Now entering New Mexico

The ride today was a huge turnaround from the past two days. I started at sunrise, and was in the sixth spot of an eight person pace line. In rowing or cycling, six seat is the best place to be. I learned from the day before to stay with a group, so I rode with Emma and Eliza from first lunch to the finish. Today was a 93 mile day, 92 of those miles were on one road. But as soon as we cross into New Mexico, the scenery changed. I don’t think any of us liked Texas, as we had two harsh ride days in Texas and the conditions were really tough. But New Mexico had dunes, mountains, volcanoes to gaze at. The goal was to get in to the host site as early as possible to 1) nap and 2) avoid the worst of the sun. The wind was more of a nuisance than a threat, like it was in Oklahoma. Emma, Eliza, and I cruised anywhere from 12-18 mph.

The best part of the day were two trains that passed alongside the road. They blocked out the crosswind, and allowed us to draft. Wow, it was so nice to be reminded that with the wind absent, I can actually double my speed. I rode along the trains as long as I could, and stayed with each for three miles. We felt so revitalized. There were generally good vibes all around, and we joked about playing a game called Guess That Roadkill.

We started at 6:20am, and made it into the host site at 1:50pm. We rode the 93 miles for 6 hours and 48 minutes total. I got my nap, and showered first too. It felt great to be able to get into the host site, because yesterday I was picked up, and the day before that it took sweep twelve hours (twice as long) to ride the same mileage.

I really like New Mexico and wish we were staying here longer. We left Spearman, Texas at an elevation of just under 4000 feet. The elevation here in Des Moines, New Mexico is over 6600. So today we actually did a lot of climbing, but I hardly noticed because I was in good company. Now, however, I have a shorter breath and am coughing a lot. My hometown’s elevation is 187, so this is quite a change for me!