B-H Shop Ride - Version 2.0

This past Saturday we changed the beginning of the Bicycle-Heaven shop ride.  We took the ride North thru Stone Oak, Northwest past Canyon Golf course and West thru Timberwood Park, before hitting Blanco Road about 4 miles further north than in the past.

This change adds a mile, a hill or two in the beginning of the ride, makes the ride alot more scenic and most importantly, moves the ride north of the increasing traffic and road construction on Blanco Road.

The hill up Champions is challenging for the weaker riders, as is the hill after Wilderness Oak.  There is a nice short cut, however, for dropped riders to rejoin the bunch on Blanco at Bullis County park after these trouble spots.

The "new" ride.  Thru Stone Oak and Timberwood Park out to Blanco north of the current road construction.   Notice how the ride "backtracks" a little bit once in Timberwood park, offering a chance for dropped riders to rejoin the ride at Bullis County Park by heading up to Borgfeld Road, then our to Bullis County Park.

Here you can see where the altitude challenges of the ride are.  Also looking at the heart rate tracing (red line) you can see where the "friskier" parts of the ride are - Persimmon Hill, Spring Branch Road, out of the Guadalupe, 311, Lower Smithson Valley.

Garmin software view of the route, ride profile and heart rate challenges.

Garmin software view of the route, ride profile and speed.

Hope these route changes fit our riders well.  See you on Saturdays at 8am for the ride!!

PACTour Epilogue - Rest and Recovery

Ridge of the Rockies is over and we are in its aftermath.  Back to work (14 days straight) to "repay" the 23 days off for the adventure.  

Will is right back into soccer, as though he never missed a day.  His girlfriend doesn't think he's changed, maybe a little skinnier.  Will is proud of himself for completing the tour (that says alot in a teenager.)  Will may be listening to dad a little (?) not once did he have a negative moment on the tour.  Atitude is certainly everything.

Jim is very very tired, maybe relaxed.  He had hoped to test his fitness in a crit on Tuesday, rained out, probably for the best.  He did lose 12 pounds so that made him happy.  Now the challenge is to maintain and hopefully lose another 10?  5 years of PAC Tour has moved his fitness along nicely.

The boys felt the keys to success included riding with different people on different days, and getting lots of sleep - 8-9 hours/night consistently.  They were tired but never exhausted.  They hit the Boudreaux butt paste from night 1, and had much less chafing issues this year.  Lots of lip balm prevented lip sunburn and erosions.  Listening to the iPod/iPhone passed the miles (and got some work done - audiobook required reading for Will, medical lectures for Jim.)

Jaime and Terri meeting the boys in Las Cruces for the ride to El Paso was the icing on the cake.  Fun, fun, fun.  The ride home with Jahant was fast and a blast.

So what's next?

Well, first recovery.

Jim and Terri's 1 hour spin on Wednesday (95 bpm average HR, 14.5 mph.)

Which preceded their 3.5 mile run, first training run for the San Antonio "Rock n Roll" Marathon on 11/16!!

Next year PAC Tour plans include the Eastern Mountains Tour - 2 less days, 50% more climbing.  Maybe another 10 pounds off for Jim on that one.  This tour ends up in New England which means a day or two with Opa and Peg!!  Hopefully a few Bicycle-Heaven friends will take a serious look at their schedules and do this tour with Jim -  August 8- 25.

If you want a taste of the PAC Tour experience going into this tour try a week in Feb/March in AZ or a week in June in Wisconsin.  Its all on the PAC Tour website!!

Until the next adventure - thanx for reading.

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?!?!

PACTour Day 18/19 - Last day in NM

Last night we had dinner in a nice TorC New Mexican restaurant.  Lon sternly warning us that there was a "Car Back" as we were all in the middle of the road.  Susan nearly jumped out of her skin and we saw Lon chuckle a little...

Andrea's Hot Stuff - Will Slauson!!

Will loves soccer (he rides the bike to make dad happy.)  We had the single funnest experience of the trip yesterday evening procuring some TorC T-shirts from Dukatt '71.  More on this later.

The back of Will's shirt advertising the Buckhorn burger restaurant in nearby San Antonio, NM.  The Chili Cheeseburger is supposed to be second to none.

Dukatt's signature logo, on the back of Terri's T-shirt.

Will and Jim had a good room today (and most days on the trip.)  Close to the bike stands and breakfast.  They call it Rockstar parking.

Morning peleton was sizeable, split on a little riser, then Jim and Will whistled thru rest stops 1 and 2 with the fast guys on the tour - David, Craig and even Chip for a while.

Millions of these caterpillars on the roads the past 2 days.  We tried to avoid them all, but a few will not become butterflies.

Lunch today, mile 66/80 at Fort Seldon Monument museum.

Our nice approach into Las Cruces from TorC today.  Moderate pace, a little head wind.  Nice ride.  

Garmin demonstrated the gently downhill profile today, nicely countering the constant headwind starting late morning.

Almost to El Paso!!  Tonight we overnight in Las Cruces and the Turk and Jaime showed up to spice up the last nights and tomorrow's ride.  Turk says it's about a 2 hour drive from San Antonio to Las Cruces, NM.  Apparently she was "resting her eyes" quite a bit today.

There was one thing that Terri wanted as a souvenir from this trip - a T-shirt from Truth or Consequences, NM.  As mentioned yesterday there is a fond spot for this city in the Slauson's hearts, although they had never been there.  Will and Jim hit TorC yesterday around 2pm and the adventure began.  They stopped and IGA and Dollar General, but no TorC shirts.  Continuing down into town the went into a store with a few T's but nothing really fit the bill.  The lady there recommended Dukatt 71 where all the local shirts are made.  A couple of blocks away, but Dukatt was out and the shop was closed!!  Jim called his cell phone, but the reception was crappy so the boys headed back to their motel figuring that there would be no T-shirts.

Well the owner and local personality, Jeff Dukatt, called Jim back and said to come by around 5pm - his closing time.  Will and Jim rode back down to the store around 5 and had a wonderful time.  Jeff asked Jim what he was looking for and came up with 2 basic T's for Terri.  Jeff got a loose idea of what Jim wanted on the shirts, lettering style and logoing.  He said it would take a half hour or so to fire up the machine, which was fine.  The next 30 minutes covered the history of TorC and Dukatt 71, the battles Jeff has with the local leaders, the truck that drove into the shop, etc etc.  Jim and Will were laughing out loud.  Jeff decided that Will needed a shirt also, picked out a tie-dye orange/yellow T, and promised it would tone down with washing.  No problem the colors are basically that of Espana, where will was this summer.

Jeff asked Will what else he enjoyed besides cycling, Will said soccer, Jeff thought about it for a minute and said "I have just the thing."  Will's shirt is pictured above and Will absolutely loved it.  Jim loved the shirts Jeff created for Terri (as did she when she got 'em today.)  The man is an artist and master at knowing what the customer wants, for sure.

Tonight there is a little get together for dinner, so we'll say goodbye until tomorrow, the final leg of our journey from Canada to Mexico!!  65 miles from Las Cruces, NM to El Paso, highlighted by a 6 mile 1500 foot climb thru the Franklin Mountains.

Thanx for reading.

PACTour Day 17/19 - Truth or Consequences?

Today we rode mostly due south, from Socorro, NM to Truth or Consequences, NM.   ToC was originally named "Hot Springs" in fact we are staying in the Hot Springs Motel.  ToC took the name based on the then radio show host saying he would broadcast from the first town to name itself ToC.  The rest is history.

Truth or Consequences has special meaning to the Slauson Family due to this photo, taken nearly 10 years ago at the Tour of The Gila.  On the final stage, Jim had gotten dropped on the initial climb, but knew if he descended like a madman he could get back on for the ride across the valley.  A photographer was standing at the roadside and snapped this photo, entitled "For some racers, the Gila Monster truly was Truth of Consequences..."

Beautiful start to the day.

Again we rode along train tracks today.  Our am peleton started small, Lon leading the way, Lil hammering with Will and Ray keeping watch over the back.

Due to the slow speeds and headwinds of the day, our peleton quickly burgeoned going into the first rest stop.

Today we rode on a great secondary road, often near I-25.  We only had a 3 mile stretch of I-25 shoulder today.  Although our road was relatively rough chipseal, there was virtually no debris and Jim and Will experienced no flats and there were very few for the other riders also.

After the first rest stop, Jim and Will rode with Jon Jahant.  Jon is from San Antonio and is going to drive back to SA with the family on Sunday.  So the party continues...

Our wonderful ride today.  The keyword of the day was "rollers."  Little ups and downs all day.

Docile pace today.

Nice view of the support vehicle Armada, strategically placed for security and the next am setup.

Good view of the functionality of every inch of the vehicles and trailers supporting PAC Tour.

Today we were fortunate we didn't underestimate our adversary.  Although we rode short (80 miles) with little climbing (less than 3000 feet) and easy, the course was challenging, constantly up and down and the headwind was relentless.  Since we didn't go into it with a "this will be a piece of cake" attitude we did well and got thru the day nicely.

We broke the ride up nicely, riding with a fairly large group to the first rest stop at 20miles, then riding with Jon to the 2nd at 40 miles.   We rode alone to lunch, at 66 miles, maybe a mistake as the wind had really picked up and there were alot of rollers.  Arriving very hungry, Will had 2 homemade burritos.  The last 11 miles we rode with crewmember Karl, which really made the time pass nicely.

The road was perfect today, rolling, snaking and maybe a handful of cars passing us all day once outside our departure and destination towns.  Will and Jim were entertained for a long time by a local merchant, more on that tomorrow.  Nice dinner tonight - Green Chile enchiladas at a nice mexican restaurant.  Tomorrow we roll thru the mother land of Green Chile, Hatch, NM on our way to Las Cruces.

Tomorrow we hook up with Turk and Jaime - they cruise from SA at 0500, we won't even be up by then!!  80 mile ride, limited climbing.  We're tired, but the trip is nearly complete.

Thanx for joining us.

PACTour Day 16/19 - 200km 20mph

Those of you who know Jim know he enjoys 2 things before and after riding.  Coffee and sparkling water.  Susan, added to her list of 1 million things to do, always makes sure Jim has a private cache of sparkling water which he grabs after the ride.  Will gets extra coffee from the motel front desk.  Jim is low maintennance, all he needs is what he wants.

Jim will generally roll the first few miles with the last cup of coffee each day.

Today just after the 2nd rest stop, we hit an area of construction - and had a 30-40 minute wait!!

Some were happy for a break, some were not.  We were there for a loooong time.

Lon drove hard when we were permitted to go, immediately splitting the group.

Only Will, John Newton and Wayne were able to match Lon's ferocious pace.

We rode along a train track alot of the day.  The conductors enjoyed sounding the horn for our pleasure.

Once more across the Rio Grande.

Ascent view of our trip from Moriarty, NM to Soccorro, NM.  Again some spots didn't download on the map view.  Government involvement, for sure.

Although we lost altitude, we rode into a headwind all day.  We didn't quite hit our goal of 20mph (ended at 19.8.)  We even hammered the last 30 minutes to try to push the average there - better seen on the representation of Jim's heartrate, below.

We were a little too complacent to hit our goal of 20mph today, trying the last 30min to get there, but needed to do more work earlier.

Will flatted and also had a chain issue so Jim changed his back tire and put a new chain on.  Why Jon didn't do that for us is a mystery, he practically had Marc's bike apart with Marc looking on!!!

The Motel Van.  3rd of three vehicles which support us.  Our man servant, Jon Jahant, stands at our beck and call at all times.

Jon loads the bags each am (you only are allowed 1 bag on pactour, kind of.)

The racks are set out in the am prior to departure while riders pump tires, fill gatorade and water and bring their bags out for loading.

The Motel Van supports the 2nd rest stop each day.  Next stop is lunch!!

The back of the motel van stores gatorade and supplies, and the riders spare tires.  Lots of those getting used in Arizona for sure!!

The side of the motel trailer stores laptop cases (Will loading ours) and riders "stash boxes."

Each rider choses what they want in their stash boxes.  Jim and Will have extra computer mounts, chains, cleats, tubes, CO2's and spokes.  Jim put new cleats on his shoes yesterday, a new chain on Will's bike today and refreshes the tube and CO2 supply when they use one.

Finally the all important white board which tells where laundry is, where restaurant locations are, what time breakfast and departure is, etc.  Below the white board is the map of our journey, with the Red Line completed each day as we near our destination of El Paso.  Pretty close now!!

Fun day.  Almost hit our goal of 20mph.  We got a bit complacent and sat on a train driven by a tandem (you can only go the tandem's speed in these situations) so let our average drop and almost made it up but couldn't quite.  The tandem flatted with 15 miles to go, and Terri called Will telling him she needed a copy of his driver's license or he wasn't going to get a parking spot at school this year.  So Jim drove hard and Will was extra motivated so we made it to the motel in time to fax the drivers license!!

Rolling hills in the morning were fun.  Lots of headwind, but mostly downhill on the day so didn't seem too bad.  We did ride on I-25 for a few miles, not bad at all - except Will cut a tire so we had to fix it.  We tried blowing the Hutchinson Fast Air in, and got to watch what looked like shaving cream come out the cut.  A little too big for that flat.  Threw in a tube and all was well.

Tomorrow is only 75 miles, so we get extra sleep!!  Maybe a movie tonight, we'll see.  The trip is winding down, the group remains amazing and we can't wait to see what each day brings.  Particularly the day the bring us the Turk (and Jaimie) to ride with us into El Paso.

Buster has asked what the Lon versus Will competition is.  Well, as mentioned it is a secret, known only by Jim.  You recall from last year how strong Lon is and how amazed Will and JW are with him.  Well this year we are riding alot faster coz Will's so much stronger and we often drop Lon.  We don't try to drop him and if he didn't want to be dropped he wouldn't, he's just enjoying the ride.  But, Jim and Will smile when the leave Lon behind.  All good fun.

The boys have a routine each day after the ride.  Will secures the room keys and takes the brief cases and bags to the room.  Will gets ice and extra coffee for Jim.  Jim cleans the bikes, does any maintenance necessary.  Then he starts laundry if its one of those days (which today was, our last laundry day - mixed emotions.)  They settle into the room, Jim puts up the blog while Will chats with GF Andrea and plays Nintendo.  Jim showers, then off to dinner, which is where we are heading right now.

Thanx for reading, only 3 days left!!!

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....

PaCTour Day 14/19 - The Land of Enchantment

At night the bikes snuggle and get their rest for the next day.

This may look like a mess.  But, it isn't.  In the foreground is the nighttime charging center.  Traveling you need a squid power outlet.   5 outlets without any constraints of charging adaptor sizes.  For laptop chargers, camera batteries.  You also need the Chargepod. This little gem charges up to 6 different devices simultaneously.  For us it charges the Treo, iPhone, iPod and 2 Garmins each night.

Just past the charging center is Jim's pile of shoes, clothing and pocket paraphenalia for the next day.  Past that is todays pile of dirty clothes, airing and drying out overnight to be put in the laundry bag (Turks laundry bag from college by the way!!)

Long, shallow, beautiful descent today.  Reminded us all why New Mexico is the land of enchantment.

Echo cave, a neat place with remarkable acoustical echoing characteristics.

We rode quite a bit today with Jon Jahant, crew member and masseus for PAC Tour.  Jon favors the helmet Jim wears (detailed below) made by LAS.

The gradual descent into Espanol was spectacular.

Just before we reached our hotel in Espanola we crossed the muddy Rio Grande.

The liquor store just before our nights motel.  Our little friend Adrianne, will particularly appreciate this.

Ascent view of today's ride.  Only 2600' climbing and 2500' net altitude loss made today's ride a breeze (despite the expected head wind heading south...)

Garmin view of the ride.  The few little climbs we did were nice ones, the descents were gradual and pleasurable.

Garmin view of our 20 minute run.  We walked 3 blocks to the Laundry, threw the load in, then ran 20 minutes and returned to throw the laundry in the dryer!!

Jim wears the LAS Haxial as he feels this is the premier helmet for the bald man.

The Haxial is the top of the line helmet.  Most riders who don't worry about sunburn on the head wear the next in line, the Squalo, which is quite a bit sexier.  Currently Rick, Terri and Foxy are wearing a Squalo.

The bug catcher lining the inside of the Haxial completes the full pate coverage Jim desires.

Great day.  Again we were treated to ever more increasingly spectacular scenery which makes the rides simply fly by.  Jim made the mistake of deciding that Will's rear tire needed changing after the ride today, so of course that tire flatted about 4 miles out of town.  No biggie, quick tube insertion and back on the road.  With a little practice changing a flat in tubeless tires takes little less time than with standard tires!!

There were lots of flats today, and will be in the coming days.  Although New Mexico is the land of Enchantment from an aesthetic viewpoint, the breakdown lane that we ride in has lots of little rocks and "Arizona Gemstones" (aka broken glass.)  We have found from many years of riding in NM and AZ that the state sport is throwing beer bottles and other glass onto the sides of the roads.  Hey, what's a few chewed up tires and flats?  Just gives you more time to enjoy the scenery as you change a tube!!

Quick catchup of mentions from the past few days.  First, the boys bikes work flawlessly, thanx to Rick Avalos at B-H.  Rick is the top mechanic in SA and probably anywhere, our bikes work without problem, period, because of Rick's skills.  

Jim is back to listening to a few downloaded medical lectures on the road, but yesterday he listened to 3 discs that Foxy burned for him a few years back, first is called "Cable Guy" second "Hot Rod Shit" and third "Mellow Mix."  Great, great mix of surf, cowboy rock, 80's alternative and some country.  Jim doesn't know half the groups but, some of his favorites are included such as the Breeders, Clash, and of course Foxy's favorites the Ramones.  Hence one of his many nickname "Dougie Ramone."

When we rolled into Durango, 2 days ago, Jim thought what a perfect town that would be for Lutz.  This thought was cemented when the first business we rolled past was a colon cleansing outfit.

We lost the Hook today - back to Vail and work for him.  He's seriously interested in a Cervelo, hopefully B-H can help him with that.  Really great guy, a younger version of Papa Free.  Not a negative bone in his body.

New Mexico will be our home for the rest of the tour, until we cross the border of TX to El Paso.  Fine with Jim and Will, we like the dry heat and rugged desert beauty.  It is going to try the patience of alot of our riders, however as we anticipate 2-3 flats per rider over the next 4 days due to the Arizona Gemstones and rocky breakdown lanes.  Unfortunately this is encouraging alot of our riders to ride in the road, which is hazardous.

Until tomorrow, thanx for reading.  We will ride 90+ miles with a bit more climbing from Espanol, NM to Moriarty, NM.   There is a 15% climb (that's 1/7.5 in old money) thrown in for good measure.  Today's lunch was our favorite - Bratwursts, hopefully tomorrow's lunch will be equally palatable as we may need the energy for the climb!!!!

PaCTour Day 13/19 - Rolling into NM

Will looking confident and fit.  He has ridden amazingly.  A few ups and downs, but never any doubt in his riding.  He rides safely, and does more and more work for Jim and the groups as the tour progresses.  Can you imagine how proud his mom and dad are of this 16 year old high school junior??

Riding from Durango, CO to Pagosa Springs, CO the monument is the Chimney Rock.

View of Chimney Rock from the first rest stop, at mile 36 this am.  1/2 way to lunch in Pagosa Springs!!  Will took the Pagosa Springs sprint, assigned double points in honor of our friend, pro MTB woman Shonny Vanlandingham who lives there part time.

Lots of sunflowers on the side of the road today as we descended towards the NM state line.  Unfortunately there was no actual State Line sign, as Jim needed a sneak attack to catch up to Will today.  Will took the lions share of the sprints, but they were very competitive.

The scenery today was over the top, arguably the best of the tour so far.

Ascent view of the rugged, rolling terrain.  No real sustained climbs today, just lots of rollers.  4000' climbing before lunch at mile 75.  7000' total on the day.  Last "hard" day of the tour.

Garmin view of the final Colorado stage, from Durango, CO to Chama, NM.

Will's bike - Cervelo R3.  He rode this from Washington state to Virginia last summer, this summer from Canada to Mexico.  Shimano Dura Ace components, compact gearing.  Shimano Dura Ace Wheels with tubless Hutchinson tires.  White Carbon Arundel bottle cages.  Fizik Aliante Saddle with braided carbon rails (much more comfortable than the standard Aliante that will rode last summer, in his opinion.)

Another view of Will's bike.  Cervelo defendably makes the best road bike you can get.  The P3 TT bike has always been the best (P2 Carbon is the best TT bike for the money.)  Cervelo design and engineering makes their road bikes second to none also.  Certainly race proven by the CSC road team.  And teenage boy proven by JW and Will riding their R3's across the U.S. last summer.

Will's Cockpit.  Garmin 305 GPS computer.  FSA "chez whitey" stem for fashion.  FSA carbon bars with Fizik tape and Fizik Bar Gel padding.

Today Jim and Will rode very steady and with seeming purpose.  They were about last to leave the parking lot this am (Will tried to leave another pair of gloves in the hotel room.)  They rode easy and smoothly and passed most of the riders during the day, being amongst the first to arrive at the motel in Chama, NM.  They didn't talk alot today, it seemed as though there was a silent agreement to get the job done today, finish the last "hard" day.

This brings up an observation.  Will and Jim are certainly fit, but they are really midpack in terms of riding ability on this tour!!  Marc is the strongest, followed by Cat, followed by Ray (18 year old) then Chip.  There is another handful of strong riders before Jim and Will might even be considered to enter the scene!!  Amazing, huh?  Also needing mention are crewmembers John Lake and Carl, super strong riders.  Ray's mom Lil really moves down the road quickly.  Don from Canada is amazing, particularly when he and his crewmember wife Carol ride the tandem up and down these climbs every other day.  Hate to leave anyone out but everyone else is strong and amazing riders as well.  Gotta of course mention Lon, Will did leave him on the descent into Pagosa Springs scoring some points in the secret Lon competition.

Today was again arguably the most beautiful day so far.  Now we understand why so many professional MTB racers live in Durango (like our friend Jason Sager did a few years back) and why Shonny lived in Pagosa Springs.  The terrain is great for training, and the scenery is stunning.  There was little traffic on our long section of alternative road, the state highways were a bit heavy trafficked, but hey, it's Sunday in the summer, so that's expected.

Tomorrow we ride from Chama, NM, to Espanola, NM.  82 miles, 3000' climbing.  What are we going to do ourselves??   We do get an extra hour of sleep in the am (hooray) waking at 7am for 7:30 breakfast and 8am departure.  We'll probably do a little run in Espanola.

Ok, don't read this next part if you don't care for a soap box.  Time for the daily rant.  The last 15 miles into Chama were on a NM state highway, fairly heavy traffic, lots of trucks pulling campers and boats.  6 foot wide shoulder which was a little rough, but not bad.  Jim and Will were passed by 3 riders who insisted on riding in the road causing traffic to nearly stop when there was opposing traffic.  Not only was this dangerous for those riders, but pisses off the drivers and sets up other cyclists for their wrath at another juncture.  Please, please don't ride in the road when there is a generous shoulder and quite a bit of traffic.  For yourself, for the cars who want to drive safely, and for all cyclists in general.  Remember rule No. 1 - Be Safety!!! Thank you.

PaCTour Day 12/19 - The Lunch Van

The Lunch Trailer is critical.  Carries the food and feeds the riders breakfast and lunch.

Bucket benches set up to eat on.

Susan runs the food.

Coffee, hot water, oatmeal, toasted bagels, cereals, fruits, donuts, etc. 

At lunch the igloos are used for water and gatorade, there is soda in the big white cooler (PAC Tour goes thru 60 2L soda bottles per day.  The orange mesh bag on the right side of the trailer is for riders to offlload clothes as the day progresses.  Today we had two passes and potential rain after lunch, so no clothes were being offloaded.

The awning is out, you can see the hand washing setup front right.  Today was cold cuts and as always lots of salads, salty foods, chips and deserts.

Susan setting up more bike racks as more riders come in.

We generally try to eat in a city park, today was Silverton, CO's turn.  Here Hook and Joel are deep in discussion.  Will is finishing up his meal, and probably trying to shake some hot dogs out of John Lake.  Ray is chomping at the bit to attack the next pass.

The van pulling the lunch trailer takes spare bikes and wheels, and more food (and Jim's sparkling water that Susan so graciously acquires for him) inside.

Yesterday we mentioned the first precept of cycling - Safety.  Number 2 is hydration.  The boys use Polar bottles to keep their fluids colder just that little bit longer that is sooo nice.

Anne and the Hook rolling outa Montrose on the way to Durango.  The boys rode with the Hook alot today, always a special treat.

The morning peleton was sizeable and the pace was docile.  Probably in anticipation of getting thru those mountains up ahead.

Beautiful state park, first rest stop is just on the other side of the lake.  Getting closer to the mountains up ahead.

The clouds were sleeping in the mountains as we closed in on our first climb.

First summit was Red Mountain Pass, over 11,000 feet.

2nd Summit, just after lunch.

3rd summit Coal Bank Pass.  10,640 feet.  Boys looking tired.  No worries, pretty much downhill for 40 miles to Durango, CO at 6500 feet from here.

Ascent tale of the tape.  Lunch was after the descent off the first climb, just before the 2nd climb.

Ah, the profile always looks so much more impressive on Garmin.  Nearly 9000 feet of climbing in 113 miles today.

Much better day for the boys today.  More gentle rollout, great company, more time in the rest stops.

Lots of climbing and both Will and Jim felt better today.  Tomorrow is the last day in the "High Mountains" of Colorado as we finish in Chama, NM where we spend the last week!!  The rest of the rides are much shorter with less climbing, so the boys will get a good nights sleep tonight to try to maximize the last "really hard" day tomorrow.

Until tomorrow.

PaCTour Day 11/19 - The High Mountains Hurt

Between your chamois and buttocks is the essential layer of chamois creme.  Will and Jim are starting each day with 1 of 3, alternating them so as not to develop any reaction.  First day is Assos, the classic standard in cremes.   Next day is our newest Quoleum Antifriction creme, very nice and a cool translucent color.  3rd day is Chamois Butt'r Eurostyle new this year and very nice.  Chamois Butt'r itself has been around for 10-15 years, this incorporates some Eurostyle scents and tingling.  Big benefit is getting around 40% more for your money w/ this one.

Ann, Cat, and Marc enjoying breakfast.  Reflecting now after trying to hole Cat and Marc's wheel we understand why Ann is giggling, Cat is smiling mischievously and Marc is all business.

Last night Jim and Will ate at a small pizza and sub shop called.  Diorio's.  Jim and Will split the Portobello mushroom parmesan sandwich (in addition to another sub and a pizza...) which was one of the best sandwiches they had ever had.  Interestingly, when the stopped early in the ride to pee at a convenience store here was another Diorio's on the corner of Portobello Lane!!

Big mistake today - following Marc and Cat.  They were on fire.  This is the best view we had of them all day.  After a mile of climbing they rode away and became specks in the distance.

As we rode upward, the scenery was spectacular.

We made it up into the clouds as we climbed.

Does Will look tired to you at the top of the climb today??

Afternoon shadows were cool.

Ascent view of our journey today.

Garmin shows the climb in a little more impressive fashion.  (Thats more like what it felt like..)

The day started with a bang.  Literally.  Jim and Will walked out of their hotel room and noticed the riders in the parking lot staring across the street.  They soon learned that a member of our group had hit a car and was lying in the road.  The rider fell pretty heavy and fractured a lower cervical vertebrate and will have surgery soon.

Before you freak out, remember that everything we do in life has an element of danger associated with it.  This is a sad thing for this individual and family, but in no way, shape or form should it dissuade anyone from riding their bike.  The most dangerous things most people do are what they don't do for themselves - like exercise.  Jim has been listening to some medical mp3's the past few days.  Today he was listening to a lecture by a cardiologist on cardiovascular risk reduction.  The lecturer mentioned that because of todays obesity epidemic 1/3 people born in the year 2000 will suffer from diabetes mellitus (current diabetes prevalance is 1/7.5)  That's a significant danger, not the occaisional unfortunate cyclist that has an accident.

The brits, with their National Health System have studied cycling and shown that cyclists live longer than noncyclists, and that's whether we wear a helmet or not!!  So send good thoughts to our downed comrade, but don't stop riding your bike.  It is always good to reflect on our friend Raul and his mantra at the beginning of each of his racers as he gives his little spiel he ends with "And first of all, Be Safety!!"

Speaking of the brits, our English friend Shaun Bonney asked how this tour compares to last year's transcontinental in terms of wear and tear of equipment.  Well, we have seen less tires slashed, Jim and Will have only had 1 flat and Lon and the boys seem to not be too busy each evening with bike repair.  The roads have seemed better with less crap on them.  Jim would still recommend tubeless tires for the reasons mentioned yesterday, or 25-28c tires to reduce wear and tear and for comfort.

Today Jim and Will really suffered.  Jens Voigt has said "The high mountains and I will never be close friends."   Well, hopefully tomorrows high mountains will be better friends to the boys than todays.  The crash got us started a few minutes late and caused the boys to forget Wills gloves and Jim's knee and arm warmers in the hotel.  So mentally we were a little scattered to start.  We sat on Marc and Cat up to the first rest stop and rushed thru it to start the 20 mile climb.  1 mile into it Will cracked and Jim couldn't hold Marc and Cat's wheel anyways so they reduced their pace.  Will really needed to eat more at the rest stop.

The next 10 miles were agony. Steady 5% grade (that's 1/20 in old money.)  (Will said the false climb at 5% was frustrating, Jim explained to him that that was not a false climb...)  Rest stop 2 was half way up the climb and the boys were not excited by the prospect of another 10 miles of climbing.  It actually went much better, maybe 3 more miles of steady 5% grade then some rollers and the top came quicker than anticipated.  The climb was cool, but really humid so the boys were drenched at the top.  We started the day at 4400 feet, started the 20 mile climb at 5300 feet and the summit was at 10,900 feet.!  Will made the good call of putting on the rain jackets as we summited.

5 miles of descending we reached the 3rd rest stop.  Here we put on more clothes (fortunately in the excitement of the morning our bags were in the back of the motel trailer.)  We descended another 15 miles, most of it around 5% like the side we had climbed.  The temperature at the trailer was 70 degrees, it was probably 85 at the bottom.  We lunched at mile 88, then had another 30 to ride in.  We took it easy going home.

Wish us a better day tomorrow.  We will certainly ride a little smarter and hopefully can climb a little faster.  We have two 11,000 feet summits tomorrow as we ride from Montrose, CO to Durango, CO.  Similar ride as today, with a bit more climbing...

So, difficult day, but hey the Marines say "The only easy day was yesterday."  With that in mind we will get up in the am, throw a leg over the top tube, head on down the road and see what the day has in store for us.

Thanx for reading.

PACTour Day 10/19 - Hump Day

Morning peleton was good size rolling out from Rangely, CO.

The lower (and gentler) slopes of the big climb of the day were under road construction.   So, we had a construction truck escort.  Fortunately (?!?!) the construction ended just before the 4 miles of 9-10% grade, so we didn't miss our workout!!

Will descending well over the top of Douglas Pass.  Notice the rain jacket - rain was imminent, plus we had climbed to over 8200 feet, so the descent was a bit cool.