The Pile Drivers

From left to right: Gil, me, Tony, Bob, and Randy (another honorary Pile Driver).

So I'm at dinner last night, griping about how tired I am. Tony, one of the three self-described "Pile Drivers", says "why don't you slow down?" Well, duh. Why didn't I think of that?

These three guys have a marvelous attitude about this trip. They take their time, joke around, stop often, and just have a good time all day long. I've been riding myself into the ground the last three days, so a nice relaxing day sounded nice. I decided to tag along today. Other than one unbelievably scary section of road we had a day filled with laughs and easy riding. At the end of the day I felt great and ready to do it again tomorrow. They made me an honorary member of the Pile Drivers.

Apparently my groveling at the feet of Mother Earth Gaia yesterday did some good. It was cold at the start, but not too cold. We had light wind, sunny skies, and near-perfect riding conditions all day long.

We had our first encounter with a dog, but Harry barked louder than the dog did, and basically scared it away. Jerry, our 80 year old, wasn't so fortunate. He had a minor crash when the dog ran into him, and skinned up his arm. He called it a day at that point, but he says he'll be out there again tomorrow.

This section of New Mexico has all sorts of oddball half-deserted towns. We weren't always sure if anyone lived in some of them. I'm pretty sure they don't make Budweiser in Budville (or anything else), but you never know.


This next story should probably be the lead for today, but I'm choosing to downplay it so I don't have to think about it much. I-40 was under construction for about 7 miles. Traffic was limited to one lane. We still had the shoulder, so I wasn't too concerned. Then the guardrail closed in and we had about 2-3 feet between us and the freeway traffic. For 4 miles Semi trucks were riding on the rumble strip next to us. With gravel on the shoulder and bumps in the road it was honestly the scariest thing I've ever done on a bike. We rode with saucer eyes and 100% focus. One mis-step would have been fatal. One woman burst into tears after she got through it. I might have myself if we hadn't started making toilet paper jokes.


Shortly after entering Albuquerque we crossed the Rio Grande. It was a little weird biking in a major city. We've been in the sticks since we left Riverside, and seeing traffic and stop lights and folks on the streets took some getting used to.


We ride to Santa Fe tomorrow, where I'll meet up with my parents. They're bringing some new clothes all the way from the Bay Area! We'll have our second rest day on Saturday, so my postings may not happen for a couple of days.