Alamogordo

We said goodbye to the Quinlins and headed for Alamogordo, Except for a couple of miles of up hill just out of Las Cruces the trip to Alamogordo went well. The guys only experienced one flat, so that was a vast improvement over the day before. The new tires no doubt. We transversed the White Sands Missile Range/ monument and saw some interesting and pretty scenery. Monty and Dave were inclined to ride a little ways on the highway towards Cloudcroft, but Monty felt that his bike wasn't right. We eventually discovered that his rear tire was intermittently rubbing on the frame. So we found a bike shop and they straightened the wheel. All is presumably good now.

We contacted our hosts for the night, went there and were treated to a great dinner and good conversation. We will go to church with them in the morning, and I think the guys will have a chance to tell folks about our trip there.

Still Doing It

Well, whatever yesterday lacked in excitement, today made up for it. Not that anything should have been unusual, just that the guys had 9 flat tires! Yes 9. So even though our trip to Las Cruces was a relatively short one, it seemed that we never got more than 2 or 3 miles without a flat. I had to catch up about every 5 minutes so they had the tire pump handy. Anyway, here we are, and we have another wonderful couple, the Quinlans (Pat and Jean) giving us a great spaghetti dinner and spiffy sleeping accommodations. When we arrived in town we had to take pictures of our crossing the Rio Grande river. Then we went to 2 bike shops to buy new tires, which will hopefully decrease the frequency of flats. When we arrived at the Quinlans Monty and Dave had to install the new tires to be ready for tomorrow. After dinner and super chocolate pie, we talked a lot and then, as usual, got our computers out to do stuff like this, Kind of rude I guess. But we are doing our blogs in the living room and mixing it with conversation.

Alamogordo is our goal for tomorrow, Some fun hill climbing for our bike riders (but I hope no flat tires). Everyone is well and still in good spirits. More tomorrow, or whenever I get around to it.

Pedaling and More Pedaling

Today was pretty much a non-event as far as significant occurrences are concerned. The bikes made good time, and we arrived here in Deming, NM about 1:00 PM. We can't leave much before 7 or 7:30 AM because the sun comes up so late. (We are an hour ahead of you in Arizona and California). The guys were irritated by grasshoppers all day. Apparently they like bikes more than trucks because I had little or non spattered on the truck. Monty and Dave even had grasshopper "gunk" on their legs. Monty said there were thousands, and Dave said he would blog 10s of thousands. I don't know who is closest, but there were a lot of grasshoppers!

We crossed the continental divide today. That was pretty exiting. There wasn't any place for me to pull off for pictures, but Monty and Dave could and did. There was only one flat tire today. But Monty and Dave had taken their bikes into the motel room last night, and Dave woke to a flat this morning. Those tires go flat for no apparent reason some times. While killing time, I perused one of those frequent roadside souvenir shops. Every one seems to be the same.

The guys wanted to get some new tires, so I got on the net and found a bike shop her in Deming. But when we went there it was boarded up and the building was for sale. We have seen a lot of that in our travels so far. We'll be in Las Cruces tomorrow, and there are three bike shops there (I hope!). We're all snug in the Holiday Inn tonight. Had a good Mexican dinner earlier. See you next time.

Still Pedalling

I took the day off yesterday, so we have now arrived in  Lordsburg, New Mexico! It feels like were making some progress when we cross a state line. But getting back to yesterday, we made it out of Tucson O.K. except Monte and Dave ran into a dead end on the frontage road they were using just east of the city. Had to clime the fence! I saw the problem coming as I was on the Interstate, but I couldn't turn around to tell them about it. All worked out though, and we made it to Wilcox as scheduled. We got there a little late because the wind was still strong and from the south-east. In other words it was in the biker's face. We stayed at the home of Pastor Kyle Duncan and his wife and two teen boys. Another nice family who fed us and gave us a place to sleep. I was a little embarrassed that they made their eldest son give up his bed for me. Wilcox is a quite small town, and doesn't look overly prosperous. Kyle is a motorcycle biker, so I enjoyed seeing his "treasures".

We took off from Wilcox about 6:30 a.m. I guess.I had my first fresh cup of coffee with them since we left Phoenix. Yummy! My job was to get ice for the cooler while Monty and Dave pedaled down the road. They frequently stop and fill their containers with ice to drink while on the road, so ice in the cooler doesn't stay there long. I try to let them get a 5 mile start at least, and then pass them to the next "rest" stop which we try to make every 10 miles more or less, depending on where we can get off of the Interstate. Flat tires have been the cause of some delays today. Boy, those bike tires go flat if they run over a dime it seems like. I wondered why we took 100 spare tubes, but now I know why!

We're moteling it tonight. As much as we appreciate everyones hospitality, it is sure nice to be alone and not feeling like I'm in the way. Going to the bathroom whenever I want is great too! I wasted a lot of emotional energy today trying to figure out exactly where the motel was and the best route to get to it, and should we just get into town and load the bikes and find the motel in the truck. But when we got here this town is smaller than small and the bikes were ridden right up to the motel - about 1 block from the Interstate exit. The towns only restaurant (except for MacDonalds) is right across the street so we ate there. I had liver and onions, and Monty implied that no-one eats that stuff. But I did. GOOOD! I'm having problems with putting pictures in here, but I'm still working on it.

More Pedal for Haiti

Well, Monty and Dave were really pedaling today. We left Glendale about 9:15 in my truck and arrived at Eloy maybe 11/4 hours later. We hit a pouring rain shortly before arriving at Eloy, so there were some anxious moments. But the rain let up to practically nothing by the time the bikes were set up and ready to go. A little ways down the I-10 it was raining enough so that when we all reached our first check point Monty and Dave needed their rain jackets. By the next check point they were off again. The real problem today was the wind. Progress was slow and difficult. Not for me of course, since the truck didn't much care.

We had intended to reach the eastern edge of the Tucson area, but progress as so slow that the bike crew was worn out in the north edge of town. So if we are to make Wilcox tomorrow they will have to get after it!

The good news is that we are being put up by a very nice couple for the night. Pastor Bret and Claudia Burnett have treated us like royalty, and we are very appreciative. Bret is pastor of a local church. He and Claudia were married in Brazil where she is from and he was there with his missionary parents. They have two beautiful daughters who are in their teens.

So, tomorrow will no doubt start early, and we will hopefully make up for todays slow start. I had scouted way ahead with the truck to be sure the bike route was going to be good and that we could stay off of the Interstate until we get out of town. Other than weather, all went well and we are all doing great.

Pedal for Haiti

It's Saturday now and Monty and friends have made the trek from Yuma to Gila Bend, and yesterday to Eloy, AZ. From there a short ride ( in a real vehicle) home for the weekend turned into a long ride home due to an accident on the I-10 south of Phoenix. Yuk! Anyway, they made it home and were glad to be with family and sleeping in their own bed. So Monty will preach Sunday and then we'll decide whether to go back to Eloy Sunday late or Monday early.

The banner on the back of the truck looks great. But a half hour installation took the better part of two hours. Part of the problem was me. I didn't want to remove all of the emblems that came with the truck, so working around them was a challenge. There are good reasons for that problem, but I won't bore you with them. Just don't think I was being hard to get along with. You wouldn't ever think that anyway would you?

My next blog will document the ride from Eloy to Tucson. That will be Monday evening. By the way, Monty's blog is www.montysbikeride.com. That blog will give you another perspective from the biker's side.

More Pedal for Haiti

It appears that Monty and Dave (and Bruce I guess) have made it to Yuma after spending Tuesday night  in Brawley. The Brawley part was all down hill - just opposite of the first day,so except for the heat, a welcomed relief. Monty reports that the California Highway patrol wasn't thrilled about them riding bikes on the Interstate. But at least they aren't in jail. Today the ride was from Yuma to Gila Bend, and although I haven't seen their post for today as yet, I trust they had a safe trip. Tomorrow I go to have the banner installed on the tailgate of my pickup so everyone along the road will know what we are about. Maybe we can even get some contributions.

I have avoided sounding like I just want to raise money, but the fact is that that's why we're doing this. So as some have requested, send donations to:
New Missions
P.O. Box 2727
Orlando, FL 32802

New Missions has a good web site, so give it a look. It details all of the good work they are doing in Haiti

My activities today consisted of getting all of our Christmas boxes down where Bonnie could easily get at them. It occurred to me that she starts putting things up by the end of October. Who says I don't pay attention? More later.