Day 5 Thursday 6/14/07

How time flies! It's so hard to even remember what day of the week it is or what town we stayed in last night. Either that means I'm losing my memory (maybe I never had any) or that I'm enjoying myself away from work, meetings and an Outlook calendar!

Anyway, today was another good day. We did 156 miles from Springerville AZ to Socorro NM. It was cold enough at 6 AM in Springerville that some people started in arm warmers of light jackets. Not me. We had a good fraction of our climbing in the first 11 miles in a total day of only 4,000 feet.

I had a massage the night before so my legs felt good. But I kept going to just under my lactate threshold and would have to back off. Just listen to the legs! Eventually there were only 2-4 riders out in front of me and I was riding alone. I passed up the first sag area (22 miles) without stopping. Saw a couple riders in there. They saw me. This ride isn't a race, but cyclists tend to be competitive even so. Besides, They put the names of the riders in the first finishing group on the white board and give you a tattoo (supposedly to put on your left calf to mark you the next day for other riders). It washes off so don't worry Robin.

So... they came out to "hunt" me down (PeterBeeson and Mark Pattinson) . They caught me. At the next sag area (49 miles) I stopped as Peter was leaving. I was quick to refill food and drink. I left with Peter. Still didn't really know how many were ahead, but suspected not many since Mark is usually the first one in at the end of the day.

After a bit, I pulled away from Peter. I passed the third sag area (71 miles) without stopping. A rider saw me go by. Two miles later I stopped to snap the following two picture at the 7,729 foot continental divide just inside the New Mexico state line. Mark passed me like I was standing still! Looks like my helmet needs adjusting.

The next picture shows my Serotta Ottrott ST bike. It is a pleasure to ride and is working well.

I stopped at the lunch area and Mark was about to leave. He asked me if I wanted to go. Susan (one of the organizers) said if I wanted to get on the white board that Mark was number one and I was there too. It only took a second to decide, but it was a rad decision - the soft tortillas and fixins looked VERY good. So I said yes and grabbed what I could stuff in my mouth and got some more water etc. and left with Mark. We traded leads for the next 65 miles - although his were always stronger and faster. It was a risk to go with him and somewhat of a gift (although I did work for him too), but it was an opportunity worth taking. And it worked. We didn't get caught. We came in at 1:30 PM, riding 156 miles in 7.5 hours (average pace with stops of 20.8 mph). Where is my tattoo?

The next picture show the Syntace C2 aerobars that I am so glad I put on for this ride. I've never used them before but it was a wise choice. I spent probably 90% of the day in them (you put your forearm near your elbows on the pads and hold onto the ends). It relieves stress on your hands by giving yo a new position. I've done reasonably well with them even in some crosswind.

This picture is looking down at the route card, aerobars and speedometer. I'm getting better at snapping pictures on the move. Yes, it says 24.5 mph (but don't tell Robin).

For the people at work, ask Tony Kay if he knows the significance of the next picture. There are two white objects in the picture that should interest him (kind of small in my view - can you double click to enlarge). Anyway, this is part of the Very Large Array of radio telescopes between Pie Town and Magdalena. Supposedly this is where they shot part of the "Contact" movie with Jodi Foster. We didn't see any intelligent life all day though!

The map here shows our progress. We are 772 miles into the the 2800 miles (28%).

Here is the white board with my name as one of the people in the first finishing group.

Here are Eric (L) and Ed Pabst (R) while we wait in the shade for our room keys to be but in the basket and room numbers marked in the white board out at the PAC Tour trailer.

Here is what we all like to do after the pedal turning stops. Put your feet up in the air to drain the lactic acid. There are my feet.

Something else they do very well on PAC Tour (and people comply) is that they have a water jug filled with a soap/water mix and everyone is required to remove their gloves and wash upon entering a sad area before they get near the food. I'm sure you will want to tune in tomorrow, same time, same station to see a picture of how they combine the jug with the paper towel roll!