Hello everyone,

I am going to make this post short and hopefully add some photos to the blog as well from the past few days.

Yesterday was our off day in Santa fFe and I spent much of it with Howard as we went to a bike store and then walked around Old Town Santa fe. We visited my friend Heidi who has her studio there and it was fun catching up with her. I actually found out another Howard story as Heidi asked about the Royals and Howard told us that he escorted Kate Middleton to the Abbey when she married Prince William. Howard led the motorcycle escort that had to last exactly 11 minutes. The crowd roar was so loud that he couldn’t hear the motorcycles engine. I asked what he was thinking and he said ” Don’t stall or fall over”. Howard also said the Kate, the Duchess is a very nice person….

it was fun catching up with Heidi and her art work and then we had a bite to eat before returning to the hotel. I was feeling like I was possibly getting the malady that’s affected quite a few of the riders. When I got up in the morning, I contemplated not riding but pride, stubbornness and an optimistic sense that I’d feel better on the road prevailed.

I had a really hard time keeping up with the other riders so when they stopped, I didn’t stop. We passed the highest elevation point of the ride at something around 7500 feet. Just about everyone was ahead of me. Around that time, i started to feel a bit better and we were warned about big dogs down the road and we should sprint through one section. Now I have told everyone that the secret to avoiding mad dogs is to ride with someone slower than you. I was going 30 mph through that section.

A little latter I encountered Kevin and Mary and rode with them through another “mad dog section”. They must have been sleeping as I didn’t see or hear any. WE also hit a section that i call the Missouri rollers. If you power down on side, your momentum will take you most or all of the way up the next hill. That is why I really started feeling better.

It was a beautiful day and I actually rode to the hotel, checked in and rode back to DQ to see if the other riders had arrived so I added a couple of extra miles. Dinner was at K Bobs, I probably should mention that we encountered quite a few “bad” cattle guards. They are basically gates over the highway that prevent cattle for wandering. They can be dangerous to cyclists. One was in the shadows of an overpass and caught me unaware but I missed the bad part where the rails were cracked and bent.

In 2012, I remember this as a really tough day but aside from not feeling well at the onset, it was a good day. Tomorrow we head to Tucumcari and will be our last desert day with a couple of big climbs and descents and spectacular views. It is a 108 mile day..

“We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.” ~Cynthia Ozick

Thanks for reading

Chuck

PS I want to remind folks that i wam riding fro the Wounded Warrior Project and here is the link on the blog where you can navigate to the donation site but it may take a couple of clicks. None of the donation money goes to me as I paid for all aspects of the trip on my own.

https://support.woundedwarriorproject.org/individual-fundraising/chuckhardesty/