Day 7 Saturday, June 16, 2007

Today was the flattest day of this PAC Tour - From Roswell NM to Hereford (Cow Capital of the World) TX. Here is a picture of Eric and I at the starting parking lot in Roswell.

We had the typical mass start, but without any real climbing there was nothing to break the group of 47 into smaller groups. So.... I tolerated the big group as long as I could before going to the front and putting some distance on them, then letting them catch you and repeating the process. Eventually it splits up. I rode with the group that would probably finish first but that pace was a little fast (no climbs for me). They left me but stopped at the 22 mile sag area and I continued alone. They caught me after a while and I went through one rotation with them and let them go. They stopped at the 41 mile sag area but I went on alone again. I wondered where Eric was. They caught me again and that's the last I saw of them for the day.

Here is what the first half of the day looked like - rumble strips and a nice smooth wide shoulder in New Mexico.
Here is a way too common site for cyclists. We have to dodge these tire pieces all the time, in addition to the radial tire wires that often cause flats.

After this, near the 63 mile sag area another group caught me and Eric was there. We pulled into the stop and left pretty much with just three of us, Eric, Charles Breer and myself. This was a nice group. Eric was glad to be rid of the larger group he was in and I was glad to actually join a group of three. Eventually we picked up Tom Lawrence and after a while Ed Pabst. We worked well together on this flat day that really didn't fit my style. Here is the Texas state line.

Here is the Welcome to Texas sign. The road after this had this 8 foot wide shoulder and had been recently paved, but they forgot to pave the shoulder, pretty much making it to hard to ride on. What a pity.

Texas has lots of cows and feedlots to hold them in. The smells are much more intense than even Greeley CO in the old days.

One pleasant surprise of the day was when Mike and Tonya Gelder drove by. Tonya stuck her head out the window and called my name. They the followed us a while and eventually stopped at the next sag are after Clovis. It was great to see them. Mike and I went to two years if high school in Los Lunas NM and he was my best man at my wedding. Thanks Mike and Tonya.

They next few days are long ones (180, 206, 178 and 180 miles). Those days will take us through OK and most the way through AR. Stay tuned.