Blowing into Dalhart

 


Todays ride started really well. We had a nice tailwind to carry us along a smooth stretch of state road.


We knocked out the first 50 miles in about 2 1/2 hours, crossing over into Texas. 

Judging from the bullet holes, someone messed with Texas.


The sag was right at the state line and right at the dividing line between mountain and central time. Which meant that if I took 10 steps to the east, my watch would switch to central time, and 10 steps to the west and my watch would switch to Mountain time. 

And then some misfortune.  These roads have gigantic rumble strips to keep the trucks out of the ditches. And they also serve well to protect cyclists from motorists who might become inattentive and drift. That all works great, so long as there’s plenty of clean shoulder between the side of the road and the rumble strip. 

Unfortunately, just after the second SAG the shoulder narrowed very dramatically, leaving only about a 6 inch margin to navigate.  Our friend Mark, who is an outstanding cyclist, hit the rumble strip and crashed. He’s out of the tour with injuries.  Which is a shame for Mark, who will miss out on the rest of this amazing journey. And a shame for the rest of us who will miss his strength on the road, easy camaraderie, and fascinating conversations. Mark is also a professor, and a former dean at University of Chicago.  I was really looking forward to chatting more with him over the next four weeks.

The rest of the ride after that accident was pretty subdued. We rode into Dalhart past massive feedlots which were an assault on the senses…just like the ones  in my hometown.   The cattle industry has not improved the smell in the last four decades.  


We’ve made a lot of progress.  Hoping the road to Oklahoma is uneventful.







Comments

  1. Peter HMay 21, 2024 at 7:13 PM

    Sorry about your comrade crashing out. Cycling can be dangerous! Hope you continue to have tailwinds and some good weather. Looks like just a flirt with Texas and Oklahoma and then, boom, you’ll be in the Midwest.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. DavidMay 22, 2024 at 4:17 AM

      It’s looking like a headwindy trip into Kansas. But we are stopping to see Dorothy’s house so some wind is in order.

      Delete

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