"This is the first time I've been able to connect to the 'net. No mobile signal at all. And NO PHONES in bedrooms in these cowboy hotels!"

"I am fine. It is an arduous trek. 56 miles today for most (some, myself included due to tandem limitations, took refuge in a support vehicle for some time, though never for long and one at least was carrying injuries from a fall) in very high temps. Reached mid-80s mid-afternoon, and no shade. None anywhere. It is phenomenal country. But all is beauty through geography. Little or no bird life - some saw an eagle today. I missed it. It is barren, forbidding land, and several suffered mild sunstroke today. Tom, my pilot, is good and I can cope well through my own brand of insouciance. It is hard, this one. Hard even for some very fit men. The 7 women cyclists are formidable. All have finished the course so far, with great courage, determination and dignity - rather as wise men have come to expect of women really."

"No mistake, this is tough. But so are women. We're not halfway through, but I can be sure this will live long in the mind."