Two States Down

Winslow AZ 4500' to Gallup NM 6500' Temp 30f Today's official distance 133 miles. As we enter the room in the motel where we are supposed to have breakfast Barbara is handing out the que sheet. This is a deviation from the routine. Mike tells us that the people hired to make breakfast just didn't show. We go over the route for the day. Our choices for breakfast are McD or Dennys yet again. James and I share a booth at Dennys as most of the group is there. At luggage load Mike shows me the route map and says that if I want to I can leave interstate at Holbrook and come up through the Petrified Forest NP including the Painted Desert adding 30 miles to todays ride getting in that 160 mile day. Yeah, that's it. At the first SAG Frank and I decide the we will leave I-40 at the Painted Desert go up a couple of miles and come back to the interstate. It was spectacular worth the time and effort. We are headed east on the I once again the wind is from the N at 15 gusting higher. The semi's blow you to the right then suck you towards them then one last push away as the tail end passes. Kirsten is knocked down by one as she is taken by surprise once. Lots of flats and cut tires. Frank and I encounter a section of shoulder that the random pattern of raised cracks in the asphalt is just maddening. At lunch I call a massage school in Albuquerque to arrange a massage on our rest day. I opt for a student keeping the price down. The wind on the long miles in after lunch and the last SAG is just brutal. Even Andrew our strongest rider is feeling beat up. I am feeling better than yesterday. Four of us stop at DQ on the way in. Dennys for dinner, It's the only choice. I end the day with 144.4 miles. Still in good spirits.