Day 9 Did it again June 20, 2001

! broke camp @ 6:30 am. The first 9 miles took an hour and a half. The
next 2 were over in 5 minutes. Over the hill it started to feel good. @ about
30 miles ! was getting close to Tierra Amarilla. The road was smooth, flat
and fast. ! was doing 23 mph w/ very little effort. ! looked back and spotted
a roadie 1/4 mile back keeping the same pace. The race was on. He was
unencumbered so ! knew he would be a threat on the one hill. ! still managed
to beat him then after the next little climb ! pulled into the cafe' as he
went by. ! figured !'d go the next 12 miles to Chama for an early lunch w/ 48
miles already. From there it is only about 7 miles to the Continental Divide.
! took heart in noting that the peak of the next mountain near MY route was
800 feet lower than ! was. Over the Divide and it's all downhill. Finally.
!'ve done 7 big climbs in the 9 days out so far. ! decided to go for the
century. That would put ME through the Apache reservation and into the West
section of Carson National Forest. It was mostly downhill. The wind of course
was going uphill in quite a hurry. ! had to pedal hard to go down @ 8 mph.
Ouch and the heat. ! made it to a campsite w/ 109 miles. ! know ! said ! was
going to cut back to 50/day, but ! was overcome w/ irrational exuberance. The
biggest thrill came when ! realized the lids of MY panniers had pockets in
them. On the dull parts ! would amuse myself by popping the blisters on MY
sunburned arms. They refill in an hour or so. Kind of like renewable bubble
wrap. Time to sleep.