Danny’s Ride

Day Statistics:
Bike Time: 3 Hours, 09 Minutes, 16 Seconds
Miles: 79.43 Total
Average Speed: 25.2 mph
Max Speed: 37.6

Total Miles to Date: 660.29

We got up, finished some things on the website and hit the road.  Almost before leaving the parking lot, Danny had a flat tire.  He told me to go ahead while he fixed it.  When I got on I-10, I found that we had a terrific tail wind that was going to push us all the way Deming, New Mexico.

Not a bad start to the day!  When I was about 20 miles in, I got a call from Ken.  Ken said Danny’s tire was giving him problems and we were out of tubes so he was going to drive to Deming (about 60 miles away), go to a bike store and buy a new tire for Danny and new tubes for the ride.

I pulled off at a gas station right near the Continental Divide and saw some interesting Native American artifacts and fireworks.  Interesting combination!  I got back on the road, and shortly after, got a call from Ken.  He said the only bike store in town closed down and he would have to drive to Las Cruces (another 55 miles further) to get to a bike store.

Now that is a tough day!  So, I stopped at a gas station/Dairy Queen combination to grab lunch.  As I opened my back pouch, I found no wallet.  I had left my wallet in the motor home which was now on its way to Las Curces.  So, I went in to fill up my water bottles.  Except, Dairy Queen could not fill up my water bottles.  I explained what I was doing and I had left my wallet in the motor home and could not “buy” water.

There was nothing that could be done.  So I went back into the gas station part.  Moments later, a young girl comes walking up to me and handed me two ice cold bottles of Aquafina. “Here, I heard you story and got these for you.  Good luck with your trip,” she said and then turned and walked out.  “Thank you!!” I said as she left.

I chugged the first bottle.  Then, an employee of the gas station said, “I want to buy you lunch.  Cancer has taken several family members and a girlfriend.”  He walked me over to Dairy Queen and bought me a chicken sandwich.  It is amazing the generosity of complete strangers.

I got back on the road again.  I checked my phone and found a voice message from Danny.  He said that although his tire was messed up, he could still ride it and was only a couple miles back from the gas station.  I tried calling him.  No answer.  So, I biked 20 more miles to Deming, called Ken and found that he was on his way back from Las Cruces.

So, I just kept biking until I ran into Ken.   When Ken and I did cross paths, he pulled over, I got in and we drove to a motel in Deming.  Five minutes after being at the hotel, Danny pulls up on his bike.  We went into the hotel, called the manager because she wasn’t there and were able to get a great rate at a Comfort Inn.

We enjoyed a great meal at Rancher’s Grill.  Every time we have ordered food, Ken asks the waiter/waitress for pizza because he knows they don’t have it.  It usually gets a smile out of them.  However, not this night.  Our waitress tried to hit poor Ken.  Luckily, while Danny snapped a picture, I was able to hold her back.  Sorry for taking so long to post this.  Here it is!

We will be in Las Cruces tomorrow and El Paso the day after that.  After talking to local people, we realized we would be going way out of our way to go to Hatch as we planned.  Going directly to Las Cruces made much more sense and allows us to actually be a day ahead of schedule which is great.

Click here to see photos from this day