PACTour Day 15/19 - Wild Hogs!!

Last night before dinner, Will had a Jon Jahant special, massage.  Jon is one of the most positive people you will ever meet, a great rider and his massages are second to none.  This is what the Turk has to look forward when she joins us Friday night!!

Last night Jim and Will were watching a movie in their room (Panic, a typical excellent, slightly slow William H. Macy and Donald Sutherland movie - the 6yo son is wonderful, btw.)  They are sure this light was cast from a UFO onto the wall of their room.  After all we are in New Mexico!!  Larry King here we come.  So what if the light was coming thru the peep hole in the door and our room was facing west?

Lon v Will.  The battle continues.  Long shadows on the rollout this am.  Lon wants to take the tour into Santa Fe instead of stopping in Espanol next time around.  Only 20 miles longer... but all uphill!!  See the first 20 miles on the profiles below.

Very cool overpass artwork just outside of Espanol today.

Apparently, the next most popular sport, after smashing beer bottles on the side of roads, must be Rodeo!!

The most popular hobby (neck and neck with gambling) is Flea Marketing.  This one, on an Indian Reservation, is actually located on Flea Market Road!!

Very cool frontage road artwork.

Will got 4 points for taking the Madrid, NM sign today.  Madrid was put on the map recently in the movie Wild Hogs.

The after lunch climb, doesn't look too bad, the last 1/2 mile, however was a steady 15%!!

Will had no problem with the climb, natch.

Yes we are getting further south, where the air is dry and the temps are high.  So if you don't sweat as much as Jim you tend to salt up.

Jim heard a ticking noise around mile 20 today.  He kept forgetting about it at the first 2 rest stops (hey, when the bikes not moving, no ticking!!)  Finally after lunch he investigated and found this staple in his tire sidewall.  This rear tire was due to be changed with 1500 PAC Tour miles supporting a 210 pound man on it.  Following good trauma procedure (never remove something sticking in somewhere that it doesn't belong until it is the right place with the right equipment at the right time) Jim left the staple in for the 35 miles after lunch (OK he did tug on it a bit and stopped when he heard the hissing.)  No significant switchback descents on the way in so no real danger from a rapid decompression.

Ascent view of todays ride.  Not sure why the aerial data wouldn't load in the southeast corner of the map, perhaps related to government projects and UFO's???

Garmin data.  Notice the boys did a little intensity today - from the 1st to the 2nd rest stop, then then the 4 mile climb out of Madrid midway thru.

You can see on the speed data where we pushed it a little from the 1st to 2nd rest stop.

Jim's bike.  Felt F1, Slipstream Chipotle team edition.  (Now obsolete as it is Team Garmin, perhaps collectors item.  Jim has a mixture of components based on his likes.  Campy shifters, brakes, derailleurs, Shimano Dura Ace wheels and SRM DA crank with DA pedals.

Sorry the picture is a bit blurry, we've now cleaned the camera lens.  One thing we hadn't mentioned as to why Jim prefers the Shimano wheels (besides the tubless tires) came up on today's ride.  If you look at the ride map data above, you will see that we headed South, with 2 longish stretches due West then due East late in the ride.  We had a 15mph wind directly out of the south so those stretches were significant crosswinds.  The Shimano DA wheel design seemingly feels almost no wind, making them stable and safe to ride in windy conditions.

Cockpit - FSA 13cm stem (Jim has long torso.) Oval bars wit Fizik bar gel under the tape.  As mentioned Campy shifters - Jim prefers the Campy platform and crispness to Shimano.

Another rocking day.  We tried a little intensity which was tough.  First 20 miles uphill, but rode easy with Lon.  Rode hard from R1-R2, then up the climb thru Madrid.  If you haven't seen Wild Hogs, and you are in your 40's you will probably really enjoy the movie.  Terri and Jim watched the movie in bed and were actually laughing out loud.

Jim was taking a pee by the side of the road, out of sight, or so he thought.   A construction worker, under an underpass shouted out "Cochino!!"  We're sure that means well endowed, devilishly handsome young man.

Lunch was at the bottom of the last significant climb, the last 1/2 mile truly 15%.  We rode that easy since we had just eaten!!  Rain clouds an lightning surrounded us, and we rode on some wet roads, but never actually rode in rain.  

Tomorrow is 120 miles w/ very little climbing, so the boys goal is to get a 20mph average ride in.  Time will tell....