Just to make it a little more interesting, the lion’s share of our climbing for the day (about 3,300 ft. of it) would take place in the first 90 miles of the ride.  These were big sweeping rollers - huge dips in the road.  These weren’t particularly difficult to get up and over, but some of the climbs were pretty long.  We would be traveling the same road the entire day - Route 60.  We rode through Pie Town, New Mexico, but, regrettably, had no time to stop for a piece of pie.  We crossed the Continental Divide.  In the morning, before we left the hotel, we were advised to carry our rain gear with us, as there was was a “chance" of rain.  I started out carrying my rain gear, but, by the first rest stop, I was so warm from climbing, and, because the sky was as blue as can be with no dark clouds, I decided to ditch my rain gear in the SAG vehicle rather than carry it.  Big mistake.  About five miles from our lunch stop at mile 90, I started to feel light drops.  Then the drops got bigger.  I looked up and saw a huge dark cloud overhead.  The wind started to pick up and the temperature seemed to plummet as rain particles fell like little cold pellets from the sky.  I was cold, damp, and getting damper - berating myself for ditching my rain gear.  Arrived at our lunch stop shivering and wet (and feeling more than a little foolish).  When the SAG vehicle arrived there, I quickly retrieved my rain jacket and put it on (nothing like closing the barn door after the horse is out).  About ten minutes later, the sun came out again and it was like it never even rained.  And yes, I again tempted fate and ditched my rain gear in the next SAG vehicle.  I am nothing if not recalcitrant.    
The remaining 60 miles of the ride to Socorro was a gradual descent, with a few rollers thrown in here and there.  Despite our fatigue, it was a very pleasant ride.  Groups of us rode in pace lines for some of the miles, and took turns pulling.  At mile 144, we started a nice smooth downhill right into Soccoro.  We rolled into the Best Western parking lot totally exhausted, but exhilarated to have accomplished the longest day of the tour.  

Welcome to New Mexico!

Ever heard of Springerville?

Friday, September 16, 2011

Day 6
Winslow, Arizona to Springerville, Arizona
121 miles
4,350 ft. of climbing

It was a brisk but sunny morning at 6:30 a.m. when we started riding out of Winslow.  It was chilly enough that most of us started with jackets, arm & leg warmers and long-fingered gloves.  For the first 17 miles of our route we traveled on I-40 (see my Day 3 post regarding bicycling on a major highway).  At mile 7, I got my first flat tire of the trip.  (I can only hope it will be my last flat tire, but, alas, I'm sure that is not to be.)  Because I am spoiled and always have my own personal bike mechanic with me (Art), I had a lot of help changing the tire.  Actually, it was more like Art had a little help changing my tire - I held stuff and handed stuff to him while he did all the work.  That's why I do the laundry.  It works for us.  : )    
The temperature warmed up nicely as the day progressed and we were soon warm enough to take off our jackets and warmers.  Our route took us through some very remote, expansive dry terrain (imagine tumbleweeds and such).  There is no real sign of civilization for miles and miles - just road and a few bugs.  Maybe a car every once in a while.  It was quite hot by the afternoon, but the winds were fairly calm.  Most of our climbing took place in the latter part of the ride.  We passed a prison (brilliant location for a prison - absolutely nowhere for an escapee to hide, especially if he's wearing black & white stripes).  Springerville is a nice little town with a great "guns/ammo/pharmacy/liquor/beer" store, where Art went and bought some beer to add to the community chest.  They also had a great pizza place that delivered.  We were so tired, we ordered a pizza and had it delivered to our room at the Rode Inn Motel rather than go out.  It was a nice relaxing ending to a wonderful day.

 

Me on Jack Rabbit Road

"Art"