tomballay

We rode 105 miles today. It was a great ride and the weather was good.  Our day was made special by the arrival of an old friend of Dan’s, Alex McNair, who rode with us for about 40 miles and supported us by hauling our bags for an additional 35 miles.

We are staying in Norman, Oklahoma tonight. Tomorrow is a rest day and we are in a great place for rest and recovery. Norman appears to be a great town with plenty of places to eat. We had some difficulty finding a room because the Oklahoma Sooner Spring Game is this Saturday ( who cares)?

I took the following picture at a local eating establishment. Alex is a University of Texas graduate.  He had a hard time digesting his food after spotting this despicable view when we walked into the restaurant..

More to come tomorrow.

Longhorns head for higher ground

We rode 81 miles today into Oklahoma.  It was an interesting day. We ran into a number of helpful people that gave us route advise and were very interested in our trip.

We again attempted to follow Highway 152 today, but had to exit that path for 10 or 20 miles as it was simply too dangerous. As soon as we entered Oklahoma, the 6 foot shoulder became a 2 foot shoulder and the oil field 18-Wheeler traffic was unbelievable. My Dad, August Ballay, as he often does, spoke to me from his grave very clearly saying, “Get off of that road jackass!”  When 18 Wheelers are passing within 3 feet of you at 65 mph it is time to exit. We did, finding alternative routes with the help of locals.

All and all, it turned out to be a good day despite heavy wind. We have now traveled 1435 miles (give or take) and we have crossed the geographic halfway point.  Tomorrow we head to Norman Ok. It is over 100 miles, but we should have a tail wind. Life should be good.

Hook 'em Horns!

Oklahoma - looks a lot like Texas

Cordell Accommodations

We had a relatively easy 45 mile ride today from Pampa to Wheeler Texas.  We decided last night that we needed a rest day, but we wanted to keep moving. Our compromise was an easy spin with minimal time on the bicycle, yet we kept “moving the chains” in an easterly direction.

There is not to much to report about our ride today. We had a strong cross wind and we saw a cattle standing on the left side of the road and cattle standing on the right side of the road, and trucks hauling cattle in the middle of the road. This is a culture of cattle, oil and gas, and small towns spread far apart.  The people that we speak with are friendly, open and willing to talk. All and all, I have very favorable impression of the Texas Panhandle.

We had lunch at a place on the side of the road called The Cowboy Oasis. I took a picture of the parking lot just to call attention to the vehicles.  Take note – pick-up trucks seem to be the preference.

No Mini-Vans Allowed at the Cowboy Oasis

We are staying at a great bed and breakfast that my wife Beth, our travel agent, found for us. It is located in the middle of this little town, directly across from the courthouse.  It is much too nice for Dan and I – I should be here with Beth, not Dan Peirce.

Wheeler Texas

Heavy Traffic Along Highway 152 Today

Tomorrow,  we are heading toward Elk City, Oklahoma.  The distance and the route we travel will be dictated by wind conditions.  Now that we are out of the mountains, our new challenge is fighting the wind. We are learning to take what the road gives us.  We have three options, 50 miles, 80 miles, or 108 miles.  If we are fighting a headwind, it will be 50 miles.  If we are fortunate to have a wind on some portion of our back, (or a neutral wind) it will be higher mileage.

Tonight, we are just enjoying the fact that we are feeling strong and we will be ready to go in the morning.

We rode 95 miles today, all along US 54.  All things considered, this was likely our easiest ride of the trip so far as we were aided by a strong tail wind the entire trip. We completed the ride in about 5 1/2 hours of riding time. 

We left the Hotel this morning at 8:30 am.  The only food stop along the way was at the 30 mile mark, in Logan NM, which we did not utilize. We had enough food and water to make the entire trip, so it worked out okay. 

We crossed into Texas at about the halfway point of our ride today. The town we are staying in tonight, Dalhart, has a population of  7000. All we saw coming into the town were cattle and stockyards. That pretty sums up this area.

Tomorrow we head toward Pampa Texas, although we might stop short of this destination depending on how we feel. 

Self-Portrait of our Entry Into Texas

We rode 110 miles today along Highway 104 from Las Vegas to Tucumcari. Neither Dan or I slept well last night as we were very worried about the winds today and we really didn’t know how severely they would affect our ride.  The forecast called for sustained winds of 25-30 miles per hour by noon today with gust climbing to 35 miles per hour in the afternoon.  We  debated waiting another day before departing, but the Sunday forecast was only marginally better (and it was much colder).

We left the hotel as early as possible, hoping to ride as far as we could before the winds overwhelmed us.  Highway 104 runs southeast out of Las Vegas through a vast expanse of prairie and rolling hills and through some mountain chains.  It was the most desolate ride of our trip so far.  We didn’t see a car in either direction for the first hour and we saw very few cars all day.  

The first 25 or 30 miles of the ride provided us with slightly favorable winds; we felt pretty good about our decision. By 9:00 am, we turned into the wind and our progress was terrible. We rode for 5 miles almost directly into a 25 or 30 mph wind and it took us almost an hour. I think both of us had an overwhelming anxiety that we were not going to make the full trip. To make matters worse, there was no place to stay along the route and we were not even sure if there was a convenience store to replenish our supplies.

The route eventually turned easterly, giving us a wind boost, and allowing us to make our pit stop at the 77 mile mark. We stop at the little store and had a great lunch (microwaved frozen burritos) and filled up with water and fluids. We came in the remaining 33 miles after lunch and eventually found our way to our hotel. 

Tucumcari is a neat and tidy town, but appeared vacated this afternoon.  I think most were bunkered in their homes due to the high winds. We walked next door to pick up take-out, opting to eat in our room.  Right now, we are very grateful to be inside and out of the wind.  Shortly after arriving at our hotel, the news reported that gusts had been recorded at 44 mph.  We have had enough wind for the day.

Our ride today included 4700 ft of climbing.  Overall, it was a physically challenging ride and not one that we could have completed without a rest day and some help from Mother Nature in the end.

View off Mountain Side Along Highway 104

Oasis at Mile 77

Dan Enjoying His Burrito and Mountain Dew

Tomorrow’s plan is to head to Dalhart, Texas. It will be a 95 mile ride and the winds will still be active.  However, given our heading, it appears that we will enjoy a wind on our backs (or at least wind-aided). That, coupled with the lack of mountains, should give us incentive to get out of bed in the morning.

We completed 74 miles today.  We spent much of the ride on the Old Santa Fe Trail and we climbed to our highest altitude to date, 7500 ft.  near Pecos National Park.  It should have been a very pleasant day, but we were challenged with bad weather from the onset. 

We left the Hotel early this morning, hoping to get a jump on the high winds that were forecasted to develop in early afternoon. We were successful in that regard, but we did got caught in rain, pretty much on and off all day. Most of the rain was light, but one storm managed to run us down and it was severe.  We were briefly showered with hail before we found a culvert to take refuge.  Dan took the picture below a few minutes before the storm ran us down. 

Storm Approaching from West

We completed a 65 mile ride today, mostly along scenic Highway 14 to Santa Fe.  It was a good ride with great scenery and two climbs over 7000 ft. elevations. 

We left Albuquerque traveling along Central Avenue, which is the main thoroughfare of the city and not known as a cycle friendly route.  Within the first hour, we were given an obscene hand sign by some guy on a motorized scooter for physically disabled and asked by some kid who obviously was very concerned for our well-being if we were “bleeping stupid” for cycling down their main street during rush hour.  We still don’t know why the guy on the scooter was upset with us, we were just trying to be friendly with him at a stop light.  The kid who cursed us out obviously just wanted to make sure we were cycling safely.  Dan and I thanked him for his thoughtfulness.

We ate lunch on Highway 14 in Madrid, which appears to be an old mining town. Leaving Madrid, we felt pretty comfortable about our situation as it was still early and we only had a 20 miles  left to reach our hotel in Santa Fe.  Of course, when the winds started gusting to 30 mph across our path, the last 20 miles turned into another challenge as we often struggled just to keep our bikes upright.

I haven’t had a chance to see much of Santa Fe.  I believe we will get a good look on the way out tomorrow, similar to our exit of Albuquerque today.  

Our plan is to travel to Las Vegas,  New Mexico tomorrow and then take a rest day on Friday. At this point, the rest day is a great incentive for us both.  We are looking forward to some time to heal our ailments, which seem to be accumulating daily.

Thanks to all of you that have commented on this blog.  Although I don’t answer each of you individually, you have no idea how much both Dan and I appreciate getting feedback.  It makes our day.

My Favorite View from Today

Approach into Albuquerque

We rode 84 miles today, mostly along Old Route 66 and I-40.  Today was a difficult day for me physically, perhaps as a result of yesterday’s long ride or maybe the wear and tear is starting to catch up with me. 

We are staying at a really nice Hotel in the Old District of Albuquerque.  We are planning on departing tomorrow morning for Santa Fe, which should be a nice ride along Highway 14.

We had a visit tonight from Tim and Vicky Arnold, old friends of Dan and avid cyclists.  Tim and Vicky have lived in Albuquerque for a year and both have completed cross-country cycle trips. They were extremely helpful on all fronts, but particularly directing and advising our route through the remainder of New Mexico.  They came over with their maps and prior trip routes which helped us in forming our plan for the next few days. 

We came up on a terrible series of accidents today along I-40.  It was very sobering to see multiple cars, including ones that obviously were traveling families, upside down and completely totaled. Seeing the damage on a ground level disturbed me. the traffic was completely stopped on the Interstate for 20 or 30 minutes,  while we just cycled by.  It was interesting to see how quickly all the traffic returned to their race-car mentality once the bottle neck was relieved. We were 4 or 5 miles down the road when the roads was re-opened and the “hounds were released.”  Didn’t seem to slow anybody down, for whatever that is worth.  

I am having a hard time getting the image of a full-size RV laying on its side, crushed, with all of the family’s belongings strewn along the highway. One of the medics or state trooper had tied the family dog, which appeared to be unharmed,  to the remains of the RV.  I didn’t want to examine the scene after seeing that on my approach.

We rode 112 miles on Monday, traveling through Gallup New Mexico, over the Continental Divide, and into our Hotel in Grants, New Mexico.  It was a long day on our bicycles as the total trip, with stops, took over 11 hours. We arrived at the Holiday Inn Express after the sun had set.

The first leg of our trip, Chambers to Gallup, was very slow

Looks Like Dan Peirce Standing by a Sign

going as we had to fight a direct headwind for the entire route along I-40.  About 16 miles before we entered Gallup, we left the Interstate and traveled along Old Route 66.  Getting off the Interstate and onto that pleasant road was the best part of the trip.  It was a much easier ride, traffic was light, and the scenery was really interesting.

Proof of Entry

We ate lunch in Gallup at an old dinner called Virgies. Route 66 runs the entire length of Gallup and most of the old businesses are lined up along that road. I have not consulted a map to verify this, but it seemed that this main drag ran for over 10 miles with old and new businesses located along the route.

Typical Gallup/Route 66 Scenery Along Strip

After lunch it was almost 3:00 pm local time and we decided it was too early to stop.  However, we were advised that if we didn’t stop at the last hotel along the Gallup strip, we would have to travel another 60 miles before reaching Grants.  That is the reason for the high mileage today, we did not want to stop at 50 miles so we pushed toward Grants hoping we could beat the sunset.  I suppose we were lucky as nothing slowed us down heading from Gallup to Grants.

After crossing the Divide, we again returned to Route 66 for the remaining 40 miles of the trip. Although we were tired, that last 40 miles is as close to cycling nirvana as I have ever experienced.  It was a beautiful ride, slightly downhill, with a nice tailwind, and came at the end of the longest ride I ever experienced on a bike. I told Dan that if he out lives me, (fat chance) that he must say something the day I am buried about that 40 mile ride into Grants.

Route 66 Traveling Into Grants

Anyway, we are off today for Albuquerque.  We are going to get a late start today but that is okay.  We are not racing, we are touring. Our bodies are  going to struggle a bit as yesterday was a marathon. We hope to cycle into Albuquerque with little fanfare and less effort.