Day 16: Sunday 03/20/16, Columbus, NM to El Paso, TX

Day 16 distance: 78 miles

Total miles:  869 miles

Elevation gain: 1024 feet

Map of today's ride:

The dreaded headwind arrived today and we were punished for the past few days of good tailwind! I left Columbus, NM at 7:30 am this morning with an outside temperature of 39 degrees and no wind. I wanted an early start to try to get some miles in before the 20 mph headwinds that were forecast arrived. I had only ridden 15 miles before the wind hit. At the first SAG, 20 miles into the ride, four other riders and I joined up and rode in a line to make the ride more bearable. It worked well. We each took our turn at the lead, changing about every half mile to mile and averaged around 10 to 13.5 mph for the remainder of the ride. It was still a slow ride, taking 6 hours and 8 minutes to complete the 78 miles. When we arrived in El Paso, it was 65 degrees and as I am typing this, the wind is now down to 7 mph. The last of the riders just arrived and everyone is tired from the strenuous day.

At mile 74 of today's ride, we crossed the border into our fourth state, Texas, some 865 miles from the ocean in San Diego. All five of us who were riding together had planned on stopping at the state entry sign for a photograph; however, on the route we took into El Paso there was no sign. Hopefully when we leave Texas we can put our backs to the state we just crossed and get the photo we all want!

When riding in a line for a wind advantage, one does not stop and take pictures, so my ride picture offering today is limited.

The view as I left the Columbus, NM, school this morning at 7:30 am. It was actually lighter than this picture appears so was safe to be on the road. Plus I ride with both front and rear high bright flashing lights. (And that is not snow on the ground!)

About 8 miles out of Columbus this morning immediately before the headwinds hit.

The first SAG stop after the wind had arrived. Note the bending flag pole and flag. It was 39 degrees at this point and with the wind, it was cold! Everyone was dressed appropriately for the conditions.

The four other riders I rode with today to combat the wind: L to R - Gerald Allard, Gene Ice, John Ilenin, and Kurt Frederick.

The view from our second SAG stop today.

View from a stop close to the outskirts of El Paso, Texas.

The desert near El Paso is what most northern people think all deserts look like...a lot of sand and not much else.

Chandler Otis and Dave Moss, our two traveling C2C mechanics hamming it up for the camera.

This evening's view of the mountains north of El Paso from tonight's motel.

Another great dinner tonight! Since most of the riders arrived late tonight, the Quesadillas became part of tonight's dinner.

Tonight's dinner plate ready to eat! Seconds are always available if still hungry after your first pass. BTW, this was not my plate so no comments on my eating habits!

To close tonight, I want to revisit two photos of a dairy farm between Gila Bend, AZ and Casa Grande, AZ, that were in the blog post on Day 7, dated March 11:

This dairy along AZ-84E is simply amazing in size. The cattle continued for over 2 miles and I believe these Holsteins ranged in age from milking cow to heifers. They were in separate fenced areas by age. It would be interesting to know the number of the gallons of milk produced each day from this operation.

I don't know how far it was to the back of the pens, but like stated in the preceding picture, this continued for over two miles!

Jim Sporer's sister (Jim is a fellow coaster),  researched this dairy farm on the internet from the sign in the first picture and sent me the following facts:

1) There are 30,000 cows at this dairy.
2) 11,000 cows are being used for milking.
3) There are 350 employees.
4) The dairy produces 100,000 gallons of milk each day.
5) The dairy is on 12,000 acres of land.
6) There are 35 new calves born every day.

That is a simply amazingly large dairy! Thank you so much for sharing that information!

 LINK to Day 16 of my 2015 C2C blog.

Day 15: Saturday 03/19/16, Rest Day in Columbus, NM!

Day 15 distance: 0 miles (Rest day)

Total miles:  791 miles

Today, in Columbus, New Mexico, 14 days after leaving San Diego, we had our second rest day of this year's C2C. In those 14 days, we have ridden across California, Arizona, and about 2/3's of New Mexico. That totals 791 miles over 12 days of riding which averages about 66 miles each day. We have reached the highest elevation we will reach on this ride of 6000 feet near Bisbee, Arizona, as well as completing our longest distance one day ride (yesterday) of 95 miles.

The 2016 coasters are a solid group, hardened by the terrible riding conditions of day 2 and 3. Since then, we have had excellent weather and wind conditions. We all know it can't last forever, but are appreciative of every day of good weather, and in particular, no headwind days we encounter. By the end of tomorrow's ride we will reach Texas, spending the night in El Paso, Texas. Texas is a big state which will take with rest days, 19 days to ride across. Fortunately, Texas is a beautiful state with many different types of terrain to cross.

Happily, I can report that not any 2016 coaster to-date has experienced any accident or injury that has hindered their ride. Knowing personally how devastating it can be to have some misfortune end your ride before completion, I say thanks each day no one has a trip ending experience.

Since last year I joined in Bubba's planned activities for our day off in Columbus, I chose this year to go to the Columbus Public Library so I could get a WiFi connection and start catching up on my blog. For those of you that are following my blog because you have family and friends riding this year, if you click on the link at the end of this blog, you can see the type of activities this year's coasters enjoyed. (Actually, somehow at the Pink Store last year, I managed to tip my chair over backwards after one margarita and I was afraid to go back as I heard they may have barred me for life!)

Here are a few pictures I took this morning before today's activities began:

The Columbus school gym set up for C2C sleeping.

Drinking coffee and waiting for breakfast prepared by school staff.

The school staff getting ready to serve breakfast.

The Columbus Public Library where I spent my morning on the internet.

Maggie, the helpful librarian at the Columbus Public Library.

As a day off blog "extra", today I would like to introduce you to Amy Russell (59) and her son J.T.Turner (23), from Indianapolis, Indiana:
 

J.T. Turner and Amy Russell

J.T. and Amy are the first mother-son combination that Bubba has ever had on a C2C. In addition, J.T. is the youngest coaster to ride a Bubba C2C. J.T. just graduated from Purdue in Actuarial Science and has a job with an insurance company waiting for him when he completes this year's C2C. He has a hockey sports background (think strong legs!) and had done some cycling prior to the tour, but not for long distances. He completed his first century ride yesterday by riding an extra five miles before he started the day's 95 mile ride. He is a very strong rider and is getting stronger everyday.

Amy is retired from the finance group of Eli Lilly. She is keeping busy in her retirement by working half time for a non-profit organization. Amy is one of the 14 women in this year's C2C group, is a strong rider, and is a great addition to this year's group of 37 riders. She was thrilled late last year when J.T. first told her of his interest to ride C2C with her this year. And as a parent myself, I know and can see she is very proud and will cherish forever her ride from coast to coast with her son!





LINK to Day 15 of my 2015 C2C blog.