Heber-Overgaard,

This town is actually two towns with some kind of odd civil union that makes them hyphenate the name. The day started off pleasantly as always. I laid on my thermarest through 5 minutes of my alarm, motivated only to rise and be active by others around me who found the willpower. I shoved my belongings in my 18 gallon plastic bin and continued the eternal struggle by jumping on the lid several times. Besides the destruction this causes to the bin's contents, body weight pressure is quite an effective tactic for maximizing space. Ross, Natalie, and I were riding along exchanging vulgar stories when my back tire started to deflate. I pulled over and found a piece of wire stuck through the tire. After only 6 miles of riding, I wasn't happy to get a flat. But as everyone flew by me leaving me well behind the pack, steve pulled over to tag team the change. We ended up bein pretty far behind so we did what all men would do; kill ourselves trying to catch up to everyone else. So like a cat after a mouse, we flew through the wind chasing riders we couldn't even see. Our legs turned to jello just as we made visual contact with the closest group. That was enough to keep us going as we eventually passed everyone on the road. In this 67 degree weather, I didn't need much to cool down and it's a good thin because my camelbak tasted like dishsoap. After 26 miles, it just started getting heavy on my back so I dumped out the water as I was riding. There were some nasty clouds rolling across the sky in front of us and I really didn't feel like getting rained on. I pushed it hard and steve dropped. He could have easily kept us as he is a far superior cyclist to me, but I went on by myself. Lunch was supposed to be at mile 49 but it started to rain and I beat the van there so I just kept going. Rain was slowly drizzling from the sky so I started to go faster so I could get out of it and under clear skys. At mile 56 I was thrilled to finally see a pack of elk which this area is famous for. The landscape had changed drastically since New Mexico. There were lush open fields on gently rolling hills with plenty of tree and shrub cover. The elk were running around in the distance and I was so happy to see these large animals after searching all day for them. It may be dangerous, but I wasn't looking at the road in front of me for a solid 30 miles. My head was on a swivel, scanning both sides of the road for the well blended presence of these antlered giants. I had to eventually stop at miles 67 and 76 to hand tighten my front spoke which kept rattling loose. Spokes maintain the integrity of the tire, keeping it balanced and true, so a loose spoke can be disastrous. When i got on the outskirts of this tiny town, I was majorly impressed to find the recreational vehicle Mecca of the southwest. RV parks were everywhere and they were crowded. The first shopping plaza was an old fashioned saloon village complete with second story balconies and true western pizazz. I didn't stop to explore too long which I regret because I didn't get a sasparilla in wild woman's saloon, but I did stay dry. I followed the cue sheet to the host site at mile 83 only the cue sheet was wrong. It led to a dirt trail of nothingness which led to my personal despair as clouds were getting darker and angrier over head. The sky was about to burst into tears and I had no clue how to get to our destination. I flagged down a random lady riding by on her quad and asked her how to get to the highschool. She let me follow her for about a mile and then broke off and pointed me in the direction of the school for the next mile. Ten minutes after I got to the school, it started to downpour. I hope everyone else stayed dry.

Social events rule the night scene on Bike and Build. While prom was no hodown, it certainly was a good time. The school we stayed at put us up in a social room which was a small building with a single open room. That wasn't going to do for a prom set up, so I hid out in the gym where construction was going on. I staked out the place like Marv and Harry at Duncan's Toychest in Home Alone 2. I waited patiently for the construction workers to lock up and leave and then a propped the doors so we could get back in later. After 5 minutes when no alarms went off and no cops showed up, I knew I was in the clear. There is nothing people want to do more after a day of riding with sore quads than dance the night away. So we donned our goodwill clothes we had been toting for a couple weeks and dance we did. It was the typical prom night of people sneeking alcohol not so sneakily and then dancing awkwardly to a playlist of fluctuating quality. Everyone danced with everyone as the group bond flourishes amongst the now closest of friends. Our connection is unspoken and perfect as best represented by the circling up during our trip theme song with a banging on the floor and other semi uncoordinated efforts. If you can guess our group song, I have a cookie with your name on it. Unlike proms of past experience, there was no after party to this one. People went to sleep and got ready for the next day of cycling. I tried to disturb all the couples by cuddling up and/or pig piling them.