Day 12: Thursday 6/21/07 - (WITH PICTURES NOW) Into Mississippi

Note: Last night's motel internet connection didn't allow me to upload any pictures. The pictures here were added 6/22/07, the day after.

Today was 156 miles from Pine Bluff AR to Batesville MS. The morning started out t 6:30 AM with a very comfortable temperature, but still muggy. Once again Lon started us off in three groups separated by 1 minute each. Once again the usual people joined the fast group. In this group was Mark Pattinson, Peter Beeson, Charles Breer, Eric Hallam, myself and about seven others. The group pretty much stayed the same for the first half of the day. Eric however did a few things like skipping or shortening a stop so he could do some standing, rather than just sit a spin a high cadence which can get tiresome for the legs and the butt.

The group was about twelve people, each taking their turn at the front. I was in the second from the back position and heard a bike in front of me kick up some sort of object. Then it seemed as though I was caught up in something. Eventually I knew it – something was caught in my front wheel and it was going round and round through my fork. I got the bike stopped without going down. We had to remove the front wheel and untangle two pieces of heavy duty construction wire, like the mesh for reinforcing concrete. It bent two spoke pretty bad and the wheel was out of true. We opened the brakes enough to ride without rubbing and I got a substitute wheel at the next sag stop.

Wheel damage is one thing, but the repeated scraping from the rotating wires really messed up my beautiful Serotta F3 fork. I suppose that is one of the accepted hazards of riding in a pace line group when not every piece of debris can be pointed out in time to avoid it (particularly if you are near the back).

Somewhere along the way I snapped this self portrait. Maybe I'm not smiling because I'm starting to get mouth sores.

Lon and Susan went out together for the first time on their tandem (that I know of). Both of them have individually won the Race Across America (RAAM) and together on their tandem. The group (without Eric who had gone out ahead of the tandem at a break and was already with the tandem) went kind of wild in a chase for the tandem. Eventually we caught the tandem, largely do to Mark Pattinson’s influence. Then we were at the lunch stop. I was fast to fill bottles and grab a bite, but the fast group left while I was in an actual sit-down toilet facility. They might have waited but I didn’t tell anyone where I was (three minutes) and Eric wasn’t sure, so… Eric, Jeff Linder, Ed Pabst and I left together with no hope of catching the lead group. Eventually the lead group finished at 3:16 PM and we finished at 3:45 PM. Eric came in at his own pace at 4:05 PM.

Lon replaced the most badly damaged spoke after we got in (two pictures below).

Many of my pictures the last two days have been out of focus, particularly the longer focus distances. I’ve been carrying my camera in a Lowe case mounted to by handlebar stem for easier access while riding. I think the vibration may have damaged the camera. I’ll have to see what deal I can work out with Eric so I can use his camera sometimes in exchange for him using my PC to upload and do his blogging. No easy or convenient solution. Maybe I’m hosed from here on out?

Day 11: Wednesday June 20, 2007 - First there were Twelve.

Today was 175 miles from Mena AR to Pine Bluff AR. Once again they started us in three groups separated by one minute each. There were 12 in our "fast" group. After a while there were 8. After lunch there were 5. We worked together and got in at 4:39 PM. So... we rode 10 hour and 9 minutes finishing first and getting our names on the whiteboard - Mark Pattinson, Charles Breer, Peter Beeson, Ed Pabst and Vernon Smith. A lot of things were wet from the day before so I didn't take any pictures. Temperatures were in the 90's with high humidity.

Day 10: Tuesday, June 19, 2007 - Glad to be Alive!

Today was Day 10 of 17 days across the country. We went 178 miles from Ada AR to Mena AR. It was the second largest amount of vertical gain (10,100 feet) with 8,000 of that starting at around mile 120 for the last 50 miles. This is more gain than riding from Loveland CO (5,000 feet) to the top of Trail Ridge Road (12,183 feet). Before we got too far down the road I snapped this flower picture.

The first 120 miles was a lot of group work. Then the climbing started. This was probably the hardest, hottest, most humid, steepest, coldest, most rain, most lightning and thunder section of 50 miles (given that it started after mile 120) than I have ever done. You only needed two gears - big chainring with small cog, and small chainring with big cog.

I am glad to be alive after this day! First the heat on the lower part of the climb, then the torrential rain and hail mixed with lightning and booming thunder. Mark Pattinson and I started the Talimena Parkway together. The first to get there. I lost contact with him on the second climb. The whole parkway is a series of steep climbs and steep descents on a low traffic road that follow the ridge of the mountains. I'm used to climbing, but not in these hot and muggy conditions. After the one three-mile section of 7-15% grades my legs didn't even want to work going downhill. I rained briefly which made it temporarily cooler. Charles Breer pulled into the "picture taking" sag area as I was pulling out. Then he passed me just before the last checkpoint. I was hoping for more rain. I skipped the last checkpoint not knowing whether or not Charles had stopped there.

Then the skies got dark. The wind came up. Sheets of rain began. Then the lightning and thunder started. I figured I'd try to ride through it and get down to lower elevations. There was lightning all around. After I couldn't see any more and was unsure if I could keep the bike upright a strike seemed to hit just up the road. I got off the bike and left it in the grass and ran to the lower side of the road.

I started practicing the crouching position they suggest for lightning storms. I had no rain gear at all. I was soaked and getting cold. Thoughts of hypothermia came into my mind. I ate everything in my jersey pockets to put some calories in. I began marching in-place in an attempt to generate some heat and prevent my hamstring from cramping. The lightning and rain continued. After about 60 minutes I still hadn't seen any one go by and figured the lightning was a bit farther away. At one point I ran out to put the bike closer to the road so if they came looking for me they could start there. I ventured out an began riding hoping some climbing would warm me up. It was still raining.

While all this was going on Eric Hallam had made his way to the sag van and took shelter inside. He took the really cool video on his digital camera. It shows just how intense the storm was. This video post is using an experimental version of of the blogger software just made available. Play around clicking the big "play" triangle in the middle of the picture and/or the small "play" triangle at the lower left part of the video.

A mile farther down the road, a car honked at me as it was coming out from the Inn that is up on the Parkway. They said two of my friends were up there in the Inn and thinking of getting a room. Later I found out they bought some jackets to wear. I continued down the road with a few remaining climbs and finished safely as the second person in that night. Here is a shot of my had after I got into the hotel. I looks like it was under water for hours!

The end of an exciting day.

Day 9 Monday 6/18/07

Today was 206 miles from Sayre OK to Ada OK. A LONGGGGGGGGGGG and WINDDDDDDDDY day. They were head winds and cross winds. We have yet to see (except for the day I came in first with Mark Pattinson) any tail winds or the supposedly prevailing west to east winds. There was even a windmill farm and they only put those where the wind is sure to blow. Charles Breer, Eric Hallam and I exited the big group earlier today than previous days. I think everyone was fearing the wind and the long day and the riders spread out clear across the road - all looking for a place to get some shelter from the wind. It was too much for us so we let them go and we went it alone.

It must have been crazy because Brad Haslam apparently went down (crashed) and dislocated his knee cap and fractured it as well. He went to the hospital and is out of the tour. I don't know the full circumstances. Brad is from the Albuquerque area and there was a picture of him in his puffed out orange jacket (but no face visible) in my blog posting yesterday.

The following picture is proof for my wife that even on rides like this, we get off our bikes and take time to view the local sites. There were tarantulas walking all over the road! We also saw lots of turtles - some alive and many smashed, and several armadillos - all smashed.


It was very humid today as well as windy like I mentioned but temperature in the high 80's or low 90's were fairly comfortable.

Tomorrow is 174 miles from Ada OK to Mena AR with 10,100 feet of climbing (a lot for this tour). 8,000 of it is packed into the last 50 miles of rollers. Should make for some good fun.

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....

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.

Day 6 Friday, June 15, 2007

Be sure to also check out:
Erics blog at http://teamhallam.blogspot.com
and George's blog at http://georgemetzler.blogspot.com


Today was 172 miles from Socorro NM to Roswell NM. There was a headwind at the beginning which made everybody worried. Eric and I rode the whole day together with only monor separations when I was having a good time climbing or on the aerobars. We knew Mark was out in front and that Ed Pabst went with him. However, we say Ed leave the 107 mile lunch stop alone. After Eric and I left, Eric's tire flatted with a bang. He had sidewall damage with a 1 cm gash in it which we booted with two $1 bills. While doing so Tom passed us. We caught Tom and continued. We daw a rider in the distance which we hoped was Ed. We worked hard (three of us now) to chase him down. With a really good effort we caugt him as we enterred Roswell and the four of us finished as the second "group" in - Only Mark, the guy I finished first with the previous day, came in before us.

Today was also "laundry day". On the Elite tour they do it for us. We drop it of in the AM in mesh bags and we get it back 3/4 dry in the PM.


Here is one of the "hand wash stations" - a jug with soapy water and a roll of paper towels combined. Do not violate the gloves off and wash before touching anything rule.


Today was all New Mexico - the land of the yucca plant.

After Carrizozo we entered the lava fields. The picture does not do it justice but it is pretty neat.

Eric hasn't won his "first group in" tattoo for his left calf, so he improvised and put a chainring tattoo on his right calf.

After our finish at 4:02 PM, Tom Lawrence, Ed Pabst, Eric Hallam and Vernon Smith. That was 172 miles in 10:02 for an average speed (including stops) of 17.2 mph. Our actual riding time was 9:14 so... we spent 48 minutes off the bike. Yesterday I averaged 20.8 mph and at least a part of that was that in the 7.5 hour ride I spent only 14 minutes off the bike. Moving at zero mph during a lunch stop really hurts the average time.