Day 8: Sunday June 17, 2007

Today was 180 miles from Hereford TX to Sayre OK. A pretty flat ride. We actually had a plan for riding partners today. Peter Beeson, Charles Breer, Eric and I decided we would try to keep an eye on each other during early part of the ride where it's impossible to get into a small group, and then ride together after things got sorted out. Well... it was so flat that riding in the big group was rather easy. Everyone kept a fairly steady pace without the typical accelerations and decelerations.

Today was also a nice cool day, 62 degrees when we started - very comfortable. Hard to believe especially since the start was in Texas. During the early part of the day I snapped this picture just for my Kirtland and Sandia cycling friends in Albuquerque. It seems people from Albuquerque always need to dress warmer than everyone else. This is Brad Haslam from the Albuquerque area. It was the only jacket I saw today. In Brad's case the jacket was catching a lot of air and looked more like something you would see at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. A lot of today's ride was along historic Route 66. That's Eric Hallam in the far background.
Charles Breer said this was the most photographed building on Route 66 so, of course, I had to take my own picture of it. Sandiway Fong is in the foreground.

This next picture was probably in Oklahoma along Route 66. On the left is Richard Waugh (from Cleveland) and the other rider is Peter Beeson (from Seattle).

Tomorrow is the tour's longest day at 206 miles from Sayre OK to Ada OK. Long but not long compared to the 400 km (250 mile) brevet we do back home routinely. Until then....