PACTour Day 19/19 - La Familia

The morning started with a group photo.  Jim and Will are tough to spot in this group.

Turk and Jaime wouldn't get into the big picture, but did get in for a La Familia photo prior to their personal PAC Tour stage - 19/19.

Helmets on and bikes ready we left Las Cruces, NM, for El Paso, TX - the final destination!!

The first 5 miles were fast and the group was large.  David and Craig leading the way.

We split off a smaller group and took the pace down after a few miles.

Turk may not have done the whole ride, but still has the best calves in the bunch.

The Franklin Mountains.  Our main obstacle between Las Cruces and El Paso.

Jim and Will waited for Jaime and the Turk at the top of the 5.5 mile climb, peaking at 5280 feet.

The Turk was all smiles finishing the climb.

Cat and Marc with La Familia for a group photo.  Our next group photo will probably be in the Ardennes region of Belgium next year!!

PAC Tour version of the "Mile High Club."  Hard to believe that we put on jackets for the descent mid August in El Paso!!  It was about 80 degrees with a slight threat of rain.

Will descending towards El Paso, patented Slauson tuck.

The Turk gritting her teeth and descending well.  The descent was slow - Jaime has hit close to 70mph on this descent, we were descending at 35 mph due to the big headwind.

Finally, typical PAC tour finish.  10 miles of tailwind to erase the memory of the preceding 1900 miles of headwind.  We joined Cat, Marc and Lon for the last couple of miles.

Ascent view of our day.  Pretty obvious was our main challenge in the middle!!  

Less obvious was the 15 miles of false flat with big headwind after the descent.

Will and Jim put the hammer down on the climb - after Jaime launched them.  Jim was actually able to get his heart rate up to 175, so he must be recovering somewhat.

Ascent documents our route map across the U.S. from Canada to Mexico.

Additionally you can see our climbing peaks challenges.

Final combined data - 1,988 miles, 86,324 feet of climbing, 116 hours (ie approx 5 days on the bike,) average speed 17.2 miles per hour.  Job well done.

Fun, fun ride.  Turk and Jaime lifted the spirit for our final ride.  Jaime took the sprints, Will took the climb.  Nasty, false flat head wind road after the descent put the Turk in the hurt locker.  

The event speaks for itself.  Will, at age 16 has now crossed the U.S. West to East, and North to South on his bicycle.  The PAC Tour experience is second to none and recommended to all.

We'll put a final wrap-up in a day or two.  Appreciate all the positive energy from all following.  Big question?  What's next?!?!