I didn’t sleep well (I was on the rollaway), my alarm went off at 5am and I was still too tired to get up. James and Steve were still dead to the world so I decided to go back to sleep. I was dreading getting back on the bike, we had just had a rest day but I needed a week to recover! I got up at about 6.15 and was in no hurry to get on the bike, after we had all showered, got dressed and had breakfast it was 7.45 and I couldn’t put it off any longer. We were supposed to be in La Cruces by tonight and our original route meant we would have to cycle 185 miles, this was out of the questions so we decided to change our route to head along the freeway 10 to La Cruces, which was 126 miles.

Although it was cooler, the road was flat and the wind was calm I was not enjoying it, I was tired, bored and lonely. James was still cycling strong and was cycling ahead of me.

I got a text from Gary, it just said “Bugger”, I guessed Germany had scored. A quick call to Caroline confirmed Germany had scored. It was great to speak to Caroline and my two kids Tyler and Summer, while I was on the phone Germany scored again.

I felt better after the call then decided to listen to an audio book “The Lost Continent” by Bill Bryson. A funny book about his observations of small town America while travelling through 38 states. Unfortunately I missed bits due to the constant noise from trucks passing, however it did relieved some of the boredom and make me smile.

 We stopped at a shop/petrol (gas) station for a drink and snicker bar and were amazed at the fireworks for sale. In England it seems, fireworks have got smaller and a big box would maybe be 2 ft long? However here they are massive. I saw one box that was about 4ft, I was going to take a photo then I saw another box of fireworks that was about 6ft! The “Catherine wheels” were also massive, James picked up a small one, they had ones that were even bigger. In many states fireworks are illegal, but here they are “maximum strength”. The assistant told us that if they had any more black powder they would be considered weapons!

Next thing we knew we were cycling across the “Continental Divide” which I believe is the point at which on one side of the divide the rainwater runs towards the Pacific and on the other side it runs towards the Atlantic. Steve sent a text re the final score, “They think it’s all over…. it is now, football’s going home” “England 1 – Germany 4” He is Scottish, so was pleased about the score!

The road we were on was so long compared to anything in the UK, on this 120 mile stretch there was only one town, called Deming at the 60-mile point. We met Steve there at Pizza Hut and had a large pizza.

I am getting sick of eating junk food. It tastes so salty, is full of fat and has no nutritional value. The only reason I am eating it, is because of the limited choice, it is high in calories and is quick. Eating has become hard work, I am probably burning about 5,000 calories a day, I think the average male burns about 2,500 so if I normally eat 2,500 calories a day I have to each twice as much as normal, which is actually quite hard. Often I have to force food down and at the end of a meal I feel uncomfortably stuffed!

While we were eating the Pizza, James let me know he was cycling ahead because he was having an emotional moment with tears and needed to be on his own. I don’t think it was because of the football score.

We had another 60ish miles to go, it was hotter maybe around 100 degrees F, which actually was Ok. The road was just mind-numbingly boring and I started to question why I was doing this. I know it is for a good cause, but was there another way of raising money? I know James is enjoying the cycling but I am not really into cycling, I like to go for a bike ride, maybe for a couple of hours, in the sunshine with friends. For me it is a social thing and a way of keeping fit. So why am I doing this? For me it is more of a challenge, testing myself and obviously to raise as much money as possible for a good cause.

As a business owner I am inundated with request for sponsorship from people. I am happy to sponsor people if they are doing a big challenge, maybe someone who hasn’t run before, attempting a marathon, but not a fit person doing a 5 mile walk round the park! Neither will I sponsor people who are doing a fun trip abroad, like walking the great wall of China, often they have to raise £3,000 of which most of the money goes to funding the trip (or should I say their holiday) while only a small amount goes to a charity. That is why I wanted to set a real challenge so people would feel that it is worthy of sponsorship. Also we are funding this challenge ourselves so all the money raised goes to the charities. – Sorry I went off on a tangent there, but the reason I am here is to raise money so please do sponsor me!

Where was I, Oh I guess I was just questioning why I was doing this, it certainly wasn’t for fun.  Although I want to “enjoy the journey” I am struggling at the moment.

Back to today, after about 10 miles James wanted to stop to use the rest rooms, I was slower and had be behind him so we agreed I would carry on and he would catch me up. I was just counting down the miles, keeping the pedals turning. Thankfully a phone call from Sally raised my spirits, someone to chat to and give me a bit of encouragement. The time past quickly whilst chatting, however it probably cost me a fortune.

I had about 20 miles left and I hadn’t stopped since lunch, which was about 40 miles back and my water was nearly gone. I know people are praying for me but I was surprised when Jesus gave me some water. Seriously. I saw some guys putting a Harley Davison on the back of a trailer on the side of the road. As I cycled past they asked if I wanted some water. I said yes and we got chatting. The guy I spoke to, who gave me the water was called Chuy, his real name is Jesus. I explained what we were doing and they said they would check out our web site and support us. Thanks Chuy and the rest of the group; you were there just when I needed you! As we were chatting James arrived, we said our goodbyes and we cycled the 20+ miles to La Cruces, over the Rio Grande and past a sign for a town called “Truth or Consequences”

8 days and over 900 miles done! Just 22 more days and 2,400 miles to do. Tomorrow we will be leaving New Mexico and entering Texas!

Thanks for the messages of support and sponsorship, that is what keeps us going each day

More photos from today on Facebook. Click link http://bit.ly/CAAFBDay8

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