a post short ride report

Things seem to have finally calmed down & is returning to normal. I'm back to
work after having 2 out of 3 weeks off & I start my IM training program for IMAZ
Sat. Ah, the joy & comfort I find in training. It's my time of stress relief,
when I clear my head, find focus, & do my best thinking.
A quick update on things & an explanation as to why I've not been up to date on
my blog. A month ago I found out my favorite aunt has an incurable form of
cancer. Shortly after we received info that my Mom & Step-Dad has cancer also.
When it rains it pours let me tell ya. Last year I lost an Aunt to pancreas
cancer. I'm getting pretty sick of the C word.

This week I got news that my Moms operation last week to remove the cancer seems
successful. My Dad has had emphysema for years now. Turns out there are 2 kinds
his cancer could be. A fast acting cancer in which all they could do is give him
radiation to try & slow it as much as possible because he's not healthy enough
to undergo surgery or any other aggressive form of treatment. Or a slow acting cancer which the Dr.'s would do nothing for because the Emphysema would kill him first. Turns out the it's the 2nd kind. We're relieved. I got word Thanksgiving week that my aunts cancer can probably
be put in remission with Chemo. The type of cancer she has usually stays in
remission for 1-3 years. Her type of cancer has been put into remission in other
people who has had this form of cancer up to 3 times. So that means we'd still
have 3-9 years w/ her. But now, come to find out the DR's have found 3 aneurysms
in her brain that need to be operated on. It's a pretty extensive operation so
they plan on fixing only one aneurysm at a time w/ around 6 months recovery per
operation. First one is scheduled for Jan. Enough of the depressing crap.

Now to the fun stuff. My Ride to Hobbs went perfectly. I left my house in Santa
Fe on Monday @ am. It was around 30 degrees out & clear. The first 40 miles to
Clines Corners were slightly up hill. I averaged 10 miles an hour there. It had warmed up enough by the time I'd gotten to Cines that I was able to remove
all my cold weather gear. I ate a 6" subway sandwich @ Clines Corners, refilled
my Gatorade & was on my way. After Clines the wind turned to my back & the
entire rest of the way to Vaughn NM. I rarely rode below 20 miles an hour from
there. In Encino NM the speed limit was 25 MPH & I was doing 31 when a state cop
drove by me going the opposite direction. I was SO hoping I'd get a speeding
ticket on my bike! I would of made a copy of my ticket & framed that sucker! It
would of been proof that the State believes I'm just too dang fast on my bike.
To bad the Silverman didn't think so. Lol. He didn't give me a ticket but I sure
got a few looks. I don't think they see many cyclists around there. I arrived at
Vaughn NM @ 2;30 p.m.. 7 hrs of riding & 115 miles down. When the lady at the
hotel desk asked for my car's license plate # I proudly proclaimed I rode my
bike from Santa Fe She didn't believe me. She even went as far as to walk to the hotel parking lot & look for my vehicle.

The next day I left @ 7 am. 15 miles outside of Vaughn my rear tire got a huge
blister on it. It was 1 inch wide & 1.5 inches long, it puffed out from the tire
about an inch. Very crazy looking. The blister or bubble if you will was so big
my tire wouldn't roll because the bubble was too large to fit through the tire
well. I was forced to pop it & see if my tube was affected. Thankfully the tube
was not leaking after the bubble was popped but there was now a 1X1.5 inch long
area where the rubber was no longer covering the tires Kevlar. I was able to
ride on the tire the way it was for another 5 miles before I flatted. When I put
in my new tube I folded up 2 one dollar bills & placed the bills in between the
tube & the bare area on my tire in hopes that I could provide some extra
protection. It worked! I rode 75 miles on my tire like that. FROM Vaughn NM to
Roswell there are no gas stations or anything else to buy supplies. Just a 90
mile stretch of road with one rest stop 52 miles outside of Vaughn. So I packed powdered Gatorade & enough Hammer bars to last the entire ride from Vaughn to the rest Roswell. By the time I got to the rest area I'd been out of Gatorade for about an hour & a half. I
was pretty thirsty! I filled up my 4 bike bottles with my powdered Gatorade &
water from the water fountain & did my best at rehydrate myself. The rest of
the way into Roswell was great. Peaceful. Nothing but me & the road.
I stayed @ the comfort 8 motel there in Roswell. My wife & 2 children met me
there. The hotel had a pool so that night I played w/ my kids in the water. By
the time it was bedtime my kids seemed as tired as I was. Great way to end a
wonderful day.

Wed morning I awoke to my legs feeling slightly stiff and sore. Plus my mouth
was really dry. Although I did my best to hydrate last night I was unable to do
it. I ate a quick continental breakfast kissed the family & shot out
the door. Destination Hobbs NM. 120 miles.
From Roswell to Caprock (about 40-45 miles) is slightly uphill. The wind was HOWLING right in my face the entire way there. It was slow going. I only averaged 10 miles an hour.
After Caprock it was a slight downhill to Tatum NM but that dang wind got even
worse & was still blowing in my face the entire time. I only averaged 12 MPH
from Caprock to Tatum. Once I hit Tatum the temperature dropped quite a bit. The
big snow storm that NM was expecting was dropping the temps & making the wind my
mortal enemy. My feet were so cold they felt like blocks of ice. @ Tatum I got
some duct tape from the Town & Country & wrapped the tape all around my shoes to cover the areas that had holes in hopes of keeping the wind out & the heat in. Although from
experience I know that is pretty affective the temperatures just kept dropping
so it didn't feel like it helped. From Tatum to Lovington was pretty uneventful.
The wind died down a bit but the temps continued to plummet. By the time I got
to Lovington it was well below freezing & I was pretty much miserable. Because of the wind blowing in my face the entire way I had made really slow time. I was in
danger of not making Hobbs by dark. Felt like Silverman all over again. Half way from Lovington to Hobbs it became to dark to see & I was forced to call my wife to come pick me up. By the time she got to me I was only 10 miles from the Hobbs city limits. When I got into
the van I seemed to have a case of hypothermia. My body was shaking horribly &
uncontrollably. Add that to the fact that I had missed my goal of making the
entire trip unsupported, I was not a happy camper.

The next day was Thanksgiving & I awoke w/ a stomach flue. I couldn't keep
anything at all down. The storm had hit during the night & had dumped 2 inches of snow
on the ground. So you know what I did? I forced my wife to drive me to the place
where I got picked up so I could ride in the rest of the way. I couldn't say I
had ridden my bike to Hobbs if I didn't ride in that last 10 miles. My wife was
FURIOUS with me because I was sick & it was dangerous from the snow on the ground. It took me 2 hrs to make that last 10 miles because I kept having to stop to puke & I took a spill twice on my bike. But dang it I made it!

By Sat morning I was feeling much better. My legs were still a little stiff & I had a good sized scab on the right side of my nose from getting such bad wind
burn. Other than that I was ok. I knew I still needed to rest to recover from my
ride & sickness but I had told all you peeps I was going to do a tour de stade
of Hobbs high & I couldn't make a liar out of myself. So I drove to the high
school stadium, jumped a fence to get in & did my tour de stade. Very
anti-climactic!!! I was bored 10 minutes into it. How can I ride for 20 hrs 15
minutes in 3 days with nothing to look at but empty plains & not be bored once,
but 10 minutes on the stairs I was bored out of my mind? I forced myself to
finish then went back to my Aunts house to partake in some more Thanksgiving
turkey.

For any weight watchers out there Thanksgiving week I earned 115 activity
points!

Well thanks for tuning in. Sorry I've been out of contact for so long. Hope all u Peeps had a great
Thanksgiving. Peace!