Spun Out

I believe this self-portrait was taken by Chris when he was going over Boreas Pass.

Chris has really been haulin' the last few days.

He suffered through the major passes, happily only encountering a few sections of hike-a-bike mud, flew through El Rito, and called me from Abiquiu last night. When I spoke to him last night while he was waiting for his food to be ready, he sounded like the energizer bunny. He was super excited to have had such a good day and to have caught and rode with Jay P and Tracey on the tandem. The hotel in Abiquiu was all booked up (seriously, who actually GOES to these towns that no one has ever heard of???), which made him happy because then the temptation wasn't there to turn in early and hotel it. They headed out a bit past town and stopped to sleep around 11:00 last night.

It was another early morning for Chris and the Petervary's as they made the trudge toward Cuba. Chris said that section wasn't especially hard, just especially annoying. In his words, it would "climb climb climb, level out, roll, climb, roll, climb... all leading to one screaming decent down into Cuba" where his GPS would clock him at hitting 50 mph. Apparently the tandem hit 56 and just left Chris and his lack-o-pedaling in the dust. They all eventually rolled into Cuba, stocking up on food and drinks for an inevitably long afternoon and evening down into Grants. Supposedly you are riding through some indian reservation land and it's not wise to stop and camp. I'm sure if he needs to, he will, but as of now his plan is to keep rolling until he gets into Grants. He has enjoyed riding with Jay and Tracey for the last day, and having a little company, but he is well-aware that they are going to be leaving him in their dust on this next road detour. With two motors and gears, the tandem can obviously put Chris's 32x17 gearing to shame. He plans on being spun out... a lot. The road detour lasts approximately 120 miles and it is mentally tough for Chris to know that, with gears, that section could pass by a lot quicker.

"But, I chose to do this single speed. I just guess this is where I'm going to pay for it."

The great news is that after Grants the next big goal is Pie Town.

One of Chris's biggest disappointments for not being able to finish last year was that he didn't get to roll through Pie Town.

Chris really like pie.

A lot.

And, once Chris hits Pie Town, I am going to be on the move myself: packing up the dog, fresh clothes and real shoes for the hubby, and heading south.

It could realistically be only three more days until I see Chris again and get to bring him home with me.

Then? We party!!

Damn, I'm proud of him.

GO PLESKO!!

-Wifey