Day 7 - Monte Vista to Trinidad, Colorado

Mark Pattison - RAAM Racer

Rob - leaving rest stop on way to La Veta Pass

Loading into the shuttle van after La Veta Pass - Randy, Jon, Max, Jim

Singer/waitress at Rino Restaurant in Trinidad

Today’s leg was only the second time in PACTour history that the ride was stopped for safety reasons. Winds gusting over 60 mph created very treacherous, swirling wind conditions on a high mountain pass in Colorado. One rider, RAAM favorite Mark Pattison, was blown off the road and went over a guard rail.
We started in Monte Vista this morning. La Veta Pass was about 66 miles into the ride. Until the approach to the pass, we were travelling basically east, with a fairly good S-SW cross wind. Riders were grouping up into echelon pacelines using the wide shoulder, Even across the flat mountain plains there were significant shifts in the wind.
Once we started up La Veta Pass, heading northeast, a tail wind picked up considerably as we reached higher elevations. It was a unique experience to be climbing a mountain pass at 15-25 mph. Standing up to catch the wind would gain another 1-2 mph. After the top of the pass at 9,400’, the problems started on the descent. Blasts of wind, up to 60 mph and more, would hit you from any direction. My first sense of this was a head on blast that pushed my glasses into my face and stung my cheeks with fine gravel. My speed went from 35 to 12 in a couple of seconds. A little farther on, two riders ahead of me were being pushed sideways by the wind, in unpredictable patterns. Most of us got down the hill ok, either by by being very cautious or going faster and managing the wind gusts well. There were some incidents though that highlighted the dangers.
Mark Pattison, who is planning to compete in the Race Across America (RAAM) ultra marathon event in three weeks, was the first one down the hill and was pushed off the road by a big swirl of wind. He flipped over a guardrail, his bike sailing over his head with him. Mark amazingly was unhurt, not even any road rash, but his custom ultra distance bike, with electronic shifting, etc. did not survive the fall, cracking his seat stays. He was able to ride the bike slowly down the reste of the hill. Mark finished second in RAAM 2008 and is a favorite in this year’s race.

Lynn Lashley, one of our women riders, was blown off the road and nearly went over a steep embankment. She fortunately only has a small bit of road rash on her knee.
Lon Haldeman, our PACTour leader and famous past RAAM champion, had to put both feet out to keep himself upright when he was blown into a gravel turnout.
At the bottom of this 10 mile torture test was the next rest stop. Susan was there and was already very concerned as the next part of the route would take us over Cucharas Pass, 1,000’ higher than La Veta, directly into the 40-60 mph wind and with a twistier descent. Once everyone was off the hill, Lon and Susan decided to stop the ride at that point and shuttled us up to our next overnight in Trinidad. No one disagreed. This is only the second time in 18 years that PACTour has stopped a leg of a ride. We got in 76 miles, a little over ½ of the day’s miles. Probably most riders were a little bit glad to have a small bonus rest as tomorrow we ride 193 miles to Ulysses, Kansas with a projected 20-25 mph crosswind from the south.
We are now out of the western mountains and face the prospect of several days of wheat fields and silos across the rest of Colorado and through Kansas, with likely strong winds and the possibility of rain in a couple of days. So far, (other than the wind today) the weather has been very good. We are all well tanned, some of us even a little crispy in spots.
One of the interesting effects of a day like this is how as a group we are growing closer together. There were lots of very animated stories about coming down the La Veta hill. Everyone here is a strong rider with many years of road riding experience. Some are faster than others, but nearly everyone has ridden every mile to this point and morale is still very good.

Dinner tonight was a special experience. Eight of us went to the Rino Restaurant in old downtown Trinidad where the theme was pasta, the ambience was wonderful, food was great, the conversation was fun and we were treated to several very well done classic songs by the owners and waitresses.
The biggest issue now for many riders are that butts are getting sore. More of the evening dinner conversations now revolve around ways to minimize or at least numb this problem area. Other aches and bruises come and go. Personally, I am getting over my cold, my ribs are still sore from the fall on Day 1, but improving. Onward.
Because of the safety concerns on the ride today, we all get a free pass on the ride-every-mile challenge.
Thanks, Lon and Susan for providing a great challenge for us, but looking after our safety when necessary.

Day 6 - Durango to Monte Vista, Colorado

Today the big challenge was Wolf Creek Canyon Pass at 10,500’. It was a butt kicker. The first 90 miles were great – a group of six of us (Randy, Tim, Jon, John, Max and I) worked together through some easy to moderate rollers and a few short climbs. Starting at mile 90, at the foot of the pass, we climbed 2,400’ over the next eight miles, at a grade of 5-7%. Us old flatlanders could definitely feel the high elevation.
After a nice lunch stop at the top of the pass and adding a layer to handle the cold descent, we blew down the next 20 miles in well under an hour. Our good luck continued after that with a 20+ mph tailwind or another 15 miles. All good things come to an end though and our last 10 miles we had a cross/quartering wind. Overall though, a very nice day with 7,650’ of climbing.
We are staying at the Movie Manor, in Monte Vista, Colorado. Out our window are two drive in movie screens – we can choose between ‘How to Train your Dragon’ or the ‘Bounty Hunter’, once it gets dark. Most of us will probably be in bed by then, but the concept is very cool.
Tomorrow we have two more big mountain passes, La Veta and Cucharas, both in the 9-10,000’ range. They should be a little less steep than what we did today but there are rumors of a headwind later in the day . We end up in Trinidad, Colorado tomorrow night and after that, we start heading across the plains.

Day 5 - Kayenta, Az to Durango, Co

Our paceline group starting out in Monument Valley
at about 6:50a. Randy Mouri is the photographer.

Our paceline group - Brad Reed, Jon Batek, Tim Feldman

Randy Mouri, Rob Welsh, John Newton at the first rest stop

in Monument Valley. Our layers came off quickly, we were in

shorts and jersey by 9a

Jon Batek in Monument Valley with Shiprock Mountain in the background

Tim Feldman in Monument Valley

Another great day to ride across the country! We started at sunrise in Kayenta, heading into Monument Valley, Arizona, then Utah. This was one of the all time fabulous morning rides anywhere – the morning light was on the huge cliff monuments, the road was smooth, it was dead quiet, it was absolutely beautiful. Six of us formed a paceline early and kept up a better than 20 mph average for the first 60 miles over some ups and downs. The fantastic rock formations were hard to ignore, even while we were cruising along.
At the second rest stop I strained a rib muscle, probably from trying to keep up with the younger, trimmer guys. :-) This didn’t keep me from continuing to ride but I wasn’t able to go really hard on the up hills without causing a pain in my upper rib cage. This was the same spot I fell on back on Day 1 so I may have re-stressed this muscle or rib. From this point on, to keep things moving along I would leave a rest stop 5 minutes before the rest of the group so I could ride my own pace and not slow down the guys at least for the first part of the leg. This worked pretty well, although the first time we did it, their competitive juices got flowing and they treated me like a race rabbit and hunted me down quickly by hammering their way up to where I was piddling along. The guys were really good when we rode together, taking it easy on the longer hills, so I could stay with them. As the afternoon wore on, the group overall slowed down and I was able to keep pace for all but the last big hill. This was much appreciated by me and made for a good sense of cameraderie.
After 60 miles of Monument Valley, we cruised for another 60 miles up Montezuma Creek, over a number of small ridges in the high desert plains of Utah and Colorado (three states in one day!) to Cortez, Co. The Dairy Queen in town was voted a required stop by the whole group. From there I left early again and was soon caught by Tim Feldman, from Colorado. Tim eased up and we chatted for 45 minutes about biking and life (what else!) until the rest of the group joined us part way up the 8,000' Mancos climb and the last rest stop. After that, Randy, Tim and I dropped 600’ very quickly then started up the last long, gradual climb to the top of the pass outside of Durango at 8,400’.
The 12 mile descent into Durango dropped 1,800’, with many 6%+ pitches. Randy and I reached 50+ mph at one point. We were fortunate to be able to use the main traffic lane as there was virtually no downhill traffic. We would not have taken a chance on going that fast on the shoulder, although it was pretty decent. What a rush! This is two days in a row with a screamer downhill finish.
Overall, everyone in the Elite Tour group is doing well. We all have some aches & pains (tush, shoulder, neck, back, achilles tendon are the most common issues), but we are pressing on and morale seems to be very high. Lon and Susan say that by day 5 most people have gotten ‘Elite Tour fit’ and will continue to get stronger as the tour continues. Nearly everyone has been able to ride every mile so far. If you complete all 3,100 miles of the Elite Tour you become solo RAAM qualified, which entitles you to enter the Race Across America as a solo rider – a tremendous challenge that goes beyond what Elite Tour does. We have three past RAAM riders in our group, Mark Pattison, Scott Luikert and Harold Trease. Mark is competing in his second RAAM later this June – in 2008 he finished 2nd. Mark will ride with us until we get to St. Louis then take a 2-3 week taper break before starting the RAAM race in San Diego in mid-June. Randy plans to compete in RAAM in 2011.
The Elite Tour follows 90% of the RAAM route so it is a good preview of what the riding will be like. So far we have covered 826 miles in five days, with nearly 35,000’ of climbing.
Tomorrow we go to Monte Verde, Co, over Wolf Creek Pass at 10,500’. The distance will be a little less at 145 miles. Weather looks to be very good again!

Day 4 - Flagstaff to Kayenta, Arizona

Rob - Heading down the high plains desert road

Great PACTour Support people - Tracey, Susan and Bill

Randy's very waterproof, windproof, chemical proof gloves

Today was a 'rest' day of 151 miles across the high desert plains. The scenary was excellent, but eventually became monotonous (in a beautiful way, of course). We started at 34 degrees, but it quickly warmed up and was a great day, weatherwise (except for the shifting winds - which blew us around and kept us on our toes in some places. It was mid-70s when we arrived in Kayenta, a little before 4p, our earliest time in so far.

Our ride basically descended from 7,000' in Flagstaff down to 4,200’ in the high desert floor, then climbed back up to nearly 7,000’ before dropping 1,000’ into Kayenta at 6,000’.

At 33 degrees first thing in the morning, nearly everyone started out with multiple layers – see the picture of Randy’s heavy duty gloves, which kept his hands very warm, and could double as heavy duty chemical handlers. :-)

We are getting into the rhythm of long distance transcontinental riding. Get up at 5:45a, snarf down breakfast, fill water bottles, bring your bike out, bring your gear bag out, load the gear bag, get on the bike, go. Stop every 20-30 miles for a snack, drink lots of fluids, fill up bottles and go. At about the 60% point in the ride, have lunch at the rest stop, go. Continue with rest stops until you get there. Stop. Unwind and snack a little for a few minutes, take your gear bag to your room, clean and fix any mechanical issues with your bike, take it to your room, shower and clean up, find a place to get dinner, have a massage, catch up on email for a short period, be in bed by 10p. Repeat 19 times.

Lenny Z unfortunately had to withdraw from the tour due to cracked ribs and a twisted wrist that came after two accidents in the parking lot. It is too bad, Len and I rode together at a Desert Camp this year and had a good week.

Roads were generally very good, but US 160 into Kayenta was quite busy and the surface was quite rough in some spots. A large motorcycle club went by, many of them waving and giving us the thumbs up – very nice.

The long downhill into Kayenta was a great way to finish the day.

Tomorrow we head for Durango, with a couple of 10% grades and 178 miles to cover. Time for bed.

Day 3 - Wichenburg to Flagstaff, Arizona

Andrew Puddy - Our Aussie rider and nice guy








Almost done - entering Flagstaff

Birthday Boy Rob - 59 today!

Lon Haldeman (PACTour), Randy, LynnLashley, Rob

Today was the last day of the three initial epic rides of Elite Tour. We only rode 151 miles, but this included four major hills of 2,000’ feet each and total climbing of 12,500’ overall.
Our group today started with Randy, John Newton, Jon Batek and Lynn Lashley. Of course no bike ride is complete without a flat or two so we had our share again today, but only three for the day – a big improvement over yesterday.
The temperature worked in our favor today, starting at 65 in Wichenburg, finished at 60 in Flagstaff. The wind was our friend also, pushing us along. The breeze was very cool on the higher elevations but quite warm on the desert floor, where temps were in the low 80s.
Our first climb of the day was Yarnell Grade, about 19 miles from Wichenburg. We climbed about 1,000’ to get to the base of the hill. Yarnell Grade is about 2,000’ and 8 miles long, reaching nearly 5,000’. Long stretches of this hill are at 6%. We got up this hill pretty quickly and headed on to the Prescott climb, which was a lot more fun, climbing about 1,000’ then going through several up and downs to get us up to 6,000’ before dropping into Prescott.
After Prescott we headed downhill and across a desert plain to Mingus Mountain. By now we were getting a little tired so agreed to take it very easy up this hill, which turned out to be a good idea as it was a real grinder.
After a much needed lunch break at 7,000’ at the top of Mingus, we faced a screamer six mile downhill over some of the roughest roads we have ridden, down to Jerome. It is always fun to go downhill but this one was very hard on the bike and hands. After Jerome we continued to roar downhill, dropping all the way down to 3,500’, easily going over 40 mph on this long run out hill. While it is great to blast downhill, this also became very depressing, as I knew we were going to have to re-climb all that elevation again to get to Flagstaff at 6,900’. On the other hand, the views were spectacular.
A little after we descended the Jerome hill, Jim and Lara on the tandem, melted their carbon rear rim and had to have a replacement delivered by the support crew.
After we reached the desert floor again, a short climb got us into Sedona and the start of the Oak Creek Canyon hill, the last of the day. The views of the cliffs and canyon floor as we climbed were beautiful. About ½ of the way up the canyon, a Dairy Queen appeared in the middle of nowhere. We had to stop! This turned out to be the best move of the day. After this, Randy, fueled by a caffeinated milk shake, took off like a rocket and pulled us up the remaining 2,000’ to the last rest stop. From there a quick 13 mile roller coaster got us into Flagstaff and our hotel for another great day of riding. Randy and I are working really well together on the hills and pacelines and having a fun trip.
Scott Luikart is back on the road, with a new crank set, and only a few bruises from his accident yesterday. Len Zawodniak took a spill, bruising is already cracked ribs.
Tomorrow is a ‘rest’ day, with only 151 miles to ride, but we actually drop 1,000’ on the way from Flagstaff to Kayenta. It will be 33 in the morning, so we will be bundled up, but 74 in the afternoon, with a good chance of a tail wind. Things are going well.

El Centro to Wichenburg

Today was a very long day. We started at 3:30a in the morning and finished about 5:30p after 220 miles of desert riding, with some rollers and several long, gradual climbs (Arizona hills). Randy and I started with the fast group and it turned out to be a good move. The first 40 miles were done in just about 2 hours. Things spread out after that and we carried on, picking up Jon Batek, Tim Feldman and later on Lynn Lashley.

We were very fortunate with the heat, as some high clouds drifted in and stayed all day, keeping the heat down to the high 80s. This really made a big difference as temps in the high 90s were projected.

There weren't any big hills but we did climb 5,000' overall. After lunch, at the 145 mile mark, we had a long leg going up an Arizona hill (1-2% gradual climb) into the wind, towards a set of mountains that we finally named the 'Unreachables' as it took an hour or more to actually get to the foot of them. This was followed by the 'Lost Horizon' road, that continued the upward climb, more gradually, but this went on for 30 miles. You could see where the road and the sky met, but could never actually get to the horizon line. We developed a good pattern of team work to get through both of these, and the other parts of the ride.

We had 11 rest stops today, and were glad for every one of them. For myself, my goal at a rest stop was to drink as many fluids as I can, water, gatorade, pop, Aptiva, etc. Then load my water bottles with ice, then water in one, electrolytes and/or liquid nutrition in the other. Even though most rest stops were only 20 miles apart, I (and most of the other riders) would finish both bottles. My favorite foods of the day were pears in syrup and sliced mandarin oranges also in syrup.

The other story of our day was the six flats and other tire problems we had. Tim had a brand new tire start bulging, then a flat developed that we nursed along to the next rest stop where he was able to trade both the tire and tube out. My rear tire developed a sympathy flat just as we were leaving the rest stop. Randy got a flat and his first spare was defective, Tim had another flat a little later to round out the set. All of this made the day longer, but it worked out well as the five of us had a fine time together.

My perspective on Elite Tour being very competitive is changing. We are pushing some very long distances and are going fast (we averaged 18. 5 mph over the whole day,) but there is a strong spirit of cooperation and helping each other that really helps to make the rides more interesting and fun. This is what I was hoping would happen. Lon, Susan and the whole support crew are great - making sure the rest stops are well stocked and always ready to help out with any problem that comes up. Susan (and the other support crew) are always glad to see you arrive at a rest stop, and make you feel great that you made it this far.

Scott Luiken had a crash and banged his legs and hip pretty good. The accident started when his crank broke about 3 miles from the next rest stop. Tim Feldman helped him out by pushing him along but the pieces of the broken crank got tangled in Tim's brake cables and they both went down. Lon fixed up his own bike for Scott to ride, but luck was not on his side today as he flatted within 10 miles.

All in all another great, but very tough day on Elite Tour. Tomorrow is 13,000' of climbing up to Flagstaff, Az., a distance of 151 miles. The weather should be much cooler, and it looks like the wind may be helping us up the hills!

Day 1 - San Diego to El Centro

This was supposed to be a good warm up day and it certainly was. We started at sea level, climbed out of San Diego to over 4,000' up into the coastal mountains, spent some time on Historic US Route 80 (going up and down), then had a screaming downhill on Interstate 10 into the sauna of the Imperial Valley, with temps reaching 101. We climbed 8,000' today, but the last 25 miles on the valley floor were the toughest for several riders, since nearly all of us are from colder weather climates and haven't had much chance to train in this heat. Shown above are Lara and Jim, the only tandem team, as they arrived in El Centro after a very excellent ride for them today. Lara lives in Northern Minnesota, Jim is from Texas. Also shown is my roommate and riding partner Randy Mouri, from Washington, DC.

For me, the first 75 miles of the ride were spent getting back into shape after a 10 day tapering period leading up to the ride. Lon Haldeman said this would happen, and it worked out pretty well after that as I felt very good on the last 50 miles of the ride, heat and all. My morale is excellent.

I did have an accident, bruising my knee, hip and elbow and probably cracking a rib. Randy and I bumped into each other and I went down and got the worst of it. I'm feeling a little sore, but nothing major is damaged so it's definitely onward, heading east.

The first three days of Elite Tour are each mini-epic rides that get us up and over the California coastal mountain range, through the desert and up to the Arizona high desert plains. Tomorrow is the desert crossing, 220 miles, with temps near 100. We have 11 support stops during the day to ensure we stay hydrated and healthy. We are starting at 3:30a in the morning to get some of the ride done before the desert heat kicks in. It looks like we will have a light tailwind, at least for the first 100 miles - this will help, especially some of the slower riders.

The group is definitely spreading out with the faster riders getting in 2-3 hours before the last finishers. Randy and I are hanging in there pretty well, fairly near the front group. Randy had some leg cramps today though (he needs more electolytes, especially in the heat) so he will need to take it easy for a day or two. We'll see how the ride tomorrow goes.