Day 9

                                                                                                     Day 9
                                                                                    Albuquerque to Las Vegas, NM
                                                                                                   136 miles
     Some days turn up tails and some days turn up heads.  Today it was heads which means headwinds.  This was the hardest day so far.   It was the combination of cold, headwinds, climbing (8100 ft), and distance.  We started at 7AM and I got to the hotel at 5:45.  Total time on the bike was 9 hour 14 minutes, avg speed 14.7 MPH.  We started with temps in the high 30's, the temps stayed that way for the next 4 hours until eeking up into the low 40's.  The first 30 miles took 3 hours.   My hands were pretty cold as the light long fingered gloves that I brought were ill suited for the task.  In truth, I could have bought a warmer set of gloves the day before but I couldn't bring myself to adding yet another pair of gloves to what may be the largest glove collection ever amassed by one human being.  The way that some women are drawn to buying shoes, I've been the same about gloves.  I own gloves for downhill skiing, cross country skiing, golf,  roller skiing, biking, hiking, running, weight lifting, using a hammer, working in the yard, mowing the lawn, and working in the kitchen (the ov-glove...great glove).  I've been trying to break myself of this so yesterday I said, "Enough".  The gloves I've brought for this trip will have to do.  No more gloves.  By mile 30, I was cursing that decision.  My hands were so cold that I had given up trying to shift from my small ring to my big ring as my frozen left hand would not respond.  The headwind was about 10 MPH so effectively if we were going 25 MPH on a downhill, we were being cold blasted by 35 MPH winds.  I dreaded every descent.  Only on the climbs, by generating some heat, could I start to warm up.  Fortunately,  I had stored in the SAG van, a set of chemical handwarmers, which I was able to get at the first SAG stop at mile 36.  This made all the difference and my day was starting to look up.
     Every once in a while, the sun would peek out, and for a few minutes I would start to get warm, even hot, but then it was gone and my temp would drop.  However, by midday, the temps seem to settle into the low 40's, so with my handwarmers and layers, I was OK.  At mile 64 we returned to my tire puncturing friend, the interstate, where we would remain on the rest of the day.  The good news was that the I-25 shoulder was in excellent shape and for the first time in 3 days, I didn't get a flat, at least not one that I know of now.  (Motel flats could be caused by a slow leak from the day before, so I'll hold off until morning before I declare victory).   The rest of the day was just a slog.  The climbs which I had come to enjoy earlier in the day were now becoming a grind, and general fatigue had set in.  This was the longest I had ever been out on a bike before, including the Horribly Hilly Hundreds.  Riding through Las Vegas, NM, it was immediately obvious that this town has nothing in common, other than name, with the the more famous one in Nevada.  No Elvis impersonators, no dancing showgirls.  But they did have pizza delivery here so once finished I rewarded myself with a large cheese pizza from Dominoes, which I consumed in its entirety. 
     The Calfee has been holding up pretty well.  A very minor headset issues was handled by Jim, the mechanic on this trip, who is excellent.  The bike for Shelly, the one woman on this trip, did not fare as well.  Her Trek Madonne, blew over at a rest stop, hit a rock, and took a significant gouge out of her carbon chain stay.  It was deemed unsafe to ride and she spent her day off getting a new bike in Albuquerque.   No one else has had any significant bike issues. 
     How do I feel?  I'm exhausted, but happy.  I've consumed about 3000 calories in the past couple of hours and I've enjoyed for the first time, just hanging out in my room, typing and listening to the Bin Laden analysis on TV.  Tomorrow, the string of centuries, 8 in a row, should rise to 9 as it's 109 miles to Tucumcari, NM.  Good news is that we won't be leaving until 8AM.  An extra hour of sleep is huge for me at this point.  Never underestimate that powers of sleep. 

-Grinner

Scenery from New Mexico about 6 hours into the ride at the point that my fingers were warm enough to work the camera

A beer from New Mexico, "Alien" from Roswell

A group of us the night before at a restaurant carb loading for today's ride

More roadside scenery of New Mexico

Bucolic scene at SAG stop number three today