Day 14 - Walsenburg to Clayton, NM

Today was the longest day of the tour. We clocked 156 miles as we rolled into town this afternoon. Actually, I had to ask someone that as I managed to fry my bike computer yesterday so I'm riding naked so to speak.

Talking about not knowing what's going on, I also had a hard time remembering where we stayed last night and where we are now. Imagine how surprised I was to find out today is Saturday too.

This trip is becoming a bit like Groundhog Day. Get up at 0 dark thirty, shower, caffeinate in the hotel and then go to the parking lot for breakfast. Ride till lunchtime where we get yummy food and then ride until 3, 4 or 5pm depending on the weather, climbing, distance... Then it's time to shower, wash bike clothes and find some food. After that, back to the room to post pictures, blog, watch tv for a few minutes and then be in bed lights out for 9pm... When I said this to a good friend of mine, she said but you look like you are having a great time. This of course is true but just wait until the day I post a photo 30 seconds after I wake up... Yuck.

As I said earlier, today was the longest day. We left the Rockies and headed into the high plains. Aspens and Fir trees were replaced by cactus (initially) and then just by sun bleached grasslands. During the day, my energy levels ebbed and flowed. The highlight for most of the ride was this fantastic descent just after crossing into New Mexico. During the middle of it, I had to slam on my brakes and take evasive action as two squirrels jumped out and played chicken with me. They won.

Having been plagued with headwinds, we were all excited when we reached the town of Des Moines (the NM one) and picked up an awesome tailwind. Riding along at 30+mph felt fantastic. Unfortunately for us, the John L Morrow, US Hwy 64 made us pay a high price for this. IN a 20 mile stretch, our group had 8 punctures including 3 burst sidewalls. One was mine. For those of you involved in my puncture sweepstake, my new total is now 3.

As we looked up the road from our final rest stop, we pictured an early finish tonight. little did we know that Hwy 64 had more in store for us. The winds changed and then we had a monster headwind the whole way into town. The worst part about it is that you can see Clayton from about 10 miles away and it did not seem to ever get any closer.

Our only saving grace was that lightning storm we could see in the distance never reached us. Good times.

Tomorrow is another long day of 146 miles. That'll be 430+ miles in 3 days. It's safe to say that my bike saddle isn't feeling as comfy as it used to be.

OK, blogging done, time to watch tv and get ready for bed. Groundhog day starts again soon.