Lobster Pot

Another 60 miles and 4,000 foot of climbing are done.  Now, I'm soaking my sore muscles in the 110 degree Lobster Pot at The Resort in Pagosa Springs.  It got hot quickly, so I laid by the river trying to get sun on my forehead and feet, which are looking a little white.  You got to give Trek credit, we're staying at some nice hotels.  Seligman was a 1940's motel that looked like something Johnny Cash might have stayed for a night, but Tuba City, Durango and tonight were excellent.  It's fun to roll into a city and see something nice.  The trip has been as advertised.  

Today wasn't a picnick by the side of the road.  We stopped at an organic farm.  I had a wonderful chicken panini.  We were all in a good mood, due to a six mile decent through beautiful CO.

Tomorrow; however, is another day.  At 6:00 a.m. we ride our bikes down the road for breakfast.  We'll plrobably be peddeling down the road, or I should say up the road, by 6:30.  We'll ride 140.7 miles and climb 8,123 feet, topping out at an elevation of 10,500 feet.  From the map, it looks like most of the climbing is beteen 55 and 80 miles, with a lot downhill towards the end.  Start early; don't stop at the van long; stay focused on what you're doing--not what's left.  Once we arrive in Taos, NM, we're at probably the nicest resort of the trip and have a rest day on Tuesday.  

I have't seen a scale in a few days, but suspect my weight is about the same (180).  My pulse this morning was 57, which is up about 10 beats per minute for me.  I feel fine and simply blame it on all the miles and elevation.  

Rustin put some new cleates on my shoes a couple days ago. They were new when I left Santa Barbara, but as Jeff, who road XC in 2010, warned me-- you do a lot of walking on this trip.  I bought an extra pair of clets in Durango, but couldn't find any covers--it's a mountain bike town.

Durango

We had what Trek calls a 'rolling recovery' day: 45 miles with only 3,000 feet of climbing, although we passed 8,000 feet in elevation.  Everyone feared it might get cold going over the mountain, especially on the decent.  So, we layered up with wind booties, long sleeve running shirts, leg and arm warmers, and jackets.  In the end, it was pleasant and we peeled off layers as we rode.  Tomorrow is scheduled as another easy day with a late (8:00) start.  We're tapering in preparation for Monday's epic 140-miler, with 8,100 feet of climbing.  Thankfully, the final 60 is mostly downhill.  Everyone's a bit intimidated with the Taos ride, but our guides tell us we're riding well and will all make it.  They're more worried about the five days across the Oklahoma prairies and the Oklahoma mountains (wind, lots of it).  I'm riding mostly with Denis.  He's a real gentleman, with an easy nature and a quick laugh.

Yesterday Rustin,our guide passed me and said, 'Man, you've got the most muscular calves I've ever seen.'  Now, understand, he's paid to say things like that.  Also, his legs are about twice the size of mine.  Even so, it was good to hear, especially with Taos looming on the horizon.

I ate with Sally, 67, and Paul, 70, the other night.  I identify with Sally's funny comment, 'In my next life, I want to be fast; rather than, an inspiration.'  Denis and I could ride faster, but we enjoy stopping to look around and take pictures.  We're pacing ourselves.  Atleast that's our excuse.

Below is a shot of everyone getting ready to pull away from the hotel this morning.  That's me on the side of the road, with my third-eye mirror.  Finally, a view of a CO ranch and the river from the balcony of my hotel room.  It's great to lay in bed and just listen to the water slosh by.

Good Day

I had a bloody nose at breakfast and laid down on the floor with a napkin up my nose, but no one took a picture. So, I guess it didn't happen.

We saw a man walking out of the desert very early this morning.  I commented that he was either a tourist,or just buried a body. Denis pointed out that he wasn't carrying either a shovel or a camera.  So, if anyone's missing today, look at mile marker 30.

Mile 950- We were chased by our first dog today.  He put up a good fight and chased us 30 yards.  Supposedly, the south is full of dogs bothered by men in tights.

We passed a 25-year old woman on a bike loaded down with 80 pounds of gear on her way XC to VA.  I was tempted to say, "Hello, fellow traveller," but thought she might see our van taking our masseuse and luggage to our next hotel, so I decided to just waive.  Then, Denis had a flat, that was changed by our guide. Yea, I think it was a good call not to engage her in conversation.  

Typically, we pee at van breaks between the van and the trailer.  You can tell we have a lot of me on this trip, because our guides admonished us this morning not to pee ON the trailer.  But, how will we know it's ours?

Oh, the 101-mile ride with 5,400 feet of climbing went well, our third straight century plus ride.  It was cool and we had favorable rumble strips.  Everyone was in good health and spirits.  Tomorrow is an easier day, so we get to sleep late.

Wind!

We had another very windy day and rode 116 miles to Mexican Hat, Utah.  We battled 30 mph crosswinds as we gradually climbed 4,500 feet.  However, the last third was straight down wind, which made the bikes faster and easier to control.  I'm glad we left Tuba City early.  They had a forecast of 50 mph wind gusts.  We also had miles and miles of rumble strip, which was often put right down the middle of the shoulder, forcing us to thump-thump across it and play chicken with traffic.  We rode in a Regan Pace Line, which means riders in the front point out glass and changes in the rumble strip, while the riders in the back steal peeks over shoulders: 'Trust, but verify.'

I had another poor night of sleep, with a sudden wake up at 12:00; we turn in by 9:00 and wake at 5:30.  I'm tired, but probably a bit stressed.  My weight is down 10 pounds from the start and I seem to inhale supper.

Monument Valley wad really beautiful, although we fought high winds and dust storms.

Dinner was at the Swinging Steak, which was awsesone.  Really good!

We passed some wild horses, see photo.

A Very Interesting Day

We left a little after 7:00 to begin our 84-mile ride.  The first 25 miles we climbed along the East Rim of the Grand Canyon.  Just as I forgot it was there, I'd pass a break in the trees and Wow! there it was again.  The GC in morning sunshine was spectacular.  It was very windy this morning, but the forest blocked most of it for 25 miles.  Then, boom, we had about 30 miles of downhill with maybe a 30-mph winds out of the south (our right).  My bike was Jimmied and Buffetted as changes in latitudes and changes in attitudes convinced me that nothing remains quite the same.  The final 20 or so miles were straight down wind and much easier to control the bike.  Today saw dramatic geographic variations, from tall Ponderosa pines to scrub pines.  We then rode past plains with large canyons and through red stone mesas right out of John Wayne cowboys and Indians movies.  Finally, the land just played out and got awful, dusty and barren looking as we pulled into Tuba City.  

Eric has a Go-Pro camera that he mounts on the the front or rear of bike, which snaps a picture every 6 seconds.  Yesterday, he loaned it to Kevin, who played with it in his room last night to make sure he understood how it worked.  Anyways, he forgot to turn it off and ended up with thousands of images of his hotel room ceiling.

For the past few months I've been training in the Texas heat.  As a result, I did well in the CA desert.  Now we've climbed to about 5,000 feet and I'm working on altitude acclimation.  According to Drew, my running buddy and coach, who is given to analysis, heat and altitude acclimation are different things:  plasma expansion vs. plasma contraction.  Right now my blood is a little confused.

Many of you know I have stage IV Follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and my darling wife has been seriously handicapped  by MS.  Here's our game plan- John 6:63.  "The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing.  The words I have spoken to you- they are full of the Spirit and Life."  Then in verse 65, Jesus said, "...no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him."  Here's my prayer:  Father, Enable me to understand verse 63...the Spirit gives Life, the cancer and MS count for nothing.

Below are some photos from today's ride.  As you can see Paul The Elder, 70, and I stopped at Sonic after our ride for a cheese burger and choclate shakes.

Dang it!  I somehow inserted that 'don't harass the buross sign again; oh well.

Grand Canyon

The first 8 days have been fun and easy.  Monday's 90-miler; however, caused my 'check engine light' to come on.  For starters, I led a group of 7 cyclists out.  I looked at my directions sheet and saw that we rode 6.8 miles before turning onto Route 66.  Several miles down the road someone finally noticed that the ur turn was 0.8 miles, not 6.8.  So, we got a little warm-up ride to begin the day.  After a beautiful 20 miles, we turned onto I-40.  We were scheduled to climb around 5,800 feet and since the interstate highways don't employ switchbacks, we settled into miles of steady climbing.  Every so often you'd think you were at the top only to see another curve up ahead.  After a great sit-down lunch (I had a salad), we were back on Route 66 for 50 miles to our hotel.  The road was very annoying.  There was a rumble strip (that's what they call the thump-thump cut-outs in the pavement), a very narrow shoulder and a good bit of traffic.  One had to concentrate for many hours or you wheels would wander onto the rumble strip and rattle your bones.  This was the first day that was just very hard on my body.  This morning my typical resting pulse of 47 was still elevated at 52.  I was thrilled to finally arrive at 4:00 p.m. and kiss my darling wife, who flew out to visit me.  As you can see from my breakfast photo, I eat a lot during this ride (although I couldn't finish the pancakes).  There's also a shot of Sherry and I at the South Rim, Rustin and I along the highway.  I also had to include a sign posted in the bathroom at Big E's steak house apparently advising patrons that the water in the toilet was not safe to drink.  Yep, the world has too many lawyers.  Tomorrow's ride has lots downhill ;).

Note:  I'm not sure how I inserted the 'don't harass the burros' sign and can't seem to delete it.  For the record, I didn't harass the burro.

Just Another Day in the Saddle

We road 85 today; very easy day. Like yesterday, we enjoyed a 20-mile tailwind.  After one long pull, Kevin laughed 'that wasn't a pull it was a spinnaker run.'

We see a lot of  Corvets and convertible Mustangs cruising Route 66.  We passed a beautiful '57 Chevy yesterday. I got laugh when I said, 'You know what he was thinking when he passed us?  Wow!  That's the new Trek Domane 5.9.'

We're using flat prevention tape between the tube and the tire this year.  The product must be good. Rustin said we were down 100 flats from last year. So far I haven't had one, yet.

I'm looking forward to seeing my darling wife tomorrow at the Grand Canyon.  We have a rest day Tuesday.

We ate at the Road Kill Cafe, whose slogan is, 'You kill it and we'll grill it.'  I ordered 'The Chicken That Almost Made It Across The Road;' which was very good.

Thanks to everyone who's donated to the Gerizim Christian School, I think we up to about $24,000, with a goal of $70,000.  If you would like to donate, the link is:

http://jacoboperez.com/hisappointedtime/?page_id=159

or mail a check to:

His Appointed Time Ministries

P.O. Box 1351

Snyder. TX. 79550.

5,887 Feet of Climbing Over 85 Miles

What an absolutely fun day!  

Correction:  a few days ago I whined about the final 8 miles straight into a 25 mph headwind.  We now have an accurate reading.  It was 30 mph, with gusts up to 35.  

Yesterday, I rode with Jen, one of our guides.  I told her I was listening to an audio book, The Boys In The Boat, (University of Washington crew team that won Hitler's 1936 Olympics) to get psyched for the XC trip.  She looked at me suddenly and said, "You don't need to get anymore psyched."  I guess she knows me pretty good already.

We road a 22-mile section of Route 66 today that was closed to cars, due to a lot of sand that had washed across the road from recent flooding.  Rustin suggested we take a third bottle with us, although I don't think it was really a suggestion.  We needed it.  The vans then drove the long way around, with Jen along riding with us to provide adult supervision.  Peter had two flats.  Paul the Younger changed the first one for him. Denis and I assisted with the second.  Two riders went down today:  Paul the Young and Paul the Older.  Both attempted to ride through sand on the road, unsuccessfully.  I'm sorry they fell, but am sort of relieved that I am not the only member of the 'no, no. I just wanted to take a closer look at the pavement club'.

I really enjoy riding with Denis.  We seem to function as sweepers for the ride.  We stopped for Peter's flats and later when Paul The Younger, who was sick a few days ago, started cramping badly.  He told us, and Paul The Elder, to just go on without him.  Obviously, we were't going to leave him sitting under a shrub in the desert, so we just all sat down and waited for Rustin and the van to circle back to check on us.  He was cramping so badly he could hardly stand up.  

Dennis and I passed the hotel and stopped at Arby's to eat a post ride meal.  Eating seems to be the key for how well I'm feeling.

Funny story: A lot of traffic was driving by, so Sallie got behind the van to pee.  After she began, the van drove away.  She laughed when she told us the story:  "it was like I was on stage and the curtain suddenly went up."  Rustin then drove by.  He's a gentleman, because he swears, " I didn't see anything."  Although he said that before anyone asked him if he saw anything.  ;)

I'm having so much fun and feel very strong.

Easy Day

We rode 42 miles today.  We took the first half easy stopped at the dam to get a drink.  There was a nice climb of several miles that passed easily.  I'm really pleased with how strong my legs fell and my new saddle is working great.  We arrived at The Hampton Inn before noon, so there was plenty of time to do another load of laundry and grab a turkey & ham sub...and a In and Out choclate shake.

110.3 Miles Today: Road Rash

Today we saw incredible mountain and desert scenery as we wound our way through the Sheep Hole Mountains and the southern part of the Mojave Desert. This was the most desolate ride of the trip; with 91miles without service (other than our two Trek Vans).  It was really beautiful.

Dennis and I left the hotel a few minutes after the group left.  About 15 miles down road, we caught up with Sallie, our 67 year old friend from NC.  Because we were riding across the desert today, we decided to stay with her.  This slowed us down a bit, as we escorted and broke the wind for her.  She is unique: she built her own motor cycle and clearly knows how to take care of herself.  I really like her a lot!  She had a flat that Dennis and I gallantly attempted to fix for her.  15 minutes later we were still trying to muscle the tire onto the back wheel, when Rustin drove up in the van and pulled out a new wheel and we were off again.  After about 70 miles Sallie declared victory for the day and got in the van.  Dennis and I then picked up the pace and rode towards Arizona.  It got up to maybe 105 degrees, but was mostly pleasant and the wind never got very strong.

About 8 miles from the Best Western Hotel, we rode a section of highway that had no shoulder and ruts carved along the white line (to make you tires go thump-thump-thump if you fall asleep and veer off the road).  I looked back in my mirror and saw an 18-wheeler coming up behind at the same time two cars were passing from the front.  I pulled over the white line and pavement cuts and road on the 6-8 inch bit of pavement next to the sand and gravel.  I was doing fine until the truck whizzed by at 60 mph.  The backwash behind the truck caused by bike to shudder and my back wheel hit the sand, followed shortly afterward by me hitting the pavement.  I skidded a bit and waited for Dennis to run me over and crash, but he was able to stop just as he hit my bike.  Road rash!  I chastised Dennis for not getting a photo of me sprawled on the highway, but he just laughed and said that was a picture neither of our wives need to see.  I got up and adjusted my rear brakes and road in.  I ended up with a tennis ball strawberry on my left hip and scrapes (road rash) on my arm, knee and side of the leg and a good bit of ribbing from my new friends.  The bike needed some tweaking, but appears to fine.  

Pictures