Reporting on: Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Riding Route: Tucumcari, NM to Dalhart, TX via Route 54
Temp: 50's to 70's - Winds: 10-30 mph

Elevation Climb: 3300 feet

Miles Ridden Today: another century! - Second one in a row!

In life's experiences, some days are great, others are okay and some are just bad! I began my day by breaking off a valve stem in my tire - and Jim (a retired Chem prof) announcing that we were to have strong winds from the northeast ALL day! If you look at the map you'll see that we were riding NE ALL day! Yep! Jim was right! The winds hit us dead-on in the face every mile we rode today.

We made it to the first SAG stop at mile 29. The ride had been hard, but bearable! When we left the SAG stop winds were a minimum of 30 mph. It was the hardest headwind most of us had ever experienced. To put it in perspective: on a normal riding day I will average 17 mph - not killing myself. Today I averaged 10.5 mph overall for the day. I hit 7-8 mph going uphill - pedaling as hard as I could...and I had to pedal just as hard going downhill...and maybe hit 14 mph! I was in the "fast" group riding today. I'm glad I was, because the slower group hit LOTS of rain - and we had none! If you believe in a "wind God" - then say a prayer for us tonight that the winds let up! All in all the scenery was boring today! No ranches, people, gas stations, stores. Nothing! I have to tell you I'm tired of the high desert and scrub brush - and think even the cows are bored with the area! (At mile 54 we crossed from NM into Texas - our third state line crossing. Yes, we sprinkled our Manhattan Beach sand at the sign post - but I'm not sure the omen for a great ride in Texas was with us)!

Only a few more comments on the ride today. We experienced lots of traffic, but it was the wind in my ears that drove me nuts! The trucks coming from the opposite direction created 5 X the noise and draft. It must have been the angle of the wind! And, I have to admit I had my first flat tire today... at mile 85. I had one tube with me and it exploded because it got "pinched" in the tire! Needless to say I spent the last 15 miles in the van. I had mixed emotions - because I wanted to finish the ride. But on the other hand - I felt a bit of relief at the break.

As we headed in to Dalhart (population about 7,000) we passed HUGE feeding lot areas owned by the XIT ranch. It's a shipping point for agriculture and cattle and has the world's largest amateur rodeo in late summer. Up to 400,000 cattle are in the feed lots here. Can you imagine the smell? The XIT Ranch was more than 3 million acres at one point. Things are big in Texas! It's also in the center of the "Dust Bowl", an area that was (and still is) adversely affected by long periods of draught and dust storms during the Great Depression of the 1930's.

We passed into another time zone today: Central Standard Time. At 6:30 this evening we were having dinner - and George, a physician from Springfield, MO arrived in his biking cloths. He had finally finished the ride for the day! We saluted him and voted him hero of the week! Go George!