May 2:
68 miles to between St. Jo & Nacona, TX. Lots of drunken fun on Freddie's boat over what was a three-day weekend rest - on the lake & in the marina. He & Jami were really sweet & accomodating & it was nice to see him again. Friday I did a hard 20 mile into-the-wind ride into Sherman for errands & didn't recognize a thing in town but got some correctly-sized tubes, postcards, a Sherman shirt for Mouse, Frogg Togg raingear (yea! & just in time!), bite valve for the bladder, & groceries. The pizza & cheesecske cookie bars were a big hit again. It rained like a MF all day Sunday so I'm gonna have to skip Lubbock. The ride today started in a downpour & eased up slightly through the day. I found a quiet place with great dumplings for lunch & stayed too long because I was damp & chilled from the rain. Even with the really good raingear, I was wet enough to be cold. It finally abated after Gainesville & became sunny for the last hour of riding to a really nice, off-the-highway picnic area 9 miles shy of my Nacona destination. A trucker showed up & idled late & then again in the early morning right next to me, though - which I guess is good because I don't really want to be seen anyway. A little nerve-wracking at night, though, until I figured he was gonna sleep in his cab. It was cold but I managed fine with the bag zipped up & a hat on.
May 3:
86 miles to Electra, TX, (the Jack Pump capital of the world!). The ride into Nacona for breakfast was crisp & hilly - still a very nice part of North Texas with trees, creeks, & grasslands (probably just cut & grazed land, now that I think about it). For breakfast, after a search & a question, I was directed to Dairy Queen ... you heard right. They had a decent & big breakfast burrito, wireless, & a plug to recharge the depleted HTC. As I was finishing, the guy who directred me to DQ tapped me on the shoulder to ask if it was OK & to admit that he owned the place. Haha! One old gal who'd discovered I was headed to Alaska told me she'd driven that highway 18 times & that her daughter lives near Sarah Palin in Wisala (sp?)! Then two oldtimers told me of their drilling & seismic work in Alaska. Fun talking to people when they're geniune & willing to engage! I lunched at a nice picnic area, got groceries & more DQ in Henrietta. As I was rolling off Hwy 82 onto Hwy 287 I heard this truck behind me riding his horn. I turned to see if maybe he was an oversized load & saw an oblivious gal barrelling at me on the shoulder! I barely got out of the way & she never noticed. Not sure if the truck was trying to get the driver to notice what she was doing or warn me but it was critical for me so, like, "Thanks, dude!" I immediately called Rae to share this near-death experience & we were both shaken. 287 was another very good Texas blue highway with a huge shoulder & rumble strips (yea, TX!), though Wichita Falls was really scary with real exits &, most terrifying, left exiting ramps that meant I had to frequently cross 3 lanes of 65 mph traffic - it sucked. As I was rolling into Electra I had another rear flat (how does this shit get through the liner?) with only a mile to go ... grr, tear down, replace tire, re-assemble ... 15 minutes. The park is just fine, though Dave, McKenzie, & Alex - teenagers who smoke - that this was the crack-making, as opposed to crackhead, side of town so I'm apparently safer here. Whew! Stretched, dinner of rice/chicken/pepper/garic, notes ... now bed. Interesting day ... Awoken at 12 by local police (first time I've seen a cop in tennis shoes - I kid you not) but not rousted - yea, common sense!
May 4:
86 hard miles to Childress, TX. Breakfast at Subway was not so good but, once again, the only choice. Poor Texas - no good breakfast in the smaller towns. The wind was going hard early & didn't let up all day, though my direction changed after Quanah & the head/crosswind became a tail/crosswind. Not as bad as the day from Border, NV, to Delta, UT, but still exhausting. On track for that train next week, though there'll be another hard day tomorrow because the forecast is for winds from the north and, yep, that's the way I'm heading tomorrow. If I would've been going north today ... ah well. Talked to a cute gal at a coffee shop in Vernon & met Ken & Bobby, retired schoolteachers born, raised, and still hanging out in Vernon. Ken's recent stroke will curtail their travel plans but they were so cute together! A front flat hit just as I was pulling into the Henrietta DQ & it took 3 tries to get something back in & now I need new tubes & a patch kit again. Maybe I should get new tires ...? There's a nice park with a reedy lake here in Childress, though it seems ripe for a rousting what with it's "strictly enforced park hours" sign. I'll tuck away completely & see what happens. Good stretch. Rae sent a cute, sexy text tonighht - yummy! I'm anxious to see her & the next 6 days of riding will be with her constantly on my mind. Ducks & frogs earlier this evening to lend an auditory note to a lovely sunset. Bats are out now as I finish sardines/rice/peppers/garlic.
May 5 (Cinco de Mayo):
64 miles to Clarendon, TX. Whooped. Hard, hard day with a day-long 20 mph headwind. Riding mostly at 6-8 mph in the 2nd chain ring, which made my ass hurt. I think I'm riding on the most uncomfortable bike seat ever made & I'm pissed I spent money on it. My legs are tired, too - wierd combination, I think. Lots of plowed cotton fields that ensured that I had lots of dirt get into my nose & mouth. Clarendon's city park has been full of kids since I got here - some teenagers & little ones were nicely playing together earlier but now there's some douchebag 12 year-old boys harassing girls, cussing, & being loud & stupid. One of the girls had a lot of spunk & said, "You don't know my mom, motherfucker!" Haha! I found not-so-great enchiladas but, once again, I managed to settle in a "dry" precinct. Seriously! I hope to sleep well as I'm body weary. I'll need to look at the map again to plan the stops into La Junta, CO, since I'm 30 miles short of the target today. I think there's two <60 mile days at the end do, as long as I can find places to sleep at around 70-75 miles each day I should be fine. I hope ...
