Gooooooooooood Mooooooorning Ft. Wayne and all the ships at sea,

Greetings from the great state of New Mexico, Santa Fe to be exact. It is 6:15 Saturday morning, May 29. I still awaken at 5:45 Ft. Wayne time which, now that we are in the mountain time zone, means that I awaken at 4:45 instead of 3:45. Taking advantage of that fact, I am at a Kinko's that is open 24 hours a day and needless to say, I have the place to myself. The version of AOL they have on the machine doesn'thave spell check, so I apologize now.

Contrary to Chuck's opinion, I do know that the left pedal has a left hand screw, and even if I didn't, Jim Cron is smarter than me and would have. Anyhow, thanks for the notes from those of you that have sent me emails.

Monday, May 24 Flagstaff to Holbrook 95 miles
For all the sweat that had gotten me to Flagstaff, I reaped the benefits today. As Phil Snider has talked ahbout taking a loan out from the wind bank, I had been depositing into the wind and hill bank. Slight tail wind and we were going from almost 7000 feet down to about 3000 feet in Holbrook. What a day for riding. Got to the first sag at about 45 miles and had averaged about 20 mph without working at it. It was 28 degrees when I turned on the weather channel. Made a rapid recalculation about what I would be wearing. Got out my toe warmers, long fingered gloves, long sleeved tee shirt and tights. I thought about Roger Kingsbury and how miserable he would be today because he does not like the cold. Back onto the interstate, good riding except for the junk from the blown truck tires. Took off the tights, and all the other cold weather gear at the sag and put it aboard the sag wagon. Caught up with the lead group, they left the sag before I did, but a little hammering closed the gap. Into Winslow, Arizona were we all took pictures, "standing on the corner on Winslow, Arizona", complete with a mural of a "stake bed Ford slowing down to take a look at me", on the far wall. Riding with a neat group of three other riders. We are way off the front, so we stopped at a Sonic Drive in, complete with curb service, and had a strawberry shake. Wind starting to come around from the east and I did most of the pulling. Then, it finally happened, I had my first flat of the trip. I had picked up one of the wires that make up the cords in the truck tires. They are all over the shoulder and I had avoided most of them. Some folks had had as many as 4 or 5 flats each day, so I was doing well. We have a pool, everyone threw in a buck, for anyone who gets to Boston wihtout a flat. I am now out. We were just exiting the ramp into Holbrook when I went flat again. Couldn't find anything in my tire, but figure it was another piece of wire. We are out of the pine forests of the mountains and back in the wide open spaces with buttes and mesas in the distance. We saw a thunderstorm across the valley, just an isolated one with the rain falling, but not making it to the ground.

Tuesday May 25 Holbrook to Gallup 86 miles
It was 55 degrees, but felt colder. Decided to wear tights and long sleeved t-shirt again. With the sagvehicle to drag my trash, there is no liability if you have too much gear, you can drop it off later. Wind out of the south, so it is a cross wind, but very strong. Blowing the bike around a bit. Back on I-40. Starting getting into some deep canyons with the wall going up beside us. Very pretty colors and alot of signs of wind and water erosion in the rocks. Needless to say, alot of dry creek beds below us as well as the canyon walls along side of us. Very pretty. Wind continued to blow, very strong. Into the second sag stop and I waited for another rider to come along as I had forgotten my camera again and I wanted to get a picture at the New Mexico state line crossing. Got the picture and then off on my own again as the fellow did not want to go very fast. Wind following the canyon we are in and it is now behind us. Last 18 miles at about 20 to 25 mph. In early enough that I went down the street and did laundry, updated my log, had lunch and wrote some postcards. Isolated thunderstorms in the area and the wind is unbelievabley strong. It blew me down the street to the laundromat, fortunately it subsided by the time I went back to the motel. Nap once I was back at the motel and then to dinner and bed at 9:30. Some of the folks had been hung up for 2 hours waiting for some of the storms to pass during the day. Such is the reason I like to get going in the morning and get into the motel and then do my relaxing.

Wednesday, May 26 Gallup to Grants
I have never even heard of this town before. Started out near the end of the pack and quickly moved through them. Back on the interstate. We climbed up to the Continental Divide. Only about 30 miles to Grants, so dawdled at the sag. Others came in and we took pictures in front of the Conestoga Wagon with the elevation and the notation that we were at the Continental Divide. Four of us took off together, to include two new guys who had joined us in Flagstaff for only a week. Slight down hill with an slight east wind, so we set up a pace line and got it cranking into the mid 20's. One of the new guys had a flat, so we stopped to fix it and just as we were finishing, a group of three joined us. We were now off the interstate on some great low traffic road so we set up a double pace line at about 20. Very comfortable and very enjoyable. Road got even better as it came down out of the higher elevation and turned into a four lane road so we were able to use the whole right lane for our doulble. Must have looked cool to the passenger train that went by with people looking out of the observation car. Into the motel at about 11:30. This really is starting to feel like bike touring. The days are not as long and the route and the environment are not as arduous or hostile. That first week really was tough!! We had lunch and then it was time for.....that's right, naps. My roomates are shaving their heads as the stubble was beginning to bother them, but as soon as they finished, all were asleep. Got a call in the late afternoon from Dave and Steve, the two Colorado guys I had ridden across the desert with. Their families were joing them in Santa Fe on our rest day, and now they found out the families would be in Thursday night. Not wanting to spend a night only 55 miles,by the interstate, not the route, away from them, they wanted to know if I would pull them to Albuquerque so their legs would be fresh for the climb to Sante Fe after the 76 to Albuquerque. I told them I would do what I could. Should be a fun day tommorrow. Time to hammer.

Thursday, May 27 Grants to Albuquerque 76 miles
Cool, but warmer than day before. I took off my long sleeved t-shirt just before we left and put it in my bag. Left my tights on as I want to keep my knees warm. Cool, crisp and no wind. We are out of the motel at 6:50 as we had gotten our tires pumped and prepped early. No one but my roomates and us know what the plan is. I took the lead, we are on old Route 66, not the interstate for the first 30 miles. I got warmed up and set a moderate pace, with Dave and Steve in tow. Made it to the first sag stop before the sag wagon was there, averaged 20.5 for the first 30 miles. Not bad considereing I was doing all of the pulling.

Sag stop was at a store, so we went in and got food and water. One of the staff who had wanted to ride with us, the exercise physiologist who is a cat 4 racer, came in just as we were leaving. He had been hammering to catch us. We decided not to tell him what we were doing, but I could sure use the help as the wind was coming up and it was out of the southeast. We entered the interstate again and he and I rotated, we told him the other two were not feeling well. Not sure what we were going to do with him when we got to Albuquerque, but that problem solved itself when he said he wanted to stretch at the second sag stop and we left him. Just as we were entering the freeway, one of the fellows had a flat. He pulled 3 pieces of wire out ot the tire, I found a fourth. Off we went, with me in the lead for the last 15 miles into Albuquerque. I got to my turn off, but wanted to try to help them some more and it was only 11:30 so continued to pull up the hiway. Huge long descent into Albuquerque. They really did not need my help, but Dave had a second flat. He had a spare foldable so we decided to put it on. Really tight fit. We struggled mightly but finally succeeded. We continued on, only to find that the exit to I-25, which they were going to take north to Santa Fe instead of the longer trip route, was a left hand exit. No way we could cross 4 lanes of heavy traffic. They exited and I continued on as the cue sheet, which I was way off of , mentioned going under I-40, so I figured I coud intercept the route. Unbelievably heavy traffic, and the real heart stopper was when I had to cross where I-25 merged with I-40. I did not care where I was, I got off at the next exit, the traffic was just too heavy and fast. Found out I was only abut a mile and a half away from the hotel. I actually stopped and asked directions, so there! Still got in at 12:30. I used their room as it had already been paid for, so I got a single for anextra day. They called about 5:30 to say they had gotten in and were okay, so I told the tour director about it so they would not worry. They were not upset, but we figured it was easier to ask forgiveness than permission.

Friday, May 28, Albuquerque to Sante Fe 67 miles.Climb City!!
We rode out of Albuquerque, which seemed like a pretty nice town, and after about 15 miles it was time to climb. First a 5 mile climb, followed by a 1.2, then a 3.7, followed by a 7.2. We are off of the interstate and the scenery is just beautiful. Into small cedar trees and hills and long views over the valleys to the mountains. Riding with just shorts and a jersey, but I alternate with being cold and sweating profusely from the climbs. I started out late and passed alot of folks as we climbed, but figured folks were in front of me. Got to the first sag and found that only one fellow was in front of me. He was one of the new kids who joined us in Flagstaff and this was his last day. He wanted to hammer and waited for me before he left the sag. I had no desrie to work hard, because I was a bit tired from the previous day and since we had a rest day in Santa Fe, had no reason to get in real early. I dropped him off the front on a downhill, guess I can't descend well!!!. Very pretty day and the terrain changed again as we came into Santas Fe. Into scrub desert and very cool. Put a jacket on to walk across the street for dinner. It never seems to amaze me though. If the ride is 55 miles, 65, 105 or 200, the last 10 miles are always tough. Thought I would fall asleep on the bike the last couple of miles. In about 12:30, walked down the street to a Denny's for a real breakfast of eggs, bacon and hashbrowns. Back to the room for nap time. Worked with the mechanic on my bike after route rap as my right shifter is hanging up a bit. He relaly got into it and we endied up doing some cleaning and polishing. Put on my new cleats. Hd hope to get a few hundered miled more when we started and got almost 1000, so I am pretty happy.

Well, that's about it folks. The stomach has settled down, the route has gotten a bit easier, my legs have stopped hurting and life is good. Things are going well and I thank you for all your good thoughts and wishes. Next rest day is June 8 in Abilene, Kansas. I will try to find a place to send mail between now and then, but won't promise. I will be thinking of my bike club buddies on Monday when you will be doing the fabled Hicksville Hundred.

Later,
Earnie