Another century in the books! The first 60 miles of today's ride was very pleasant. There was no wind factor and flat terrain -- a good combination. After aboout 20 miles of pedaling by myself, I teamed up with the gentlemen above (L to R: Me, Kiwi Rick, Robb, and Scott), and we traded off 1 mile pulls through the outskirts of Pubelo, followed by the town of Fowler until we hit the first SAG stop.We continued this routine for the second leg (miles 39-75), although the headwinds really kicked in at the 60 mile mark. Eventually, however, we made it to the second SAG after pedaling through the towns of Manzanola, Rock Ford, Swink, and La Junta. It should be known that as we pedaled through these areas, we were overwhelmed by the smell of feedlots, slaughterhouses, and cow dung. It's the reason, I don't have many pictures from the day. I hope you understand --trust me, nothing we saw all day was worth stopping to capture on camera.
After the 2nd SAG, my fellow riders and I continued our paceline through the towns of Las Animas and Hasty. We had an unprecedented 3rd SAG stop upon reaching Hasty. At this point we had 102 miles under our belt, and we were ready to be done with the saddle, the headwinds, and the heat. We willed our way through the last 20 miles or so and eventually found ourselves in front of yet another 5 star hotel -- Cow Palace Inn -- where we will rest up for another century tomorrow!
Johnny--I feel your pain! Twenty-years have passed, and I can still smell Dalhart, Texas (up near the Oklahoma panhandle). Hard to describe; harder to erase! Ugh! You dredged up some bad memories.
ReplyDeleteTravel safe. Love ya, D