Epic day today. Imagine riding 146 miles into a hot headwind with temperatures topping 100 degrees across the Texas landscape (read: flat with nothing to look at save a bit of scrub, dry river beds, and some corn). The winds out of the South pounded us in the face, mostly limiting our speeds (working together in a paceline or echelon all day long) to between 14 and 16.5 mph. The day was really about mental fortitude: getting through the concept of very slow progress, relentless winds, a sore butt, a saddle that feels like a concrete slab, and ever increasing heat…not to mention the fact that we were doing this after a couple rather strenuous and long days. Fortunately, I rode all day long with companions, working together to get through the wind and monotonous miles. For nearly the last 50 miles, a group of four to five of us took turns pulling (riding at the front of the group to break the wind) for one mile at a time. They say everything is bigger in Texas…and the miles seemed bigger too. Oddly, I had the only functioning bike computer in the group, so I got to call out the switch every mile…which gave me something else to think about other than the strain.
The heat was tough too, and I felt fortunate to have my camelback full of icewater that stayed cold. This came in useful for hosing myself down to cool off. Funny, I guess my ipod (not used) is waterproof.
After getting a flat at mile half a mile from the hotel, we arrived at the Big Texan in Amarillo. We proceeded to stuff ourselves silly in the kitchy restaurant, and even saw a young man successfully eat a 72 ounce steak, 6 fried shrimp, a salad, a roll, and a baked potato in one hour. Phenomenal!
Today was very challenging, and many sags were required. Also, Ann and Brian are departing, as the first half of the trip has come to a close. Good night.
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