Day 7 Gallup to Albuquerque--138 miles. This is the second longest day and the “hardest day on paper” according to our ride leader, Mike. With a ride of this distance, it doesn’t pay to look too far down the road. I kept telling myself, “get to the next rest/water stop” and all will take care of itself. The first 40 miles was essentially up hill to the continental divide. Fortunately, we had a nice tail wind most of the way. This climb up the continental divide is not steep, but we climbed the better part of 2 hours. The sign for our photo op showed it was 7275 feet. What is most amazing here is that we have now been pedaling “at altitude” for several days in a row. I’ve not heard anyone even mention the challenge that this usually creates with extended exertion. This is just one of many indicators that this is a determined, tough bunch of folks. The GREAT news was twofold on this day: ZERO flats despite almost 100 miles of freeway shoulder riding; and most of the remaining 65 miles was slightly downhill and with the wind. We rode together in groups of 6-7 most of the time, and even when we separated around the 100 mile point, three of us, Martin, Jonielle, and I put our heads down and caught the “gang of five” that was about a mile in front of us. We were rolling at about 27-28 mph and it was really a thrill for all three of us to catch the group. The last rest stop was at the bottom of a 4 mile hill that would lead us into Albuquerque. Bruce, Lee and Jason and I chugged up the hill at about 11 mph and by now we were all feeling the 110 miles we’d already completed. Near the top, Bruce accelerated ahead (only Bruce to accelerate ahead on a monster hill after 110 miles!) to take photos of the rest of us coming up the hill with the NM landscape in the background. After I cleared the apex of the hill, I was feeling it and just leaned on my aero bars for about 5 miles and hauled downhill with the wind, staying near 29-30 mph the entire way. I thought there was someone leaning in my draft as I could see a shadow near my rear wheel. After we finished, I discovered it was Peter enjoying the roll we were both on. As we approached the Albuquerque city limits, I kept pushing and my teammate dropped back. After crossing over I-25, we rode down Central Avenue at about 30 mph, knowing that today’s journey was only about 15 miles away. The ride cue sheet had us bob and weave through Albuquerque, to include Old Town, a place I love to visit, but not after having ridden 125 miles on a bicycle. Of course I took a few wrong turns and generated 2-3 “bonus miles”, but fortunately, on one of my wrong turns, the rest of the lead group was coming down the same street I was on in the opposite direction. Thank you God for the assist when I needed it the most! The rest of the ride in was uneventful, and I was definitely happy to see my smiling bride, Arlene, as I rolled into the parking lot. We made some introductions to all my new cycling friends and then we checked into the Fairfield Inn. We cleaned up and headed to the Stockman’s Restaurant, the anchor restaurant in the hotel next door. The food was great and the wait staff did a wonderful job getting us in and out of a nice steak restaurant in less than one hour. Unfortunately, what happened next was less than pleasant. We headed to rap to discuss the next days events and say good bye to Lee, Bruce and Jason. We took some team pictures, introduced Arlene and then headed back to the room. About an hour later, I experienced food poisoning for the third time in my life. Since I’ve had it before, I knew the sequence of events and the results. From about 10 pm to 4 am I was really ill and I don’t think I slept at all. I will let you know how this “life happens” experience turns out. Stay healthy, Steve