Great Bend to McPherson

After yesterday's great tailwind, the forecast was for a south wind of 20 to 25 mph and we were heading east. A crosswind that strong could be dangerous for us. Fortunately, the wind was not that strong. After the SAG at 31.5 miles, the wind seemed to be out of the SSW. Our speeds picked up noticeably. The ride was mostly flat with a few small hills to climb. I rode with Tom and Bob for the first 25 miles, stopped to take pictures of other riders, and then rode in to the SAG with a large group.

I was in between groups after the SAG with no inclination to catch anyone for quite awhile. I finally did, rode ahead again, and then stopped for more rider pictures. It took me quite awhile to catch back up this time, all the way to McPherson's town limits. It was a fun day with equal parts of easy and hard riding. Here are some photos of my riding buddies, Hank, and Tom and Bob. I am meeting some 2005 XC riders this afternoon: Jim Heller and Jim and Deb Whitfill.

Getting out of Dodge City quickly

It was quick because we had a great tailwind today. The ride was effortless all day long. I averaged 19 mph and the average heartbeat was only 92. Many riders pressed on hard to the hotel just to see how fast the day could be. Yesterday, I rode at the front and today I rode at the back for over 60 miles. No hurry when the effort is so little. I did pass some lunching riders in Larned. Sadly, the restaurant I stopped at 4 years ago was for lease and closed.

George and I stopped at Pawnee Rock, a lookout point along the old Santa Fe trail. It was an important vista in the mostly otherwise featureless plains. I took a few snaps there.

People have interesting bikes. Champ has a seat that looks like a shark bit off the front half of it. It is designed for male anatomical comfort and he swears by it. Champ also rides with pedals that we all used in the 50s and 60s. He generates adequate power, much to my surprise. His bike in Los Angeles looked brand new when I unpacked it. It was not new; his bike store had cleaned it so well that it looked brand new. Harry has custom made handlebars with the Spiderman theme on them. Someone said that the bars cost $2,000. One of his wheels is Campy carbon and costs $3,000, or more than many bikes on this tour. The full bike is well over $10,000. Harry rides with a stuffed dog on the bars and a small aquarium with fake fish under the seat. I am finally getting used to his Liverpool accent although I still do miss some words.

Just two more days of riding for me.

Cheers,

Tom

Liberal to Dodge City

I got up this morning and saw a disconcerting headline in the local newspaper in Liberal. It read "Highway 54, Highway of Death." I read only the opening paragraphs that recounted over 200 deaths and thousands of accidents. I am not sure of the period for these statistics. The article does highlight a risk in cycling on these roads. The truck traffic is immense, mostly agricultural related. The speed limit is 55 mph and up and Highway 54. Trucks generally give us a wide berth, but the backdraft can move us 6 or more inches at times.

My plan for the day was to test my fitness and ride hard for 83 miles. I went to the front with Fred right from the start. Chris caught up with us at about 28 miles and rode with us for a short distance. After we reached the bottom of a hill. Chris rocketed up the next uphill and was long gone by the time Fred and I reached the top. Chris made it look so easy. He has the leanest body on tour and the lightest bike. He rides the biggest gear much of the day, something I cannot do unless I am going downhill.

We stopped for a SAG at the Dalton Brothers hideout. The brothers were bank robbers and somewhat romanticized in movies. They had a tunnel under their sister's house and were able to escape the law through the tunnel. The tunnel was discovered after their capture. I left the SAG with Fred, Jim, Peter, and Al. We rode together for most of the remaining distance. We arrived at the hotel in close proximity after negotiating a rough road through construction for the final half mile.

Guymon to Liberal KS

Today was a leisurely ride of only 39 miles, the shortest distance of the tour other than the celebratory ride to the Atlantic Ocean in Boston on the last day. We did not depart until 9:15, so we enjoyed the extra rest after the last 2 windy days. Most of the group stayed together until a SAG in Hooker, OK. We stopped first at the Hooker Chamber of Commerce, which had t-shirts with sayings with the name Hooker in it. Several bought the shirts. The town of Hooker is not named for the adjective for a woman of ill repute, but for John "Hooker" Threlkeld. He obtained his nickname for his great ability to rope cattle. He settled in the area in the late 1800s. No one else wanted to claim the land, but he got commerce started in the area and lived there for 30 years.

It was next off to our destination for the night, Liberal KS. Some riders were curious as to whether there is a Conservative, KS. The name was derived from a man who settled in the area in the late 1800s. Water was scarce in the area. The man would give water for free to passersby. They would typically respond "That is mighty liberal of you." The name stuck. The town is actually quite conservative as 80 percent of the electorate voted for Bush in 2004.

About 8 of us rode into town together. It sounds like we are in the wild West, riding into town. Maybe tomorrow, when we hit Dodge City. We split into several groups. I had lunch with Hank and Champ on the way into town. We each liked it. They had margarita Thursdays, but we still had a mile to ride. We talked about going back to dinner there to take advantage of a margarita but the restaurant closed while we were there as the cook was taken to the hospital in an emergency situation. Hope it wasn't food poisoning!

Cheers,

Tom

Tucumcari NM to Dalhart TX to Guymon OK

There is not much to report about the last 2 days. The story of these days, particularly the first one, was the wind. Most riders ranked it as one of their hardest days ever. For me, though, it was relatively easy. Tracy asked me to help out at the hotel in Dalhart so that she could tend to matters. I got in the truck after 29 miles and a good pace of 16.3 mph with a crosswind. After that the winds really picked up and even the strong riders were averaging only 12-13 mph. The last rider arrived at 6:30, 10 hours and 96 miles after departure.

The wind was out of the north again on Wednesday, though not as strong. This area is full of cattle and hog operations. Most of the traffic on Highway 54 is trucks. The highway in Texas is a 2 lane highway, while it switched to 4 lanes in Oklahoma. It seems odd since the highway handles the same amount of traffic. It was much easier on the riders in Oklahoma as the trucks could give us a wider berth. The backwinds from some of the trucks would knock us around quite a bit.

This ground is quite flat. We could pick out towns from 15 miles away. I could see a small wind farm from quite a distance and it seemed like I would never get to it.

Just five more days of riding for me. I hope that Kansas lives up to its translation from the Indian word meaning "South Wind". Enough of these headwinds!

Cheers,

Tom

It's a long way to Tucumcari

Today's ride was 108 miles. There was a 3 mile descent on a 9 percent grade that I chose not to ride. Hank and I took a bump in the van from the first SAG to the bottom of the hill and missed 8 miles. I still managed to get in a full century by 0.6 miles. If I had to ride to another 1/2 mile to get it in, I would have skipped it. That's how tired I feel. Despite a net loss of 2400 feet in elevation today, we still climbed just over 3000 feet.

This was my favorite ride in 2005 and still ranks up there near the top. The big difference was the dry winter. In 2005, the rangeland was completely green. There was not a glimmer of green grass in the 100 miles today. The scenery throughout New Mexico is the reason that their license plates read "Land of Enchantment" and why Georgia O'Keeffe loved this state.

A scenic day to Las Vegas

Riders universally agreed that this was the most scenic day thus far. Riders even commented on the view to the east on the return from dinner tonight. The clouds seemed to touch down to the horizon rising up ahead of us. I wish that I had my camera at the time. This leg has been one of my favorites. Sunday morning rides are very quiet on the road. Even the interstate riding of 5 miles was mostly empty of traffic. From the SAG stop at mile 44 through mile 64, I had only 3 cars pass me in the same direction I was going. The road was a frontage road to I-25 with continuous rolling hills. I hit my top speed of 36.7 miles thus far on this trip.

We were generally surprised how cold it was once we were on the bikes leaving Santa Fe. The last couple of miles on I-25 chilled me and I put my jacket on after leaving the highway. After 10 miles, I was warm enough to shed the jacket. We had storm clouds all around us and saw a wet road in a few places, but no one had any rain fall on them.

Our route followed portions of the Old Santa Fe trail for many miles. The trail was first used in 1821 and goes from Missouri to Santa Fe. We will be crossing many sections of the original trail all the way into Missouri. The original wagon train wheel ruts can still be seen in several places, believe it or not.

A hard day to Santa Fe

The winds pulled the old switcheroo on Friday. We faced a stiff headwind out of Albuquerque for the first 17 miles. To top it off these miles were all uphill. By the time we reached a gas station at mile 22, we had already climbed 1900 feet. Tracy saw me at about mile 11 and was cheering my position at the front. I zipped down my jacket, pointed at my Colorado jersey, and she called me the Colorado climber. By the time I reached 22 miles, I was some 5 minutes in front. Gary Broughton from XC05 and the Eastern Seaboard was there to meet Tracy and staff and it was a surprise for us to see each other. We chatted for a few minutes. He is in Santa Fe for a college reunion and may stop by our hotel later today.

The winds eased off at that point and we had a slightly aiding crosswind as we turned north to Santa Fe. We had some rain, which made it quite cold as we descended 1200 feet through the town of Madrid. The film Wild Hogs was shot there. I recognized it when I saw the movie. It is some of the prettiest terrain. I was quite cold so I did not stop there, knowing that I would launch into a shivering fit. The rain stopped and the rolling hills brought my body temp back up to tolerable.

The climate zones were quite different through the day. Albuquerque is quite arid, the rolling hills on the way to Santa Fe were full of pinon pine and cholla, and then it became more open as we approached Santa Fe at 7000 feet. We have a rest day in Santa Fe and several of us are planning to visit the Georgia O'Keefe museum and other sites this afternoon.

Grants to Albuquerque

We started out this morning in a light drizzle. It did not last long, but the road was wet for some distance out of town. Wet enough to make our bikes and clothes filthy. We were on Route 66 until the SAG at mile 31.

There was road construction on Interstate-40 that prevented cycling for several miles. Crossroads loaded up the vans and truck with bikes and riders and took us 16 miles down the road. We were able to make 2 round trips with the 2 vans to move the riders forward. Although I was at the SAG early enough to be in the first van to depart, I gave my seat up to another Crossroads client. I figured as unofficial Crossroads staff that it was my duty to do so and make someone else happy. We ended up with 19 miles of interstate riding today. Only 5 miles left to ride on the interstate. Yippee!

Three riders are ending their tour in Albuquerque. It was fun to ride with Mark, Barbie, and Jack W. Jack is from Israel. I enjoy meeting people from other countries. I feel that they are generally more aware of international affairs than the average American citizen. I learn so much. Jack runs a cement-related business. He told me that if Israeli and Palestinian businessmen could sit down and solve the problems, agreement would be reached within 5 minutes. Politicians muck it up too much. I hope that Jack returns to America and rides with Crossroads again.

Albuquerque seems larger than four years ago. It was the 6th fastest growing city in the US in 2007. The city was founded inn 1706, making it one of the nation's oldest. The Rio Grande River flows through the city. It was running high and fast when I went over it today.

Gallup(ing) to Grants

Today's ride took us from Gallup to Grants. Most of the route was on old Route 66, the primary thoroughfare from Chicago to Los Angeles before the advent of the interstate system. We were on the western edge of Gallup so had to navigate through about 8 miles before we were out of Gallup. The city looks to be only a few blocks wide. We only had 11 miles of interstate riding today but it was a harrowing experience for the most part. The staff said it is the worst section to ride on and I believe on. The shoulder was full of chewed up asphalt, sometimes an inch or two deep. You had to pick your spots to ride through the debris. At one point where there was a guardrail with a narrow passage, Tom R and I chose to walk our bikes on the other side of the guardrail. Fred called the experience "uniquely unpleasant." I agree as my shoulders and arms were quite tight from holding so tight.

We left the interstate at mile 30 and hit the continental divide at that point. I had a snack, filled up on fluids and it was off to the races on a gradual descent over the next 38 miles to Grants. It was a tailwind for most of the ride, but as we encountered a small rain squall, the wind hit Hank, Champ, and I from the side. It was knocking us a couple of feet to the left. Fortunately, it was brief and there was no traffic at the time. We stopped at Dairy Queen for lunch at mile 55. Soon another dozen riders joined us there. The tailwind after that was quite strong and I cruised in at 22 mph without trying hard.

Grants' economy has had several evolutions. It started as a railroad town and became an agricultural center when it was known as the carrot capitol of the US in the 1930s. The volcanic soils and creation of a nearby reservoir aided the agricultural boom. The economic focus of the town switched to uranium but that phase ended in the 1980s. Most of the current economy is based on tourism. Mount Taylor is nearby and looks to be a solid recreation area. Like Gallup, the town is several miles long but very narrow.

Feeling good in New Mexico

Today's ride covered 89 miles from Holbrook to Gallup. I rode the entire distance and felt good. It was a narrow escape from the dinosaur as I started the ride. My office used to say that I am as old as the dinosaurs. The picture is proof. I rode fast the rest of the day.

The scenery changed from high desert to red mesa country as we progressed on the ride. New Mexico is my favorite state on the ride. Despite being on the interstate for 87 of the 89 miles, you have the opportunity to look at the scenery. The truck traffic is greater than I remembered but they gave us a wide berth. A few of them honked, but I imagine it was a hello honk as I ride well to the right on the shoulder.

The tire liners are preventing flats (knock on wood) just as I hoped. I stop every 10 miles to check out the tires for wires. I found 2 wires over the past 2 days and the liners prevented a puncture. After 3 flats yesterday, another rider put liners in last night. I do not believe that he had a flat today.

My roommate has been Rich from New Mexico. He is a surprisingly strong rider for his 220 pounds. I have learned over the years not to judge a rider by how he or she looks on the outside. What resides on the inside matters. How true of all such things in life. We need to learn to not be judgmental. Today is Rich's last day of riding. Rich was a lot of fun. We talked up a storm. The Crossroads peloton will miss him as he raised everyone spirits throughout the day. He wants to come back next year with the goal of raising $1 million for the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Count me in for a donation, Rich.

Out of the saddle, but riding again now

The other knee bothered me last week and I took some time off again. I rode from Prescott to the top of Mingus Mountain. The downhill from there is a 3700 foot descent, technical, and too scary for me. Just as in 2005, I took the van to Cottonwood.

I was the last out of the hotel in Prescott by 3 minutes, but the fourth one to the top. The effort, though relaxed, took something out of my knee and I took the day off from the ride from Cottonwood to Flagstaff. The day was close to 100 percent climbing so a rest day was in order. On arriving in Flagstaff, I bought an elastic knee brace. The brace had worked for me in the past and it did again. Two days off made my knee feel great. I rode 60 miles of the scheduled 95 today as a test and did well. I hope to be over the knee problems and ride the distance from now on.

The crosswind for the late arriving riders in Holbrook was fierce. At one point, we could not see much past the other side of the street for the blowing dust. It is still blowing hard outside. We are hoping for calmer winds in the morning on the ride from Holbrook to Gallup.

Best wishes to all.

Tom

Back in the saddle

Wednesday's ride was 116 miles long. To test my knee, I rode from the first SAG to the second SAG, a distance of 26.8 miles. The knee felt great!

Today's ride from Wickenburg to Prescott was 59 miles with 4900 feet of climbing. I started last out of the hotel at an easy pace. The ride was climbing for most of the day. Again the knee still performed well. I was the 7th rider to the hotel today.

We went from high desert in Wickenburg over the first pass. I could smell some blooming cactus and other desert flowers on the ascent. It was wonderful. The valley on the other side was as if it was a totally different world. Green grass all around and quite scenic. The false flats approaching the second climb were almost as difficult as the climb itself. Other riders made the same comment. As we progressed on the second climb, the scenery changed again. More trees and then pine forest on the descent. The pine forest smelled great and it reminded of the early days in our home when we could smell the pines 4 miles away. Too much civilization (?) between the foothills and our home these days.

Tom

Indio to Blythe

Do you know who the best doctor in the world is? It is oneself. I have believed that for a long time. It was time to personally put it into practice again today. I decided on Monday night to not ride today. Easy decision.

The route starts out with an 11 mile climb after only 7 miles. It is interstate riding, so the climb was not too steep except in a few spots. The vans stopped at the side of the road part way up this climb. Looking back to Indio (14 feet below sea level), you could appreciate the elevation gain for the riders. I helped riders at the first two SAGS, giving them encouragement. I appreciate it when I am riding, so it was time to pay it forward today.

The plan for me today was to ride 52 miles and then go in the truck to the hotel to deliver bags. I did the latter before any riders arrived. Staff had the vans and truck ready to go at 4, hours earlier than normal according to Tracy. I will be on restaurant duty tonight for the riders.

The knee is difficult to figure out. It does not hurt when walking around. It may hurt because I was trying to ride a normal gear for me, but I did notice that the rolling resistance of the tire liners was making the effort a little more difficult. I will try one leg between SAGS tomorrow, backing it off a notch, and will go forward with the original plan to deliver bags again after arriving at the second of three SAGs tomorrow.

The riders did well today. It was 104 degrees in the desert with aiding or neutral winds for much of the day. Tracy was pleased with how everyone did.

Tom

Riverside to Indio

My knee bothered me quite a bit during the last 20 miles of the LA to Riverside ride. I started out Monday morning feeling just fine. After 16 miles, the knee started to bother me again. After 32 miles and arrival at the SAG, I decided to take a ride in from there. Riders on the road enjoyed the same conditions I did on leaving the first SAG--a good aiding wind and the ability to go 35 miles per hour without pedaling. It is quite amazing. Everyone who commented on it to me said that they had never had that experience before. There is a reason there are hundreds of windmills in this stretch.

One rider had a crash at mile 12 but was able to continue on after some bike and body maintenance.

Escape from LA

Tracy gave me the honor of being the lead rider with Rick Wardell. We rode 2 by 2 from the hotel to the beach and then to the Manhattan Beach Pier. The peloton started off very quiet as the enormity of the task became reality. Once we got to the beach, a little bit of chatter started up. Only a few riders took their bikes to the ocean. Many were concerned about salt water damage to the rims, while the part-way riders skipped it. I did it before when I went coast to coast so I skipped it too.

There was one little accident at the pier as my roommate dumped his bike to avoid a child and crashed into another bike. A little mechanic work and everyone was underway. There is not much too say about today's ride. There is just a lot of stop and go as we are on major streets with many red lights to stop for. The morning marine layer wore off about half way through the ride and then it really warmed up. I rode alone for most of the day, unable and unwilling to ride with the fast riders and a little bit faster than the others. With so much traffic and so many lights, it was for the best.

Go west, old man

I had to get in the fast lane before I could start in the slow lane. I drove one of the Crossroads vehicles from Littleton to LA. The caravan left on Wednesday and traveled to St. George, Utah. We left at 5 am from St George to avoid Lost Vegas traffic. We arrived in LA before noon. Since I arrived it has been a whirlwind of activity. I started work aomost immediately assembling bikes for other riders. We had staff meetings for last minute details. I have met a number of other riders and they are the very nice people typical of riders.

When I moved from the Los Angeles area in 1975, there was a current saying "Can 12 million people all be wrong about living here?". The same saying applies today, except you can substitute a much larger number. I have said that I would live here again if I could live on the beach and not commute. I am not so sure I could do that now. In any case, I can't wait to head east out of LA. The first few days look to be rather warm with temps over 100. Stay tuned.

The bike

I will be riding a Specialized Roubaix Elite. The bike is not quite two years old and has taken me through two cycling tours totaling about 3000 miles. I have trained another 7000 miles on it. I love this bike! It weighs approximately 19 pounds before I started adding stuff to it. Filling the water bottles is 3 pounds. The aero bars and the under-seat saddle bag add a couple of more pounds. I do not use aero bars while training at home, but find them useful on tours when riding an average of 80 miles per day requires other positions for the hands.

I am using tire liners for this tour to cut down on the number of flat tires. We will see how it works. Most flat tires are on the interstate where riders pick up little wires from radial tires that have disintegrated on the road. I had 15 flats on my last trip across America and 13 of them were on the interstate. We ride about 250 miles on the interstate. That might be surprising to some, but it is legal when that is the only road in the area to travel on as is the case through the southwestern desert. The downside of the tire liners is that it does slow the bike some. I will likely make up for it by not changing flat tires. At least, that is the plan.

Tom

Ready to go

Here I go again. Off for another adventure in the slow lane, seeing America on a bicycle at 16 mph.

I will be helping out on Crossroads Cycling's cross country tour. I will have some light duties after the day's ride is done and may be pressed into service during the day. Tracy, the owner of Crossroads Cycling Adventures, moved from Connecticut to Colorado in late 2007 and lives just a couple of miles from me. I did the cross country ride with Crossroads previously, splitting the distance in 2005 and 2006. I also did their reunion ride in 2008 from Maine to Florida. This year's trip will take me from Los Angeles to Abilene, KS. I depart LA on May 10 and arrive in Abilene on June 1, traveling some 1625 miles according to my last diary for this trip.

Many have asked me why do it again. Long distance cycling has become a part of me. I get to marvel at the many sights of America, talk to residents along the way, and make new friends from around the country and world. I also like to set goals that will keep me physically energized. Cycling has increased my patience and focus, something I sorely lacked before. It is all part of slowing down and enjoying life. My favorite part of the cross country tour is the wide open spaces of the western part of the US, so I am looking forward to seeing it again.

I hope that you enjoy my life in the slow lane.