Gallup

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DAY 6

Wires? What Wires?

ROUTE: Winslow AZ to Gallup NM	DISTANCE: 127 Miles	WINDS: Light tail in the beginning, slight headwind from the north at 15 in the middle, a little push late in the day
WEATHER: Sunny, 28 degrees at departure and 80 by Gallup	TERRAIN: Rolling interstate	TOTAL CLIMBING: 3400 feet

DAILY DOINGS: Boy were we busy today...long day on the road and short overnight at the end since we lost an hour on our way to Gallup. We woke to temperatures of 37 degrees although it felt much warmer as the wind was non-existent and the sun was shining brightly. Needless to say the temperatures started to rise and the clothes started coming off soon after we got on the road...at left, Sue demonstrated the alternate "stop the van signal" rather than simply tap the top of her helmet.

The riders are getting into a good routine...we loaded and kaboom, everyone was gone as usual. It didn't take long for me to catch Jeff who was wandering around town trying to find which way I would be coming through...he had a flat. He was less than a quarter mile from the motel when I saw him along the side of the road...that wasn't as bad as Bob who had one in the parking lot before he left the motel. This was just a sign of what would be a day of flats for several people. With interstate riding, flats usually abound and I got my share of fixing them from the time I left the motel until we arrived in Gallup.

Our next issue was a detour about 3 miles from the motel...the overpass where we get on the interstate was closed but it didn't deter the Team Alabama who ventured forward hoping they could somehow get around it...nope. When I was coming out of town, I saw them riding back toward me looking for the detour to the interstate. Not to be deterred, they pressed on albeit near the rear of the pack. We also had a couple people feeling under the weather today from the stress of the ride, altitude, too much Gatorade, or a bug...whatever, we're all trying to keep from coming down with what ever it is. Three riders didn't ride today and 2 more bagged it before the finish...are we getting tired? I can't imagine why.

Today's terrain consisted of large, gentle rollers and was some of the most wide open, desolate terrain you could imagine. As a matter of fact, if you look up desolate in Webster's Dictionary you'll find a picture of the road between Winslow and Gallup NM. I have a hard time imagining what the early settlers had to go through as they traveled across this waterless land. You can see for miles and see really nothing except dirt, sage, and an occasional cow for effect. I'm always amazed at the vastness of the west. Anyone from east of the Mississippi cannot imagine how open it is out here. Even people from the corn belt in Iowa and Illinois who hardly see anything but cornfields would marvel at how "big" it is out here...it's hard to describe. About 85 miles from Flagstaff you can still see the mountain that's behind the town.

The morning departure experienced a welcomed light tailwind, but by the time we arrived at lunch, the winds were quartering in our face at times and blowing pretty briskly. Out here there's nothing to protect us from the wind and even our lunch stop wasn't exempt. The early riders had departed lunch before the dust devil barreled through our lunch stop blowing down our canopy, blowing over our tables, and scattering bikes all over (left #). You can see our canopy laying in the middle of the parking lot. What a sight...caught in a mini tornado out in the middle of nowhere. But mini might not describe it precisely...it packed quite a wallop.

I spent the late afternoon chasing down the lead group before the final SAG. I set Karen out with the SAG supplies and water while I got back on the road to check on the other riders. For people who've ridden this ride with us before, I detoured the riders off the frontage road at 100 miles and kept them on the interstate. The interstate has just gotten a shoulder uplift in that area and the frontage road hasn't been improved in 20 years...nice to miss 8 miles of rough, bone jarring bumps for a smooth shoulder even if it is on an interstate. I got all but about 5 of the riders around the rough spot. The ones who didn't get the word were able to tell the others how bad it was...sorry I couldn't catch all of them.

Yes it was a long day. The last rider got in about 6:35...and we start early in the morning. We have two being checked out at the local hospital for dehydration and possible stomach virus problems. I need to go check on them so I'll check off for today. In spite of our minor challenges, we are moving right along on this ride. Only day 6 and already we've gotten into New Mexico and we can't even remember the Pacific Ocean anymore. Most of us don't even remember Flagstaff! See you again tomorrow.

(#) Photo Credit: Bob Theune

DAILY DISCERNING DIALOGUE: Jonathan was bragging that he hadn't had a flat yet on this trip. Last time he rode with us he was the flat king with over 25 flats in the 32 day ride. He was so proud that someone besides himself was leading the race this trip...I think it's Flat Stanley with about 9 now. Anyway, Jonathan was so adept at having flats on the last trip that he even had one in the box when his bike was being shipped home. Now that takes focus.

-"If Mike says, 'It's just part of the cross country package' just one more time...It's going to be POW...to the moon Alice!"

DAILY DUH: Today's dope slap (that's a flat hand palm slap to the forehead) goes to Johannes. At luggage load he looked up David and told him he had David's energy gels that were left on the dresser. David thanked him for retrieving the items but informed Johannes that what he was fetching were catsup and jelly packets...oops! So that's David's secret. Johannes, if you confuse our energy gels with catsup packets, you're going to have quite a time with our paper currency...they are all the same color and all the same size.

DAILY DIGITAL DELIGHTS
The mystery of why Sue always has more mileage than every one else was solved by the steely eyed staff when they caught her spinning her front wheel to get a few extra miles logged before she actually got on her bike. And we just thought it was the "Holstein factor."	Karen displayed great teamwork in helping Mike with this flat without even getting out of the van...pump it up girl!
Luckily, the T-Rex was distracted just long enough for Paula to make a hasty escape. There's no end to the challenges out here when you aren't as high on the food chain in this environment.	Our signal to stop the van is a tap on the helmet...I guess Stanley wanted to make "doubly" sure we got the message.
When I asked Charlie how fast he was going when he ran from this critter on the road. He said it didn't matter as long as he was riding faster than Bob."	Maybe Bob was just a bit too happy to see the end of the ride today. Maybe it was because of the close call from the photo on the left.