McPherson, Kansas to Abilene, Kansas

Today is Memorial Day!

I am now in Abilene, Kansas! This feels like a big accomplishment, even though today's ride was not particularly long.

Today's ride was only of 62 miles duration, but this was the ninth consecutive day of non-stop riding. I have never previously ridden for nine straight days in a row. (It is no wonder that I have early saddle sores now!) Our last full rest day was way back in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I can hardly remember that far back now. Nine days and 688 miles since Santa Fe, we are now here in Abilene, Kansas. This feels like a huge accomplishment. I am happy to be here, and happier still that I have tomorrow fully off.

Abilene is northeast of McPherson. We left McPherson this morning and we traveled straight east on route 56. The wind was, sadly, straight out of the east today, that actually all day long. This made for a really unpleasant start to the day. The wind was not super strong, but it was directly set against us. It was hard work to even maintain 10 mph. At 22 miles into the trip however, we mercifully turned off of route 56 and we went straight north on route 15. The prevailing east wind became a much more tolerable right crosswind. Still not ideal, but not nearly so bad. After 40 more miles then, we made it here to Abilene.

I was moving along pretty well today initially. At the SAG stop, roughly halfway into the ride, Bill and I noted that Jan was really moving slowly. He and I were in no rush today, and the ride today was short, so we stayed back with her. We kept her company during the latter part of her ride today. It was fun to slow down and talk with her a bit. It is nice to get to know people better. I think that this ride is proving to be more difficult for her than she had anticipated.

There were fields and fields of beautiful farmland, all along the way today. Some corn, but much more wheat. Jan pointed out how the wheat is already changing color, that indicating that it will soon be ready for harvesting. I see that it is indeed changing color, but I would feel that it is awfully early in the season now. I have to admit to total ignorance regarding wheat, however, so she is probably right.

Abilene seems like a nice town, at least from what I saw riding through town. We are on the northern end of town, well far from the downtown area. Interstate 70 passes by, just north of Abilene, and we are staying just north of I-70, just beyond the underpass under I-70.

Abilene is the home of Dwight D. Eisenhower. Probably the best known attraction in town is the Eisenhower museum and home. We rode by there, a few miles ago, as we passed through town going north. It does look impressive. Many of us are planning on visiting there tomorrow. I surely intend to do so.

Looking ahead, we leave Abilene on Wednesday, June 2. On that day we make the long ride, 106 miles, straight east to Topeka, Kansas. (I do hope that the winds are not still from the east two days from now!) We are informed that this will be a difficult ride, with lots of climbing. Regarding the climbing, the net difference in elevation, between Abilene and Topeka, is probably trivial. The entire ride however has lots and lots of ups and downs, all along the way. Oh joy! We are further informed that we will have more of these "roller coaster" hills in northern Missouri. Oh joy, again!

What is very special about the ride on Wednesday to Topeka is that it is the halfway point, in mileage, for our entire trip! That concept really is exciting to consider! It is difficult to believe. I am sometimes actually daring to believe that I really may make it to Boston!

Great Bend, Kansas to McPherson, Kansas

Today involved a 63 mile ride. All went well. (My new tires are great.) The weather was merciful for us, as intermittent thunderstorms had been the prediction. We saw threatening skies all along, and not really pleasant winds, but no rain by the time of our arrival at McPherson. I suspect that it will rain later tonight.

Pretty country, but nothing truly remarkable. This is central Kansas. Hence, no photos to adorn today's post.

I haven't yet had the courage to check the weather prediction for tomorrow, but I probably will later. As Michel has pointed out to me, there really isn't much point to checking the weather prediction anyway. The weather tomorrow will be what it will be, and we will ride in it regardless, so why worry? He does have a point.

Michel and I found a WalMart in walking distance of the motel. We went there and I stocked up on more sunscreen. (I do seem to go through that pretty rapidly.) We bought more powdered Gatoraide also.

Even though today's ride was short, I am pretty tired. I will probably go to bed early tonight. Then again, I go to bed early every night, so that is nothing new.

Right now, I am sitting on the floor as I type this, in the guest laundromat here in the Days Inn. There are not enough machines, but at least I am next in line.

Tomorrow we have a ride of similar distance, that to Abilene, Kansas. That will represent the ninth of nine consecutive days of nonstop riding. Pretty cool! We have a scheduled rest day on the next day, Tuesday, June 1, in Abilene. That will be our first full rest day since Santa Fe.

I am ready for a rest day.

Dodge City, Kansas to Great Bend, Kansas

Today's ride proved to be difficult. This was a long 86 miles, as it turned out. The ride was punctuated by two punctures, first the front tire and then the rear. The latter happened only 1.8 miles from the final destination today, here in Great Bend, so that made it extremely frustrating.

At least I can look on the positive side of things. I really am becoming quite good at changing tires. Not that long ago, I was only too happy to have the experts at the bike shop fix a flat for me. Like so many things however, you do get good with practice. Honestly, I am beginning to think that I could change a flat almost as easily as I could insert an intracoronary stent!

When Michel's alarm clock went off this morning at 5:15 AM, I made the comment to him that it was time for him and me to "Get out of Dodge!" Being in Dodge City at the time, this seemed hilariously funny to both of us. We laughed as if it really had been a genuinely funny joke. At least I had thought that my attempt at humor was mildly original and clever.

After getting dressed, we met with other cyclists for the early morning slogging down of coffee, orange juice, and mass quantities of protein and carbohydrates. In that environment, I saw that my "Get out of Dodge" joke was being used by everyone! It seemed that everyone else had come up with the same idea independently. There were countless times when a cyclist would find some way to make a joke with some variation on the theme of using the words "Get out of Dodge". Amazingly, each time this happened, all of us would laugh as if it was the most incredibly clever, original, and funny joke that we had ever heard. This was not fake laughter..., we really were genuinely amused each time. To the reader of this blog, the scene may sound like some sort of a Saturday Night Live skit that had gone horribly wrong. Actually however, it wasn't like that at all. To understand the scene, simply remember that all of us now have the general emotional maturity of a perfectly normal 13-year-old boy.

The trip today was windy. During the first half of the ride, this was a crosswind. Later however, the wind was nicely at our backs. I was tired, but otherwise doing OK. With my two flat tires en route however, that really slowed me down. I did not sign in at the destination today until 1:30 PM. By that time, it really was geting hot outside. It is now 92 degrees outside. Even though I am using copious amounts of SPF 70, I can see that I am getting more sun than I should. I was really tired by the time that I finally got in today.

Our ride today took us through Spearville, Offerle, Kinsley, and Larned. Kinsley purports to be "Midway USA", as they have calculated that the city is exactly equidistant between San Francisco, California, and New York. Neat!

Back to my flats..., my problems today were disturbing especially because I did not find the usual "culprit" explanation of embedded pieces of metal or similar objects. That has implied to me that the problem was that of the tires themselves. The tires were put on new during the middle of summer last year. They now have roughly 2,000 miles of wear, and they are looking more than a bit thin. That being the case, I just bought two brand new tires today. Michel helped me put them on. I now have new tubes, new tires, and a nicely clean and well lubricated bike. Tomorrow may go better!

I need to finish washing my clothes and I need (more importantly) get something to eat. I will therefore end this post now.

More tomorrow.

Liberal, Kansas to Dodge City, Kansas

Another great ride today!

Not only that, but another blog post beginning with a sentence fragment!

The weather seems to be getting progressively hotter and hotter. Lately however, it seems that both the heat and the winds mercifully don't really pick up until after 1 to 2 PM. That gives us an obvious goal. We like to push the ride pace, at least a little bit, in order to try to arrive at the destination by 1 PM or so. So far, that has been working out.

We did 83 miles today. We left Liberal, Kansas, at the usual time of 7:15 AM this morning. We went northeast, on US 54, initially. The start of the ride today was great, as it was pleasantly cool, but not cold. I wondered what the temperature was, and I knew that Doug has a high-tech bike computer. Taking a chance that it might show the ambient temp, I asked him as we were riding. He happily told me that he did have the temp, and it was 19 degrees!

Gotta love those British!

The pace was fast, but comfortable. I felt really pretty good. We had our only SAG at 38.6 miles out, that in a town called Meade. The Dalton Gang Hideout and Museum is there. That actually was the SAG location. I am learning to get in and out of the SAGs quickly. I just pull up, drink and eat a bit extra, refill my bottles, and don't linger to talk a lot with the other riders. I try not to rush, exactly, but I try not to waste any time on these longer days, especially with the heat and the winds approaching.

At about 50 miles out, I had yet another flat tire! The culprit was easily identified, and it was the same thing that seems to be still happening to many of us. It was a tiny wire, embedded in the tire, puncturing the tube. These are small and malleable wires, probably one-half to one centimeter long, of a diameter probably similar to a 25 gauge needle. These wires really aren't all that terribly sharp, but they surely do like to embed in our tires. I am told that these are wire pieces that are shed from the steel-belted radial tires of the larger trucks. Whatever. It is annoying. Oh well. I am getting well practiced at tire changing.

With the tire fixed, I was soon back on the road. At roughly 60 miles out, the route changed to US 283 north. The winds were directly from the south all day. Turning from a northeast to a north direction then resulted in an absolutely perfect result. The resultant "favorable headwind" enabled me to do the last 20 miles at 20 to 24 mph easily. I made it to Dodge City at 12:35 PM. That felt good.

The best thing about "favorable headwinds" is not so much their facilitation of speed, but their remarkable silence. It is so pleasant to have a nice wind at your back and get the result of a wonderfully quiet ride, not just a fast one.

Dodge City surely seems to celebrate its Wild West heritage. There is a huge and impressive, larger than life, statue of Wyatt Earp in the center of the historic downtown area. There is also a Boot Hill cemetery and museum.

Michel and I walked around in that historic downtown area a bit. We were impressed with how seemingly deserted the area seemed. For an early to mid Friday afternoon, we were impressed at how few people were out and about.

Regardless, we had fun.

Tomorrow we have another longish day. We go to Great Bend, Kansas, tomorrow, that at a distance of 86 miles. Hopefully the winds and the roads will be kind.

It occurred to me that today is exactly three weeks since the day that Lauren graduated at U of Minnesota. That was such an incredible thrill for me. I had such a great time. Somehow however, that time seems to have been almost a million years, and a million miles, in the past. Difficult to grasp.

Anyway, more tomorrow!

Guymon, Oklahoma to Liberal, Kansas

Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas! Three states in three days! How about that for progress?

(I will, of course, not dwell upon the fact that we only clipped off tiny segments of both Texas and Oklahoma, in order to make that progress!)

Today was a short ride, almost embarrassingly so. We rode for only 40 miles today. With the mildly favorable headwind, we were generally at, or just below, 20 mph. (Keep in mind the strict definition of the term "favorable headwind", that covered on a previous posting in this blog.) Even with the late start today, as scheduled, at 9:15 AM, most of us still made it to the destination of Liberal, Kansas, slightly before noon. That means that today almost feels like a rest day. I will not feel bad about that, as this is the middle of a 9-straight-day run until the next true full rest day. The next four days, in particular, may be quite long, and hot, so I will not feel bad about taking it a bit easy today.

Liberal, Kansas, really seems like a nice little town. It may be that we never really get a good concept of the towns in which we stay, since we generally arrive by the main highway and generally stay probably on the town's outskirts. Still, Liberal seems much nicer than Dalhart, Texas, and Guymon, Oklahoma. From what I have witnessed, from the seat of my bike, this is a very clean and pretty town. Nice people.

When we arrived here today, just before noon, the temperature was then tolerable. Now however, mid-afternoon, it is over 90 degrees! This does not bode well for us; on our next two days (if not the next four) our longer mileages will probably have us still out on the road when it is getting this hot. We will see.

Today is Marsha's birthday. Hopefully she already got the (neatly wrapped) present that I left earlier with Nickie. I am certain that she did. I tried to call, minutes ago, but my cheapo cell phone has no coverage anywhere in this entire quadrant of the state of Kansas. I hate to call collect, just to say happy birthday, but I probably will do so later anyway.

Soon after arriving in town, we learned of the Mid America Air Museum. That is located at the airport, here in Liberal. Michel and I rode our bikes there, finding Ty, Doug, and Bill already there. This was really worth the trip. There are lots of planes on display, most military but some civilian. It was really cool to see all of these. (Bill used to fly A4 jets in the Navy, while then stationed on an aircraft carrier.) I saw a number of early Cessnas also. Some looked like the taildragger equivalents of the model 172 with which Marsha and I are familiar. The state of Kansas has had a lot to do with aircraft manufacturing, civilian and military, and with military flight training.

I am grateful for Lynette's comment of earlier this date. After roughly three weeks of absence so far, I had, of course, assumed that I have been long forgotten at Gundersen-Lutheran. I am certain that the whole place is functioning so smoothly, in my extended absence, that the term "Dan who?" is used occasionally. It makes me feel good to know that my progress on this trip, such progress as it is, is being tracked. Thanks for the note, Lynette! I will see you in early July, and I may even wash up a bit before that time!

Tomorrow we go to Dodge City, Kansas. That is an 83 mile ride. Hopefully we will arrive there before the heat.

Photos from yesterday - Texas to Oklahoma

I seem to be having trouble uploading photos recently. Here are at least two from yesterday's ride, that from Dalhart, Texas, to Guymon, Oklahoma.

More later today!!!

Dalhart, Texas to Guymon, Oklahoma

Interesting and great ride today, once again, although there is no question that the last 20 to 25 miles of today's ride was a real struggle for me. The first 50 miles today were fun, and easy. In the last part of today's ride however, we endured the sudden development of impressive headwinds. (It may have been that a front was going through.) With 20 to 25 miles left in our 72 mile ride today, I went from really feeling well, to suddenly facing a constant 10 to 15 mph headwind, that straight on. It may be that I wasn't eating quite enough today also, during the ride. Regardless, I was really relieved to make our final destination today.

All seems to be relative. In the past, I would have normally seen a 72 mile ride as a moderately impressive endeavor. Now however, after two consecutive century rides, most of us were seeing today as a light ("recovery") ride. Whatever!

Dalhart, Texas, is probably not the showcase city of the state of Texas. It was an opportune stop on highway 54 certainly, but it is nothing to really celebrate as a special destination. There really is nothing to see, or do, in Dalhart. We ate at the Sands restaurant in Dalhart, last evening. It was, so far, the worst meal of the trip, that almost embarrassingly so. We waited for an hour just to get food. The food, finally arriving, was so bad that most of us later walked over to the nearby Dairy Queen.

Regardless, it is fun to be on the road. By now, everyone in our group knows each other really rather well. We are becoming a really neat family. I am especially enjoying the company of Michel. He is a great guy. I enjoy biking, throughout the day, with absolutely everyone in the group.

We entered Texas yesterday and we only went 41.7 miles from the state line to Dalhart. Today we left Dalhart and we hit the Oklahoma state line in 50 miles. All of that was on highway 54. Crossing the entire state of Texas in 91.7 miles leaves me with the clear understanding that Texas must be a very small state indeed! It is obviously much smaller than New Mexico, as it took us lots of time to cross that state. I haven't yet looked at a map, but I am guessing that Texas is probably the size of Rhode Island. I am not sure.

Tomorrow we enter into the great state of Kansas! We will go to Liberal, Kansas, tomorrow. That promises to be a very short ride. That will be merciful, as I see it, as I really am a bit tired now. I haven't been in Kansas since 2007, then when Bill and I did the "Border Raiders" bike trip. That trip had started, and finished, in Lawrence, Kansas. It was a great trip.

I am in Guymon, Oklahoma, now. I have showered, cleaned my bike, lightly lubricated the chain, and even washed my clothes. I am ready for Kansas!

I have some photos from today's trip, but I cannot seem to get them to upload. Oh well! Maybe tomorrow.

Tucumcari, New Mexico to Dalhart, Texas

Wow! A new state and a new time zone today! Pretty cool. This is not the first time that I have been in the state of Texas, but this is the first time on a bike. Now I can add New Mexico to my personal list of states crossed fully, west-to-east, on a bike.

Today's trip was as fun as yesterday's was stressful, that all because of the wind status. Yesterday we endured brutally punishing crosswinds. Today, the worst wind would have to be classified as a gentle breeze only. What a great ride.

The terrain and scenery today were not nearly as impressive or interesting as yesterday. The ride was fast and strong. Rolling hills, but no really significant climbs at all. I checked, at 101 miles total, at 1:30 PM. That's respectable for an old guy, I feel.

The ride yesterday was a century ride (that's more than 100 miles, for non-biker readers of this blog). Today was a 96 mile ride, at least as planned, all on route 54, from Tucumcari, New Mexico, to Dalhart, Texas. That would mean that today's planned ride would come close to two consecutive century rides. Close, but not quite there. We had two consecutive century rides earlier in this trip, then back in the Mojave Desert. It seemed to me that two consecutive century rides again now would be a nice accomplishment.

We did go by a huge cattle feeder facility ("XIT Feeders") today. This was on the right side of the road, probably just 10 miles before getting into Dalhart. I have never seen, nor smelled, so many bovines in my life. There were literally acres upon acres of nothing but cows eating food. Based upon my olfactory abilities, I will state my opinion herein that the cows do more with their food than just eat it; they appear to also process it. This feeder facility probably went along the road for a full mile distance, extending back from the road for as far as the eye could see.

I have heard it said that you learn a lot about yourself when you go on trips like this. That is so true. Today I did learn something about myself. As I was biking by the XIT Feeders today, I learned that I really can pedal a bicyle for a mile without inhaling even once!

When we were getting near our destination at Dalhart today, I happened to look down at the odometer on my bike computer. It was perfectly on track with the cue sheet for today's ride. I could see that I would hit 96 miles, exactly as planned and expected, at the destination. Again, 96 miles is technically not a "century" ride, but it is still a more than reasonable accomplishment.

When I got to the destination however (Days Inn - Dalhart) something weird happened to my bike! My bike had been functioning perfectly all through this past 1,000+ miles so far, so I cannot fathom what happened now. As I was turning to the left, to enter the Days Inn parking lot, the headset on my bike suddenly completely froze! I could not turn the handle bars at all! It was so strange. The bike would not turn to the left and enter the Days Inn parking lot! I thought about stopping and seeing if I could fix the problem, but it occurred to me that I might be able to fix the frozen headset better if I worked on it while still riding.

I kept on riding then, while simultaneously struggling to fix the frozen headset. I pushed as hard as I could, both left and right, while still riding on down the road in a relentlessly straight line. I was perplexed, almost frightened. The bike headset remained frozen.

Then, coincidentally at an odometer reading of 98.5 miles, the headset suddenly became fully mobile! It became totally normally functional, as inexplicably as it had suddenly malfunctioned only 2.5 miles earlier! How do you figure that one? Relieved then, I was able to turn the bike arround and ride safely back. When I finally did arrive at the destination, the odometer reading was 101 miles! It should have only been a 96 mile ride, but it ended up at 101 miles! How could that have been expected?

Imagine that! Today's ride was a century ride after all! Now that was unexpected! Two consecutive century rides after all!

OK, OK, I will admit that my extra 5 mile ride was just a bit juvenile on my part. Maybe more than a bit. Still, it felt good to do it!

Tomorrow we go to Oklahoma. I have never previously been in that state at all.

More tomorrow.

Las Vegas, New Mexico to Tucumcari, New Mexico

What a day today was!

This was a super hard day. The problem was not so much the mileage, but it was the relentless, brutal, and remarkably strong winds. In particular, the crosswinds were horrific. We had strong and randomly gusty crosswinds, almost always from the right side. At times it was really unnerving. At the proverbial end of the day, my fatigue was probably as much due to the tension associated with the winds, as anything else. I had times when I was finding myself in the left lane of the road, due to these nasty crosswinds. We did 108 miles today, and this was unequivocally the most difficult, and the most stressful, day of the trip so far.

What made this especially hard for me was my stupid acrophobia. There were times that we had steep downhill runs, on winding mountain roads and a whole lot of nothing to the right side of the guardrail. I spent a lot of time riding my brakes, clicking out of the pedals, and trying to think happy thoughts.

Enough complaining!

One highlight of the trip today was passing our official 1,000 mile mark! That was neat. This happened at mile 27 into today's ride.

Today's ride was truly scenic. I marvel at the endless beauty of this part of our country. If I have any regret, it is that of my profound ignorance in the field of geology. It really would be nice to better understand, and thereby appreciate more deeply, all of these truly remarkable rock formations.

Tomorrow we cross into a new state, and a new time zone also! We do 96 miles tomorrow, to end up in a place called Dalhart, Texas. At that point we will enter into the Central Time Zone.

Texas tomorrow, and Oklahoma on Wednesday!

Hopefully the winds tomorrow will be more merciful.

Santa Fe, New Mexico to Las Vegas, New Mexico

Yesterday (Saturday) was a full day of rest in Santa Fe. Michel, Doug Squires, and I took the bus into town, just for a visit. Santa Fe is a very nice place. We found it remarkably quiet, considering that it was a Saturday morning with great weather. We spent time at the central plaza area, which is a rather typical touristy type of place. There were lots of shops, and lots of open air tables set up, all with an abundance of native American-themed items for purchase.

We never found the restaurant that Tom Collins and the others opened up, but we had fun looking around just the same. Michel and I did find a spot where there where cow skulls for sale (see photo). We both were initially enthusiastic about buying them. Then the reality set in that it would be a bit awkward with getting it back home. I think that we would have looked a bit funny with one tied to the back of a bike. Oh well. At least it was fun to look around.

We visited two bike shops also. I wanted to find a lightweight rain jacket. I found none in my size, so I bought some electrolyte supplement pills instead.

We were in bed and asleep by 8:30 PM last night. It is amazing how tired out you get on a bike trip of this nature, even on the rest days.

Today we did a 72 mile ride to Las Vegas, New Mexico. Beautiful ride, once again. The mountains now seem to have more vegetation. Today's ride was a very hilly 72 miles, quite arduous. At least the winds didn't pick up too much until mid-afternoon, well after we arrived in Las Vegas.

It has been over a week now that we have been consistently at high elevation. I might be getting a bit adjusted. Still, this is a thin-air environment. I find that I am tachypneic, at least mildly, even with just brisk walking.

Las Vegas, New Mexico, is a tiny little town. Not much here but wind. Still, I guess that this is where the Great Plains meet the Rockies!

I started out the day this morning feeling like my legs were composed of jello. Warm jello. For the first 5 or 10 miles, I had huge trouble with the hills. I was riding with the rest of the group, leaving Santa Fe this morning, having great trouble keeping up. I contemplated the obvious diagnosis of AOMG. I may not be a Neurologist, of course, but I felt that my symptoms fit perfectly with a fulminant case of adult onset myesthenia gravis. Indeed, my physical limitations and symptoms were so classic that I seriously doubted that any responsible Neurologist would even need to do much in the way of confirmatory diagnostics.

After about 10 miles of slogging however, my legs seemed to wake up and remember what was expected of them. I ended up having a strong ride. I finished the 72 miles, arriving in Las Vegas at 12:30 PM, near the front of the group, with an average speed on my computer at 15.4 mph. I ended up feeling good about that, especially for a hilly ride. That aside, I am a bit worried about tomorrow's ride. That will be a 108 mile ride, hilly terrain, to a place called Tucumcari, New Mexico. (Who would name a town "Tucumcari"?)

We went through Pecos, New Mexico today, that being near the Pecos National Monument. It really is a neat area. I understand that we went over Glorieta Pass today also, but that was not marked, so I didn't recognize it at the time.

Today is a Sunday, so I suspect that Kevin is back at work today in Gary, Indiana. I miss him. More importantly, I do hope that he is remembering, and praying for, all of us here on the road.

I hope that all is well at home. I do think of Ward frequently, but my guilt pangs seem a bit less painful lately. I do hope that he is surviving. I know that Deb and Jill both have daughters with graduation parties. If memory serves, they are this week. I wish that I could attend, but it is a bit far. I extend my best wishes from this distance nonetheless. I hope that Julie is not too uncomfortable. I hope that all is well with my Madeline and Chocolat also.

While I was on the road today, I briefly diverted blood flow to my brain, just enough to enable pre-frontal cortical limited function. With that, I was able to do some simple arithmetic in my head. Today is May 23, 2010, and I was able to calculate that it has been 29 years and 286 days since I made the best decision of my life. It was 29 years ago today that I was finally able to act upon that decision.

Happy Anniversary, Marsha!

Albuquerque, New Mexico to Santa Fe, New Mexico

What a great ride today! This was a hard ride, with lots of climbing involved. For the beauty seen however, the work was more than worth it.

We rode for 66 miles today. Albuquerque is at 5,300 ft elevation and Santa Fe at 7,000. For our net gain of 1,700 ft however, we did well over 5,000 feet of climbing. The weather was, once again, better than we could have asked for. Road surfaces, traffic, and weather were all excellent.

New Mexico bills itself as the "Land of Enchantment." Based upon the views I saw today, that is a well deserved appellation. Holy guacamole, this was a beautiful ride! Even though I wanted to make good time, and thereby get out of the sun soon, I still had to stop frequently for photos. Not a lot of photos taken yesterday, between Grants and Albuquerque, but lots taken today. I wish Marsha had been with me, as she would have probably recognized a lot of the desert plants and flowers.

We left Albuquerque on "Central Avenue", heading east. I believe that Central Avenue is the same thing as the old historic US route 66, in that area. There is a huge mountain, called Sandia, located just to the east of the city. This road took us by that mountain on its southern side. Once out of town and beyond the mountain, we turned north, on route 14 (I think). That was when the climbing really began. We could see Sandia to our left, as we rode northeast to Santa Fe. The riding became then very difficult, with all the climbing, but that is when the beauty of the area unfolded.

I remember being in Albuquerque roughly a hundred years ago, it seems. OK, it was probably only 30 years ago. Anyway, that was a time when I was visiting with John. He was finishing his residency then at Lovelace, and I was on an interview/vacation trip, as I was looking at cardiology fellowships. It was in the month of February, as I recall, and I remember cross-country skiing then up on the Sandia crest. It was fun today to look at that mountain from the other side today, and remember when I had spent time here with John, so many years ago now.

Today I felt really strong. I wasn't so sure how I felt when I had arisen this morning, and I was a bit slow out of the starting gates. Probably 5 miles into the ride this morning however, I really seemed to get some energy and strength from somewhere. I ended up way near the front of the group, which has not previously been my usual place. Even on the steeper climbs today, I felt great. It was a real confidence builder today. I was signing in at our destination, in Santa Fe, at 1:00 PM. (It was nice to get out of the sun then, even though I am always covered with SPF 70 anyway.)

I am now in Santa Fe and relaxing. I have showered. More importantly, I have meticulously washed and cleaned my bike. The chain is sparkling, dry, and lightly oiled.

Tomorrow is our second full rest day. If I have the energy tomorrow, I may do some laundry. Michel said that he might also. I don't know however. That really seems a bit ambitious. Maybe we can find a way to encourage and support each other, as we then contemplate that important but difficult work.

When we pull out of here on Sunday morning, we will have nine full straight days of riding, until the next rest day. That seems intimidating, as I consider it now. Should be interesting...,

Grants, New Mexico to Albuquerque, New Mexico

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.

Gallup, New Mexico to Grants, New Mexico

Today was yet another great day!

I cannot believe how fortunate we have been, at least in terms of the weather. We have had clear blue sky all along, but never really hot. I guess that maybe the higher altitudes keeps the temperature from getting too high. I do recognize that this great weather will not last for the entire trip, but I surely am enjoying it for now.

My only complaint remains that of the road quality. For two days now we have had really crappy road surfaces. Today was the worst. Indeed, there was a section of the highway where there was active construction underway. We had to literally walk our bikes in a grassy area, around the heavy equipment, for probably a quarter of a mile or so. Even so, we literally had tar to scrape off of our tires. At the end of the day today, I felt like apologizing to my tires.

Today's ride was for 68 miles. We left Gallup feeling well, our usual charged up and excited state as each day begins. It must be frightening for the local people to see so many brightly clad and heavily caffeinated bicyclists. Everyone is always just eager to get out on the road for the coming day's adventures.

Michel and I both had flat tires right out of the proverbial starting block. My tires were fine when I went to bed last night. This morning however, upon awakening and checking the bike, I found the front tire flat as could be. There was a slow leak in the tube that I finally identified as the culprit. At least this was apparent before I actually hit the road. It only took me one extra cup of coffee to get that changed. Michel's situation was the same, except that it was the rear tire.

One of the riders, Jan, seemed a bit slow this morning. I decided to stay back with her. After all, today was a short mileage day and so there was no rush. This gave me a chance to get to know her better. It really was fun riding with her today. During the latter part of the day, she and I were riding with LaVern and Jane, our only tandem participants. They are really nice people also.

At 3o miles into today's ride we made it to the Continental Divide. The elevation there was 7,275 ft. That was exciting to see. Actually, I must admit that I had thought that it would be more impressive. I had somehow envisioned being high on a majestic mountain ridge, able to look very far in all directions. It ended up being a sign by the side of the road, on US route 66, near a general store/souvenir shop. Whatever.

From that point on, we were mainly on US route 66, heading east, ending up in Grants.

To the left, there was an outrageously impressive view of huge red sandstone mountains, all running in a seemingly endless ridge, that just beyond the railroad tracks. At least based upon what I have seen so far, New Mexico is far more scenic than Arizona (maybe with the exception of the Jerome, Sedona, Flagstaff regions).

Looking to the right side of the road as we were riding however, we saw Interstate 40 and not majestic mountains. At least in this region, I 40 parallels US 66, just to the south. The latter had been a well traveled and fabled highway in the past. With I 40 now, it is striking to see how US 66 is so deserted. Jan and I were frequently riding side-by-side for miles on US 66, with no cars in sight, while watching the typical very heavy high-speed traffic on the Interstate road just to our right. I have no personal history here, of course, so I am certain that I don't really grasp the significances of the changes which the Interstate has brought to this area. For the older people who have lived here a long time however, I can only imagine how they may feel.

Other than terminally chapped lips, I am feeling great. My bike is great, although there may come a time when I will need to replace the tires. We will see. For now I am OK.

Michel and I were casually talking a while ago. As time goes on, we are getting so much more confident. He commented that he is beginning to actually feel that he may be able to successfully complete this full trip! It occurs to me that I am beginning to feel exactly the same way. Boston is a long, long time from now, but I am beginning to get the feeling that I am going to be able to actually do this! I hope so.

Tomorrow we go to Albuquerque. I think that will be 77 miles.

I think I can do this!

Holbrook, Arizona to Gallup, New Mexico

Great day today!

(Yes, I do understand that was only a sentence fragment.)

Today involved an 88 mile ride over generally the same road conditions as yesterday. Somehow however, maybe due to a more favorable wind and fewer flat tires, today went very well.

The highway was every bit as rough surfaced and littered with fine debris as it had been yesterday, but fewer flats were had for the entire group. I had no flats today, a nice and welcome change from yesterday.

Today I started out feeling very strong. I made a point of staying near the front of the group, near the stronger riders. That went well. It is extra work to push harder than you need to, but the payoff is that of more miles behind you earlier in the day. The value of that cannot be overstated. Michel and I rode together, at least for the first 30 to 40 miles, and that was fun.

What really made today's ride so successful was a wonderfully favorable headwind. (I have learned to eschew the term "t***wind", that for purely superstitious reasons, and use instead the term "favorable headwind".) For effectively the whole day, we had a favorable headwind that was pushing us very powerfully. I found that I was doing 18 mph easily, even on uphill grades, and easily 22 mph on the level terrain. This was fun.

We crossed the Arizona/New Mexico state line at 71.6 miles from our start in Holbrook. Because of our wind conditions, with the associated good speed, I was at that state line crossing before noon! That felt great.

I can now add California and Arizona to Iowa and Wisconsin, on my list of US states that I have crossed completely on a bike, west-to-east.

I made it to Gallup, our destination for the day, at 12:45 PM. With the time change however, that abruptly became 1:45 PM. Whatever. Michel and I, and three other guys, walked the half mile to a deli, where we had sandwiches. The sandwiches were good. My clothes, water bottles, and bike are all washed out and ready for tomorrow. I think that I have adequate ambition now to consider taking a nap.

God! Could I make this blog post any more boring?

I wonder how all are doing back at home, back in the real world. I hope that all is well at work. I have no doubt that all is going well there, entirely in my absence. I hope that Julie is surviving still (I think that she only has a month left to go now, if I remember correctly). Her baby will probably arrive in La Crosse before I do.

Tomorrow will be a shorter day in mileage, but more climbing again. In fact, tomorrow will see the highest elevation on the entire trip, then when we cross the Continental Divide.

Should be fun.

Flagstaff, Arizona to Holbrook, Arizona

Wow, was today ever a tough day!

This was 96 miles of rough road surfaces and constant crosswinds! What a tedious and difficult ride! The road surface was horrible, with all kinds of tiny little metal wires and other items. These worked rather like needles, with a seemingly magnetic attraction for our tires. Among our group of probably 20 to 25 riders, we had a cumulative total of 18 flats! Some had none. Sam had 4 flats. I had 3. (I had left for the day this morning with two tubes and two CO2 cartridges, so you can imagine my frustration with flat #3.)

We had left Flagstaff this morning with a bit of a tailwind. That was nice. The day was sunny, but not hot. That was also nice. Soon after the day started however, the wind became a strong and constant crosswind from the right. We were going east, and the wind was straight from the south. It may have been technically a pure crosswind, but it surely felt like a headwind. Changing flats in such a crosswind was really a challenge also.

As I understand it, the road conditions tomorrow promise to be similar. We will have similar mileage tomorrow, slightly more elevation gain, and the same road surfaces. Who knows about the wind!

Oh well! It is all good! After all, a bad day on the bike is still always better than a good day at work! (That reminds me..., I wonder how Ward Brown is surviving with his constant 24/7 on-call schedule. I do still feel a brief pang of guilt when I think of his call situation at work. Somehow I must try to bring myself to get over those guilt feelings. I think I can do it!)

We did go through Winslow, Arizona. That was neat. Many of us had photos taken of ourselves while we were standing on a corner there. It seemed like a hopelessly clever idea at the time. How cool it is to think that I too would be "standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona!"

Winslow, Arizona, is like a lot of places on old US route 66. When the Interstate came through, it appears that thriving and vibrant communities were suddenly robbed of their lifeblood. It is sad to see.

Tomorrow will bring with it a new state! At the end of the ride tomorrow we will pass into New Mexico! This is exciting! We will also then pass into a new time zone. We will be in Albuquerque by Thursday evening, and Santa Fe by Friday! Pretty cool!

Hopefully I will have fewer flats tomorrow.

Cottonwood, Arizona to Flagstaff, Arizona

What an incredible ride! What an incredible day! As far as scenery, weather, and road conditions are concerned, today was a perfect day for biking! I don't have the vocabulary to describe how fun today was, or how breathtakingly beautiful this area is. I seriously doubt that I will die today. If I do however, I do so with a smile on my face.

Today is the end of the first week of biking. This was the third of three consecutive days of relatively low mileage, but serious climbing. We did 46 miles today but, rather like the past two days, this was almost constant climbing. (I know that there must have been some downs, to partially balance off those ups, but I only remember the ups.)

We left Cottonwood at 7:15 AM, the usual time. Traci won't allow sign out before then. It was cool and very pleasant. We were on Arizona 89A pretty much the whole trip from Cottonwood to Flagstaff. Nice road. I must ride this road again, hopefully with Marsha. I don't think that I have been on a more beautiful ride.

The ride to Sedona was comfortable, not too strenous, and mildly pretty. Arriving near Sedona however, most of us found it necessary to frequently stop just to drink in the beauty. There are enourmous sandstone mountains and cliffs all arround Sedona. Neither my words nor my photos will ever do this beauty justice. The rocks really do glow a remarkable red color in the sunlight.

Sedona seems to be at the base, or entrance, of a huge canyon. We traveled that road, as it wound uphill to the Flagstaff elevation level. That's when the ride got really steep. Even the many mountain switchbacks did not prevent this from being steep. On the last 2.2 miles before the SAG, I felt that we were climbing up a wall.

The SAG was at a scenic overlook, that located roughly 10 to 12 miles from Flagstaff. We were able to look back and actually see the road on which we had been riding. It was incredible. You could see the switchbacks that had been carved into the mountain side. It was actually rather cool to stop and see how far below us the road was, and then realize that we had actually ridden up from there! Tired as I was, my ego was nicely thereby fed.

After the SAG, we rode on to Flagstaff. I am there now, this at the end of a remarkable week of riding. We started at the Pacific Ocean on Sunday morning, and we are now at 6,906 feet in elevation above that. This week we rode 532 miles. More amazingly (disturbingly) we did 23,926 feet of climbing this week. (My quadriceps will not contest that number.) My bike is working great. My knees are fine. My wrists are sometimes a problem, but I can live with that.

I have heard it said that pain is just the feeling of weakness leaving the body. I suspect that I will soon have a very un-weak butt.

When I got to Flagstaff today, I felt great. I took a shower, and then I washed my bike and re-lubricated the chain. Without warning however, I suddenly felt remarkably lightheaded. Before collapsing, I made it to Sizzlers. Their chicken, diet Pepsi, and unlimited salad bar brought me back into the game nicely. They have a great salad bar. I should know, as I surely was there enough. Why don't we have Sizzlers in La Crosse?

Tomorrow is a full day of rest. I plan to nap. A lot. No riding tomorrow. Monday morning starts week number 2, that ending in Santa Fe!

Prescott, Arizona to Cottonwood, Arizona

Another great ride today!

This was only 43 miles. We left Prescott this morning, and I was feeling great. As it seems lately, I start out strong, and then run out of gas as the day progresses. Today was no exception in that regard.

I left Prescott moving very fast, actually near the beginning of the crowd. As we began our climb up Mingus Mountain however, I found myself falling back within the crowd.

I noticed that I was breathing very fast. Maybe it's the altitude. It reminded me of one of my early training runs, back in early April. I had driven my car, with my bike in it, to Goose Island. I set off from there on county road K, towards Chaseburg. As I had been climbing up K then, I noted that I was breathing fast, something which dismayed me since I had felt that I was then in pretty good condition. Today I noted the same fast breathing as I was going up Mingus Mountain. It reminded my of the earlier rides this year at home. That seems so long ago now, but it was only less than two months. (I wonder if I remember how to drive a car.)

There seems to be quite a mountain ridge that we had to cross today. We crossed via Mingus Mountain. Arduous, but beautiful. At the summit of Mingus Mountain we had our SAG. That was at 7,023 ft elevation. (No wonder I was breathing fast.)

Leaving the SAG was far more beautiful, and also absolutely terrifying. It was scarey for even the people on this ride who don't have acrophobia. For me, with my acrophobia, it was more than truly frightening. I was, quite literally, constantly riding my brakes. I was going so fast, down an unbelievably windy mountain road. This is a narrow 2-way road, with a guard rail and a whole lot of nothing on the other side of the guard rail. When two cars approached from opposite directions, I had visions of getting pushed off to the right. If that had happened, the body would have truly never been found.

Still, acrophobia aside, it was truly a strikingly beautiful ride. My photographs fail to demonstrate how magnificient this area is. Going down on the east side of Mingus Mountain, we could look ahead and see the fabled red rocks of Sedona. We head that way tomorrow.

I am well settled in now, here in Cottonwood. I have washed up myself, my clothing, and my watter bottles. What else is there to life?

Photos on this posting will include a summit shot at 7,023 ft, as well as shots of Mingus Mountain as we were about to ascend from the west side.

Hopefully more tomorrow!

Wickenburg, Arizona to Prescott, Arizona

Wow!

Today was unbelievably challenging and difficult. It was probably the most physically demanding day on a bike that I have ever had. Today's 59 miles were WAY harder than yesterday's 115!

That stated, today was still a great day. I am having a blast. It is nice that I didn't die today. More than once today, I was expecting death. (In fact, at one point I was almost welcoming it!)

The weather, road surface quality, and scenery were all unbelievably great. Great day for a ride! We had a cool and overcast day, all day long, with no wind more than a gentle breeze. (I did nonetheless use buckets of SPF 70 however, even though it was only overcast.)

We climbed out of Wickenburg, at roughly 2,000 ft above sea level, to end up here in Prescott at 5,300. We went from desert, to now huge Ponderosa Pines! At one point, just before arriving at Prescott, we were at 6,100 ft elevation!

We left Wickenburg and I felt really strong at the time. We were on US 93 for a short while, and then we went on Arizona 89 North.

What a scenic road!

What an unbelievably brutal road for bicycles!

Soon after entering 89 North, we found ourselves on a 7 to 8 mile relentless climb. That (they tell me) was at a virtually constant 8% elevation. We made it then to the SAG at Yarnell. Most of us (foolishly) thought that the worst climbing was over. Boy oh boy, were we wrong about that!

Leaving Yarnell, we found ouselves on brutal further climbs. We also had the delightful experiennce of so-called "false flats". That's where the road gives you the optical illusion that it is level, when it is actually a steady rise. This is demoralizing. I found myself on these false flats, struggling to keep my speed up. I kept wondering what was wrong with me.

One of the riders did bonk. He is OK now, but he rode the last 20 miles today in a van. I believe that I almost bonked. A large Snickers bar and 20 fluid ounces of cold Gatorade bailed me out at the last minute.

I never quit, but I almost quit countless times. Indeed, if one numbered the times that I almost quit, it would surely dwarf Avagadro's number! Many times I stopped by the roadside and pretended to take a picture, when I was really just catching my breath. I don't want to know what my heart rate was then.

All in all, a pretty neat day. I didn't die. I feel that is good.

Tomorrow and Saturday will be similar days of heavy climbing and short mileage. We get to Flagstaff on Saturday. Sunday is a full day of rest there. (Boy, will I ever need it!)

Photos for yesterday - late entry

I could not get photos to upload yesterday. Maybe it was Google Blogger, but it was, more probably me. Anyway, here are two from the day yesterday!

Blythe, California to Wickenburg, Arizona

Wow! I have never been so tired in my life! It is a "good tired" feeling, not a "bad tired" feeling. Still, tired is tired. The challenge today, on top of yesterday, was basically at the level of my maximal physical ability. Today was really at my limit.

I guess that, if you are going to have two consecutive century bike rides, you might as well have it in the Mojave Desert! Makes sense to me! Yesterday was 101 miles and today was 115.

We left Blythe, California, this morning. At only 5.7 miles out, we crossed our first state line. I did indeed live to make it to Arizona! My anxiety level skyrocketed with the crossing of that state line however. I do have my Wisconsin Drivers' License, but no Passport. What if the Arizona border patrol stops me?

The weather was kind to us. It was hot, but not unbearably so. I wore my new long sleeve bright yellow jersey (thanks again, Marsha!) which really helped with sun and heat protection. The long and bright sleeves are nice arm coolers in the desert.

The scenery was similar to yesterday initially. As we climbed to the higher altitude desert however, we saw the larger Saguaro cacti. That was neat. Still, the basic view is desert on both sides of the road, leading to impressive mountains.

We had our first SAG at 40 miles out, in Brenda, Arizona. I arrived there early, drank some extra Gatorade, and left feeling really strong. For 10 more miles after that point, I was riding alone, with the wind, feeling great, and averaging 20 mph. At roughly mile 50, the road surface became miserable and the wind changed to a disturbing left sided crosswind. It became hotter by the minute, and I became totally drained of all physical and psychological energy. By mile 55 out of Blythe, I was reconsidering my entire life. A fellow rider mercifully showed up. He gave me the courage to make it to the next SAG. That was at Wendon, Arizona, at mile 66. After that, I got my proverbial "second wind". I made it to Wickenburg at 4:05 PM.

During this day, I have drunk enough Gatorade and water to probably kill a young child.

I am now clean. My Camelback and water bottles are clean. My bike is clean and the chain is nicely oiled. I want to pretend that I am ready for tomorrow. That is actually a joke. I will never be ready for tomorrow, as it is a short mileage day with huge climbs.

Whatever.

Parenthetically, I am learning now so much about autoregulation. I was taught about that in med school, but I am now experiencing it firsthand. On the road, all of us are able to shunt blood to our leg muscles preferentially, while shunting it away from less important body parts. The brain seems to be on that list of unimportant parts. I have probably 99% of my cardiac output going to my legs, with 1% going to the brain stem. Higher cortical functions are shut down. This actually leads to scenes which an observer might find amusing.

As an example, we pulled into SAG #3 at89.6 miles. One of the riders has a bike computer which is reading a bit low. He had riden the 89.6 miles, but his computer listed his distance as 88.4 miles. He was trying to figure out if there might be a number, one that he could add to what his computer showed, in order to have the true mileage.

He couldn't do it, and none of us could help him. One of the riders said that it could be done, but you would need to use "math". I actually said that you use "subtraction", but that only made everyone stare at me. I admitted that I would never do subtraction with numbers that large.

On a separate note, I now learn that Andrea's little one is a girl! (Thanks, Kelly) Congratulations Andrea!

Indio to Blythe

Today was day three of riding. This was the first "century" ride. Why wouldn't our first 100+ mile day involve the Mojave Desert?

The ride took off this morning from Indio, California. That is technically below sea level. That meant that we had an initial 10 to 15 mile steady climb, right out of the starting blocks. That brought us up to the level of the Mojave Desert, where we spent the rest of today's 101 mile ride. We are now in Blythe, California. Tomorrow we will ride 115 miles, most of which will remain desert.

Things are going great. I had a flat tire at the very end of the day, but that's only to be expected. The bike is working great. I am not the strongest rider in the group, but I am feeling reasonably strong, and increasingly confident.

The desert is striking. There is the typical barren-appearing sandy surface, with scrubby plants. Off in the distance, both to the south and the north of our east-west road, are huge mountains. Distances are difficult to estimate, but probably the mountains are far away. From this distance (whatever this distance is) the mountains appear as a stark and barren region. There may be some vegetation on those mountains, but you surely cannot see it from here. The desert and mountains are beautiful, in a rather austere manner. There is, of course, no shade anywhere.

I had no idea that a single human could drink as much as I did today. I filled my 50-fluid-ounce Camelback with Gatoraide twice. I had it drunk dry twice by the time of the second SAG, that at mile 52. I probably drank at least that much more in the second half of the ride. I know that I was drinking adequately however, as I was never thirsty and I did urinate at least three times on the road. (How's that for a little double entendre?)

It really is fun to be able to hang out with a mixed group of intelligent and sophistocated adults, having open conversations regarding the color and hue of each others urine. I love bike riding!

Tomorrow we cross our first state line, entering into Arizona. After tomorrow's 115 mile ride, the next two days are shorter mileage and steeper climbing.

My riding clothes are washed and dry already. I am ready (I hope) for tomorrow. Tomorrow will be a tough day.

I had told myself that I would not think of work on this trip. I have however found myself thinking of work a little. I hope that Ward is coping with being on call CONSTANTLY. I wish that there was a way for me to let the folks back home know that I am now totally useless. I wouldn't recognize an echocardigram or an angiogram now, if one came up and bit me on the butt. I will be pretty useless, even more than my usual, when I get back to home and return to work. Oh well!

I hope that Andrea is well. I don't know if she had a boy or a girl. Hopefully Andrea and the baby are well. Hopefully Heath is not as stupid and useless as I was.

More tomorrow!

Riverside to Indio

This is the end of day number 2 of riding. What a great day! We did 78 miles yesterday, and 85 today. I am really feeling well. They bike is doing great. So far, so is my aging body. (The latter is clearly the big surprise here.)

This morning we left Riverside and we had two moderate to hard climbs right away. My legs were barely warmed up before the first climb. The second climb was a 5 mile duration. After those two climbs however, this was a fast ride.

We went through Palm Springs, toward the end of the ride, before ending in Indio. Just before getting into Palm Springs, there is interesting topography. The road on which we rode was in a narrow valley inbetween two sets of mountains. With the hot desert air there, this rises and sucks in, apparently constantly, the colder air from the ocean. This results in a remarkably powerful and prevalent westerly wind. Testimony to that wind's predictability and strength is the enourmous wind farm there. When we rode through that, we experienced the most remarkable "favorable headwind". (Tracy is supersticious about the use of the word "tailwind", so she uses the term "favorable headwind" for the "T-word".) I was going over 30 mph with hardly pedalling at all! What a blast!

The downside of the above is the dangerous crosswind you have whenever the road goes to the left or the right. One rider was blown sideways literally off of his bike today. He broke his helmet and destroyed his rims, but he is OK, mercifully enough.

I really feel that I rode more securely and strongly today. I felt that I had more strength, and more confidence than yesterday.

I rode today, virtually the whole time, with Doug Squires. What a nice guy! Very interesting. He is from Coventry, England. I asked him where Coventry is, and he responded that it is near the center of the country. He added that it is very near Stratford-on-Avon, which he proudly termed "the home of England's most famous author!"

He made a point of not giving me the name of that author, probably to test me. I didn't want him to think that I was just another ignorant American, so I made a point of letting him know that, yes indeed, I am aware of that author's identity. I told him how much I have enjoyed the excellent works of J. K. Rowling, and that it is nice to now know where she is from!

Doug made a fake look of disgust, which I surmise to have been just his way of showing that he was impressed with my knowledge of British literature.

Tomorrow will be a challenge. It will be 101 miles in the desert. We will end up tomorrow in Blythe, California. I do respect that the desert may be brutal. I will be drinking my fluids and electrolytes well, even long before I get on the bike.

Life is good.

More tomorrow!

Pacific Ocean to Riverside, California

Finally!

All of the planning is over. All of the talking is over. All of the spinning and weight training is over. All of the endless checking, and re-checking of the bike and the packing list is over. All of the anxiety regarding being an inadequate bicyclist are over.

OK, the last sentence is a lie.

I finally got out on the bike today. It was great. We went first to the Pacific Ocean. Photos galore, as all of us begin to get to know each other. Some did indeed put their rear bike wheels in the salt water. It was so exciting.

Probably we left there at 7:30 AM, finally en route to Boston!

We had a 78 mile ride today. Probably the first half or more involved just getting out of Los Angeles. The ride then was fast, and reasonably level but tediously urban. This was inner city bike riding, with lots of traffic and signal lights. At least it was a Sunday, so the traffic wasn't too terribly bad.

After probably mile 40 or so, it became less urban, at least slightly. In the last 10 to 15 miles, it was downright scenic. Not a lot of climbing today. That's for the rest of this week. (They tell me that Flagstaff, Arizona, is above sea level!)

I felt great today. It was so great to finally get out on the bike. With a smaller group also, we tend to stay closer together. I felt really strong during the first half of the day. I was riding fast and feeling so good. The latter part of the day found me having more problems keeping up. I do need to pace myself better, especially in the next few days to come. (Tuesday will be more than 100 miles of climbing in the desert.)

I made it to the ride's end today by 2:00 PM. My riding shorts, jersy, camelback, and water bottles are all rinsed out and drying. I have called Marsha. She is having a nice Mothers' Day. I showered and put on my multi-use underwear. (OK, that last part may have been TMI.)

All is well. We will see what tomorrow brings.

It finally begins!!!

I cannot believe that today has finally come! I have been thinking, planning, and daydreaming about this for several months now. The bike ride finally begins. I am in Los Angeles now (technically El Segundo, but that's just details). My bike is here and I am here. My clothes are laid out for tomorrow's ride to Riverside. This is unbelievable.

I have casually dreamed of a cross country bicycle trip since probably my high school or college days. I was never really serious about that then. I drifted away from biking, it seems, in the past several years. Back in 2005, it was Bill Pearson who got me back on track with his idea and encouragement then to do RAGBRAI. It has felt good ever since, although I do worry that I am about to get into something more than I can handle now. Still, I have been pretty conscientious in my preparations for this trip.

Last night was great. Lauren graduated from U of Minnesota, and this bike trip did not make me miss that. It was wonderful to see her, as well as Chrissy, Andy, Nickie, and Marsha. I am so grateful that Andy came. This was not only nice of him, but it also gave him a chance to show us his ancestral grocery store in Minneapolis. He is in key photos from last evening. With the help of Photoshop, Michelle will now have him to use as her avatar. She will be at Lauren's graduation after all!

Marsha was kind enough to get up at an unGodly hour and drive me to the Minneapolis airport this morning. Her support in this crazy trip of mine is so deeply appreciated. That is not even to mention the support of my short-staffed friends at work. I could not do this trip without the support of my family, coworkers, and friends. I will be taking Bill, my family, and my coworkers with me when I actually get on the bike tomorrow.

My flights today were on time and went great. As I had been instructed to do, I carried my bike helmet as carry on. On the flight from Minneapolis to Denver, I sat next to a woman who told me of her new granddaughter who she is flying to see in Fresno. She saw my helmet and asked the obvious questions. I told her that I was flying to Los Angeles to ride my bike. I thought that would be the end of the conversation. She however seemed upset with my poor planning. She told me that Los Angeles is a terrible place in which to ride a bike. She actually advised me to leave Los Angeles and see more of the country! I told her that I would consider her advice.

On the second flight, the one from Denver to Los Angeles, a very young flight attendant approached me even before the plane left the ground. She asked if I was nervous and if this was my first flight. I did not understand the question, but I assured her that I am quite well accustomed to flying. She didn't accept that answer, and she proceeded to launch into a rather well practiced speech regarding the safety of flying. I still didn't get her point. Finally she simply spelled it out, indicating that "in the very unlikely event of an accident" the bike helmet would be pretty useless! I promised not to put it on during the flight, which seemed to relieve her.

I wonder how all is going back home. I wonder if Andrea is still holding out. She is one week ovedue today. (But who is counting?)

We leave at 6:00 AM tomorrow. We go to the ocean, and then we leave from there for Boston! Tomorrow we will ride 78 miles, ending up in Riverside, California.

I am pretty intimidated by the group. Everyone is very nice and encouraging. Nonetheless, everyone seems phenomenally more hardcore than I am. I am probably the least experienced biker here. Oh well! It is good to have a challenge, and a defined goal.

Maybe my blog posting tomorrow will include photos. None today.