Day 21 - Friday, May 30 - Liberal, KS, to Dodge City, KS - 83 miles - 1300 feet climbling

The photo of a picture in our motel shows some of the attractions in Liberal - some of which we visited yesterday.

This morning we left Liberal, KS, for Dodge City, KS, a distance of 83 miles. Today turned out to be a survival day and not one for taking much time for pictures. We had very gusty crosswinds and headwinds all day. Many riders decided to take the sag vans in from the 40 to 50 mile distances. When we finished the day, we learned that some additional riders are now experiencing the food poisoning symptoms - so maybe it isn't food poisoning after all. It is a mystery.


Our major sag stop, today, was in Meade, KS, at the Dalton Gang Hideout at about the 40 mile distance. This where many riders decided to sag in. Others went another ten miles to a turn directly into the wind before calling it quits.

In the photo above, I am on the left and Meredith from Kentucky is on the right.


The last half of the day, I managed to stick with Alex and his father, Achim, from Bonn, Germany. They ride a unique tandem semi-recumbent and are very consistently strong riders day after day.


Leaving the tour after today are Bill from Florida and Dan from California - both very experienced tour riders. They are going to join other friends for a tour of the Blueridge Parkway.

Tomorrow we ride 86 miles to Great Bend, KS.

Thanks for the comments,

Bob

Day 20 - Thursday, May 29 - Guymon, OK to Liberal, KS - 39 miles - 500 feet climbing

We made a quick trip half-way into Oklahoma in the van yesterday. Shown are eight of the thirteen "food poisonees" who spent the day in rest and recovery at our Dalhart, TX, motel. We were transported to our Guymon, OK, overnight motel late yesterday afternoon. I am fifth from the left in the photo.

Today, everyone was back in the saddle again. All riders were very jovial as they mounted their bikes this morning as we only had a 40 mile ride to Liberal, KS, with a 25 mph tailwind waiting to pushl us along. Because of the short ride, we left at 9am - two hours later than normal.


This grain elevator was a reminder of home in Iowa where corn is also piled on the ground.



We passed through Hooker, OK, which had many signs and businesses making a play on the name of the town.


The Hooker gift shop was very popular with the women.



We only spent one day in the narrow Oklahoma panhandle and passed into Kansas. The 25 mph tailwind pushed us along to Liberal, KS, barely pedaling. Sure hope the wind stays in the same direction tomorrow. It only took a little over two hours to reach Liberal and most everyone was there before noon - leaving the entire afternoon to relax and look around.


Liberal, KS, is the home of the Wizard of Oz museum made famous by the movie with Judy Garland.


Here I am with the Tin Man character from the Wizard of Oz movie.


We also toured the Liberal Air Museum which was chock full of all types of older military and private airplanes.

Tomorrow, we have an 83 mile ride to Dodge City, KS, and are hoping for a tailwind. The locals reported that they had 79 mph gusts yesterday afternoon. There have been storm warnings out for the area this afternoon but all we experienced was extremely gusty winds.

Thanks for the comments.

Bob

Day 19 - Wed, May 28 - Dalhart, TX, to Guymon, OK - 72 mi - 400 feet climbing

Eleven of us who were zapped by the food poisoning yesterday were advised to rest and recover today - especially since we are to have headwinds again. We have been allowed to remain in our overnight motel in Dalhart and will be transported by the sag vehicles later this afternoon. As it turned out, yesterday, seven riders were given IV's, from one to three liters of saline solution. Some were also given antibiotics. The doctor has reported the food poisoning to the Health Dept. so it is being investigated.

Due to the food poisoning and brutal headwinds only eight out of 39 riders made it in without being sagged, yesterday. The last rider came in around 8pm after almost 13 hours on the road.

The CrossRoads staff has been fantastic throughout all of our extreme weather conditions and other happenings on this tour. The logistics of sagging so many riders and transporting them to hospitals has to have been a nightmare to them but they have remained cool and smiling throughout.

Mack, one of the staff from England, left the tour today to fly home. He has a heart condition that was re triggered by the food poisoning and so it was thought best that he return home. We were sorry to see him go as he always greeted us at the sag stops with encouragement and a smiling face. Mack has ridden the tour before but was working on the staff this year.

It is interesting to note that several of the riders and/or staff have done part or all of the tour before and they confirm that we have had more extremes in weather and other happenings than ever before. Some riders are repeating to reach their goal of riding every mile without being sagged or are filling in gaps not ridden on previous tours.

Tomorrow, we will ride from Guymon, OK, to Liberal, KS, home of Dorothy of Wizard of Oz fame. It will be a short 40 miles with tailwinds being forecasted - very welcomed after our recent riding conditions.

Bye for now and thanks for the comments.

Bob

Day18 - Tuesday, May 27 - Tucumcari, NM, to Dalhart, TX - 98 mi - 2400 feet climbing

Today will be a day that will be remembered forever. I got up this morning feeling very weak, with no energy in my legs. Others complained of similar feelings. We attributed it to the prior long hard day. I didn't feel like eating but had a light breakfast at the motel. I also had diarrhea and pretty much emptied my bowels before leaving on my bike. I had to muster everything that I had to reach the first sag stop at 31 miles and only averaged 10 mph. We also had steady headwinds that grew stronger as the day went on. By the time that I reached the first sag stop, other riders were dropping like flies - feeling terrible with no energy and with vomiting and diarrhea. We were told at the sag stop that three riders hadn't started that morning and were in the hospital getting IV's and that the doctor suspected a low grade of food poisoning. We had eaten family style at a Pizza Hut the evening before. It seemed that most of the ill riders had eaten certain foods - that were cooler than they should have been.

At least one-third of us discontinued riding and rode in the sag vehicles the rest of the day. As the day went on, others became ill and discontinued riding. The headwinds became brutal and others discontinued riding because of that. When we arrived at the motel in Dalhart at mid afternoon, three more riders were taken to the Dalhart hospital for IV's. Since I had not been vomiting and losing more fluids during the day, I did not go. I just had no appetite all day and no energy.




Don from NY and May Ann from WA at the Texas state line marker. Seems like most signs and historical markers in Texas have bullet holes in them.


Damien from Ireland, Don from NY, and Mary Ann from WA at the last sag stop. They are three of our strongest riders and made it in today in the horrendous headwinds - unaffected by the food poisoning that many of us experienced.

We drove by miles and miles of cattle feedlots on the way into Dalhart - cattle as far as the eye could see.

I will always remember Dalhart for another reason also. Last year, while on vacation, Kim and I drove through the Dalhart area and sat through a 30-minute hail storm which damaged our car.

Tomorrow (actually, now, today) will be a 72 mile ride to Guymon, OK, with one of the smallest climbing feet of the tour. Today and tomorrow we will climb only around 500 feet per day. However, the forecast is for more headwinds. It will be interesting to see how many riders are recovered from the food poisoning and able to ride.

Those of us who did not have an appetite for supper were given Gatorade fluids and minimal foods like soups and crackers. I did get some down and then slept for a while. We were told that if we were not feeling better by tomorrow that we should go on antibiotics. As I write this, early Wednesday morning, I do feel better but my energy level is very low. Eleven of us are going to sag again today while our energy levels rebuild.

Thanks for the comments.

Day 17 - Monday, May 26 - Las Vegas, NM, to Tucumcari, NM, - 109 mi - 4200 feet climbing

I'm posting this a day late because I was unable to connect with the internet last evening.

Today was a hard day - 109 miles with 4200 feet of climbing and gusty head & cross winds most of the day. The first 30 were pretty nice with a tailwind but the conditions changed for the rest of the day.


The above photo shows Las Vegas, NM, as we are climbing away from it.


We rode along what I would call short-grass prairie for the first 30 miles but then the scenery changed to canyons and switchbacks. From left to right are myself, Scott from Virginia, Noreen from Canada, and Randy from CA. George from England is kneeling.


Paula from CA starting up the "wall" . The climb is very steep 0.7 mile at around 11% grade. It looks much steeper in real life than the photo shows.


Tucumcari at last. Riders were beat by this point. Tracy, our tour leader, said that she had never experienced such gusty cross/head winds for this day of the tour in the 12 years that she had been running the tour.



This cyclist rode into town just as I did. He didn't want his picture taken with the bike. I can't imagine how he managed the bike in winds - especially cross winds. He was not one of our group

Tomorrow is another long day 98 miles to Dalhart, TX.

Thanks for the comments. Bob

Day 16 - Sunday, May 25 - Santa Fe, NM, to Las Vegas, NM - 72 mi - 4900 ft climbing

I think that most all of the riders will agree that today was our most perfect entire day of the tour so far - a welcomed change after the cold, wet weather we had the last few days of riding. The climbs were not really steep - most were more like the rolling hills of my home state of Iowa. The rolling hills were actually on top of the New Mexico high desert. The roads were lined with low shrub-like trees. The sky was clear, the temps started out on the chilly side but soon warmed up to ideal summer temps and we had light tail-winds most of the day which helped push us up the climbs.


We rode for about five miles on I25, today, and here we are about to leave it. I believe that this is supposed to be our last interstate highway travel for the rest of the tour. One can make good time on the interstates but they are noisy from the passing trucks and then there is the flat tire problems from the shredded truck tire wire. I will say that we have not felt threatened from the traffic. The shoulders were generally wide and smooth and the one way traffic makes it safe.


A view of much of what our roads looked like today - nice scenery and not much traffic.


Scott from Virginia and Noreen from Canada.


Sag stop at the 44 mile point.


A friendly local native at the sag stop.


Ron Wilson from Massachusetts - a very strong rider.


Another typical view of today's route - again almost no traffic. Route 34 route was pretty much a frontage road for I25 which was not far away. We crossed it several times as the frontage road would switch sides from time to time.


My group arrived in our destination town about 1:00 today - not bad for 72 miles. We had lunch at a local mom and pop restaurant - Mary Jane's.

Tomorrow will be a 109 mile ride to Tucumcari, NM, with 4200 feet of climbing. Our tour leader says that it has traditionally been a long hot ride - perhaps one of the two hardest rides of the tour. I suppose the hardest was the 115 mile ride in the California desert.

Thanks for the comments,

Bob

Day 15 - Rest day in Santa Fe, NM - 0 miles

Today was rest day in Santa Fe, NM, which was very welcomed after riding in cold rain and sleet the last couple of days. Warren (from Texas) and I took 72 year old George (from England) down to a bike shop to get a new seat for his bike and some warmer cycling clothes for these cold days we've been having. George has been having seat problems. He tried a new one yesterday that didn't work out so he got one like mine today - a Terry Fly Ti. Warren doesn't have seat problems since he rides a recumbent with a lawn chair type seat.


After the visit to the bike shop, Warren and George decided they needed haircuts and we found a walk-in hair salon near the bike shop. George's stylist let me take a picture if I would give the salon a plug - so here it is: Kathy Bodelson at "The Cuttery" in Santa Fe, NM.


Warren didn't have much taken off but George did - maybe more than he had planned on. We told him that he would have to start wearing his name tag again as people wouldn't recognize him.


Next we took the city transit bus downtown to the center square where there was an art show going on. While there, we toured the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. Georgia O'Keeffe painted abstracts of landscapes - particularly of New Mexico landscapes. From left to right - myself, Warren, George, and Barbara (from California). Barbara had ridden the first part of the tour to Albuquerque last year and so joined in at Albuquerque yesterday to complete the tour to Boston this year. She is the 2nd oldest person on the tour - George being the oldest.


This photo is of the New Mexico Art Museum. New Mexico architecture has a unique adobe style.


The center square in downtown Santa Fe was hosting an art exhibit.


Art venders were lined up along the overhang of this building across from the center square.

Tomorrow we ride to Las Vegas, NM, - a distance of 73 miles with about 4900 feet of climbing.

Thanks for the comments.

Bob

Day 14 - Friday May 23 - Albuquerque, NM to Sante Fe, NM - 66 mi - 5400 ft climbling

Today was cold and wet. After yesterday's experience, I wore extra clothes. At the 22 mile point of mostly climbing out of Albuquerque, we stopped to get warmed up.




Hot chocolate sure hit the spot.


The rain let up a little and some of us headed out again. Not far down the road was the former mining town of Madrid. Similar in nature to Jerome, AZ, Madrid is now an artsy community. It had very unique shops.


Residential acreages also had very unique displays of sculptures.


There were very contemporary homes and buildings.


This roadside rock formation was very interesting.


The last ten miles into Santa Fe was a downpour. As long as I kept moving, I stayed relatively warm, however, I was soaked. I had plenty of cold rain throughout the day. As we were spread out over many miles, others had more or less rain. Many were sagged in. I feel that today was a major accomplishment after yesterday. A tailwind saved the day. If we had had a headwind, the day would have been a total disaster in the cold rain. We learned that the whole southwest U.S is abnormally cool with Phoenix having the third coldest day on record. There is new snow on the mountains surrounding Santa Fe. Some riders experienced some sleet and snow today.


My bathtub after I had washed myself and my clothes.


My bike got a bath also. The touring company sets up a wash station each day for those who want to clean their bikes. Today, a cleanup was a must before taking the bikes into our rooms.


A visit to a local Santa Fe bike shop. The guys are CrossRoads Tour staff Rick, Zack, and Pat. Rick and Pat are bike mechanics and Zack drives the truck that hauls our luggage. The women think Zack is very cute.

Tomorrow we will stay in Santa Fe for our 2nd rest day. Sunday, we will ride to Las Vegas, NM.

Thanks for the comments,

Bob

Day 13 - Thursday, May 22 - Grants to Albuquerue - 75 mi - 2600 feet climbing

The New Mexico license plate. Thought that I'd try to get a photo of each state's license plate as we pass through them. I hope to find California and Arizona plates before the trip is over.

Another eventful day. The small group that I was with hadn't gone more than three miles out of Grants this morning when we were hit by a gusty rain/sleet/snow squall. We rode two miles through it and stopped at a gas station. The sleet was biting our faces and our hands were so cold that we could barely operate our brake/shift levers. The temp had dropped to 41F. About 15 of us were sagged forward two sag stops to a lower elevation where the temp was up to 51F which was bearable. We then biked the last twenty miles into Albuquerque which included a five mile climb on I40 and then a nice downhill and some flats to the hotel. We later learned that groups who were ahead of us and behind us missed the worst of the squall and once they were down the road a few miles had a tailwind the rest of the day. We had assumed that they were suffering but in actuality they had a somewhat cool but pleasant ride with the tailwind. So now I have about a 50 mile gap in my XC tour which is disappointing.


Approaching Albuquerque on I40.


Off I40 and looking down on Albuquerque from Route 66.


The Rio Grand River passing through Albuquerque.


Another view of the Rio Grand River in Albuquerque.


Our favorite recovery drink when we finish the day's ride - a quart of chocolate milk. Supposedly if one has a good recovery food/drink within an hour after finishing a ride, he will recover more completely for the next day's ride.



The Marriott Fairfield Inn in Albuquerque had these gift packages awaiting each rider.


The card on the gift package.

Tomorrow we head for Santa Fe, NM, with 5400 feet of climbing. The forecast is for cool weather and strong winds - hopefully mostly tail winds.

Bye for now and thanks for the comments

Bob