Another good ride today!
This was the eleventh day of actual riding, and we have enjoyed wonderful weather conditions on eleven out of eleven of these days. The weather has been too good to believe, and far better than we could have asked for. Indeed, the weather has been so cooperative with this bicycle trip that I wonder if Mother Nature doesn't have an awful payback waiting for us later. Mother Nature probably has unfavorable headwinds, rain, and other stuff in store for us later. Regardless, I can enjoy the good weather now while we have it!
When we left Grants this morning at it was cold. Not cool, cold. I nonetheless decided to dress for the expected conditions of later in the day. Unlike everyone else, I wore no leg warmers, arm warmers, or jacket. The other riders looked askance at me, so I just explained that I am from Wisconsin. That seemed to make sense to them. As it turns out, I was correct. It was admittedly a bit "invigorating" for me early on. Later however, it was warm. I was feeling great, while others were wondering what to do with their extra clothing.
The first 30 miles out was unbelievably fun. The road surface was great, no longer littered with tire-piercing debris, and the favorable headwind was powerful and smooth. I stayed near the front, riding constantly with the generally faster and stronger cyclists. At times, I was in a fast moving pace line. We arrived at the SAG, at 30 miles out, at literally only 90 minutes! What a great ride.
Later, after the SAG, we were on a different road. The weather was still great, but the road surface was again annoying. I helped Jon with a flat of his, only to have him help me with my rear tire flat later. I do know that this is not just me, as everyone on the trip is having flats. I have had more flats on this trip so far, than in all of my past life bicycling experiences combined. I do think the problem is the road surfaces, not my tires or my style of riding. Still, I am considering getting new tires in the near term future. We have a full rest day in Santa Fe on this Saturday. Maybe I will visit a bike shop then.
Even despite the suboptimal roads in the latter part of today's ride, we still made good time. I signed in at the destination in Albuquerque at 1:25 PM today, flat tire slowdown and all. That's not bad for a 77 mile ride.
Today we sadly say goodbye to Kevin, Jon, Sandy, and Stuart. All of these departures had been planned and fully expected from the outset of the trip. Kevin has run out of his vacation time, and he has to be back at work, at Gary, Indiana, in the next few days. He is such a neat guy that I do hope our paths cross again. Jon is going back to his home in England. I think that he has a car race in which to participate soon. Sandy and Stuart are leaving to attend their daughter's Law School graduation. I think that Stuart is coming back however, rejoining us later down the line. It will be nice to have him with us in Boston.
Tomorrow is a 66 mile ride to Santa Fe. Should be fun. I have never been to that city previously. Maybe I will have some time to explore it a bit, on Saturday.
If I can believe what I see on the Internet weather information sources, we will have a favorable headwind again tomorrow. This is too good to be true, but I will accept it nonetheless.
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