Higher Than High, Dryer Than Dry

We are sitting here at the base of the Rockies in Las Vegas NM and our bodies can feel the difference. 

Imagine, we started this crazy adventure in Jacksonville FL at 16 ft above sea level and we have ridden 2200+ miles to Las Vegas NM, a city located 6,424 ft above sea level.  Considering that we have climbed well over 2500 feet in the past three days, altitude illness is a real possibility for members of the group that haven't spent as much time at higher elevations.  I know that I am feeling the fatigue, shortness of breath and sinus discomfort that accompanies such a quick ascent.  

In addition to altitude change, our bodies are having to adapt to the dryer climate.  Sinuses are completely dry and there is a little concern about bloody noses.  

All of this being said, New Mexico is a beautiful state with vistas unlike any other.  

On tougher days like yesterday and today, sometimes all you can do is smile, have a good time, and enjoy the experience of a lifetime.  

Ooohhhhh, We're Halfway There

That's right folks, we are halfway across the United States in terms of milage. 

Yesterday's ride definitely made me feel like we have ridden 2090 miles because of the intense climbs and maddening headwinds.  Around mile 78 of 88 miles, we hit David's Hill, a climb just under 1000 feet over the course of 3 miles.  

 

Once we hit the top, headwinds accompanied the remainder of our journey into the quaint New Mexico town of Mosquero, population 96.  

Still, the ride was gorgeous.  Magnificent views, remarkable mountainous outlines and sweet animals were dispersed throughout our route.  

Those Came Out of Nowhere!

It's amazing to see flat roads become hilly and then hills to expand into large knolls of grass and eventually into chiseled mountains.  

Along the gulf coast we were safely in flat territory.  As we worked our way diagonally across north-western Louisiana and into Texas, we ran into more rolling terrain.  Over the past several days, we worked our way across some larger hills culminating in our time here in Clayton NM.  

By this evening, we will be in the small town of Mosquero NM and sitting at the base of the Rockies.  

It's great to see the transition across the country.  I'm excited to be here in a terrain that feels completely unfamiliar with animals and bugs that I have never before seen on a regular basis.  

That being said, my legs are going to be feeling the intense climbs that we will be doing at the end of today's ride and for the duration of tomorrow's.  

Finally, Rhys and Charlie wanted to say hello from here in New Mexico.  Can you believe that we have biked this far? 

Welcome To The Wild, Wild West

Yesterday was the first day where the entirety of our ride resembled varieties of western terrain.  

We departed Amarillo for the 82 mile ride to Dalhart.  In the morning we rode through the rolling hills just west of the city. 

As the day progressed, we moved from the Amarillo plateau to the Dalhart plateau.  Things leveled out and we began passing fields decorated with oil wells.  I suppose you know you're in western Texas when you see drills lining the highways.  

As an aside, every morning at our route meeting before we hit the road, a teammate talks about the city to which we are traveling and one major component of that discussion is median income and poverty rate.  The median income here in Dalhart is high when compared to that of many of the other cities where we stayed and I surmise that this is because of wealth generated by oil money.  

Just for your own pleasure, here is a picture of today's route meeting.  

Favorable Conditions For Riding

As I was preparing for this summer endeavor with Bike & Build, many people joked with me that I was going the wrong way across the country because our route travels east to west rather than the traditional west to east.  Certainly, while there are factors that make riding from California to Florida an easier undertaking, there are several other factors that influence bikers on a daily basis.  

First, let's talk about wind, the main motivation for traveling choosing to start on the west coast.  Traditionally, wind blows across the United States from west to east meaning that if you travel towards the Atlantic Ocean you will have a tail wind for the majority of your trip but if you travel away from the Atlantic, you will likely have considerably more headwinds.  Additionally, you can have strong crosswinds off the Gulf of Mexico. Crosswinds necessitate extra care on the part of the rider and much more confidence in your riding line.  

In addition to winds, riders can encounter many different types of terrain.  In the Tour d'France, there is both an overall dinner and also a King of the Mountains award.  This is because riding on flatter terrain is a completely different ball game from riding in hills and mountains and the Tour likes to recognize that although a rider might not be leading in overall points, their mountain climbing abilities are deserving of acclamation.  Following this pattern, biking on the flat terrain that followed the Gulf and the Mississippi was a totally different environment from the mountains we are about to traverse in New Mexico.  

Road quality is an extremely important factor.  Louisiana was a difficult state to ride through because, as riders, we had to be much more vigilant of disappearing shoulders, pot holes and debris decorating the roadways.  Alternatively, Oklahoma was a great state for bike riding because the roads were really well paved and the shoulders were very consistent.  

Bike & Build maintains that one central reason for routing riders from east to west is lighting.  Our team gets on the road very early in the morning and if we had started on the west coast, drivers might have a harder time seeing riders because the sun would be rising in their eyes.  Instead, because we start in the east, the sun is at our backs and drivers can more easily spot us.  

Finally, distance between cities is an important factor in deciding to travel from east to west.  Because we began in Florida, the cities were a lot closer together than they would have been had we started in California.  Our first two ride days, we were afforded the luxury of breaking in our cycling bodies with short 40 mile days as opposed to the 80 and 90 mile days we will have to ride to get from one city to the next on the west coast.  Starting in the east meant that people could work their way up to higher milages rather than jumping into the deep end right off the bat.  

As always, because we all like photos... 

Ain't No Rest For The Wicked

It's our second day off!!! 

We got to sleep in until the late hour of 8:30am and we feel like half our day has disappeared.  For comparison, yesterday's wake up was at 4am as we were biking 107 miles in the intense Texas hear to Amarillo.  

Still, here we are, just under halfway through our milage across this country. 

There are 80 days in our summer with Bike & Build and those 80 days are comprised of three types of days: ride days, build days and days off.  

It goes without saying that the bulk majority of our days are ride days, 59 to be exact.  Ride days involve waking up between 4 and 5 in the morning and hitting the road by 6 or 7am.  

Build days are a slight and much appreciated reprieve because we get to sleep in until 6 or 7 then spend the day giving our butts a rest from our bike seats.  Over the course of our trip, there are 17 build days.  

And then there are days off.  In our 80 days on the road, we have a grand total of 4 days off, one in New Orleans, one here in Amarillo, one in the Grand Canyon and one in Yosemite.  

The great thing about days off are that we have no obligations.  Our days are our own and we can dictate what we get to do.  Some of my teammates chose to grab coffee at a coffee shop, some are traveling out to Palo Duro Canyon for a day of hiking and mountain biking, some are relaxing with some redbox movies here at our host site and some are finishing some long-delayed tasks.  

And now I will resume my day with no responsibilities. 

Instagram Was An Instapopular

Yesterday's ride from Altus OK to Memohis TX was my third day to fulfill my responsibilities as sweep.  One thing that sweeps often do to make the ride a little more interesting is they develop a Sweep Challenge for the team to complete.  The group of riders that most successfully complete the challenge are the winners.  Prizes vary depending on the sweeps and can be anything from a hug to snack bars to sparklers and candy. 

Yesterday, my sweep buddy, Charlie, and I asked our teammates to submit the most instagramable photo.  

Let me first explain Instagram for everyone unfamiliar with this particular social media platform.  You can access Instagram both online and via an application for your phone.  I really encourage you to consider navigating to Instagram and searching the hashtags #bikeandbuild or #sus14 --> both these hashtags would allow you to follow all the pictures that out Southern US team and all Bike & Build teams are posting.  You can also search #cmsweep to look at all the photos that our teammates posted for yesterday's Sweep Challenge.  

For those of you that would like to see some of the photos that were submitted, your wish is my command.

But the winner was...

And finally, to reassure you all that I am healthy and drinking my electrolytes.