Reporting on: Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Riding Route: from Holbrook, AZ to Gallup, NM

Temp: 80's/Wind: 10-15 mph

Elevation Climb: 3300 feet

Miles Ridden Today: 86 miles

Another GREAT day of riding! We crossed our second state line (picture above). Not only did we change states - we changed time zones! One of the traditions we do at each crossing is to stop at the sign and leave a little Manhattan Beach, CA sand by the posts for good luck! So far it's working!

We headed out on Highway 40 today leaving Holbrook and the dry/barren eastern AZ lands behind us. We passed the entrance to the Petrified National Forest and headed into New Mexico and the Painted Desert area. Almost immediately we began to see beautiful rock formations. This area is an amazingly scenic and colorful expanse of undulating mounds and unusual eroded rocks covering 4000 acres hidden away in this high desert (picture above). It stretches from the Petrified Forest to the Grand Canyon. It's amazing!

In my spare time my mind was working...so I'll share some calculations with you. So far we've ridden 708 miles! I think I've averaged 15 mph and am accomplishing 72 revolutions per minute. All that equates to 205,000 pedaled strokes! I must have too much spare time on my hands, huh?

I want to let you know how the ole' body is holding up: Basically I'm doing great. The problem most of us are having is that our fingers go numb from leaning on the handle bars. It's easy to lose strength in the hands if we're not constantly moving them. My neck gets sore from keeping my head tilted while keeping my eyes on the white line and watching out for debris. Last, but certainly not least, my lower back and "butt" hurt unless I keep moving around on the seat. All of us are experiencing that feeling! I have to tell my geriatric friends that overall I'm representing you well!

They had predicted afternoon thunderstorms again today - so I headed out with the "A" team this morning and stayed on the move all day. My stops were short & we kept on the move. It paid off - because we arrived at the hotel about 1:30 - well ahead of the rain. To my great surprise my good friends from Sacramento, Tom Hessler and Jacque Conway, met me at the hotel and we had dinner together. I'm sure there was a look of disbelief on my face when I saw them! A real double take!

Above is a picture of me taken with Karen Netherton - who along with me is a member of the Sacramento Wheelmen Riding Club. We met several times before the ride and did a century ride together in the buttes of northern California a couple of weeks before we began this journey. She's a free spirit - and having a great time!

Tomorrow I plan to crank it out again - because the afternoon thunderstorms are a real possibility again. They seems to go with this territory!