Oh how sweet it is to ride downhill. I couldn't believe how fast I was moving today. I left the Great Divide in Pie Town and was on a downhill right from the beginning. The scenery was gorgeous as I dropped elevation. I was weaving in and out of the high mountains and there were some great rock formations on the sides. I was riding a lot faster than I had expected to ride for the day and after an hour and a half I took my first break. It was in a small town only 30 miles away from where I had started to ride. I grabbed a couple of things at the store and started to eat a little more for a snack when a man approached me. He had two prosthetic legs and a jersey on that read JESUS. He looked to be around 55 or 60 years of age and he asked if that was my bike sitting over there. I told him it was and what I was doing. He then told me what he was doing. With two legs blown off in the Vietnam War, he was now running across the country. He had started in California and was going to work his way to the East coast and then move up the east coast to Maryland. His wife was driving behind him and after he put in around 10 miles for the day, they would rest in their van. He would then wake up the next morning and then put in another 10 miles for the day. He had started his trip at the beginning of July and was planning on having done the trip by the following year. His name was Jean and to do what he was doing seemed like an incredible feat. He had probably always wanted to do this and now, even with both legs gone, he had found a way to make his dream come true. I was happy that I had stopped where I had when I had because he had such an incredible story to share. When I hopped back on my bike, I had a strong wind at my back. I was going nowhere but downhill it seemed. I was applying about no effort at all and I was almost to Socorro,NM where I was planning on staying with a family from warm showers that I had contacted a couple of days earlier. I figured if I left at the time that I did in the morning, 9 am, that I would probably arrive around 4 pm. Well it was now 1:30 pm and I had just pulled into Socorro,NM. With the wind at my back and dropping down to an elevation of 4,600 feet, there was nothing holding me back from putting in my fastest pace since I had been on the road. I was feeling great and like I could have kept on going, but to have a place to rest and do laundry was too much to pass up. I went to a bike shop where I was said to meet with Karl when I came into town. He was working in the shop and it couldn't have worked out any better than the way that it did. With Karl being the owner of the shop, I was able to have my chain replaced for free and then also pick up a couple of spare tubes and patches. I was glad that I had somehow made it this far without having a flat, and it worked out great that everything was right here for me. After having everything looking like new on my bike, we rode our bikes to Karl's house. He lived only a couple of miles away and when we arrived at his house I was able to do some laundry, take a shower, and all of those other things I hadn't done in about a week. I wasn't at the house very long before his family arrived home from school. He had 4 daughters and they were 7,5,3, and 6 weeks. It was just like being at home. After getting to meet the family, I was able to use their computer. They had a wide selection of music and it was great to be able to get some new music again before I had to take off. Listening to the same thing over and over again, really can get fairly old after awhile. I was feeling on top of the world with clean clothes and I was now actually able to sit in the same room as myself and tolerate my own smell. Patty, Karl's wife, had been slaving away in the kitchen while I had been on the computer and had prepared a feast. Chicken stir-fry, rice, and a great salad. I was so happy that I was able to have a change of food for once and I couldn't believe how great the food was. With the meal she had prepared a large chocolate cake for desert and it was a great way to load up on all of the carbs that I had depleted. It was so good to be able to talk with Karl and Patty and they each had so many great stories to tell. Even with the kids to take care of, they managed to place plenty of their time accommodating to my needs. One of which was just conversation, one thing I wasn't able to have much of while on the road. I was able to hear some funny stories about Patty hiring some of the people in town to work at her coffee shop, and how Karl came to own a bike shop in town. Karl had been a professional cyclist for about 6 years in the states and with his large background in the field, the shop found it's home in Socorro,NM. After the feast and the good atmosphere that had arisen around it, we made my bed for the night and I was able to sleep on a very comfortable futon mattress.Daily mileage: 86.4 miles
Average speed: 19.1 mph
Total mileage: 4,680.9 miles
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