Day 08
Toughest day yet

Aside from our challenges of the day, our route was a beautiful one even if the riders had their heads down most of the day.  It doesn't matter which way you go out of Albuquerque, you have to go up.  We departed town on highway 14 a nice windy road through the Sandia Mountains and through some small, quaint little towns like Madrid, a town that was up for sale several years ago...yes, somebody bought it.  Now it's a tourist trap full of arts and crafts and some interesting sights...they filmed "Wild Hogs" here last June right after we rode through.  The best thing about the town is it set at the bottom of a screaming descent...yahooooooo was heard all throughout the valley as the rider plummeted down the mountainside.  Payback from all the climbing was sweet for a moment.

With the conditions like they were, any town was a welcomed sight and several of the riders stopped by the MADrid HATTER (left) for a sticky bun and a warm beverage.  By the time I got there, they only had one sticky bun left.  There is a sign on the door that says, "Nothing Happened Here In 1897" but it's a happening place if you wanted to have a flash back from the 60s.  Across the street from the MADrid Hatter sat a group of hippy looking 60 year olds playing bongo drums and chanting things we didn't understand...a town from a different era to say the least.

After we got close to Santa Fe, we entered I-25 for the remainder of the day...our last day on interstate.  The road before us rose gently for the first 9 miles as you would swear that the road was level, but your legs said otherwise and with the headwinds to boot, keeping speeds in the double digits was a real challenge even for the strongest among us.  After cresting just east of Santa Fe, the road began present us with big rollers and finally after the last SAG, our road turned out of the unrelenting headwind for the last 10 miles.  The winds don't look to promising for tomorrow either so keep your fingers crossed for us. 

I was in the van all morning and planned to get out at lunch and ride into the motel.  Jud and David Roark waited for me to saddle up so I had company all the way in.  It just wasn't a day to exert too much so we kept it mostly tame all the way in...except for one section where Jud and I played for a little while.  My throat is pretty much raw from the dry air and the cedar pollen I sucked in...what was I thinking?  Glad I didn't have the same miles in my legs that he has had the last 8 days.

Today really beat up everybody, even the staff.  My hat goes off to the riders that rode the entire distance today and my respect also goes out to the ones that realized their limitations and bagged it before they got themselves into real trouble.  Fatigue has set in big time and we could use a couple relativity easy days to let the tired legs recover...hopefully, we'll get some friendly winds.  There's lots more riding to do on this ride...oh, like tomorrow.  See you then.