Since I'm feeling a lot better, I'm going to try to start writing more each day. The first few days I just didn't have the energy to write much.
I started the day out ten miles in to the trip with a flat tire. Riding in to the sun I missed something on the road, hit it hard, and got a pinch flat. The guys I was with, Will, Jeremiah and Mark, waited for me and helped me change it fast and we still finished first and got here before hotel keys were ready. We had nice tailwinds almost the whole way and not much climbing so that helped a lot. We left Winslow at 6:30 and got here at 2:00. The landscape was the same the whole day, desert scrub and rolling with some larger trees once we got close to Springerville. Even though it was a short day at 120 miles, we went from 5000 feet at Winslow to 7000 feet here in Springerville. It's nice and cool and dry here, very nice.
Unfortunately, we have lost three riders. I believe the first two just couldn't do the riding and the third one, Jim, crashed today in Holbrook and broke his collarbone. A crosswind caught him and he went down. It sheared off one of his crank arms as well. It was too bad because from what I saw, he was strong enough to have made it to Tybee. When he crashed, another rider behind him crashed and hit his head; luckily the helmet protected him.
In El Centro, one of the two big Pactour vans blew its engine. So for the last several days they have only had the one big van and the one trailer because the other trailer was in El Centro with the broken down van. It was finally fixed and crew member Paul met up with us in Winslow last night. Pactour really did a great job for those three days in spite of that handicap. The only thing I noticed different was we didn't have hot lunches but as hot as it was for those three days, that was okay.
I'm settling in to my routine now and getting stronger. Getting out of the 100 degree heat has been a big help. When I get out of the heat and get my hydration and food right as I am now, there is almost no limit to how far I can ride. The goal now is to stay out of accidents and just keep eating and drinking. Tomorrow is a 156 mile ride to Socorro New Mexico. We'll climb up to the Continental Divide at around 8000 feet and then a long descent to Socorro 4600 feet. With a tailwind it will not be a hard day; with a big headwind with no trees to block the wind, it could be a really long day.
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