9 and 10

Day 9 135 miles in 7:30 at 17.8 mph from Albuquerque to Las Vegas. A wind neutral day, thank the lords of the breeze. 8500 feet of climbing today - tough on the legs. My favorite stop was in Madrid, an artist community loaded full up with characters, galleries, and the world's best sticky buns. We spent another 70 miles on the Interstate today, hopefully that's behind us now. I hung with the big dogs on the first long climbs, and paid the price at the end of the day.

Day 10 110 miles in 5:28 at 20.1 mph from Las Vegas to Tucumcari. A smoking fast ride. Your 'wind at my back' intentions realized. We had a constant tailwind of 25 - 30 mph, gusting to 50. It was a blast, like a rest day on wheels. This was the fastest 110 I've ever done, and were I not a downhill conservative, I could have taken another half-hour off my time. There were a few guys who broke 60 mph today on these descents. And today we hit the 1k mile mark for the ride.

Coming down Teton Pass many years ago I hit 55 mph. I looked down at the pavement, then my legs ... the pavement, my legs. Nope, the risk/reward ratio just wasn't there for me, so I backed off. I'm comfortable to 35, then I start braking.

A note about mileage. Most years I put in about 2500 miles, once I hit 4500 for the year. Well, I'm way out of my league here, for the most part. One man has already put in 10,000 miles for the year (he's 66 and rides 100 miles daily) while another has 8700 miles already completed. These are guys that commute long distances to work, ride for lunch, and ride both days on the weekends. Me, I ride when it's nice out.

Pace Line

Over the Divide

Pedal faster, now!

Iron Lady

Day 7 Gallup to Albuquerque 17.1 mph for 7:55 covering 137 miles. “That was bloody murderous!” exclaimed one of the 5 Brits on the ride. Truly an accurate description of another killer headwind day. We had a great pace line with 7 of us for the middle 100 miles, which was incredibly helpful. Taking a half-mile pull on the front of the line into that wind was tough, sucking wheel for each of us blessed relief. We passed through some lava fields, enjoyed some interesting rock formations, but mostly cursed the wind.

I've met a woman made of Iron. Karen Keefer by name. 5 years ago on this ride, someone didn't point out a board in the road. She was third in a pace line and went down hard. Over 100 stitches and 4 new teeth later she was back on the ride after 3 days off. This amazing woman is here again, and sadly went over James when he hit the rumble strips. (James isn't coming back as his eye socket is trashed and he's got some head trauma). Karen complained of a sore hip after the crash, and rode the last 35 miles to the hotel that night. Sore, indeed, it was fractured. She's out of the ride, and needs 6 weeks to recover. And she'll be back, this tough lady, to ride another day.

And now, Day 8, a needed rest day.

Headwinds, and another blog link

Day 6 134 miles (102 on I-40) 17.8 mph for 7:33. Tough tough day. Yet I'm really leery of saying this is the worst, as methinks there's much more where this came from. All those miles on the interstate were nasty, and the headwinds were atrocious. The last 50 miles gave us 20 - 30 mph head and cross winds. OUCH OUCH OUCH. I've a stitch that's been showing up at 80 miles, usually lasting until 85 or so. Today, mercifully, it didn't appear until 92. Unmercifully, it stuck around until 134. I continuously found my shoulders glued to my ears, and kept having to remind myself to breathe and relax them down my back. But mostly my body is doing incredibly well, given what I'm asking it to do on a daily basis.

We have one more long day to Albuquerque tomorrow of 145 miles, then a rest day. As Greg said we have 7 days of riding, a rest day, 8 days of riding, a rest day, then 10 days of riding before our 365 rest days.

Alan Alda is on the trip with us. OK, Bill doesn't look much like Alda, but he sounds EXACTLY like him. I close my eyes and listen to him (no, not while I'm riding) and it's uncanny.

Mike Munk is the ride leader and he's also keeping a blog with far more information, if you're interested. Here's the link.

http://bamacyclist.com/Journal2008/FastSouthjournal08/2008fastsouth.htm

Sing along time

Top of Oak Creek with Greg, Conrad, and Tom

A fifth, please

Day 5 107 miles Cottonwood to Winslow 15.8mph for 6:50 A stunning ride through Oak Creek Canyon out of Sedona. 6700 feet of elevation gain. The ride a bit bleaker after Flagstaff. About half of the miles were on Interstate 40, not my favorite. I was with a perfect group of 4 today, we were the second batch of 4 into the hotel. We took mile-long pulls all day long, worked well together and had a pile of fun.

CONRAD! CONRAD! I about fall off my bike, thinking Conrad is down. Tom wails this out every 10 miles today. HOW MANY MILES DO YOU HAVE? It’s their ongoing joke about how their computers are off. Conrad’s bike computer gives so much information it’s insane. As we rode through Northern Arizona U today I was asking him for phone numbers of the pretty ladies we were passing, their heart rates, and other vital stats. Conrad is 66, lives in southern California, and delivered Hostess Cupcakes and Snowballs for 36 years. He is now a sculptor and cyclist. He has the highest cadence of anyone I’ve every cycled with … his legs are simply a blur.

One of my all-time favorite heroes was Carl Fowler. His arthritis was so painful he retired from the forest service at 55. Watching and listening to Carl arise from a chair was to witness an act of strength and courage. Yet he never ever complained about all of his pain, nor his lack of sleep. He turned 10 acres of scrub and poison oak in the Santa Cruz hills into a magnificent Christmas tree farm. He and his wife Marion nurtured that farm for 24 years, and Deb and I were lucky enough to be around them for their last 6 years. Well, Tom looks exactly like Carl, and acts like him as well. So there’s this natural affinity for this guy. Tom’s from Indiana, and is an attorney specializing in Social Security challenges. His kids are grown, he’s in fantastic shape, and he’s a blast to have alongside.

Oak Creek Canyon

Day 4

Day 4, 103 miles, Wickenberg to Cottonwood 14.2 mph in 7:15. The most significant day of climbing for the tour. Over 9,000 feet today during the 3 climbs. Being in the AZ high country so preferable to the desert of southern CA. I was 6th into the hotel tonight, which was different. I’ve been one of the last to arrive nightly, but today, as a climbing day, hit my strength. Going through Jerome was a bit of a kick ... a tourist town clinging to the hills, reminiscent of a hillside French or Italian town.

A stated goal was to be the last rider to finish the first week, the first to finish the last week. Neither will occur. There are some significantly slower guys in the group. Only a few of them, but the 5 or 6 will probably finish slower than I shall nightly. And the flyers are amazing. There are 4 that just scream every day. Of the 4, one finished a 40k time trial in under an hour, another races with pros (Masters division) in Northern California, and one competed on his bike in the Pan-Am games. A tough bunch, and I’ll not hang with them on the road.

Sophie-Girl ... is it rubbed in?

I'm ... uhhh ... checking my handlebar tape ... yeah, that's it!

What's an apostrophe and an 'e' between friends?

3 Days Done

Day one was 121 miles from Costa Mesa to Thousand Palms, just outside of Palm Springs. 17.1 mph average, riding time of 7:15. The first 35 miles were on bike path, a fantastic way to get out of LA. My favorite bit was the 20 miles of downhill with an outrageous tailwind that blew us into Palm Springs.

After listening to Mike, our ride leader, talk for 2 hours last night about all the things that can and do go wrong, we were all quite somber. Skin, bones, and lives at full risk. He's lead and/or ridden 40 of these cross country tours, and told us that 10% of us won't make it. That's 3 of us that won't roll into Savannah. We all look around, knowing we're in the 90%.


Day two was 119 miles to Blythe. 17 mph and 7:17 of ride time. The 20 miles in the box canyon after the town of Mecca were stunning. Quiet and beautiful desert that was so enjoyable. I've a blister the size of Montana on my right foot. What a silly thing to do, start a cross-country ride with new shoes and pedals. Thanks to Noah for saving the day and shipping my old shoes and pedals out to me. And we're doing a bit of interstate riding this first week. It's wild to be next to all those 18-wheelers blasting by, and one of the tough challenges is all the wires that come out of the radial tires of those 18 wheelers and puncture our little bike tires.

Kirsten was at the post-ride meeting last night. One minute she was chipper and fine, and the next minute this strong 20-year-old girl just collapsed into her father. Off to the hospital, and two bags later she was fine. It was brutally hot out there, and the wind today only added to the challenge.


Day three was 115 miles from Blythe to Wickenburg, AZ. O blessed tailwinds, as I put together a group of 4 and we pace-lined it the whole way. Taking turns for a half-mile at a go, we completed the 115 miles in 6:13 at a smoking 18.7 mph. I was very nervous about day three. The analogy being going back to the gym after a long time away. The muscles find peak soreness on the third day. So doing this amount of time and mileage daily ... I was nervous about this day. But I feel fairly good. Some blisters here and there, plenty sore muscles, yet my energy is good, my thinking on track.


Sadly, today we lost another two. Greg got lyme disease 3 weeks ago, still came on this trip, and cracked today. He'll be back on the bike tomorrow, as will Kirsten. But Jack hit the rumble strips hard today, went over his bars, and was helicoptered to Phoenix. We'll see how he makes out, but it's doubtful he'll be back with us for a few days. So, already 3 have dropped, at least for a day.

Pacific Dip (dude, nice leg warmers!)

With Friends Like This ...

how could I not have a fantastic ride? An email from my buddy Doug arrives this am.

Morning Eric.

Well, the grand adventure is about to begin. I grew up in Newport Beach, the next town west from Costa Mesa. I wish I was there; I'd show you around, take you out for a meal at Pipes (a surfer restaurant), cruise the coast....

Yesterday, as part of my meditation, GrandAmy and I cooked up a special mojo supply depot just for you. It's stocked with a wide assortment of energetic goodies that we thought you might need. Here are a few of the items on the shelves:

Bottles of Anti-Boink potion
Cups of Courage
Pain-be-gone Pills
Super-strength Salve
Edible Endurance Bars
Perspective Pills
Humility Sweeteners (for those bitter humbling moments)
Emergency Energy Drink
Humor Boosters
Sex Fantasy Distraction Tabs

and of course the crucial ... Sore Ass Ointment

Just think of GrandAmy and she'll morph into a door. Swing it open and the storeroom of pure energy mojo is at your disposal.

Be safe and have a grand adventure!

Doug

Query

You could easily ask:

Just why did you wait until after you had spent 181 hours covering over 2,800 miles in training to get the 3-D ultra bike fit done at The Boulder Center for Sports Medicine?

Just why did you buy new shorts, gloves, pedals, and biking shoes as you were almost done with your training?

At which point I would struggle, stammer, and stutter ... lamely offer some excuse about not planning ahead very well, or that I'm from Louisiana, or that I need a good excuse or six, just in case ...

Donation Station for the Ride

I want this ride to be about more than just riding my bike across the US . Given there are many solid philanthropic organizations out there, it was difficult to choose one. I've settled on a terrific local organization that's doing great good on the planet. Global Greengrants by name, and you can find them online at greengrants.org. They have a fantastic model for making micro-focused difference-making grants. It's been 8 years since I hit you up for a donation to a wonderful cause, I hope you've been saving your ducats.

My request is that you donate at least a penny to Greengrants for every mile I ride, equal to $29.01. If you wish to give more, well, 2 pennies a mile is $58.02, and so on. If you can't donate, no worries. You now know of one more wonderful organization when your time comes to give back. Here is their donation page, go directly to them if you wish: http://www.greengrants.org/about.giving.html.

The Monarch Butterfly of Athletes

In the past, were it 69 degrees, it was too cold. At 86 it was far too hot. I've spent the past 10 weeks riding in non-stop and often ferocious winds, snow, and freezing cold. How a goal can change a man. I now own more cold weather gear than I ever knew existed.

Triathlete buddies called me the "wetsuit weenie" in Santa Cruz. They would happily swim the mile around the pier in their Speedos while I was wrapped in enough neoprene to strangle a walrus.

And at times I have opted to stay indoors on the trainer these past weeks. Of the roughly 2800 miles I've ridden, about 1100 were on the trainer given the depth of snow, speed of wind, or height of tall buildings I couldn't leap in a single bound.

Not one but TWO pairs of booties

2008

Yes, not a blog in any typical sense. A cycling blog, of sorts. And now for the next new and improved adventure ...