I had an awesome day today. Our 95 mile ride went rather quickly, straight through the high plains. I can honestly say I can feel myself getting stronger and becoming a better cyclist every day. We stayed on the same road the whole time and didn't even pass a gas station. The only thing we saw was a post office; welcome to Eastern New Mexico. When we arrived in Portales, we were greeted by a police escort straight to our friendship visit. There, the mayor declared July 8th, 2011 as "Journey of Hope Day" in Portales. There was even a legitimate proclamation! After that, we performed our puppet show, "New Kids on the Block," which shows the abilities of kids with disabilities and allows the kids to ask questions to a puppet they normally wouldn't be comfortable asking an adult. After our show, the mayor gave us all free passes to the public pool. It reminded me of the scene from "Caddyshack" when all the rowdy caddies take over the pool. However, there was no Baby Ruth bar. Later, we settled in at our lodging at Eastern New Mexico University. We are all excited to have beds to sleep in. Steve Smith, the father of Colorado cyclist Elliot Smith was in town and sponsored our dinner at a restaurant serving catfish, grilled chicken, and ribeyes. We were stuffed to the brim...Back at lodging, the team gathered to watch a movie called "Darius Goes West." It's about a boy from Athens, GA with Duchenne's Muscular Dystrophy, the most deadly genetic disease amongst children today, who travels the U.S. to show how his disability doesn't effect him from doing what he wants. He promotes all sorts of awareness along the way, let's it be known that disability does not mean inability. Darius is an inspiration to our team, and I hear we may meet him while we are in Athens.
We head into Texas tomorrow...I'm beyond excited to be back in the Lone Star State! Here's a couple pics from today of my paceline and a friend of mine at a crew stop.
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