To write Jim a letter while on the road, click HERE and it will be forwarded to him.

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May 25
Santa Fe to Las Vegas N.M. 72 miles- avg. speed- 15.0- max speed 38- Today was a great day to ride- blue skies, little climbing- mostly rolling hills, little wind- just a great day- nothing extra ordinary happened- hope all the days are like this
Jim

May 26 - Memorial Day
Las Vegas N.M. to Tucumcari N.M.- today was scheduled to be 109 miles- but that was not to be- about 15 miles into the ride -actually at the 1000 mile mark- I came rode up on an accident in which another rider- who was a friend of mine as well- had took a nasty spill- while we waited for the ambulance- and looked after him- I made the decision to accompany him to the hospital- which meant that my riding for today was over- and any chance of EFI-
Luckily- all he had were some bruises, scrapes and hurt pride- and his bikes a little banged up- we'll both be back on the road- me tomorrow- him- in a day or two-

So- as I sit here reflecting on taking the ride-since we are now back in Las Vegas- waiting for the van to come drive us to Tucumcari- my goal when I started this trip was to ride the entire distance-and not take the ride unless injury forced me off the road--however- I have no regrets at all about this decision- it was mine to make- no one suggested it- but I think that when given the choice- people- friends-are and always should be more important than some abstract goal-in the past many people have reached out and sacrificed to help me- I don't think I sacrificed anything- but I hope I'm paying them back in some small way-
 
See you out there
Jim

May 27
Day Whatever- Tucumcari to Dalhart Texas- 98 miles.
First- To Susie- Damien is doing great- he a quite, gentle Math teacher from Ireland- who- when on a bike- becomes a Road Warrior- he finished today's ride- like it was a walk in the park
Next- a last word on yesterday- there were many people involved in helping Ron- Marianne- who was first on the scene and provided initial first aid and lots of TLC, Darrel- who had the presence of mind to ride back up that mile long hill to get phone service to call 911, Meredith, Rick and Laura-who did traffic control- so we wouldn't get run over- Tracy- who seems to be everywhere at once- I think she's Wonder Woman- and other's I can't remember- who helped in numerous ways- so thanks to all of them- Also- Ron is fine- a little sore- but will be back on his bike in a couple of days. 
So today- 98 miles of constant 20-30mph NE winds- since we were traveling NE and the winds were out of the NE- this was a bad thing- They never let up- I just plodded along- my avg. speed was 10.4 mph over a 98 mile course- this makes for a loooooooong day- than- just in case we weren't having enough fun- the last 25 miles changed from blacktop to gravelly ,concrete road- very bumpy- very hard on the arms- so what do you do when your on a bike ride that last's 8.5 hours- mostly- space out- listen to music, think, shoot video,- for the first 70 miles I just kept hoping the wind would change- or at least let up- the last 28 I just got stubborn and determined I wouldn't let it beat me-
 
I am just so glad today is over-
see you out there
Jim
 

May28
Dalhart Texas to Guam Oklahoma-72 miles- avg. speed- 14.4 mph.
First- Hi to my grandchildren and the guys at RRC.  What a difference a day makes- it started off cloudy with headwinds-looked like a repeat of yesterday-also the first 50 miles the road was that gravelly-poured concrete- very bumpy,  BUT- the rain held off- the winds died down and after 50 miles- in Oklahoma- the road turned into black top- and I just coasted in.  It was just a wonderful ride-- I was 4th. into the hotel today-
 
So we're in Oklahoma- tomorrow we go to Kansas- and a short ride of 39 miles-
See you out there
Jim
 

May29
Guyman Oklahoma to Liberal Kansas- This was a very short day-39 miles- with great tailwinds-ride time- 1 hr. 30 minutes- not much to say- nothing extraordinary happened- just a fun-fast day
 
May30
Liberal Kansas to Dodge City Kansas- 82 miles- This was a very hard day- tremendous headwinds- I spent a long time at the SAG stop- on the phone- so it turned into a really looooooooooong day-  I definitely wasn't at the tip of the sear today- the last 22 miles was long, hot and lonely- plus- when I dropped my saddle bags with the van- I forgot to take my second pair of Oakley's with the mp3 player-so I had to do that portion with no music- but you know- you just keep pedaling and eventually you get to where your going and can put your feet up, call friends back home and fall asleep very early.
 
May31
Dodge City to Great Bend Kansas- 86 miles- more of the same- we were traveling NE and the winds were NE at 10-25 mph- this makes for a long day- as I was approaching the 2nd. SAG at mile 52 I really was tired and was thinking about bagging the day- I came up on Rich who was fixing a flat and at that moment Darrel caught up with me- so we limped into the SAG- and they boosted my morale and we headed out- now some of you know I haven't really done a lot of long distance biking before- so I had never rode in a pace line or really drafted- so they taught me how to do this- I like riding in a pace line- especially in heavy headwinds- the first 10 miles just flew by- than Linda and Ken joined us and we just knocked out the last 22 miles and got in relatively early.  Tomorrow is a relatively short day- only 62 miles, followed by another short day-67 miles followed by a much needed REST DAY!

See you out there
Jim"