Today's story was the wind! 15-25 mph with guests over 30 from the
northeast that we biked directly into all morning. A dry cold front came through
last night. It was 37º this morning plus the wind. I left at
8:20am driving hard into the headwind. I was almost blown off the road three
times, but I am getting better reacting to the wind and the trucks going by. There was lots of uphill this morning adding to the challenge. It was a wild ride! I only averaged
11.6 mph for the first 26 miles going into Alpine. I felt really proud of
myself to be the 5th rider arriving in Alpine.
After lunch, the road turned a bit more southerly and the
wind began to shift more out of the north.
I had a 20-mile section of tailwind where I averaged over 20mph for
about an hour. Hurray! I made it to Marathon.
Bike stats: 57.4 miles ridden in 4 hours and 18 minutes of
actual biking time averaging 13.4 mph. My top speed was 31.9 mph hit during the
afternoon tailwind.
Highlights:
- Being in great shape to be able to fight and beat what Mother Nature had to offer today finishing today’s ride in a reasonable time.
- Photographing the pacifier house. See below.
- Riding for the second day entirely on TX State Route 90.
- At lunch in Alpine, I ordered from Easy Racer a new rear fender and kickstand for Big Blue that will be delivered next Monday via UPS to the campground in Concan, TX where we stay next Tuesday and Wednesday night. It is amazing the shipping options we have in our world today.
- I feel so blessed to be on this trip. It is meeting all the expectations and more!
The pacifier house, about 10 miles outside Marfa, that I think is a radar facility used by the Border Patrol. We are still very close to the US/Mexican border.
Looking back west as I was powering uphill into the headwind. The landscape hasn't changed much over the last two weeks.
I stopped to rest just before arriving in Alpine. I had biked through hills. I happened to look back to see this.
Texas state route 90 continues to parallel the Southern Pacific RR.
I am loving this trip!
Make it a great day!
John
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