It’s the end of Thursday and I want to let you know that we are fine after three big days of biking.  I’ll give you a quick recap and add more later if I can.  The days go by so quickly.

Tuesday

Today was an 88-mile ride in which we climbed 5,884 feet and descended 3,784 over many long hills.  It was a long, hard day; but rewarding to complete it.  The green hills were welcomed scenery after so many days in the dessert.  We didn’t get in to camp at Chama, New Mexico, until 4:00 p.m.  Which made everything rushed—recover, set up the tent and air mattresses, etc., shower, eat a delicious dinner, and go to bed early. 

Wednesday

We biked our first mountain pass today.  We started out from Chama at about 6800 ft. elevation and reached the pass four hours later at 10,200 ft.  It was hard, but doable.  We pedaled the whole way, stopping to catch our breath, but not to walk.  My right calf muscle was very tight and caused some pain during the ride.  The ride up was BEAUTIFUL.  Shortly after reaching the summit, the clouds moved in and it started to rain.  We road the entire descent (about 3,000 feet over 4-5 miles) in the rain.  At one point it was pouring and we were drenched to the skin and freezing cold.  We stopped at a little gift shop to warm up, and changed into dry shirts.  After some hot chocolate and a delicious peach turnover, we hit the road again.  Again it started to rain and even a few hail stones came down.  We took cover in a SAG van for a few minutes until the lightning stopped and then continued on our way.  We finally completed the 78-mile ride at 4:00 p.m.  And once again . . . no time for blogging.

Thursday

We climbed another pass today up to 9,000 feet after riding about 50 miles on flat land.  We’re camping on a county fairground.  My right calf muscle hurt today again, but I borrowed someone’s muscle roller tonight and it feels somewhat better.  We got in at 2:30 today, but after making a wasted trip down the road to a laundry mat that was closed and doing some laundry by hand, there was, once again, no time for leisurely blogging.  We’re on Sweep Team tonight and tomorrow morning.  We’re looking forward to tomorrow’s ride which is mostly downhill. 

 

Sorry for the minimal details!  Stay tuned for another day.