Las Vegas to Tucumcari, New Mexico

109.5 miles, 6:48 riding time; 3,245 feet of climbing, and 4,836 Calories

I'm tired! It was a long, long day, but spectacular riding. We climbed out of Las Vegas (I've noticed that all the towns in New Mexico are at the bottom of valleys - probably where the water was); think flat, treeless plain; you could see forever in all directions. A small herd of horses joined us for a while, running parallel to the pace line. After many miles of rolling flat plain, we dropped off the edge of the Canada escarpment - one-thousand feet of descent over three miles to the desert below. Mesas towered over the road as we dropped through the canyons with some uphills and "The Wall" - 0.6 mile of 8-9% grade, granny gear time. After the climb, the land was rolling - long gradual descents and long gradual ascents to Tucumcari.

Deborah looked up the meaning of Tucumcari - it's either Comanche for "lookout," or from an Apache tale of Tucum and Kari - think Romeo and Juliet.

We have now biked more than 1,000 miles! Only 2,400 more to go.

The creature above is a Prairie Dog.

Riders of the day: Tom and Bob, from New Jersey. Both retired, and long time friends, they are riding to support Anchor House - a haven for abused children: http://www.anchorhouseride.org/ . Tom is the one with the moustache; Bob has a beard.