Day 10

                                                                 Day 10
                                               Las Vegas, NM to Tumcumcari, NM
                                                                 110 miles

     Only on the Fast America Ride can a 110 mile day be viewed as a recovery ride, but indeed that's what it was.  After the difficulties from the day before, we all were hoping for an easier day and that's what we got. 
     Today's ride started out cold, with a starting temp of 37 degrees.  However, it warmed up quickly, and by the time we got to our final destination, temps were in the low 70's.  To manage this, we all put on multiple layers, and proceeded to strip them off as the day progressed.  We can store stuff in one of the vans at a SAG stop and at the end of the day, the clothes bin was overflowing.  Great news from Mike, our ride leader, at the start, announcing that there would be no more interstates for the rest of the trip.  Today we would be on Rt. 104 the whole way which was just a beautiful, quiet, two lane road.  The scenery today was spectacular, in fact I commented that this was my image of what I thought this trip would be like.  There were a few climbs including one known as "The Wall".  This was a 0.7 mile stretch at 10% grade that included Tour de France type messages on the road, like....keep pedaling....don't give up....Campy sucks, SRAM rules.  It was fun.  There were also a few descents where 40 MPH speeds were hit and exceeded.  Much of the ride was downhill and again we were favored with tailwinds.  My avg. MPH was 18.5.  With the combination of beautiful scenery, beautiful roads, warmer weather, and a tailwind, everyone agreed that this was the nicest day of cycling yet.  Once into town, I stopped at a Sonic for a Hot Fudge Shake, and then a bunch of us went to K-Bobs Steakhouse, where the food was plentiful and the beer was non-existent, which in retrospect was the only disappointment of the day. 
     Tomorrow we again will have favorable winds and an even shorter ride, 97 miles, our briefest yet.  We will be going to the cowtown of Dalhart, Texas, which reportedly boasts an odor that is potentially life changing.  I have never been to Texas, so except for the odor, I'm looking forward to crossing this border.  We have been rewarded with a "late" departure of 8AM so I look forward to an extra hour of sleep tonight.  But tomorrow we will lose that hour as we go to Central Time, so all will be ultimately be even. 

-Grinner

Beautiful New Mexico roadside scenery

I've hit the 1000 mile point on the trip

The Longest and Straightest Highway I've ever ridden on

Top of "The Wall"

Looking back towards Las Vegas, NM as we left