Day 14; Saturday, April 30 - Elk City, OK to Chickasha, OK 120 miles for the day, 3049' up, 3853' down

"Oh, what a beautiful morning, oh, what a beautiful day. I've got this wonderful feeling. Everything's going my way." (Song from the musical "Oklahoma".)

That was the theme of today, as it was fabulous! The temperature was in the high 40's or low 50's as I left the motel a bit before 7:00, to get a head start on the fast guys. There was a slight tail wind right from the start, perhaps about 7 mph, not much, but nice. Before long, I was at the first SAG at 33.2 miles, along with many of the group, and left before many as well. The course had a lot of up and down, but nothing severe and many of the rollers you could make it up with your momentum and a bit of either hard pedaling or standing up a bit without losing much speed. There were a lot of turns as we rode through the countryside, on VERY rural roads, most in great condition and with almost no traffic. With the sun shining and the green grass in the fields, many with cattle grazing, it was gorgeous.  As nasty as yesterday was, today was beautiful.

Along the sides of the roads, I frequently saw Indian paintbrushes, yellow buttercups, brown eyed Susans, and some white, some yellow and some purple little flowers I could not identify. Nice!

At about the 55 mile mark, we reached the halfway point in our ride across the country.

Half way done!

It was a pretty long pull to lunch at mile 78 and much to my pleasure, many of the guys were still there. Most days, by the time I get to lunch, everyone else is gone. Shortly thereafter, we rode through Nowhere, OK. We had ridden a long way to get nowhere. 

Our fearless leaders.

Anyway, I pushed on to the motel in Chickasha, OK. I was still feeling good at the end. 120 miles and it was the easiest century I have ever ridden, on a good course, on good roads, in beautiful weather and in good company.

While I had a good day on the roads, the other guys were flying. As much as most hated to miss yesterday's ride due to the bad weather, their bodies benefited from the rest. 

The sad part of the day is we had to say goodbye to Gilbert, from Canada. He had ridden in the van in hopes his torn thigh muscle would allow him to start riding again, but to no avail. He will catch the bus to an airport and miss the rest of the trip. He is such a strong rider and has a tremendous sense of humor, so we will miss him. 

Also, Eric, from Alaska, who had just joined us a few day ago, had a serious mechanical breakdown, and rode with Brett's sister in their rental car to go to some larger city to try to get his bike fixed for the rest of the trip. Here's hoping he is successful.
 
Tomorrow looks to be a looooonnnnngggg day. Day 15: Sunday, May 1 - Chickasha, OK to  McAlester, OK - 144 miles for the day, 5,100' of climbing due to more rollers and lots of up and down with actually only a small elevation loss. 

I will see how it goes, but it is likely I will get bumped ahead somewhere along the line tomorrow. I am hoping to get in another century, anyway. The forecast is for about the same nice weather, with perhaps a light crosswind - not as helpful as today, but as long as it is not in our face, we feel lucky.

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For the ride leader's take on today with photos, go to here. 

Day 13: Friday, April 29 - Ride was cancelled due to bad weather

Pampa, TX to Elk City, OK 102 miles for the day, 2,100' of climbing was the plan.

"Toto, we are not in Kansas anymore" - Nope, now in Oklahoma.

No riding the bike today. We were in the midst of severe thunderstorms and a tornado watch for the entire 104 mile route for today. So, we were shuttled to the next motel in Elk City, Oklahoma, as we need to stay on schedule with all of the motels booked ahead of us for the entire trip. With as tired as the rest of the crew are from yesterday's epic ride, most were happy with a day off. I did not exhaust myself yesterday, so I would have been ready to ride at least most of the route. It was a prudent decision given the conditions.

I dressed to begin the day in the van with the bad weather, but prepared to ride if conditions improved. However, after the decision was made not to ride at all, that allowed time for a luxurious nap. :) We had a good time socializing as well, something I have not had as much of a chance to do with the fast riders. They gave me a whole host of ideas for future adventures: climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, trekking in Iceland, New Zealand, and Patagonia, volunteering as an aide in a medical missionary, volunteering with the American Red Cross disaster relief efforts, volunteering for Habitat for Humanity in third world countries, etc. Lots yet to do in life. 

What I expect to do, however, is dial down the emphasis on bike riding, while retaining bike riding as part of my physical fitness regime, as well as being my social outlet while in St. Cloud. Perhaps after I retire about age 70, the 50 day ride across America from Astoria, Oregon east may be an option with shorter, more casual days than this challenging ride. One way or another, adventure awaits!

No more weather ahead of us than behind us, but different quality.

We are told that we should have no rain tomorrow, 9-14 mph tail wind. 40's in the morning, but warming. Day 14; Saturday, April 30 - Elk City, OK to Chickasha, OK 119 miles for the day,  5,000' of climbing. We will hit the halfway spot in the cross country trip at about the 55 mile mark. Looks like a great day for riding.

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For our ride leader's take on today's events, go here. 

Day 12: Thursday, April 28 - Dalhart, TX to Pampa, TX. Rode only 48 of the 112 route miles for the day, 2232' up, 2992' down

Today dawned cool (about 41 degrees) and sunny - AND windy, about 17 mph from the east, the direction we would be riding. But first we rode southerly along a highway that they were grinding down to level the existing pavement and texture the surface to allow the 1 or 2" asphalt overlay to adhere. What that meant to us was lots of bits of asphalt on the shoulder and some in the air. But that stretch was a piece of cake compared with what followed.

Photo courtesy of America By Bicycle

Once we turned east, we were hit head on by a 17 - 20 mph wind. We put our heads down and pedaled on - I was going from 6 - 9 mph. Once the wind died a few seconds, and I was elated as I hit 10 mph! The stretch was quite flat, and the ride profile showed a gentle decline, but the wind more than negated any advantage.

To minimize the wind resistance, I rode quite a bit with my hands in the drop handlebars, and saw lots of lovely black asphalt about 8 feet ahead of me. Anyway, I rode 32 miles, then was bumped ahead to the SAG at mile 39. Because the fast riders were again already ahead of me, they bumped me further to mile 52.7. From there I rode 16 miles, then got bumped ahead again to lunch at the 82.2 mile SAG.  By this time, the wind had picked up to about 23 mph, still a head wind.

Oh, during that 16 mile stretch, I got the chance to demonstrate (except no one was watching) my sprinting ability, as a junk yard dog came at me. I thought I might actually run over it, but gained enough speed to just barely get ahead of it as it was coming at me at a 90 degree angle. Wow, after Brett getting dumped and hurt earlier in the trip, I surely did not want to eat the pavement today.

I decided to apply the maxim, "When it stops being fun, stop what you are doing", and decided to just ride the van in the rest of the way. So, that added up to a 48 mile training ride for me, but due to the wind, comparable to perhaps twice that.

Most of the other guys managed to finish the hard day. Many rode in pace lines taking turns drafting on each other until the last 30 miles with a lot of up and down which made pace lines very difficult. We have a lot of exhausted guys tonight, as this was our hardest day since the first, and maybe harder than the first day due to the accumulated fatigue. But, I am in the midst of some awesome riders.

Heads down, grinding it out!

Not long after the last riders came in, it started to rain and thunder. The weather forecast to the east showed storm warnings. Tomorrow is likely to be a challenge for us, either in the rain or taking cover from the lightning. If worse comes to worse, we will be shuttled ahead. But, all of that will be determined tomorrow. Now it is time to rest and recover.

Day 13: Friday, April 29 - Pampa, TX to Elk City, OK 102 miles for the day, 1,400 so far, 2,100' of climbing.

Next page

For our ride leader's take on today's events, go here.

Day 11: Wednesday, April 27 - Tucumcari, NM to Dalhart, TX, 96 miles for the day, 2078' up, 2221' down

The fast riders

We had a delayed start to today's ride at 7:45, due to expected cold early morning temperatures and a mere 96 mile ride (the fast riders regarded it as a "rest day"). It was cool, but not cold, with no tights needed, and only a windbreaker over a long sleeve jersey on top needed. The ride profile sure does not show it, but it seemed like we kept going slightly uphill for the first 20 miles - never steep or hard, just gently sloping up. The roadside had patches of white flowers, yellow flowers, and some orange with brown centers flowers - demonstrating that we were beginning to get to where there was a bit more rainfall, as the landscape turned greener.

The pace line in action.

Somewhere behind them.

Our route took us up Historic Route 66 all the way to Dalhart, Texas. For the first 25 miles, we rode to the right of rumble strips on a relatively smooth new shoulder from 6" - 18" wide. It did not take much loss of concentration, either taking a drink or taking a quick peek at the cue sheet (the list with the directions, turns, stops, SAG locations, etc.) to wander onto the rumble strip and get a shaking. Our first SAG stop was at 25.2 miles. 29 miles later, we crossed into Texas. Three states down and we will not be in Texas long, crossing in the narrow panhandle.

After lunch at mile 66, the windbreaker and the skull cap came off, as the temperatures warmed in the strong sun. I had not put sunscreen on my legs, thinking they were getting sufficiently tanned so I would not need it, but I got a little burned in a couple of spots.

SAG stop.

We had a slight head wind in the morning, and a bit of head or cross wind in the afternoon, but the wind was not much of a factor today. The ease or difficulty of the rides in this part of the country is entirely dependent on the direction and velocity of the winds. So far, we have been very lucky with the weather, other than the first day with the nasty headwinds. Other trips led by America By Bicycle have not always been so  lucky. We know there is some bad weather in the areas ahead of us, with lots of thunderstorms, but we are hoping it clears out before we get there.

The route today had a bit of up and (well, not much down, it seemed) and the road stretched ahead visible for miles. The back of the cue sheet showed a profile of 2078 feet up and 2221 feet down, but I have no idea where those down stretches were. There was not much variety to see, but there was a lot of it. At about mile 87, there were some cattle feedlots, but thankfully, the wind was blowing so that the smell was not too bad. I recalled when I worked for farmers in the past, the fathers would teach their kids that "it smells like money".

I arrived in Dalhart having ridden 96 miles about 3:30 Mountain time (4:30 Central time), and after stopping at Subway for a takeout dinner, it was a scramble getting to RAP (where we get our instructions for the next day) at 5:00 Central. With the loss of the hour, we have a bit less time to relax, sleep and recover, but we don't need to take off until 7:00 tomorrow, so no problem.

Today had been a good day. Not only was I able to ride the entire planned route without getting "bumped ahead" (only the second time on 10 days of riding), but I felt the best I have felt since Day 1, riding strong the entire way and standing to pedal every once in a while to gain speed, give me a saddle break, relax my neck and shoulders with a different hand position and to use slightly different leg muscles to give the others a break. I hope I can repeat the performance tomorrow.

We have had awesome weather, other than the first day with the nasty headwinds. Tomorrow, however, the forecast is for some head winds. If so, that will make for a long day.

Day 12: Thursday, April 28 - Dalhart, TX to Pampa, TX, 112 miles for the day, 1,298 so far, 3,800' of climbing.

Next page

For our ride leader's (Mike Monk) version of today's ride, go here. 

Day 10: Tuesday, April 26 - Las Vegas, NM to Tucumcari, NM 109 miles for the day, 3357' up, 5676' down

We started out at 7:00 in quite chilly weather. The TV said 41 degrees, so I put on my balaclava and my fleece RAB shirt under my windbreaker and my sexy spandex tights. :) 

The route immediately started gently uphill, and it was less than 3 miles and the balaclava had to come off as it was way too hot. Not much further, the RAB shirt came off. Despite a long steady climb, I was going 19-20 miles per hour, and realized I must have a tail wind, which was proven once I stopped. (Boy, a tailwind sure makes you feel line a world beater, but a headwind makes you feel like a slug.) 

We had a lot of ups and downs, including one long, straight stretch down with very smooth new pavement when I was going 45 mph, the fastest downhill I ever had done. Other riders reported low 50’s, but I used my brakes a little, remembering my front wheel severely wobbling going 37 mph on some downhills in N. Kentucky in May, 2014 on the Horsey Hundred. That had been caused by “harmonic vibration” which I later learned could be stopped by clamping the top bar between your knees, but the terror memory lives on. We topped out about 1000 feet higher than where we started at the top of the Las Vegas Plateau.

I rode to mile 40, but along the way I came upon a sign that said, “curvy roads, next 3 miles” (or something to that defect) and then a sign picturing a truck going downhill and 9%. Hmm, steep, curvy road ahead. I eased my way down that stretch, reluctant to go over 20 mph when I could not see around the next corner and the pavement was not exceptionally smooth.

Looking down from near the top of the 9% downhill

Shortly after the descent, I saw Mike on the side of the road and decided it would be a good time to be bumped up to the SAG at mile 47.5. Here there was a poster that marked the completion of the first 1000 miles in 8.33 days of our 27 day adventure. Of course, as I have reported in these blogs, my total mileage was quite a bit less than 1000.

That last piece had been a pretty good stretch, but the next 19 miles we were treated with a headwind. The temperatures had dropped too, so the clothing layers went back on. I was aware that at mile 66.4 was the start of a steep climb for .7 miles and, not wanting to burn out my legs, had Mike bump me up again to the Lunch SAG at mile 75.9. From there I rode in to the finish at 108.2, having ridden a total of 91 miles. 

Beautiful red rock formations along the last 30 miles to Tucumcari

This last stretch was again a lot of up and down, basically neither losing or gaining elevation, but mostly easy grades, helped by now a helpful tailwind and temperatures warming into the mid 60’s. The clothing layers once again found their way into my string bag on my back. I arrived at the motel  before 3:00 where a nice fruit, vegetables and cookie reception was offered by the motel – a nice touch.

I was pleased with the day, as I had not felt as strong in the morning as I had the day before and we were still at higher elevations. Also, with the cool temperatures, I just did not drink as much as I should have either (the crew mentioned that afternoon that the entire team had not drunk enough).

The day had been almost entirely on one road, Rt. 104, so there were no route following challenges and I don’t know if the entire team had a single flat. With little traffic, it was a great route.

Tomorrow looks like a relatively easy day, again with a lot of small ups and downs, with the highest we will be within 500 feet of the lowest we will be. 

Day 11: Wednesday, April 27 - Tucumcari, NM to  Dalhart, TX 95 miles for the day, 800' of climbing.

Thanks for reading. Knowing my friends are watching is motivating. Frankly, I did not feel that motivated today, but still rode 91 miles. I was satisfied and having reached my goal of having fun for the day.

Next page

For our ride leader's (Mike Monk) version of today's ride, go here.

Day 9: Monday, April 25 - Albuquerque, NM to Las Vegas, NM 136 miles for the day, 8603' up, 7204' down

Mike bumped Brian "the younger" and me at the start about 14 miles along a windy road through the Sandia Mountains. When we got out, we rode along the Turquoise Trail. Brian soon left me in the dust as we went uphill for 5 miles pretty steadily except for two stretches that totaled about a half mile.

Then we began a series of uphill, then downhill, then uphill, then downhill. We went through the "towns" of Golden, Madrid (interesting shops in a hippy looking way after a nice fast descent into town).

Then, past the Santa Fe Community College and on until I had logged a total of 60 miles.

Actually, I put in a little over one "bonus" mile as I didn't see one sign at a roundabout, looked at my Garmin which said straight ahead, in error. So, I didn't take a wrong turn, I just failed to take a left turn. Whatever.... ;) At any rate, that detour put me even further behind schedule, and not wanting the ride leaders to wonder where I was, I called in, and Pam came to pick me up. So, I was bumped to the SAG lunch spot at mile 79, then on further to the 3rd SAG at mile 114.4. From there, I rode the final 22 miles in to Las Vegas, New Mexico. So, I rode a total 82 miles for the day.

Beautiful country in the morning.

More beautiful country after mile 114 (although it does not show as well as in person)

While riding in the morning, I recalled the four and a half day retreat in the mountains in Washington State called "The Wall", the second part of a three part personal development training program I participated in in 1988. Each day we walked or ran 2 miles early in the morning. On the third day, the session leader asked us to do the two miles with "excellence". Well, I had not run much since my last marathon in 1984, but wanted to run that two miles well. When I was finished, I was quite pleased with myself. Three ladies finished with linked arms, skipping and a hopping, laughing away. Back in session, the session leader asked us who had completed the two miles with excellence. We all thought so. Hmmm, the point was, "excellence" is different for every person, and who was I to say that what I had done was more excellent than what they had done.

So, applying those memories, I concluded that I was truly riding with excellence today. My body felt the best it has felt since Day 1, my neck and shoulders were not as bothersome as on earlier days, I was riding in gorgeous weather through gorgeous country and with a group of very congenial other riders. What was not to like? My excellence may not be the same as that of the faster, elite riders of the group, but I had a GREAT day.

It is always possible to measure ourselves against others and feel inferior when we find we are not as good at something as someone else. But, get real - there is always someone better at a task or personality characteristic. But, can I be the best me that I can be? That is the better question. And, we should feel good about improvements we make. 
Now, thinking about the post where I talked about how we compare ourselves with our reference groups, that does not mean we should be complacent when we find we are not as good as someone. Hopefully that will give us an idea of what is possible and motivate ourselves to achieve more of our innate and enormous potential to achieve more. Well, enough philosophizing. :)
Tomorrow is supposed to be a easier day: Day 10: Tuesday, April 26 - Las Vegas, NM to Tucumcari, NM 109 miles for the day, 1,091 so far, 2,900' of climbing. 

Next page

For our ride leader's (Mike Monk) version of today's ride, go here.