Day 2, 3, 4, & 5

Day 2: Booohoooo!!!

The day started great – there was a climb but it wasn’t too much to bear and then there was a lot of down hill. The first 20 miles were great — then I turned off highway 70 to follow the main route around lake san carlos. The road was bearly paved and full of holes — I had a very difficult time over the next 30 miles. There was no cell service, so I couldn’t even call Stephanie to come get me. I thought I broke a spoke on my tire twice, but luckly I did not. After all was said and done, I only got 50 miles on the bike today. I was not happy with the days results.

Stephanie and I found a great camp site next to a lake. We pitched the tent, and went to the lake to cool off. Its dark now and Zander refused to go to the bathroom while we were in town. He asked to go, so I get in the car with him and drive the quater mile to the restrooms where … he doesn’t go. I get him back in the tent and he promptly says – I have to go ukkies!

Day 3 will be better… right?

Day 3: Much better — saddle sores and all

Ok, Day 2 was bad, but day 3 was great – mostly. It started much more difficult than I had imaged it would. Zander was up most of the night and that kept Stephanie up which kept me up – not to mention we were sleeping on the ground in a tent. There was a large group at the camp site as well and they partied all night long (at least until 1am when I started to fall asleep). Needless to say, I didn’t get a great nights sleep. I haven’t been eating breakfast either. Not a great start to the day.

Anyway, I start in at about 5:15am. The first ten miles are sluggish, but I figured it was because of no sleep. The next ten were harder, but I had started climbing so I knew they would be tough. The next ten were neverending! I did meet Craig – another cyclist headed in the other direction on the same route. He was nice enought to stop and chat for a minute or two. Anyway, I couldn’t make the bike move! I was going 6-8 miles an hour. Stephanie caught up with me and offered to take me to the top of the hill. I know some of you are thinking, ‘hey – that’s cheating!’ — so what!

The top of that hill was actually only another couple of miles, but after I rode my bike to the base of that hill, I was at the bottom of another large climb. I enjoyed the 40 mile per hour downhill run, and I enjoyed putting my bike back on the car at the bottom of that hill so that Stephanie could take me to the top of the next one! It was five miles of straight climbing. Once there, Stephanie and I both took a nap in the car (Zander was already sleeping). That nap was about two hours long.

I got up at about 1pm knowing that I had only gone 30 miles so far. So I took the bike down, told Stephanie to go ahead of me and get a place for us to stay for the night, and I headed down the mountain. I had a great 10 minute right down until I was climbing again. Then we hit New Mexico and I was in rolling hills for 15 miles. I had more down hill today than uphill, but the day was not without its share of climbs – despite the fact that Stephanie helped me past the biggest climb of the trip so far.

In all I went 83 miles today. Tomorrow I only need to go about 75 to get where we are staying, but I have the highest point tomorrow at 8300 ft above sea level. Not sure if I am going to make up that hill by myself, but I’m going to try. Until next time, I’ll see you down the road.

Day 4: New Mexico

Today I went 80 miles exactly. The first 30 miles were all uphill – well, actually it was rolling hills, with more up than down. I enjoy the rolling hills because it give me a reward for all the climbing as I go along. The climbing on day one had no such reward. After the rolling hills, I was at the base of the *real* climbing. I didn’t get more than a couple of miles before Stephanie bailed me out and took me to the top of my 8300-ft-above-sea-level climb about 10 miles further. Again – you may be thinking I’m cheating – I am, but how many miles did you ride your bike today?

Well, she let me out at the pass (top of the climb) and I started the decent. I had to ride my break a lot more than I wanted to, because there were a lot of sharp curves with 30-100ft drops if you miss the turn. I was still above the speed limit for most of the decent. Before you start thinking, hey anyone can ride a bike down hill for 80 miles — it was only about 10 miles to the bottom of the mountain. Then I was back into rolling hills — only this time it was more down than up. Still a lot of climbing.

I took a break in the middle of the day, which turned out to be a mistake. The wind starting picking up and I was facing strong head winds for the last 20 miles. I had a hard time keeping the bike above 8 miles an hour.

After I finished my 80 – we checked into a Bed and Breakfast – a first for both Stephanie and me.

Day 5: Day of rest

It wasn’t originally planned to be my day off, but things change. My legs feel good, but I need to stretch them out today as much as possible. Tomorrow, I have 80 miles ahead of me and we hit Texas.