May 31,2018 West Amarillo, TX to Alanreed, TX

77.12 miles. One thing that I didn't mention...up until yesterday, every place I've ridden, I have done before. Last time I left Tucumcari, I took US54. This time, leaving on I 40/US 66, Im on roads that I have driven, but never ridden.
After my century into the wind yesterday, I wasn't sure how much would be in the tank for today. Turns out, that after sleeping in until 8, I felt pretty good. I was in the saddle by nine, enjoying a neutral wind and semi cool temps. In the first couple of minutes, I went right past Amarillo's famous Cadillac ranch, with the seven Cadillacs planted in the middle of a corn field. I sort of roamed through Amarillo, choosing my own path, and ignoring any GPS recommendation, and for some reason, I didn't get on business I 40/US66. I am following old route 66 in theory, but I really spend very little time on the actual road itself. The surface is usually inferior to the interstate, and most of the time, j can just look right over and see 66. That counts, doesn't it? Also, many times 66, in the form of a frontage road just dead ends, so it would be tricky to try to be on it always. Since I've been in Texas, there are no guardrails or fences between the roads, so it is easier to switch if I wanted to. Many times today, I got off and on from one road to the other because I want to be on the best surface. That Texas chip seal is just brutal, unless it is worn down, and there were some places where the I-40 shoulder was new chip seal, and 66 was more worn, therefore less bumpy.
After bouncing around Amarillo, including riding right through the downtown area, I headed back to the I 40 frontage road that headed out of town. Even that got tricky when I 40 decided to do a flyover to the left, and the frontage road followed US 387, I believe, which goes south to Fort Worth. Once out of town, I was again in an area that is flatter than flat, and the wind turbines were my constant companion. Pam and I planned to meet for lunch at a Loves truck stop about 40 miles into the ride, but I was delayed by my third flat tire, five miles before we met. That flat tire stuff is getting old. This time a valve split on a thornproof tube, inside a brand new tire on the back. I had some aggravation getting the wheel back on, so I killed a half an hour under an overpass, so at least I had shade.
After lunch at Subway, it was really getting warm, the wind wasn't doing me any favors, and it was just flat and straight. With about twelve miles to go to get to Alanreed, things started to roll, and the road did alot of turning to work around gullies, and we worked some hills that seemed pretty tough, but as much as anything, I was getting tired. Alanreed is on a hill, higher than any other point I can see, so hopefully tommorow we'll be going downhill some, and hopefully the wind will fully cooperate.
One other thing happened of note. Right as I was pulling into the campground, a big Rv pulled right up behind me and blasted the horn, and wouldn't go around me. I had no shoulder, there was no traffic. The guy is just an asshole, and he just happened to be in the site next to us. He wouldn't come out of his Rv, even though I signalled for him when we made eye contact. Hopefully I'll see him in the morning.

May 30, 2018 Tucumcari, NM to Oasis RV resort, just west of Amarillo, Texas.

101.2 miles. I was so anxious to get going, that I was up at 5:30 a.m., and in the saddle at 6. There were several reasons for the early start. I wanted to ride before the heat of the day, there was going to be a headwind, and I was going to lose an hour at the Texas state line, when we cross into the Central Time zone.
Do you know what is harder than doing 100 miles in seven hours? Doing 100 miles in 10 hours. The wind was blowing the correct direction for the last four days, while I was grounded, but today it shifted and blew out of the east. When I started so early, it was 57 degrees, and the wind was mild, but it was still a headwind. As the day went on, the heat turned up, as did the wind.  After 52 miles, Pam met me at a rest area for lunch and a good soak down. I was still feeling pretty good at that point.  I had just entered Texas, after 550 miles, just in the state of New Mexico. I was worried about the quality of the road in Texas because they are famous for that huge chip seal that rattles my butt and slows me down, but there was no need to worry. I was on interstate 40, for the entire trip, and the shoulder was really good in New Mexico, but it was excellent in Texas. The shoulder was new concrete almost all the way to our destination.
After leaving Pam and my lunch break,  I had my most significant climb, up to a mesa that contains a huge wind farm. The Wildorado wind farm was to my north for almost 40 miles, and contains 161 wind turbines, according to Wikipedia. And the wind was blowing, right in my face. A very gradual descent didn't help much, and that stretch really beat me up. I was pretty happy to pull into the Rv Park, after a full day.

May 26-29 A staycation in Tucumcari

Tucumcari, New Mexico sounds as exotic as Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, doesn't it? Well, it's not. We spent a month there over memorial day weekend. It was high school graduation weekend there, so our diesel mechanic, who came very highly recommended, shut down the shop for three days so he could attend his grandson's ceremony, party, and who knows what else. We tried to make the best of it, and Pam tried to pacify the caged animal ( me), but there is just not much going on in town. I did maintenance that was needed on the bike, we took walks, we ate at some good restaurants, we went to Ute Lake two times, ( one to check it out, once to swim and sunbathe). We even went to a museum. I paced alot.
We took the Rv in first thing Tuesday morning, and they worked on it all day, updating the computer with like 37 updates (since 2009), regenerating a filter ( don't ask), changing out some actuators, changing the air filter, replacing a cap of some sort,etc. Finally, our stay in Tucumcari could come to an end, and it looks more and more like I will not be able to make the entire ride to Pennsylvania, because of time constraints. But, I am ok with that.

May 25, 2018 Santa Rosa NM to Tucumcari, NM

58.95 miles. This was my thirteenth day of riding in a row, and we've gone 768.07 miles. That is an average of 59.08 miles a day, including that day where I only did eleven miles because of a dehydration problem. The heat is cranking up a bit, and it was a warm start out of Santa Rosa. My mileage was determined by the fact that there is really only one town between Santa Rosa and almost Amarillo, Texas, and that is the historical US66 town of Tucumcari.
My ride was once again all on interstate 40. There were several areas of old 66 that I could have ridden on, mostly in the form of frontage roads, that were not my preferred riding surface. Many were chip seal, which is really rough to ride on. I preferred the decent shoulders of the limited access highway, even though it was pretty dirty on this stretch, and I spent way to much time watching for road gators instead of watching the scenery, especially since I've had two flats in recent days. The mountains were beautifully different here, with lots of red rocks and soil mixed with the layers of limestone and sandstone. I saw four more pronghorns as I started out of Santa Rosa, ( Pam and I saw two skunks as we were walking around Tucumcari, also). Pam stopped about halfway through my ride as she passed me so I could grab some lunch, then the trouble started. Everything was fine with me, but the Rv started giving Pam a hard time, losing power as she drove. She limped into Tucumcari ahead of me, found a diesel mechanic, and began the process that is going to keep us stuck in this town for at least four days, maybe five. The Memorial Day weekend is shutting the garage down for three days, then a day or two ( probably more!) for repair work to the engine and associated parts.
The option was for me to go ahead alone, while Pam hangs back, but I'm not going to do that, for a couple of reasons. I don't want to leave the little woman here alone, and to a lesser degree, it's gonna be about 100 degrees around here for a few days, and services are so spread out between here and all through Texas, that I just don't want to do it alone. It has been nice having her around to make sure I get breaks, and carry all my gear. She is doing her best support, and making it possible that this old geezer gets where I'm going. I've crossed the country solo two times, and I'm done with that. I hate making consessions to age, but I enjoy doing this as a team.
After finally getting the Rv parked at the Cactus Rv Park in beautiful downtown Tucumcari, went for a walk and found a great restaurant ( Del's), and walked around town a little looking at the Rt 66 stuff. ( Mostly deteriorated buildings!) Old neon signs, antique dealers, plaques, painted murals, etc.

May 24, 2018 Edgewood, NM to Santa Rosa, NM

90.25 miles. Another milestone for this trip. It was a great day to get some big mileage, because I was coming out of the mountains with a tailwind. I looked at my blog post from April, 2015, the last time I did this ride, and it was very descriptive with lots of pictures. I climbed over 2000 ft, but descended over 4000 ft, so there was a lot of high speed bike travel! I flew downhill out of Edgewood, through Moriarity, a trip of about ten miles, then spent the next 20 miles with rolling climbers, until I got to Cline's Corner, NM. At that point I was surprised to see that I was over 7000 ft, higher even than I was as I peaked the top of the mountains east of Albuquerque yesterday. The entire trip today was on I 40, which was again a smooth ride. I'm really gonna miss New Mexico road when I go into Texas, here, in a couple of days. Pam met me at Cline's Corner for lunch at a Subway. Then it was off for the middle third of my trip, as I had planned to meet Pam at a rest area, 30 some miles down the road. As my good luck would have it, ( I mean that sarcastically, as well as for real) I had my second front tire flat of the trip. There were some sections that were pretty dirty with blowout shrapnel, so I'm not surprised I'm picking up the steel belts that are causing these flats. When I am traveling at higher speeds, it is harder to miss the crap that is lying in the shoulder. Today, I was clocking over 30 mph, at least 6-8 times as I rolled down the downslopes of I 40. The flat was only two miles before the rest area, so I changed out the tube, and proceeded to switch wheels in the rest area, where pam, my SAG wagon was waiting. I had prepared a separate front and rear wheel before I left Mesa, strictly for this reason. I didn't start the trip on new tires, so I knew their day would come, where they would be worn out, pretty early in the trip. Now, I have a new front tire and wheel rolling, but my back tire is looking pretty lean. I'll run it too the threads though, because that's what I do.
The final one third of my trip was an uneventful coast into the town of Santa Rosa. The highlight of my day was seeing eight pronghorn sheep, although not all at once. I would see one or two at a time out on the prairie, as I rode. The scenery has changed, as we are no longer in the desert Southwest. The high prairie offers pinion pines, sort of like juniper in appearance, and a cactus similar to Cholla chain cactus. There were some grazing cattle, and the rare pronghorn spotting, but not much else. As I got into Santa Rosa, I turned sort of South, and got a powerful taste of the wind that had been at my back all day. I crossed the Pecos River in town, which had water in it ( only the second river that was wet since I've started). Then there was a pretty steep climb out of Santa Rosa, to the Santa Rosa campground, where we stayed. We had a meal at the dirty, little restaurant at the campground, and chilled the evening away. I really should have been doing some work on the bike, because my handlebar grips are wearing out ( an easy fix), and I need to permanently repair the tire that isn't permanently fixed yet. Also my biking gloves are going to desentigrate ( I got zero help from my spellcheck on that one!). Ok have a few extra pair, but I'll wear the old ones till they fall off my hands, because that is what I do best.

May 23, 2018 Isleta Casino to Edgewood, NM

43.76 miles. Climbing out of Albuquerque is a challenge, even in a car sometimes. The casino sat at about 5000 ft of elevation, which is as high as we've been, but to get over the mountains to the east, the climb is to over 7000 ft.
I got a late start to the day, rolling out at about 10 o'clock, knowing that I was only going to do a little over 40 miles. Ahh, but what miles they would be. I had to go about 15 miles due north to get into Albuquerque, and that was in residential roads and some nice bike trails. Eventually I hooked up with Central Ave, which is historic RT 66. Basically, once u get east of town, it parallels I 40. The trip from downtown, right by the Rio Grande, started to climb instantly, once I turned east. My legs were having a little hangover from yesterday's antics, but I also remember how heavy they felt last time I had to get acclimated to elevation. So, I'm gonna blame the dead legs on the elevation. Yea, elevation. US 66 is now officially known as NM333 in these parts. It is a beautiful road along I 40, sometimes higher, sometimes lower than the interstate, but it's climbing the same mountains. The shoulder is great, and the bicycle traffic is pretty busy. The crazy thing I noticed was the optical illusion that I was going uphill, when it looked like I was going downhill. It happened several times, but all I had to do was ask my quads, and there was no doubt I was going uphill, no matter what it looked like. The miles went by very slowly going up that 14 mile hill, but my elevation gauge was dancing on my Garmin, so I watched that instead of my speedometer. The total climb for the day was over 2600 ft, but it's not the same climbing to 7000+ ft as it is climbing to 2200 ft in Phoenix. The scenery was so beautiful, and the weather so wonderful ( cool, tailwind), that it was an easy climb, considering that it was so hard. Think about that for a while. My belief that I would rather climb a mountain all day than fight a headwind all day was once again, undeniably confirmed.
I got to the campground in Edgewood, NM, "Where the mountains meet the prairie", before Pam did. We've been having some TV trouble, so she took the Rv to a place to have the satellite dish, and controls looked at. I checked us in, and I am typing this as she is getting ready to fight Albuquerque rush hour, hopefully to get here before the temperature gets down in the forties, where it's going tonight at this elevation. I haven't felt that for a long time!

May22, 2018 Socorro, NM to Isleta Pueblo, NM

72.6 miles. Let me just start by saying that if your not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space. I could be sitting in my nice, comfortable rocking chair, in our retirement resort, but I am not. The kind of crap that happened to me today, can not be made up. It was the kind of problematic, uncomfortable, day that I'm getting to old for. Well, maybe. Pam jokes that some day she will have to send the authorities out to find me, because I will just be out there, wandering, somewhere. Today was almost the day. I was really happy to finally be at the Rv, which I made at  about 7: 30, p.m.  Fortunately,  Pam had a better day, finding the Isleta Casino Rv campground, and visiting the casino, and just wondering where in the hell I was.
The morning started out late because I needed to sleep in, and the origional plan was for an easy, 70 mile day, on nice roads, with a rocking tailwind. I turned on my GPS, and headed out through downtown Socorro, following directions through some neighborhood areas, then out a dirt road along a canal. I know better than to ever go on one of the dirt roads on Google maps, but I did it. The road was a little sandy, but generally not bad. Then, I began to climb. I should have pulled the plug right there, but I didn't. I may be a hardhead, and it really got me into trouble today. The climb turned so steep, and so washboard, that I had to walk the bike. After a few miles of riding/walking a washboard ridge, the road actually got better. I went down a rough hill, then started across a nice plateau, not having any idea where I was going. Now, remember, I've done this trip before, And there was none of this, but i blindly carried on. At some point the GPS told me to take a right, but there was no road to the right. Just, prairie. The GPS must have been following a long gone pipeline road that had grown over. This was the first real indication that I was now screwed. I continued to follow the road that the GPS didn't want me to, it tried to recalculate, but came up empty. Did I say screwed, yet? I followed the road until I came to a gate, (with GPS turned off.) On the other side of the gate was a mine, up in the rock, which looked to be abandoned. There were warning and keep out signs everywhere. So, I lifted my bike over the gate, and kept going, still not having a freaking clue where I was going, but, hey, there was only one road, so why not follow it. Once over the gate, the road conditions deteriorated significantly. It narrowed way down, and got alot sandier, too much so to ride very well. About a mile later, I came to another gate. It said keep out, and that it was some sort of off limits wildlife sanctuary. So, I lifted my bike over the gate, and climbed over myself. I had this great feeling of impending doom, but what the hell. I wasn't turning back now. I began to walk more and more, because of the loose consistency of the soil. I was seeing alot of animal tracks, and big, fresh piles of crap, so I'm thinking elk. Unfortunately, I saw no wildlife besides vultures and lizards. I began to descend, and the road really seemed to be going nowhere. I tried my GPS again, and it actually gave me a route, until it told me to take a right again, where there was no road. So, I shut it off. By now about three hours had passed, I was walking only, pushing my bike through dry quicksand, running out of water, and beginning to think about 911. The road seemed to be heading to a narrow gap between two buttes, or bluffs, or just jagged mountains. There was lush green trees, so I figured that it was the Rio Grande. If i could just get to the river I would be easier to find. I followed the ever disappearing and overgrown track of sandy road, down to the river bed, where it opened into a huge open area like a beach. I looked ahead, and damn if there wasn't a dam, across the river. It's been about four hours now, it's hot, and I need a miracle, or I'm dialing 911. I really felt defeated, with no way out. When I got to the dam and looked on the other side, there were three fishermen. What a huge relief, but I was on the wrong side of the river. There was a track across the dam, and an ore car, so it all made sense now. The road I followed was how the they got the ore out of the mine, and across the river. Unfortunately, on the other side of the dam was a six foot gate with razor wire on top. I called to the fishermen, and two of them got a hold of my bike as I lifted it over my head, and mostly over the razor wire. We had to finesse it a little, as the wire was catching on pedals, brake cables, water bottle holders, etc. But we did it. Now, I had to find a way to get over there. Wasn't going to happen. I walked back across the dam, and down into the riverbed. I had to wade through four separate streams, about four feet deep each, with very muddy bottoms, and debris piled up between
each channel. My biking shoes, with metal bottoms were not the ideal attire. The water actually felt good because I was pretty hot, and tired of pushing a bike through sand for miles. Luck had it that the fishermen told me I was only a mile or two from I 25. Five hours had now passed, and when I got to the interstate, I was only 17 miles from Socorro, where I started. I still had over 50 miles to go and it was three p.m.  I pedaled for about 12 miles before I came to a rest area, where I really bugared up the primitive men's room by washing off my mud caked bike shoes and feet in the sink. I chugged well water and refilled my bottles, and was genuinely happy that I had survived that ordeal without having to be rescued. As I came out of the restroom, a guy started up a conversation about my bike, and offered to ride me up the road about fifteen miles to the next town. I would like to think, that a normal man would have taken that offer. But I'm not normal. I declined his offer, hopped on the bike and started pedaling. The tailwind was still cranking, and I was making really good time, when I saw the exit that I got off of last trip. So my mistake was not getting back on the interstate in Socorro, and riding for a while. But the friggin GPS wouldn't tell me that, and I had failed to read my previous trips' blog so I knew what was going on. That was probably my biggest mistake, before ever walking out the door. Not aborting as soon as I saw a dirt road was my next biggest mistake. Battling through it, all reason be damned, was my third mistake, but hey, that's why I'm not sitting in a rocking chair, isn't it?
I did not get off the interstate when I should have, because I wanted to make up time, and I was rewarded for that by getting my first flat tire of the trip. So I plopped down on the shoulder, and changed out my front tire. I couldn't find the offending thorn, of nail, or whatever, so that was a bit worrisome as I pumped up the tire with a new pump I just bought with this exact predicament in mind. Best $30 I ever spent. I stayed on the interstate until the town of Belen, where I got onto NM 314, A downright beautiful, newly paved four lane, with a wide shoulder. Just like riding the interstate, only right through town. I stopped at a McDonald's and filled three bottles with Powerade, for a buck, and downed a hamburger. I still had 22 miles to go, and it was 5 p.m. The wind was still cranking and it blew me down the road until I came to the Isleta Indian reservation, and I took some tribal roads through the Pueblo, complete with hogans and all. Overall, the tribe seemed very modern and well off, compared to most reservations I've been on. I crossed the Rio Grande (over a bridge this time), as I left the Pueblo, and headed up NM47 for about five miles, and finally completed my journey. Pam had already eaten, and fed the slots, so we walked around a beautiful lake at the campground as I decompressed. Pam thought the whole nerve-wracking adventure was humorous, and showed little sympathy.....but I didn't want any. I just wanted a shower and a beer.

May 21, 2018 Lake Caballo, NM to Socorro, NM

87.33 miles..... TRUTH AND CONSEQUENCES..... More about that later....I rolled out of our little $20 campground at 8 a.m. sharp, headed north towards Truth or Consequences, NM, on NM 187. It hasn't changed since last time I rolled through here, plenty of rolling hills. It took me about 16 miles to get through town, with beautiful weather, and a gentle tailwind. I grabbed a quick breakfast at McDonald's on the north end of town, and jumped on NM 181, which would take me about another eleven miles, past the airport, on a nice, traffic free road with more of the same rolling hills. Nice riding, actually.
TRUTH: I was concerned about this ride, because I rode as far as I have on any given day in two years, yesterday, and I was going to have to go farther today. The tailwind, and the 'cool' weather, in the 80"s, was really sweet, and my legs felt pretty good. I'm starting to get my confidence back, but today will tell me alot. Just north of the airport, I got on to interstate 25, because a bridge has been out on NM 181, since the last time I was here. It's never gonna be fixed, so I 25 it is. I got on at mile marker 89, where it is legal for bikes to enter . Besides the normal interstate fare, there are some major hills on this stretch, dipping down into the huge washes headed for the Rio Grande, and climbing back out the other side. Traffic is pretty sparse, compared to I 10. Constants for the trip, are the Rio Grande meandering down in the valley to my east, and huge mountains to the west, which for the second time in two trips, harbored some great thunderstorms that I could watch, way off in the distance. There is little to no civilization on this stretch, so Pam waited for me in a rest area at the 114 mile marker, 50 miles into the ride, so I could get some lunch. That rest area, and a small truck stop off the exit, are the only signs of human habitation, all the way to Socorro, which is why I knew that this was going to be a long one.
CONSEQUENCES:  Everything was going fine, up until this point, and even for another 15 miles or so. There were endless stretches of road, where I could see to the horizon, and there were long, gradual climbs and decents, and I was doing fine, with expected fatigue starting to set in. With 18 miles left to Socorro, I climbed to over 5000 ft, and suddenly the tailwind was gone. The sun, which had been peeking in and out of the cloudy skies, was gone. I had caught up to the storm which I had been watching all day. The wind switched to a headwind, the temps started to drop from 88 degrees. They would eventually reach 60.  I was in and out of rain for the last two hours of riding. It actually wasn't bad, being cool, and wet for the first time in years, it seemed. The final stretch into town was becoming drudgery, because I was over 80 miles riding, and I had climbed nearly 3000 ft. Easy back in the day, but I'm just trying to round into shape for this adventure. Pam got into town ahead of me, of course, and she got to see rivers of water running down the streets, as she just missed a deluge. I never got too wet, just wet enough to remember to pack a jacket next time rain is in the forecast. This is something I have forgotten about, practically.
To end the day, we Jeeped into town and had a couple of nice steak salads and microbrews. Two beers just about did me in after today's mileage. As we rode into town, I remembered being here before, and where I stayed, as well as other landmarks. US 60 comes out of the mountains here, which was another option (although much more mountainous), because it runs through Mesa, to this point, and Eastward.

May 20, 2018 Deming, NM to Lake Caballo, NM

74.75 miles.  The wind has been my friend since I got on I  10, but today it was a fickle mistress, just like my last trip through here. I started the day by hitting the McDonald's in Deming for breakfast, and in the two miles it took me to get there, I knew things were gonna just suck today. The wind did a 180, and was blowing out of the east, just the way I was headed. I felt like I was on a stationary bike, pedaling my ass off, but going nowhere. And it wasn't a gentle, morning, breeze....it was BLOWING. I  jumped off I 10, today, onto New Mexico 26, and headed in a general northeasterly fashion, beginning the northern track towards Albuquerque. The first hour on 26 was due east, and I think I made it about six miles! 26 is a beautiful road, nice shoulder, but it is more desolate than anywhere on I 10. I had a 50 mile ride ahead of me to Hatch, which is the chili pepper capital of the world. Fortunately, after those initial six miles, the road started bending ever so slightly to the north, and the wind got just a little South to it, and things weren't as terrible as I thought they might be. It was still pretty flat and desolate, until I went over a small pass, and into some beautiful agriculture, and cattle country.  Before that I passed a wind farm, with 28 turbines ( imagine that), and noticed how dusty the air was. No haboob, mind you, but there were plenty of coarse particulates in the air. Pam passed me about half way to Hatch, but didn't stop until we had discussed....in Hatch. By the time I rolled into town, after five hours, averaging 10 mph, she had been there fore a while. The place I wanted to eat, Sparky's, had a line way out the door, so we decided not to wait it out. It was Sunday afternoon, and all the joy riders were out from Albuquerque, I guess. I had a sandwich in the Rv, emptied the ice trays into my warm drinks, and was on my way in a half hour or so. And no, we didn't by any chili peppers.
Pam went one direction, and caught I 25 north to our campground, and I went another, on NM187,  for my last 25 miles, with a well deserved tailwind. The air was hot, and the WeatherBug said the humidity may have been as low as 3%. I don't think I've ever been in that ' feel', before. My ride took me through the fertile Rio Grande Valley, where I saw the chilies growing, ( they look like onions), as well as cotton, corn, alfalfa, possibly wheat, and lots of fallow fields. I crossed the Rio Grande twice, and actually saw water in a river for the first time since Tucson. I also saw two dust devil's that had tumbleweed and debris up 30-40 ft in the air. Neither one of them got me this time. I say that because this is where I got rocked by one last time I  came through. I got to our site at about 4:30. It overlooks Lake Caballo, which is a man made lake on the Rio Grande. Tomorrow's adventure has some unknowns that we have yet to figure out, so I'm not even gonna talk about it.

May19, 2018 Lordsburg NM to Deming NM

60.73 miles.  I've done this trip four times now. Once east to west (that was crazy), and this is the third time west to east. I always thought that it was a desolate piece of travel, but it really isn't. Their is a rest area 20 miles into the ride (all done on I 10, just like every mile since Tucson), I had lunch 37 miles into the ride at a Dairy Queen (with my bride) at Butterfield Station ( a tourist trap, rest area type of place), five miles down the road their was another truck stop (Petro), and a few miles after that I was in Deming. Even though I climbed over the Continental divide today ( and there was a mild  20 mile ascent,) it was barely noticeable. The wind was my friend, and I was going 20 mph at times. The shoulder was excellent except for a few spots near the towns on each end of the ride. There was a constant accompanyment of trains....I think I counted over ten, including one Amtrak. I counted 143 cars on one train, which breaks my record of 124  cars set a few days ago. I don't count cars in every passing train, but the temptation is always there. I 10 and the tracks have pretty much been parallel since Tucson.  There was always something to look at, unlike the way I felt in my previous posts about this ride, when I was just a plebe. Now I have the perspective of a grizzled veteran, but enough about that.
I am looking forward to getting off the interstate, and doing some other roads, but I may be sorry I said that, when I lose my tailwind, my slipstreams, my wide shoulders, and pick up hills, dogs, narrow curves, local drivers who don't know what I am, rough roads,  and all he other stuff that makes this an adventure. I'll get back to ya on that.

May 18, 2018 Bowie, AZ to Lordsburg, New Mexico

53.34 miles.... Riding the interstate is supposed to be boring, today's ride was very sterile....no excitement, no surprises, nice tailwind, no major climbs, even though I did go over a decent pass. More than half my ride was on the Arizona side of the pass, and I had not known of the tremendous agriculture along the San Pedro basin, which was to my right. Previous trips were earlier in April, when nothing was growing. There were mountains on both sides of me, even though I was riding a valley, except for the passes. The area seems to be known for pecans and pistachios, but I also saw some grape vines. There were dust storm warning signs on the Arizona side, but there would be no dust in the air today. It was beautiful, starting out in the 60's and topping out in the 80's, with a tame 10 mph tailwind. There was no place to stop for food or water, even though there was a nice rest area before leaving Arizona. The town of San Simon, which I remember as nothing more than a ghost town, had a Loves truck stop with a Subway, which may not have been there before, according to my previous blogs of the area.
Once over the pass, descending into New Mexico, is where the serious dust storm capabilities really amped up. The ground was as flat as flat could be, and nothing existed besides dried up prairie grass and dirt. There were actually a few cows out there, somehow surviving. I think they  really need to know that there are better places in the world to be a cow, and they were really being "bull"ied. Nevermind, it wasn't funny.
Once again, Pam stopped  along the side of the road to feed me lunch when I was getting pretty hungry, about 13 miles from our destination. She pulled over onto a wide, specially paved area where  vehicles could pull  way off the road during dust storms. Many pictures exist in previous posts of mine through the area, so I didn't do many pictures. We rolled into Lordsburg, after losing an hour from Pacific to Mountain time. We had to run an errand to the Family Dollar, because I was craving Chef Boy R Dee ravioli, our control box to our satellite dish died, and we needed to get cable so we could plug into the campground cable until we can replace it. After dealing with those priorities, we lounged at the pool, which had just opened, and the water was really really cold. I love being out of the Phoenix desert heat!

May17, 2018 Benson, AZ to Bowie, AZ

60 miles today.....got up at 5:30 a.m. to beat the heat, but I wasn't expecting 53 degree temps to greet me. I'm loving this 'high' desert stuff! It really didn't take long for the temps to heat up. I'm glad I got my 16 mile climb from the San Pedro River to the Texas Canyon rest area, on top of the Dragoon Mountains, at the beginning of the day. The entire trip today was on I -10, and the previously mentioned benefits of interstate biking held true today. I took my time on the climb.  Sometimes it was worse than others, but the climb never totally relented. Fortunately, it was followed by a 10 miles descent, which was also wind aided. A few more flat miles got me into Wilcox,  Arizona, where I stopped for lunch at a Burger King, before they were even done with the breakfast menu. I've gotta get used to this getting up early thing. After lunch, a nice half hour, break, I only had 22 miles to go to our next stop, which was the middle of nowhere town of Bowie. It was a flat, wind aided cruise into town, but my legs still are getting in shape, so they were a little beat up.
Pam and I spent our afternoon hiking and touring the Fort Bowie national monument. It is the remnants of an 1860's fort that was built in the mountains for the purpose of securing Apache Pass, and the Apache spring that provided much needed water for travelers. It's most famous for the Union soldiers battles and eventual victories over Cochise, and Geronimo, famous Apache warriors. There is a very interesting story behind it all, so our 'university of retirement' that we began in 2012, is still broadening our horizons. After a 1.5+ mile hike up the mountain to the fort, about a mile touring the perimeter, and a 1.5+ mile hike that entailed another mountain climb, I was pretty bushed. ( You've heard of walking uphill both ways to school? We actually did it today). The return trail took us up to a knoll above the Fort, then we switchbacked our way down to the wash we started out in, before the original climb to the Fort. Make sense? Oh well.
After a sandwich and a beer in a nice, local establishment in Bowie, I was once again under covers by 7:30, hoping for a nice, tailwind for tommorow.

May 16, 2018 Tucson to Benson, Arizona

43.73 miles....Now that was more like it!!!! I'm not losing it!!!! I got up at pre six a.m., and headed out the door while it was still relatively cool. It was in the sixties for a little bit, and it rose into the 90's by 9:30 am. I was 2/3 rds the the way to Benson, by then, instead of just starting out. My climb out of the Valley of the Sun continued into a third day, but I'm finally out of there. Ended the day in the 'high' desert. The Julian Wash trail led me out of Tucson, with it's gradual climb, about 60 ft a mile. After about ten miles, the trail ended, but I picked up Interstate 10 for the rest of the day. It was the perfect medicine. Even though I continued to climb to over 4200 ft, (from1300 ft in Mesa), I finally got into some rolling mountains after peaking the pass, and rolled about five miles down hill into the San Pedro River valley, and Benson. Riding on the interstate is so easy on the legs, because of the slipstream created by the 18 wheelers. I also had a tailwind, which I haven't experienced yet, on this trip.  The 8-10 ft shoulders were smooth and relatively clean of road Gators.( That's bike talk for steel belts from all the retread and tire blowouts) I love riding  on the interstate!, And there is more tommorow, because there are no other roads in this desolate area.
I beat Pam to the new campground, which was basically a field with water and electric. I sat there for about 15 minutes and Pam came rolling in about noon. If I was in shape, I would have gone on to the next town, but with this heat and the cramping issues, I am happy to get this far in good shape. We took the Jeep off the towbar and went to Karchner Cavern State Park. We toured the Cavern, which was 72 degrees and very humid, not exactly what you expect in a cave. It was an interesting tour, we learned a lot and saw beautiful formations, but weren't aloud to take pictures. We killed the afternoon doing that, hit a Denny's for supper, and I was under the covers before seven o'clock.

May 15, 2018 Hanging out in Tucson

11.0 miles.... Yes, you read it right! The last two days have ended so badly that I decided to take the day off, get this supplement out of my system, and start over the next day.  Pam took me back to the place eleven miles from the campground, and I finished my ride from yesterday, from the point of contact with the pavement to the KOA. I followed the Loop trail for the entire distance, including the beginning of the Julian Wash trail, sometimes riding in the concrete wash basin itself. I had an interesting conversation with a biker who was stopped with a flat tire. His name was Gerard, and he was a recumbent hand biker who had lost a leg. He was trying to put on a tire with a really tight bead, and had broken his tire lever. After breaking  two of mine, we realized it wasn't going to work, so he decided to call his wife. He was sitting in the middle of the trail, with the wheel off his bike, but there were no bike shops in the area, and I felt bad about leaving him stuck there. He did tell me that he was getting ready to ride from Anacortes, Washington, to Bar Harbor, Maine, which is the longest route that the adventure cyclist organization outs out maps for.( The Northern Tier route) He was going with three friends, and his wife was the SAG (support and gear) vehicle, like Pam is for me. ( But Pam is WAY more than that!!! Isn't she?) I gave him some advise, and some websites to look at, like Crazyguyonabike. We had a nice conversation, before I headed on my way.
I was relieved that I could ride eleven miles and not cramp up, but I did it. The rest of the day was spent lounging at the very nice pool, drinking a ton of fluid, and having dinner at the little BBQ restaurant at the KOA, and going to bed before 8 o'clock.

May14,2018 Picacho Peak to Tucson

, 43.06 miles.... Well, the bike ride was actually supposed to be 55 miles or so, to the Tuscon KOA, which is the nicest, most well thought out KOA that Pam can remember that we've been to. But......things didn't go so well for the second day in a row.
Started out the ride by doubling back and picking up the 1.3 miles that I bonked on yesterday. The next sixteen miles were frontage road right along Interstate 10. It wasn't bad riding, boring, but not terrible. The wind was behaving itself, and the high was only going to be 94 or so. The problem came with the consequences of yesterday's leg melting ride. The old wheels did not have any juice, and never felt quite up to par.
After the frontage road, I hit an outer suburb of Tucson, Maraña. It was all a repeat of the last time I rode through here a few years ago. I remembered the McDonald's that I stopped at, and remembered the roads like I was here yesterday. A few miles into town begins one of the most extensive paved bike trails I've ever heard of. With just a few exceptions, I was going to ride paved trails for the next 30 or 35 miles, right to the campground. It was exactly the same as it was a few years ago, with the exception of some closures for road construction. Much of the Diamond Trail that I rode on was part of this mega trail, simply called the Loop. Mostly it follows the Santa Clara River, upstream I might add, which is mostly a dry wash, but there was some nice flowing stream in one or two areas. The lower half f the trail was called the Julian Wash trail.
This should have been a breeze to ride, but I had been riding uphill, almost (99%) since I left Mesa, even though the grade was discernable only to my legs, not my eyes. Well, things deteriorated quickly with the hangover my legs were suffering from yesterday. Weakness caused me to have a really difficult time pedaling up the smallest of grades, like when I would go under a crossing road. There were many of those, but there was no traffic to negotiate. About 35 measly miles into my ride, cramping symptoms began to appear, and I really slowed it down. Experience has taught me that when u start to cramp, take my shoes out of the bike clips. That way if I get severe leg cramps, I'll be able to stop easier. ( See entry from North rim of the grand canyon a few years ago when I cramped, couldn't unclip, and just tipped over on the side of the road.) That was a learning experience I will never forget. That experience paid off, as both my legs went into cramps with about eleven miles to go on the ride. I delicately laid my bike down, and fell into the asphalt trail, to work out two major leg cramps. Before I got off the ground, I texted Pam and told her to come get me, AGAIN!
I walked the bike about a half mile to a little park, sat in the shade under a picnic area, and talked to a homeless guy till Pam got there. He was having some problems with his bike, so gave him a zip tie to fix something, and we became best friends. Tucson is swarming with homeless people, along the bike trails, and in every community park.
  I rode home in the Jeep for the second day in a row, wondering what the hell is going on. I have been taking a GNC supplement for the two days we've been traveling, trying to gain an advantage, but hopefully if I stop taking it, things will get back to normal. I know not to try new things without experimenting first, but hopefully I've learned a lesson, and that is my problem. If not, it's going to be a long trip across the country!

2018 Bicycle trip across America

68.57 miles today.....Mesa, AZ to Picacho Peak, AZ.  Wow! It was a rough start, or should I say finish, to the days ride, but more about that later. After climbing the walls for a week while we waited to get the Rv out of the shop, we finally got on the road. Training hasn't been going so well because the entire week before leaving was in the mid100's.  Some days were record setting heat, even by the desert standards. I chose not to ride in that kind of conditions, and the week before that was spent in Hawaii, where I did manage to rent a bike for a couple of confidence building rides. It obviously wasn't enough, but more about that later.                         The day started off with a decent headwind, and 8:00 am temperatures in the 80's. The first 20 miles felt pretty good, throughout Queen Creek and San Tan Valley, which are basically suburbs of the Phoenix metro area. I stopped and had a burger and a Coke, before I really wanted it, but I had a feeling things might get pretty desolate between San Tan and our final destination. Good thing I did, because there was not one, single place to get a drink for hours. As the day went on, the temps kept inching up, but the killer was the headwind. It was beating up my legs pretty good, as the heat also topped out at about 97. There was a road construction detour at the edge of San Tan, that took me about four miles out of my way. Then, my GPS girl took me on a sketchy looking road, Chin Road to be exact, that turned into a damn dirt road. There were 'no trespassing'  signs, and 'open pit' signs, but I figured 'what the hell,' and kept on going. Turns out I was on  Indian reservation land, the Gila tribe to be exact, and they don't believe in pavement because it scars their sacred land. The road bounced between big gravel, deep sand, and being totally unidentifiable. It was my first 'adventure' of the trip. I saw a coyote and a road runner, and kept my eye out for the feral dogs that reservations are known for.( I do have my bear spray and a Bear Gryllis knife with me). That road went on for about five miles of very slow progress, sometimes walking through deep sand. I even walked through the bed of the Gila River, which of course is just a dry wash.  It was taking way longer than I wanted this ride to take, so I didn't stop in the town of Coolidge, home of the Casa Grande ruins.  That would be my last sign of civilization until Picacho Peak. The damn wind was howling into my face at this point, as I got on a frontage road along I 10, which I would follow to the campground where Pam was already set up and enjoying some downtime at the pool.  About 5 pm, when I should have been in the pool, I was still struggling along, waterless, into a side wind. I started getting crampy, and I knew that wasn't good. I only had about five miles to go when I texted Pam and warned her that I might cramp up and need a ride. I muscled it through some minor leg lock, until I got hit with the big one. I called for Pam to bail me out, so she had to detach the Jeep from the Rv and come and get me. I tried riding while I waited, but that didn't go too well. By the time she came, which was pretty quickly, I was 1.35 miles from the campground, but couldn't finish. Boy, did that piss me off.  I lost seven pounds as I pounded into that damn wind, and turned into a salt pillar with the seven percent humidity of the day. But that's what I signed up for. Pam made spaghetti and meat sauce, fed me, hydrated me, and didn't laugh to much when those occasional cramps would bite into my leg.
On another note,  the sight of our campground just happened to be in the sight of the western most battle of the War between the States. I guess Arizona toyed with being a member of the Confederacy, and a small group of blue coats and gray coats had a little gunfire, therefore making it the western most battle of the War.