Day 6 - Solo to Socorro

Every day is a new day on the Elite Tour.  Yesterday was a struggle for me to finish, but today was a great day.  We covered 155 miles from Springerville, AZ to Socorro, NM.  I decided to just cruise on my own and really watch my food and water and stay at a comfortable pace.  We started at 4,800' and 40 degrees this morning, which was a perfect start for us, after several hot days.   The terrain was generally rolling up to 8,100' then dropped to 4,600' at the finish.  Winds were generally a quartering tail wind, except for a five mile stretch just outside of Socorro where we dragged through a 20 mph headwind.  On the final screaming descent into town, Tony Koester and I turned on the jets to finish strong. 

Lon Haldeman set the course record for this section two years ago, in 8:25 (on a single speed!).  Today two riders, Clay, my roomie, and Will (from Minnesota) teamed up to turn in a 8:11 time - nice ride, guys!  Everyone made it in fine with no incidents - a nice day on the Elite Tour!

There was a rest stop right at the highest point, near Pie Town, NM, and the Continental Divide.  Here is the treatment some of us Elite Tour riders get from PACTour support crew members when we reach these high points in the ride!

Doug Slack & Lynn Anne Vesper give me the royal treatment, with a neck massage and grapes!

 

Tomorrow is more of the same, another 15 miles longer (170 miles), across more high desert plains and up and over a small mountain range to Roswell NM.   It will be warm so ice socks may be back in fashion.