Day 17 - Rollers!!

At dinner last night Mark told a very funny story. He and another rider met a girl (local) riding her bike yesterday. She asked where we started and where we were ending. Mark replied "Kalispell, MT to El Paso, TX". Then the girl asked how long it would take to get to El Paso. Mark replied "the trip is 19 days". To which the girl replied "you must really like El Paso" :)

I set out easy today and as the fast boys came by I thought I'd jump on with them. There were 5 of us in the paceline and we were cookin'. Averaging about 23mph. Then the rollers started - 40 miles of rollers!!! Unrelenting. This would make a great training course. I stayed with the group to the 2nd SAG (about 35 miles) and then did my own pace to lunch.

While alone it was kind of cool to be out in the dessert alone. Then I realized that both of my bottles were very low. A mile later I came upon a 3-4 foot rattle snake right in the middle of the road. Several miles later Steve came by with the van from the 1st SAG. I waved him down and filled both my bottles. Thanks Steve! That water (cold) made all the difference for me. After lunch Rich and I rode the remaining 11 miles together at a very comfortable pace.

It was a quick 77 miles today and with time to spare, we had our first day at an outdoor pool. It was fun to compare everyone's crazy tan lines.

Truth or Consequences, NM got it's name from the game show. Somewhat of a dare, they offered to see if a town would change it's name to the name of the show. This goes back to the 1950's sometime. Of course, we were all hoping and thinking it would be something more western, sherrif or judge-like, about how the town got it's name. The original name was Hot Springs, NM

Socorro, NM to Truth or Consequences, NM

Day 17 - 77 miles
RT - 4:28
Avg - 17.3
Elevation gain - 2200 ft.