This has been a hectic week leading up to the trip. About a week ago I came down with a cold which got worse. Remembering my experience two years ago while on my cross-country trip, I headed right to the doctor. I've been taking a couple of different medicines since then and am finally feeling a lot better, although I still don't sound great. Although I fly out to Albuquerque tomorrow evening, I won't get to Santa Fe until Saturday and won't begin riding until Sunday, so I hope to be feeling much better by the time I push off. Between the rain and my cold, it will be almost ten days without riding, but I'm confident that once in the saddle I should do fine.
Two years ago I scheduled my cycle tour to make sure that I wouldn't be leaving until after the end of the Stanley Cup playoffs. For those of you who don't know, except for my half dozen years in Texas, I have had tickets to the Washington Capitals since the team started in 1974. With what seemed to be an innate ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in the playoffs, the Caps have only made it to the finals of the Stanley Cup playoffs--and that was when we were living in Texas. When I was selecting a tour for this summer back in November, the Capitals were off to a terrible start which was not unexpected given all the players they had lost to free agency. I said there was no way they were going far this year, and in fact I thought they might not even make the playoffs. Well, Wednesday night they won their third round series against Tampa Bay and will begin the Stanley Cup finals for only the second time in their history next Monday night. And here I will be, far far away. Maybe that's the way that the hockey gods decided to punish me for my lack of faith after 43 seasons of undying allegiance.
Since the games will be on TV at 6:00 pm in the Mountain Time Zone, every couple of nights I hope my tour mates will understand if I'm antisocial and don't join the group for dinner. I'm not missing a moment of the Stanley Cup Finals (especially if I have to wait another 20 years for the Caps' next chance. My Caps jersey will be stuffed into my bag to wear while watching the games!
Here's the day-by day itinerary for the trip:
Sunday May 27 Santa Fe-Las Vegas, NM 73 miles
Monday May 28 Las Vegas-Tucumcari, NM 109 miles
Tuesday May 29 Tucumcari-Dalhart, TX 96 miles
Wednesday May 30 Dalhart-Guymon, OK 72 miles
Thursday May 31 Guymon-Liberal, KS 40 miles (this almost qualifies as a rest day!)
Friday June 1 Liberal-Dodge City, KS 83 miles
Saturday June 2 Dodge City-Great Bend, KS 85 miles
Sunday June 3 Great Bend-McPherson, KS 65 miles
Monday June 4 McPerson-Abilene, KS 63 miles
Tuesday June 5 Abilene Rest Day
Wednesday June 6 Abilene-Topeka, KS 106 miles
Thursday June 7 Topeka-St. Joseph, MO 85 miles
Friday June 8 St. Joseph-Chillicothe, MO 87 miles
Saturday June 9 Chillicothe-Kirksville, MO 75 miles
Sunday June 10 Kirksville-Quincy, IL 74 miles
Monday June 11 Quincy-Springfield, IL 107 miles
Tuesday June 12 Springfield-Champaign, IL 88 miles
A total of 1309 miles in 16 days of riding (if you add them up and they don't equal 1309, it's the infamous "rounding error"!)
I'll post a little bit again on Saturday from Santa Fe giving you a glimpse at the group I'll be riding with. They'll already have two weeks in as they pedal from LA-Boston. There is one other rider joining in Santa Fe--he's going as far as Abilene. I'll try to post a little bit every evening after that day's ride. I hope you'll enjoy the trip!
Bruce
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