Danny’s Ride

After lunch at our favorite restaurant in Van Horn, Country Grill, Ken called A&A Repair to learn that the motor home was fixed and ready to hit the road.  The manager of Super 8 agreed to drive Ken to the repair shop while I called the Comfort Inn in El Paso to see if we could get the same rate $35.00 rate we had while we were there before.

Comfort Inn was very willing to work with us and were a big help.  We booked a room for tonight and tomorrow night with an option for Wednesday night depending on how the visits with the doctors go.
Before leaving town, we took a picture with the manager from Super 8 – Vipul Patel and Sandra Luna.  Sandra recognized the motor home from the local news!  It has been fun to meet so many people that have heard Danny’s story through his television appearances in El Paso.

We filled up with gas and took a few last pictures of Country Grill.  We had become regulars and were going to miss the place that always greeted us with a warm smile.  We gained an hour as we traveled back to El Paso.  When we got there, we grabbed some dinner and went to visit Danny in the hospital.

When we got there, Danny was grabbing some much needed sleep.  We didn’t want to wake him so we checked on him every ten minutes or so.  Finally, after an hour and a half, visiting hours were over and we went to check in at Comfort Inn.  Luckily for us, Comfort Inn was only a mile away from Danny’s hospital.

We are relaxing tonight and will venture over to the hospital in the morning to visit with Danny and see how he is doing.  We will be posting a slide show that includes the best pictures we have taken so far.  Hope you like it!

News Flash

Danny is getting some great coverage in the news! Check out this terrific video on KTSM Channel 9 in El Paso.  For more news coverage, see our News Page.

We started where we ended yesterday – about 20 miles short of Sierra Blanca in the middle of the desert with nothing around us.  As soon as we opened the door to leave our hotel room, we knew we were in for a long day.  The US flag flying outside the Super 8 we were staying at in Van Horn, Texas was pointed stiffly in the opposite direction we were going to be biking.  On top of this, record highs for this time of year were gripping the area.  Yes, this was going to be a very long day.

We enjoyed a complimentary breakfast in the lobby of the Super 8 and were on the road by 8:30.  Since we had stopped in the middle of the desert, 20 miles from Sierra Blanca, there was not a single hotel for 55 miles which led us to Van Horn, Texas.  As we drove 55 miles back to our starting location, we filled our water bottles and prepared for a long day of hard riding.  When we  arrived at yesterday’s starting place, we threw open the door to the motor home – it slammed shut.  We tried it again – same result.  We finally had to have one of us hold the door while the other brought a bike out.

Here is an email Ken sent to his family that does a great job telling what happened the rest of the day.
—————————–
Danny and Drew had to battle 35 mile an hour winds sometimes gusting up to 45 mph to 50 mph. After I
dropped them off, I went about 14 miles in front of them and parked at a picnic area. Drew was the first to arrive. He was absolutely exhausted. It took him over an hour to get to where I had parked.

He rested, drank a lot of water and then left. About two hours later Danny still had not arrived and I began to really get worried. I called Drew and told him that I was going on up the road to find a place to turn around and go back to see if he was still in back of me. Drew thought that he may have passed me without seeing me.

Anyway, I found a place to turn around about 7 miles further up the road and went to find him.  A little ways after I passed the place where I had parked to wait on them I saw him working hard to climb an incline. That is another thing. All morning long it  was a steady incline for them to ride up.

After I saw Danny and passed him I had to drive another 14 miles before I could turn around to go back to get him. When I picked him up he was beat. He rested a while in the RV, drank a lot of water and then got back on his bike. I, then again, went about 15 miles up the road to wait on him. In about 15 to 20 minutes he called me to come get him because he was having dizzy spells.

I cranked up the RV to go get him but I could not turn the wheels of the motor home. The power steering had gone out. I called 911 to get someone to go get Danny and they called a road service to come check out the RV. A little while later a Hudspeth County Sheriff, Sergeant Gary Rose, arrived with Danny.

Danny got into the RV to rest and drink some more water. In a little while a man arrived from A and A Auto Repair Shop from van Horn. He looked at the RV and determined that the power steering pump had gone out. So, he had to drive back to van Horn which was 14.5 miles away to get a truck big enough to tow us into town. By that time Drew had already reached van Horn.

——————————
I had run out of water about 14 miles from Van Horn and was in big trouble.  I was completely dehydrated with a pounding headache and chills.  At times I would slump over in my bike exhausted from fighting the wind.  The route was mostly uphill which didn’t help.  There were at least four times during the ride that I stopped to check my tires.  I was riding so slow that I was sure I had a flat tire and none of the times I did.

With 12 miles to go to Van Horn, I came across a car on the side of the interstate.  I began to pass them but then decided it was worth a try to ask if they had anything to drink.  Weak and exhausted I asked if by chance they had anything to drink.  Without a second of hesitation, the man said, “Sure.” and walked over and opened the passenger door and pulled out a cold bottle of Fiji water.  We talked for a little bit as I drank half the bottle and saved the other half for the upcoming miles.

I was so dehydrated that it wasn’t until I was biking a mile down the road that I realized I forgot to at least offer to pay him for the water.  I felt ashamed but there was nothing I could do as he had already driven.  Based on the green mileage signs along the highway, I knew I had 7 miles to Van Horn.  I began climbing a large hill that took the interstate between two mountains.  Fighting the wind and the incline, I was exhausted.  I came to another large green mileage sign.  This one read: “Van Horn 10.”

I was crushed.  I had mentally prepared myself for 7 more miles and now found out I needed to go another 3 on top of that.  At that point, I started thinking about the people we were biking for.  Those who were fighting cancer and didn’t have 7, 10 or 20 miles to go.  They didn’t know how far they had to go.

When I finished, my face was covered with salt from the sweat.  I had never seen my face or anyone’s face look like that.  I called Ken and found out about the police picking up Danny and the motor home being towed.  Not long after, we were all back at the hotel telling our stories.  All three of us were extremely fortunate.  Each of us pushed it to the limit and then passed it.

We were very fortunate to have such terrific people help us along the way.  We are taking Sunday off to wait for the motor home to be fixed.  The part will not be ordered until Monday so it will be at least Monday before we can take off again.

Sunday

We quickly discovered in Van Horn, Texas (a town of 4,000) did not have taxis (go figure!) or rental cars so we were without a car.  When we were asking at the front desk, what we could do, the manager said, “You can take my car if you like.”  We were thrilled.  We gratefully accepted and with his keys in hand, told him we would see him in a couple months.  We went down the main street in town, Broadway, and ended up at A&A Repair.  We found the fence locked (not surprising on Mother’s Day) and tried calling the number on the sign.

The owner said someone would be there within 35 minutes to an hour to let us in.  All three of us had left things in the motor home that we needed, so we were happy to get this good news.  We drove around stopping at the few places that were open.  Both Ken and I could tell Danny was a  little dizzy.  We urged him to take it easy and get checked out.  After touring Van Horn, we ended up back at A&A Repair.  50 minutes after we called the owner, an employee, Carlos Tarango, showed up to let us in.

We quickly grabbed the things we needed and within 10 minutes we were back on the road again, this time heading back to the hotel.  “Do you think I should get checked out today or tomorrow?” Danny asked.  “Might as well do it today,” I said.  “We have nothing else going on.”  So, when we got back to the hotel and returned the keys to the car to the relieved manager, Danny explained his symptoms and an employee offerred to take him to the hospital.

Two hours later, Danny called Ken to come sit in with him with the doctor.  When Ken returned to the hotel he brought me up to speed with the meeting with Danny’s doctor.  The doctor wanted Danny to go to El Paso to be examined.  It was mainly precautionary but since Danny had been pushing so hard for so long, we didn’t want to take any chances.

So, Danny was taken by ambulance to El Paso to be examined.  By the time he got there, they already had a bed and room ready for him and had assembled a team of doctors for  his care.  He called when he got to El Paso to say the fluids and vitamins they gave him along the way helped him feel 100 times better and he “was ready to starting biking again!”

According to Danny, he will be in El Paso Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  We will listen to what the doctors have to say and go from there.  Ken and I will head to El Paso as soon as the motor home is fixed which will hopefully be Monday afternoon.

1,000 People
$30 Donation
$30,000 Closer To A Cure
Danny’s Ride has set a goal of raising $30,000 for cancer research by June 6th,2009.  This is a big goal but we have a big challenge – finding a cure for cancer.

Sponsors names will be presented on a certificate with the check for the total amount of money raised.

Please be one of 1,000 people who have had enough with the hurt and destruction cancer has caused.  Thank you.

FACT: Cancer is now the leading cause of death in the United States.

Day Statistics:

Weather: Record Highs in Upper 90′s – Lower 100′s – No Clouds – Plenty of Sun!

Bike Time: 5 Hours, 23 Minutes, 10 Seconds
Miles: 75.63 Total
Average Speed: 14.0 mph
Max Speed: 28.4

Total Trip Miles to Date: 827.68
Total Trip Flat Tires: Drew 5, Danny 4
We left the hotel around 8:30 to drive back to the 7 Eleven that Danny and I stopped at on Wednesday night.  After changing the flat tire that I managed to get when I brought my bike out and leaned it up against the side of the motor home, we took off around 10:15.

Thanks to Fred Carpenter and Wyona Turner of the El Paso Bike Club, Danny and I had the best route to get out of El Paso.  We were able to take a loop that went took us from the west side of El Paso outside the city and dropped us off at the east side with the least amount of traffic.

Once we were outside El Paso, the scenery was beautiful.  With mountains in the distance and desert along the sides of the interstate, we had all our eyes could possibly take in.  The weather was a gentle reminder that we were definitely in a desert.  It was 14 degrees warmer than the average.  With highs in the upper 90’s and the lower 100’s, it was like being in an oven.

After biking nearly 20 miles, we ate lunch at a Chick-fil-A.  It was a much-welcomed treat as we had not seen or had a Chick-fil-A since before we began biking.  It reminded us of Charleston and helped to keep us motivated!  With almost 50 miles to go, we didn’t stay long and hit the road again.

Ken did a terrific job staying right with us and making sure we had all the water and supplies we need.  Without him, I don’t know what Danny and I would do.  We wouldn’t make it more than 20 miles that’s for sure.

Danny and I finished at 75 miles for the day.  Not bad for going through the desert when it feels like, well a desert.  The only problem was we were in the middle of the desert with the closest hotel 55 miles away.

On the hour drive, both Danny and Drew fell asleep.  Over 5 hours of biking in the blazing sun had taken its toll.  Luckily, Ken stayed awake and guided the motor home to Van Horn, Texas.  Super 8 was willing to help us out and gave us a terrific rate.  Thank you!  We saved a lot of money that will be going to cancer research.  We really appreciate it.

As we were checking in at Super 8 in Van Horn, Texas, we realized we changed into the Central time zone.  We were thrilled to see another time zone go down but sad to see a much needed hour disappear.  We need the rest with this weather!

Tomorrow, we are planning on 80 miles.  Weather conditions for the desert – hot, really, really hot.  We will bring plenty of water and see if we can get 80 miles closer to Charleston tomorrow.

If you would like to see today’s pictures, please click here.

Danny, Ken and I met for breakfast around 8:30.  Today was our day off but by the list of things we needed to do, it was going to hardly be considered an off day.  First, at 10:00 Danny had a phone interview with a local Christian radio station.  The program aired every Saturday and was booked for the next three weeks but Danny’s story would still air during our trip so we thought it would be good even if we weren’t in town.

While Danny gave the interview, I worked on updating the website.  When I softly knocked at 10:30, Danny was just finishing his interview.  As I entered quietly, Ken whispered to me, “He nailed it.  I have never heard him tell his story better.”

Just then, Danny asked the interviewer how many people the station reaches.  “5 million!” Danny exclaimed.  “Wow!  That’s the most we have talked to yet!”

I sat there stunned.  I thought this was a local station that covered El Paso.  When Danny got off the phone, we talked about the interview and listened as Danny told a truly neat story in his life.

Not long after, we headed for the El Paso Times.  We were greeted at the door by security, who after explaining why we were there, called for an editor.  We talked with the paper’s editor Milan Simonich.  Milan said there were no reporters available at the moment and took down our phone number.  As we were walking out, we realized there probably wasn’t much of a story for them as all the television stations had already interviewed Danny and we were leaving early the next morning.  It was worth a try but next time we will try to set it up well in advance.

Next stop, bike store.  We went to called at bike store across town and they actually recommended a competitor who was close to our hotel.  So, we drove to the bike store and dropped off our bikes and were told to pick them up around 5:30 or 5:45.  While we were there, we started talking to a fellow biker (left picture) and he helped us plan the best route to get out of El Paso.  Thank you for all of your help!

Right next door was Souper Salad.  With it being lunch time, we thought this might be a fun place to try.  It was delicious.  Each of us enjoyed several trips to the salad bar and I’m pretty sure I ate about 10 kiwis.  At one time, I had an entire plate of just kiwi.  I’m sure the management was happy to see the “kiwi eater” leave!

We finished off our stops at Wal-Mart.  Since we were going to be heading into the desert, we stocked up on water.  We bought 8 gallons of water!  We loaded them into the motor home and headed back to the motel.

When we got to the hotel, Danny told us he has been having recent problems of dizziness.  So as a precaution he decided to go see a doctor.  A van from the hotel offered to take him down the street.  Despite Ken’s and my asking to come with him, he went alone.

Around 5:30, Ken and I left to pick up the bikes and go by the doctors office to be with Danny.  It turns out, Danny was suffering from dehydration.  After many tests, it was clear that a bag of fluids would do the trick.  Almost immediately after Danny finished the bag of fluids, he looked 100 times better.  He was back to his old self.

We finished the night at Cattleman’s Ranch for dinner.  This comes very highly recommended by everyone we have talked to in El Paso.  I ordered a 32 ounce T-Bone in an attempt to keep weight on during this trip.  While at Danny’s doctor, I found a scale and weighed myself for the first time of the trip.  I have already lost 6-7 pounds.  We enjoyed a fantastic meal.  Cattleman’s Ranch lived up to all the hype. I highly recommend it to anyone if you are in or passing through the  El Paso area.

Tomorrow’s weather: 100 degrees.  The average high is 84.  In fact, the weatherman on the 10:00 news seemed very excited that they will either break or tie an all-time high for El Paso.  Lucky us!  Good thing we stopped by Wal-Mart and bought eight gallons of water.

Thank you to all those who donated yesterday!  We were amazed to see the donations come flooding in.  Let’s keep them coming.  Please help us each our goal of 1,000 people.

Day Statistics:
Bike Time: 4 Hours, 11 Minutes, 44 Seconds
Miles: 51.92 Total (7 miles in the wrong direction!)
Average Speed: 12.4 mph
Max Speed: 28.6

Total Trip Miles to Date: 752.05
Total Trip Flat Tires: Drew 4, Danny 4

Weather: High of 97 with not a cloud in the sky.  Hot!!  Great biking day.

We got on the road around 10:15.  Not ten miles into the ride, we had our first interview of the day.  It was with the NBC-affiliate in El Paso, Channel 9.  We had a great time talking with Russ Pappas and Eddie Romero.  They put together a terrific video which can be seen by clicking here: http://www.ktsm.com/local/dannys-ride

The interview went so well and was so emotional that it ended with a hug between Danny and Russ.  Danny and I would like to personally thank Channel 9 for everything they have done.  The video turned out terrific.  Thank you for helping us share Danny’s story.

After nearly an hour with Eddie and Russ, we wanted to stay longer but knew we had many miles and a couple interviews still awaiting so we hit the road.  We biked a couple miles more to where Ken had parked the motor home on the shoulder of the highway to provide us with water and any support in case anything went wrong.

After a quick stop, Danny and I headed to the next town – Anthony, which was about 7 miles away.  We met Ken there again but couldn’t find food close to the highway.  We didn’t want to leave the highway because the local Fox affiliate had called to say they were on there way.  Ken volunteer if we called in sandwiches from Subway to go pick them up.  We gratefully took him up on his offer and this way we could continue biking.

We quickly called in our order and hit the road as Ken went to pick them up.  After a half hour of biking, we still couldn’t find the street we needed to turn on.  So, we stopped and asked someone.  “It is back in Anthony, 7 miles that way,” he said as he pointed in the direction we had just come.

We biked 7 miles in the wrong direction.  By now, two other news stations – the CBS affiliate and ABC affiliate had called and were looking to meet us on the road.  The problem was, its tough to give directions when you don’t know where you are!

So, we called Ken.  He had just finished picking up the sandwiches and was on his way to the rescue.  I called the tv stations back and told them we would be heading toward El Paso in order to make it easier for them to find us.  When Ken picked us up, we drove 20 minutes into El Paso and interviewed with KVIA – the ABC affiliate in El Paso – www.KVIA.com and the CBS affiliate, KDBC, – www.KDBC.com

Carlos from KVIA was terrific.  He had driven around all afternoon trying to find us and never gave up.  Thank you for your persistence.  It gave Danny the opportunity to reach your viewers and maybe save one of their lives.  I forgot to write down the reporter from KDBC but he was very professional and did an outstanding job.  Thank you for your help as well!

When Danny finished with the interviews, Ken drove us back to the road we had biked right passed and we started biking again.  By now, it was 5:30 and the sun was already beginning to tuck behind the mountains.  We biked nearly 25 miles further and watched a beautiful sunset.

As we were biking, I had my head down and I heard Danny exclaim, “Look at that!”  I snapped my head up and without even thinking, blurted out, “That’s not good.”  It was a coyote standing twenty feet in front of us on the opposite side of the two lane highway.

I’m pretty sure I saw it lick its lips as it turned its head and saw Danny and me.  We kept pedaling, all the meanwhile having a staring contest with the coyote.  When I was at a safe distance, I took out my camera and took a picture, then quickly got on my bike and without looking back, pedaled like crazy.

While we were biking, Ken went and checked in at the hotel.  Danny and I biked back to the 711 gas station we had done interviews at just a couple hours earlier.  We called Ken and he came right over to pick us up.

We ended up having a well deserved dinner at Texas Roadhouse.  We were able to get a very good discount which made it affordable to eat there on a budget.  After finishing our meal, we went back to the hotel and relaxed.  It had been a long day in the sun and we were beat.  We had pretty much reached the entire city of El Paso through television.  Although we missed our connection with the Fox-affiliate in El Paso, we are going to try to meet with them tomorrow.

Tomorrow is a day off and we need it.  We have a lot of errands to run and things to do so there won’t be much relaxation but it will be a day to rest the legs before we take on Texas!

A huge Thank You to Mike MAcias of Comfort Inn and Suites of Las Cruces.  He not only helped us out with a great rate in Las Cruces, he helped us out with a great rate in El Paso.  Thanks Mike!

To see the day’s pictures, click here.

Day Statistics:
Bike Time: 1 Hours, 42 Minutes, 54 Seconds
Miles: 39.84 Total
Average Speed: 23.2 mph
Max Speed: 47.7

Total Miles to Date: 700.13
Total Flat Tires For Trip: Drew 4, Danny 4

We had a great end to yesterday’s day – a donation from Browning Raines.  He was a terrific young man who was interested in our trip.  After an enjoyable conversation, he opened his wallet and got us closer to $30,000.  Thank you Browning.

Also, thank you to Hilda Aguilus of Comfort Inn- Deming, New Mexico for making our stay with them possible.  They were able to give us a great rate and were extremely accommodating to us.  Danny hit the road early.

By the time I got up, he was already gone.  Since I had ended yesterday 19 miles past town and only had around 40 miles to go, I wasn’t worried so I began calling local media in El Paso.

The response was phenomenal.  We set up interviews with the Fox affiliate, the NBC affiliate and will possibly get some pictures for the El Paso Times newspaper.  While I was busy setting up interviews, Danny was busy changing tires.  Within 10 minutes of each other, he had two flat tires.

And when Danny was not fixing his flat tires, he was getting pulled over by Highway Patrol!  Apparently, a couple drivers had called in a guy biking on the Interstate rather than on the shoulder.  Luckily, Danny was able to talk his way out of an expensive speeding ticket and managed to only get a warning about biking on the Interstate.  Danny said the police officers could not have been any nicer.  He had a great time talking with them and they were even willing to take a picture.  Thanks guys!

Ken and I hit the road around 11:00 a.m.  He dropped me off exactly where he had picked me up yesterday.  Once again, we had a terrific tailwind behind us and were able to cruise almost without pedaling.  About twenty miles in, Danny called to tell me he and Ken were at a Subway not far from where I was.

I met them at the Subway, had a quick bite to eat and we hit the road again.  Ken was going to meet us at a coffee shop called The Bean.  It was right where we were going to be staying and it came highly recommended by the El Paso Bike Club.

As we were heading to The Bean, Danny and I came over the top of an enormous hill that overlooked Las Curces.  With the wind behind us, we pushed it.  At one point, I looked down and saw we were going 48 mph.  Danny seemed to be pulling away and he later said he was going 55 mph.  Cars that had once been flying by us, now seemed to slowly creep past us.

With the wind in our face, it was an exhilarating feeling.  Going that fast on two little skinny wheels, is a real adrenaline rush.  Once in town, we stopped at a Comfort Inn and the manager was more than willing to help us out on our trip.  He gave us a tremendous price and was extremely accommodating.  We appreciate your help!

About a mile from our hotel, we met Ken at The Bean.  There is a reason it comes highly recommended.  It is fantastic.  Danny and I had fruit smoothies while Ken enjoyed the freshly brewed coffee.  In fact, he enjoyed it so much that he went back for seconds.  The Bean is the type of place where anyone can walk in and feel comfortable.  An artist – Moshe Koenick – came in and asked if he could hang up some of his pictures.  They agreed and he hung up some beautiful paintings.

When we went to pay the bill, we were told it was on them and they wished us the best of luck on the trip.  They even gave us food to take with us.  What great food, atmosphere and, most important, people.  Thanks to everyone at The Bean for the great food and company.

We walked down the historic district and saw where Billy the Kid was tried and convicted of murder.  Although he did manage to escape, it was neat to see.

After changing and washing up at the hotel, we enjoyed a terrific dinner at an Italian place just down the street.  We are doing our best to eat as much as we can so we don’t lose too much weight.

We are  having the time of our lives out here on the road and we appreciate everyone following us.  See everyone tomorrow in El Paso!

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

Day Statistics:
Bike Time: 4 Hours, 43 Minutes, 08 Seconds
Miles: 69.22 Total
Average Speed: 14.67 mph
Max Speed: 41.2

Total Miles to Date: 580.694

Eddie Cotton from Dish Network – please send us an email.  We want to thank you again but lost your contact information.  Thanks!

Pearl and Charles,

I want to thank you for calling us and letting me know that I left my phone at Express Stop.  Very few people would  go to the trouble to contact us.    This world into ME, ME, ME and not in helping others.  This really restores my confidence in the younger generation.  Again, I can’t think you enough and I wish I personally could thank you both—but someday we will meet in the highes sky (Heaven).

May God b;ess you both always,

Danny (Danny’s Ride)
We got up around 6:30, showered and left the hotel by 7:45.  Ken drove us to yesterday’s stopping place and by 8:30 we were on the road.  The early start allowed us to take our time and enjoy the beautiful sites and sounds of Arizona for the last time.

We stopped just short ten miles of the border to grab a quick sandwich in the motor home.  While we were relaxing, Ken pointed out our first roadrunner of the trip.  He had great eyes because the little animal was down the street quite a ways and neither Danny nor I caught it at first.

When we finished, Danny needed to use the restroom so he went into a local restaurant.  After he went in, he began telling his story to a number of people.  He handed out business cards and books to each.  He met some terrific people.

In fact, all had stories of friends or family with cancer.  It was great to meet good people like that.  That is has been one of the neatest things about the trip, you never know who you are going to meet.

Not long after, we hit the road, heading for the border.  When we got there, we took another picture.  We were thrilled to have conquered another state!  Goodbye Arizona, it has been fun.

Although we only biked about 30 miles in New Mexico, we enjoyed every minute of it.  Similar to Arizona, so far, it has some beautiful scenery.

We pulled off just inside the New Mexico border to make a phone call regarding the trip.  One of the first cars that passed us, quickly slowed down, made a U-turn and came back to check on us.  He was headed to Silver City and asked if we needed a lift.  What a great guy!  This certainly gave us the feeling that New Mexico was going to be a good state to ride in.

A hotel in Lordsburg, New Mexico gave us a good price for the night.  We were able to walk across the street to the only restaurant in town and have a large meal.

We ended up finishing the day riding 69.22 miles.  Tomorrow we are heading to Deming, New Mexico.  It should be about a 65 mile day on New Mexico interstate.  I hope they are as clean and safe as the ones we enjoyed while in Arizona.

Day Statistics:
Bike Time: 3 Hours, 55 Minutes, 06 Seconds
Miles: 62.50 Total
Average Speed: 16.0 mph
Max Speed: 31.8

Total Miles to Date: 511.474

After a great hotel breakfast, packing the motor home, running to Wal-Mart and Subway and driving to our starting place, we did not get on the road with the bikes until around 1:00.  Usually, we are going to start earlier.  Especially on the longer days!

Due to yesterday’s bike problem, we started from where I ended yesterday – a gas station in the middle of the Apache reservation.  At first, the roads had little to no shoulder and were extremely hilly.  The good news was we had a great tail wind which pushed us.  After about twenty miles, the roads opened up with wider shoulders, much flatter and had less traffic.  At this point, we really began to cruise.

For the first thirty miles, Ken met us every ten miles.  Since we were in no cell phone range, Ken stayed close in order to help if we had any problems.  However, he disappeared for quite a while.  When I finally got back into cell phone range, I had several voice messages and texts from him.  He had driven all the way back to Globe – where we had lunch while driving to our starting place – to pick up Danny’s phone.  At some point during lunch, Danny’s phone had slipped out of his pocket.  The employees working the restaurant looked under recent calls and called Ken!

Ken drove over 50 miles to get Danny’s phone.  What a great guy! 

We finished the day at 60.5 miles.  It was a great ride.  Danny is certainly getting stronger.  There were times when he pulled away from me and I had to kick it into another gear just to catch him!  With each day, Danny is becoming quicker and stronger on the bike.  By the time, we get to Texas, he will be blowing by me!!

We will be doing roughly 70 miles tomorrow and expect to be on the road by 8:00 a.m.  This should allow us to be done mid-afternoon and have the afternoon to relax.