Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Packing to Grants, N.M.

This is a link to newly added photo's that we hope you enjoy!

http://picasaweb.google.com/miller.jamiem/PackingToGrantsNM

Journey Stats

For those number folks out there, I have some extra time to at the library to write up our daily mileage and times. For those that care more about the journey, skip this and read "22-34" the next post.

Day 1
Lorsburg to Silver City
12.73 miles
6.98 mph

This was our rude awakening to altitude after getting off a 25 hour bus ride.

Day 2 Silver City rest day
5.1 miles
7.62 mph

Day 3 Silver City rest day
5.7 miles 7.2 mph

Day 4 Silver City to Mimbres Ranger station
29.2 miles
6.88 mph
Feeling much better, rode on mostly roads, 11miles on dirt. rained all night

Day 5 Mimbres ranger station to Rocky Canyon Campground
16.47 miles
4.95mph

LOTS OF FREAKING MUD! We also climbed several thousand feet up onto the divide
took 1 hour to go 300 feet in mud. Very fustrating. Day ened in a hail storm

Day 6 Rocky Canyon to Wall Lake
25.98 miles
6.72 mph
Very steep north georgia fire road type climbs but covered in sloppy mud making progress nearly impossible. Saw a herd of elk at Wall lake. We camped under some trees due to rain but then a guy came and told us that we were on private land, so we have to ride another 3 miles after the rain stopped.

Day 7 Wall Lake to before Collins Park (elevation of campsite) 7456ft
32.50 miles
6.42 mph
We rode around thunder stroms like a giant ches game but eventually got caught before our goal of collins parks. Jamie's rack broke here, I fixed it with zip ties and duct tape

Day 8 Collins Park to Patterson Canyon (elevation of campsite) 7731ft
39.71 miles
6.05 mph
Tried to get in more riding before the rain came by waking up before dawn. But unfortuneately, none of the roads were dry enough from the night before. Got stuck several times, then went through the San Austin valley to be slowed by severe wind. Enough to slow you down to 4 mph on a downhill! When it turned to a cross wind, it would litereally blow us all over the road. Very tired, camped in a canyon and listened to two pack of wolves bay at the moon all night.

Day 9 Patterson Canyon to Pie town
33.93 miles
9.01 mph

NO RAIN! and really killer descent. Nothing like the sound of knobby tires wailing over the hard packed dry dirt roadway all the way into Pietown where we ate some great pies! Met josh and Ryan and some CDT hikers. The ride also took us through a pretty dry valley full of lots of homestead ruins of thse that couldn't find enough water to survive out here in some very harse landscape

Day 10 Pie Town to Grants
68.72 miles
11.61 mph

This ride was relatively flat on very hard packed raodways and 35 miles of pavement in Grants. Jamie hauled it and I tried to keep up. The last 2 miles were a real struggle due to the unrelenting wind that slowed progress to a crawl.

Day 11 Grants rest day

Day 12 Grants to Mt. Taylor (elevation of campsite) 7960ft
30.69miiles
6.8 mph
Really BIG and LONG climb today. over 3000 ft over 24 miles topping out a 9200 feet. I got a bit winded at the top and the descent was great. We camped on the ridge overlooking the vally below and watched the sunset over a very hard but beautiful day.

Day 13 Mt. Taylor to Hunter's camp (elevation of campsite) 6426
47.61
8.17 mph
The sun was blazing today and we treked through a harsh desert, heavily eroded and dotted with the ruins of ranches that didn't make it. No water except for a spring near camp. Saw a bunch of foxes including one that was dead, its bones bleached and dried in the desert. ONce again, harse life out here. Lots of up and downs and wind, really wore us down.

Day 14 Hunters camp to Cuba (elevation of campsite) 6800ft
46.07
8.12 mph
We made it but did got dehydrated in the progress. Like I keep saying, harse landscape, no water, hard for life.

Day 15 Cuba to FS road 103
29.66 miles
6.21 mph
Lots of climbing. See "22-34" post

Day 16 FS road 103 to Abiquou, NM
48.8 miles
7.72 mph
average speed on climbs was only 4.2 mph but the descents skewed the stats. Once again see the "22-34" post

Day 17 Abiquou to El Rito NM
17.89 miles
7.08 mph avg speed
This was supposed to be a rest day but the Abiquou Inn is really expensive (but very nice) so we left after having a great time at the Maya Art Cafe (and they drove us to the grocery store) that we cruised up to El Rito about sunset. Even after the sun went down, you could still see the road under the bright moonlight. When we couldn't find the campsite we pitched a tent at the ranger station.

Day 18 El Rito to Canada del Oso river campsite (elevation of campsite) 8212 ft
23.13 miles
6.16 mph avg
Met 4 new people riding north as well. Spent a lot of time in El Rito having the best mexican food ever and then decided to leave late and do a big climb. All the mexican food stayed down but it was tough. Drank water from a gasoline can a guy offered way out in the middle of nowhere. He was drinking it too and we didn't get sick so I reckon it was alright.

Day 19 Canada del Oso river campsite to Rio San Antonio campsite
36.17 miles
6.56 mph avg speed.

Climbed Burned mountain (10,200ft) which despite its name was very pretty. Decent started on dirt and progressed onto pavement. Hit 46.4 mph on the pavement decent. Pretty fast for knobby tires and an unstable BOB trailer behind you. Last 4 miles had severe headwinds. Met Steve a cool guy that used to ride Cat 2 that gave us beer and whiskey while he went fishing in the river. Hooked up with Jon (a rider we met in El Rito) he decided the other were going too fast and he'll ride with us.

Day 20 Rio San Antonio Campstie to Apachee Creek campsite
10,614ft (elevation of campsite)
26.89 miles
4.8 mph avg

The distance and speed should tell the story of today's ride. Severe uphill, mud, snow drifts, elevation slowed us down but we had a lot of fun! Road was so severely eroded it was closed to vehicles. Topped out about 11,400ft. Great views up there! You'll enjoy the pictures once wew're able to post them (probably a few weeks)

Day 21 Apachee Creek campsite to Lake Fork Campsite
approx 9000ft (elevation of campsite)
35 miles
8.1 mph avg

Very rocky and steep decent off of the ridgeline. Entered Colorado!!! Got to see a real steam train chugging through the valley. Clibed back to 10,200 ft on pavement over La Magna Pass (10,260ft) and then ripping decent at 46.8 mph to a great cheeseburger in Horca, CO, then back on dirt climbing up a river valley to the campsite

Day 22 Lake Fork campsite to Monte Vista, CO
52.85 miles
9.75 mph

Got off to late start because of a great cafe in Platoro, CO. There we were told the passes ahead were closed due to excessive snow cover. We thought about trying them anyway but we met a guy that had to be turned around up there when a combination of motorcycles, ATVs and snowmobiles couldn't him and his buddies across. We took his advice and did an alternate to here, Monte Vista. Just 16 miles off route but no snow and much lower in elevation (7700ft approx)

Day 23 Monte Vista, CO
Started out as a rest day, then Jamie got sick. Turns out Josh was sick as well.

Day 24 Monte Vista, CO
Jamie feeling better, I got sick. Determined it was bad water in Platoro, CO. Learned that the four guys made it over the pass. One of those got sick, too.

Day 25 Del Norte, CO
I slept this entire day. Started to feel better in the evening. Had my first meal in over 40 hours.

Day 26 Del Notre, CO
Took Andrew's advice, stayed another day. Met the great folks Gary and Patti and learned what ultra light really means.

Day 27 Del Norte, CO to campsite on descent from careneo pass
9346ft (elevation of campsite)
37.6 miles
8.09 mph

Feeling much better. Ripped up the pass at a blistering pace pulling the trailer in the middle ring for parts. Its great to see the passes aren't as steep. Camped out underneath some beautiful aspens. Look forward to the rest of the downhill tomorrow

Day 28 Decent from careneo pass to sargents, co
8497 ft
69.14
9.36 mph

Pulled a LONG day today with a 10,100ft pass in the middle. Still feeling pretty strong. We did this really killer decent that went up and down around these smaller hills. You could use your momentum to carry you over each top slowing you down just enough to catch a brillant view of snow covered peaks and then back through the maze of hills again. Great ride.

Day 29 Sargents, CO to Salida CO
33.76
9.04 mph

The big climb over monarch pass. Went up really high with lots of road traffic. I'm a little pooped but having a good time in Salida. 3.8mph up the pass 35+ going down so the average speed is a little misleading

Day 30 Salida to FS 175 camp
10.09
4.63mph

Not feeling well. Legs don't want to go but I forced myself anyway. No water on steep climb but some folks in a truck gave us a gallon. Before we reached the top, it rained. Very cold.

Day 31 FS 175 camp to Hartzel, CO
8860 ft
39.47
7.47 mph

Hard day, cold rain and cold severe headwinds. Body just not feelling a lot like moving but we got a good hot meal and we're sleeping behind the bar.

Day 32 Hartzel, CO to Breckenridge, CO
19.1
6.28 mph

Note it is not 19/1 miles to Breckenridge from Hartzel. We cheated. I left Hartzel feeling groggy but then everything started falling apart. Severe COLD headwinds and my body told me it had enough. I laid down and couldn't get back up, body just wouldn't move. Hitched a ride with a passing truck into town. Will see doc tomorrow.

Day 33 Breckenridge
rest day

Saw doc, deteremined that I haven't been eating enough and have thrown myself into a severe imbalance. Talked to nutritionist and figured out how to eat more. So, I'm sitting around eating. Feel like crap

Day 34 Breckenridge
rest day

rode 5.5 miles to do laundry and nearly didn't make it. Very weak. Never felt like this before. Will continue eating

Day 35 Breckenridge
rest day

feelling better today. Jamie's friends came out to visit

Day 36 Breckenridge to Blue river camp
23.15
10.17 miles

Took it real easy today over very flat to mod downhill pavement. Saw a movie, ate a lot. Feeling better.

Day 37 Blue river camp to Kemling, CO
45.03
8.82 mph

Good day. Feeling much better. Climbed up Ute pass and got an incredible view of the snow capped Gore range. Then long steady decent almost all the way to Kremling.

Day 38 Kremling, CO to French Creek camp
26.72
6.18 mph

LOTS of big climbs today. I feel like we've down 6-gap in only 25 miles. Great veiws of the Colorado river through a canyon (that we climbed both sides of). Asked Jamie ot marry me. She said yes. Lots of misquitos

Day 39 French Creek Camp to Steamboats Springs, CO
51.26
9.42 mph

Severe steep up and downs for the first several miles, finally an easy climb up to Lynx pass and the DOWNHILL practically all the way to Steamboat. Really ripping. We're absolutely filthy and enjoyed a shower.

Day 40 Steamboat Springs, CO
Rest Day

Finally got to ride some Colorado Mountain bike trails. They are really really ripping. Had a great time and got to tour the Moots tinanium bicycle factory.

Day 41 Steamboat to Mt. Meaden pass
39.7
6.48

Long continuous climbing today. First on road and then on dirt. Very steep and rocky. Walked a lot of the really rocky stuff, just too challenging with a trailer. Really brillant views up top.

Day 42
Mt. Meaden pass to Medicine Bow NF
43.85
8.57

Up and down terrain through aspens and later into the great wide open. Got dehydrated but ended up in one of the most beautiful campsites of the trip.

Day 43
Medicine bow NF to Rawlins WY
66.65
9.6mph

Feeling good, left in the cool morning but still ended up in the heat and desert by afternoon. Long day in the saddle. Couldn't seem to drink enough water but we made it. Feels good to eat pizza!

Day 44
Rawlins, WY

Rest day.

Day 45
Rawlins to A& M Lake Resevior
58.43
9.48 mph
7280 ft elevation of campsite

Jamie is really cruising on her new tires. She stayed out in front a lot today as we rolled through the desert and made it to the lake before it got too blazing outside. Carrying 40 lbs of water sucks but necessary

Day 46
A & M Resevoir to Daicus Well
56.6
7.79 mph

The Desert was surreal at night and we really enjoyed the ride. In daylight, it gets a lot harsher. Very washboarded and rutted roads, severe winds (cross and head), and the blazing sun took a lot out of us but we made it.

Day 47
Daicus Well to Atlantic City, WY
22.11
7.1
7550 ft elevation of town

We were really tired from the odd hours, little sleep and difficult desert riding. There was a bed and breakfast in town run by super nice folks and so we stopped there.

Day 48
Atlantic City to Little Sandy Creek Camp
36.52
6.95

Not feeling too good today. Having a lot of stomach problems and not pedaling very fast. Really nice looking scenery but hard to appreciate when you don't feel well.

Day 49
Little Sandy Creek Camp to Pinedale, WY

Woke up to more stomach problems. Decided to hitch a ride 55 miles to Pinedale to the hospital. Minor food poisoning from the buffollo burger I ate in Atlantic City. Dehydrated from"extra restroom breaks". recieved 2 bags of IV and feeling much better.

Day 50 Pinedale, WY

Rest day
Still wasn't feeling quite up to speed so we took one more day.

Day 51 Pinedale, WY
Pinedale to Misquito Lake CG
elevation of campsite = 8940ft
47.2 miles
7.11 mph avg

Nice ride up a valley, then super steep exposed climb with lots of bugs. Ended up a a really beautiful campsite by the aptly named misquito lake. Lots and lots of bugs.

Day 52
Misquito Lake CG to RV park along hwy 26/287
44.6 miles
7.12 mph avg

Getting over Union pass took a while but the downhill was insane and super scenic. I was going to fast and trying to hold on so I didn't take any pictures. Ended up at a RV park with showers and hot food. I like hot showers and eating.

Day 53
RV park along hwy 26/287 to Colter Bay CG
49.1 miles
9.42 mph avg

Got over towgatee pass by lunch. Lots of construction but the traffic was okay. The view of the teton mtn range was incredible as we decended into teton national park just screaming all the way downhill. We nearly got flattened by an RV in the park on the way to the campsite.

Day 54
Colter Bay CG to Elks lodge CG in Idaho
52.76 miles
8.69 mph avg

Finally off the death highway of RVs and people in big hurries to get to their vacations. Getting back on dirt was extremely dusty but a nice ride through the woods. Very steep up and downs but lots of streams and lakes to take an occasional swim. We now get to see the Tetons from the backside.

Day 55
Elks lodge to Flat rock CG (Macks inn, Idaho)
elevation of camp 6418ft
44.33 miles
6.98 mph avg (Jamie's avg speed was 7.15!!)

Jamie was faster than I was today and I'm so proud of her. The ride was really sandy that soaked up all our speed. The trailer was a huge disadvantage is the sand. Really neat ride along an old railway bed but very dusty from a lot of ATV traffic. Macks Inn, Idaho is a weird place.

Day 56
Flat rock CG (Macks inn, Idaho) to Upper red rock lake CG (Montana)
31.56 miles
7.15 mph avg

We slept in today and did an easy ride to this lake full of swans with this enourmous mountain behind us. Swarmed by thousands of flies and misquitos so we spent most of our time in the tent. We entered Montana as we cross the divide on red rock pass.

Day 57
Upper red rock lake CG to Lima, MT
56.46 miles
8.08 mph avg

Pulled a long day today. After the lake, all the mountains disappeared along with the trees into a vast wasteland of scrub with no shade but plenty of wind and sun. Felt good to arrive into a town and get a big dinner.

22-34

In the wide range of 27 differnt gear ratios allowed to us on our bicycles, we used the 22-34* the most often. Cyclists know this as "granny gear" in that it is the lowest gear ratio allowed to us. It takes a lot of patience to climb for 20 miles (creeping along at only 3.5mph) but we made it. We left the desert south of Cuba, NM and climbed into the Santa Fe National Forest up to 9660ft, then 10,200 ft and then yet again to 10,260ft over about 75 miles. It was difficult but the scenery made it worthwhile. We were told that there would be no water for us between Cuba and Abiquou so we would need to haul all fo the water we needed for the two day trek.

THAT IS A LOT OF WATER!

After having a bout of dehydration riding through the desert into Cuba we weren't going to take any chances so we filled everything up. All totaled in was about 600 oz (39lbs!) split between Jamie and I. All that extra weight made for a lot of extra work to make the 20 mile climb out Cuba (6500ft) to the peak at (9660ft). Although the average grade doesn't seem bad, it was similar climbing Hog Pen gap in north Georgia because it had several false peaks that only added to the overal climb while increasing the steepness of it. All this climbing at altitudes we're still not fully adjusted to. To ad insult to injury, all along the climb we saw nothing but WATER!! It seems that we were given flase information and we carried all that extra weight for nothing. That bit really fustrated me but regardless, we still finished the climb and had a ripping descent down into a valley where we found a campsite (8900ft).

The next morning, we made another push up to 10,200ft. Our first time over 10k and the altitude started getting to us again. It really amazes me the effect of altitude. On grades that I would not even consider a climb, we are struggling in our 22-34, our hearts racing and chests heaving for air. It can be really fustrating at times knowing full well that you are capable of going faster and yet, struggling to just maintain balance as you watch the hub spin slowly in front of you. If you got tired of watching your wheel turn, you could look on either side and see snow drifts in the shady spots under the aspen trees.

After summiting the first 10,200, we decended another 1000ft only to climb back up again to 10,260. The climb was on a very steep and very eroded and washed out 4WD trail making any sort of pedaling impossible. It was a deal where you had to push the bike forward, hold the brake so it wouldn't slip back down, and then ginderly walk a couple steps and then lunge the bike forward again. Luckily that was only for about a 1/4 mile but still very strenuous. At least it didn't rain.

But once we made it to the top, oh man! the view at 10k is great! You can see forever. In fact you can see the snow covered peaks of the next range we tackle the San Juan Mountains. Being at the top only meant one thing...

WE GET TO GO DOWN!! Our decent was broken up into a 13 mile downhill, then a 2 mile climb, then another 11 mile downhill all into the town of Abiquou, NM. The first decent was actually very technical, especially with bikes loaded down with all of our gear. It was the same washed out 4WD road and had sections that were very tricky. Some slick rock sections that looked exactly like the trials in Conyers (So think of doing Conyers, pulling 60 pounds in a trailer at 20mph). Other sections were just covered in loose lava rock, regardless, it was hard to really open up on this trail due to the technical bits but Jamie, AKA 2-seconds, did great! I ate it, once (I'm okay).

This rocky descent was broken up with a smaller pass that was only 2 miles and 800 ft. Now that we were lower the climb went much easier and Jamie and I spun up it with seemingly ease. Then yet another long downhill into Abiquou. This time on gravel roads and speed at 30+mph, for 11miles!

In Abiquou we got a room and the next day we got coffee at the Maya Art Cafe. The owner, Tamara, was SUPER nice! She drove us into a larger town so we could do laundry and buy enough groceries for the 6 day journey to Platoro, CO. The Maya Art Cafe is a great place for everyone to stop in, highly recommended!!

We are now in El Rito, NM. Finding libraries and internet access is very challenging so excuse the long delays between posts.

We have met back up with Ryan and Josh as well as four other people riding north. We will be loosely riding with one another on the trek to Platoro. The road ahead is much more challenging than the road before. We will be riding four 10k+ passes as well as staying at 10k for about a 20 mile stretch. After Platoro, we ascend even higher to Summitville, go over Indiana Pass at 11,900ft and then a 26 mile downhill into Del Norte, CO. SO far my top speed on a downhill is 38.69mph, I wonder if I can top that after Indiana pass?

So y'all have fun and take care, we'll try to stay warm at altitude and avoid the Bears.

-Lee

*22-34 is named because the crank sprocket has 22 teeth and the wheel sproket has 34 teeth. You can find a smaller 20 tooth sprocket but it is very difficult to balance below 3mph and you can walk at 2.5mph so if it gets any steeper, you're better off walking. We walk a lot at altitude.

Monday, May 28, 2007

The Weather's been Good!

We've arrived in Cuba NM after traversing a 9200 ft peak, near Mt Taylor. We rode through waterless high desert. The heavily eroded landscape of high mesas and deep arroyos. It was very difficult but we made it! You sensed that Billy the Kid had riden here!

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Mired in Mud

Hey all,

It's been a lot of miles and a lot of climbs to get to Grants, New Mexico but we did it! The three days in Silver City really helped us out a lot and we felt much better when we left 7 days ago. What lies between I20 and I40 in New Mexico is a lot more than desert and very very beautiful country. Those interstates really don't do the state justice. What lies between should not be missed. We rode mostly roads to Mimbres, NM and camped at a ranger station just before the climb up to the divide. It rained that evening, little did we know, we would rain on us a lot throughout the next couple days.

Climbing up onto the continental divide for was absolutely spectacular! The views are tremendous and you can just see forever. The loads we are hauling combined with the elevation means that sometimes we have to walk the steep parts of the climbs. The grades in this first couple days were very similar to steep north georgia fire roads and although they took a lot of effort, it was well rewarded with scenery. We will be mailing a CD full of pictures to Jamie's parents to upload over the next few days.

This first section had several challenges. Mostly the weather. I know that Jin and the guys (buddies cycling to Alaska) had their fair share of rain on their trip but they're on pavement. When dirt roads in New Mexico get the slightest drop of water, it turns into a quagmire! Mired in mud is the phrase. On top of that, the road doesn't look too muddy. It appears like an innocent dirt road until you ride over it and SINK it. Within a couple pedal strokes, mud between the tires and frame prevent any further movement. We learned this on the first day and this continued throughout the next 5. It took us one whole freakin hour to go only 300 feet at one point. The first day ended in a hail storm that we were able to miss the worst of it by pitching our tent just in time.

The next several days consisted of long steep climbs (with equally long steep and FAST decents). The mud problem continued only now it was on the climbs as well. Nothing is worst then trying to push your bike up a muddy hill while it is sinking into the ground. This really hindered our progress but we persisted. The mud is like glue and sticks to itself and everything it touches, completely like anything else I've dealt with before. Our morning consisted of getting stuck and unstuck in the cool mornings. By the afternoon, the roads dried out but the thunderstorms would come. Western US is neat in that you can see for miles and you can see the storms forming, getting trapped on ridgelines and dumping rain into the valleys. It's liek a gigantic maze, trying to beat the rain storm moving across the valley infront of you while trying not to get caught by the one behind you. When you do eventually get caught, you have to pitch the tent quickly and hunker down for a couple hours. Twenty minutes fo the rain to pass and the rest of the time for the road to dry out just enough to attempt riding again. Whenever you got stuck it took about 10-20 minutes to scrap the gluelike mud off your bike and tires so you can push another 20 feet only to get stuck again. Eventually, we took to walking/riding the grassland beside the raod whenever it was clear enough.

When the weather finally cleared up enough for us to start putting in a lot of miles, head winds kicked in to slow us down. Very gusty winds that would blow you down from cruising at 12 mph to creeping and straining at 3.5mph. Equally as fustrating as the mud. Through it all though, Jamie has been great. She's really strong and never runs out of energy to pedal. I've nicknamed her "2-seconds" after a french canadian movie about a female pro downhill moutnain biker. Her skill at handling the descents is really impressive. She's shaping up to be quite a mountain biker.

We eventually found our way out of all of this and rode into the wonderful town called Pietown. Famous for.... PIES! Yum! After 5 days of shoving our bikes through mud, we got to meet the very nice Kathy, owner of the Pie-O-Neer cafe. She allowed us to get showers for the first time and we got to eat a lot of really great pie. She then allowed us to stay at a friends house indoors with some of our new friends. Ryan, Josh, and Dennis are also riding the divide going our direction and we met them in Pietown. They are still with us here in Grants and we may continue riding together. The day after Pietown we were feeling refreshed and ready to ride. We were feeling so good and the terrain was relatively flat. And Jamie wanted to keep going, so we rode 70 miles into Grant in one (1) day. We took a day in Grant to dry out and reorganize. While in Grant, we'd like to acknowledge the wonderfull people in the local laundramat; Britney who gave Jamie a new haircut and Bernie's Custom MotorCycle Shop for assisting in rebuilding Jamie's bike cargo rack that broke inhalf 4 day's ago and has since been held together with zip ties and duck tape. We will leave Grant on Friday, starting the BIG climbs and will start going over 10,000 ft as we work are way into Colorado. We hope to be Cuba, New Mexico in 3-4 days and then will post again when we reach Abiquiu, NM, the home of Georgia O'keefe, 2-3 days later.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Basecamp Silver City


We're still here at the fabulous Copper Manor Motel. We've declared this our basecamp. We've been adjusting to the thin air very well. Exploring Silver City on our bikes each day we are pedaling faster and feeling better. Tomorrow we leave for Grants NM on bikes loaded for a 6 to 8 day journey. That's a lot of food!

Monday, May 14, 2007

acclimatization n. The physiological adaptation of an animal or plant to changes in climate or environment, such as light, temperature, or ALTITUDE!.

We're getting a wonderful lesson in physiology now that we have arrived in New Mexico. After a 25 hour bus ride from Jamie's parents house in Springfield, MO to Lordsburg, NM we thought it would be a great idea for us to assemble our bike in a sleep deprived state, eat a big lunch at a mexican place, and then ride 48 miles up the road (paved) to Silver City, NM under a blazing sun where we will meet up with the continental divide trial*. The elevation of Lordsburg, NM is about 5000 ft and the elevation of Silver City is 5970ft. We were used to breathing air in Atlanta at a mere 1000ft. Can you see the foreshadowing going on here?

So we unboxed all of our gear, assembled it, ate and headed out at about 1pm. Everything started out well, but Jamie started riding slower, and then slower, and then we're going about 6mph on flat pavement! This was very peculiar to me but I figured she must be tired from the trip. After a couple miles of creeping along further, I took both her saddle bags and attached them to my already overloaded BOB trailer thinking the removal of weight should help her out. After all, I'm strong, I can take it, right? Seems as though I will learn that my body's physiology is not attached to my ego.

Removing Jamie's weight didn't speed her up, and our plan turned from making Silver City that night, to camping half way and riding in tomorrow.

Then I started reflecting on how I felt.

I felt freakin horrible!

Headaches, nausea, exhaustion, and I would have just laid down and taken a nap if it wasn't for that unrelenting sun. We were only 8 miles into the 48!

By mile 10, we were taking a break every 20 minutes and creeping along in the granny gear at 4 mph on pavement, going up a silver comet type "hill". Something wasn't right with this and I knew that at this pace, it was going to take three days to do 48 miles and we only had enough food/water for two days, tops. At this point, we decided to hitch a ride into town. It took another 2 miles and being passed by a lot of cars but eventually a really nice lady stopped on her way back from a horse race (which she won). We loaded our gear and ourselves into the horse trailer and rode the rest of the way into town. It turns out that horse trailers don't just contain horses. The front half of those trailers has a full bed and kitchen so we weren't actually with the horses, we were laying out on the bed inside the horse trailer. That lady really helped us out and I encourage everyone to remember her good deed and pass it on.

So end result is that a change in altitude requires aclimatization! You can't just expect to go out there a kill a bunch of miles that you would back in Atlanta. Aclimatization takes several days and that's what we expect to do. We have a room here a cheap motel and we'll be hanging out here in Silver City for the next several days to adjust. Dr. Schick** gave us some altitude sickness pills before we left and we talked to him over the phone this morning. We will be following his suggestion of rest before continuing on. When we leave Silver City, we will not see another grocery store (or perhaps another person) for 6-7 days as we ride the divide up to Grants, NM! So we want to be absolutely sure we can make the journey before setting off. Once we leave Silver City, we're commited to going to Grants with very little chance for a bail out along the way.

I hope y'all are having fun and remember, NEVER underestimate the effect of altitude!

Lee

*For those of you more familar with the trial, you may be wondering why we didn't start at the official beginning in Antelope Wells. That location involves us riding 2 days south across the desert, taking our picture of us at the start and then riding backtracking on the same roads another 2 days to end up esentially where we started. Frankly, that didn't seem like a lot of fun just to be "official". Call us slackers if you like, but be prepared to back it up by getting your own bike out here and riding.

** Dr. Richard Schick, besides a good sports medicine doc, is also well known ultra-endurance runner (that means he runs a 100 miles at a time!) and the father of Richard Schick. Richard and I went to college together and it was Richard that let me borrow his mountain bike and took me on my first mountain bike ride at Sope creek in Symrna, GA (the trials we rode are now illegal for riding). Richard, Jin and I built a recumbent bicycle together in school and that's what got me into cycling.

Moving




This past week we packed our apt and everything we will need 4 the next 3 months. We are storing most of our things. Everything we are bringing on our trip went in the back of the minivan and we left the ATL! After all the hype its nice 2 get started. Our messages will be sent from my phone now. -JME

Sunday, May 6, 2007

12 Hrs. of Ft. Yargo (When Goats attack)


This past week has been full tilt with little sleep in preparation for my graduation and moving our stuff into storage for our trip. To cap off an already sleep deprived week, I thought it would be a great idea to do a 12 hour race solo. I did really well last year and thought I could repeat. For some reason, I figured my lack of sleep and training would have little effect on the outcome. Another reason was that this seemed a lot more fun than joining all the other Tech grads for the graduation ceremony.

Before I get to the race, a little history on Goats. Goats are terrible creatures and are considered bad luck in drag racing. While I was working on a top fuel dragster, goats became the reason anything broke. We were convince there lurked a great goat conspiracy behind the scenes and we swore we could always hear goat laughter whenever a connecting rod broke, the car spontaneously caught fire, a valve failed, anything. The goat conspiracy continues in all forms of racing but nobody has really figured it out yet. But I know! And I intend to expose these goats for what they are, trouble makers with an appetite for destruction.

When Goats attack race cars:












So back to the race. Everything went well until lap three when the bike stopped shifting. Turns out a goat had chewed through a shifter cable rendering the entire system useless. After struggling with the bike to finish the lap and get in the pits, I realized that I had no freakin tools. In my haste and desire to pack "light" I did not bring any tools or spare parts. I did not mind my 7P's. Fortunately, Eddie O'Dea (www.55nineperformace.com) had a spare shifter cable and some tools that I was able to get everything rigged back together. Nuth'n quite like rednek engi-neer'n. During this, I went a lap down but I got back underway. This angered the goats and got them scheme'n on better ways to slow me down. This was done by way of complete front brake failure entering a high speed muddy corner. The goats finished my fate by kicking out the rear wheel with a hoof and sending the rest of me crashing into the ground. Bruised but otherwise okay, I completed the lap, came back into the pits and started working on the front brake. I was now two laps down and tired. I sat down, ate and then figured there's not much point in continuing past exhaustion. I did one more lap, enjoyed the being in the woods and called it a day. Even a bad day mountain biking beats any graduation walk.

Lee

Th 7P's are
Prior Proper Planning Prevents P*@s Poor Performance
- Virgil Hartman former owner of Fram and Prestone Top Fuel Dragsters

Graduation

Lee Graduated Georgia Tech with a Masters of Science in Prosthetics and Orthotics. He intends on starting a Ph.D. in Applied Physiology at Georgia Tech in the fall. His research into the biomechanics of amputee cyclists will continue.

jme

Friday, May 4, 2007

Getting ready to go

In preparation for our trip I got a hair cut!
jme