The Writer's Almanac" to begin the day and other literature

Thanks to our cousin Enid we are now reading "The Writer's Almanac" each day.  What a delight! It is available to all on the web and one can even have it sent daily to one's email, one of the blessings to look forward to while one shifts through SPAM.

Sean O'Casey: "All the world's a stage, and most of us are desperately unrehearsed."

Our former B&B guest and since friend, Danielle Ofri is having her first book re-released, "Singular Intimacies: Becoming a Doctor at Bellevue".  Please tell a friend and suggest it to your book club.

The other day I was reading the blog of a nineteen year old young woman who cycled from Durango to Washington DC last September.  Lucy used a quote from Ernest Hemingway and it needs to be repeated here. "It is by riding a biccle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them.  Thus yu remember them as they atuall are, while in a motor car only a high hill impreses you, and you have no such accurate rememberance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle."

There are least two other cros country bicycle rides scheduled for this year, one is to Re-energize America ( alternative energy) and another is by and for Veterans, see: Tyler E. Boudreau's  biography of the Iraq war "Packing Inferno".

Sever storms tomorrow Tuesday, March 31

Wow, we have been and still are in a different climate.  How to deal with the violent lightening and thunderstorms which are not just rain, they create floods and possibly cold and fever. Cherish our dry sun shine state!

We had to clean up a mold problem yesterday afternoon. In a car cooler in the bed of the truck where we stored some extra nylon bags and some other material mold had begun. David has experience with mold from living in Portland, Oregon where it could take your shoes, your brief case, your jacket, your car, your basement and more I am sure. Once it starts you had best take extreme measures or it will only grow in order to break down for fertilizing the world at your feet.

Today we need to take the Nissan truck in for oil change which means finding a RV park to disconnect.  We will go to Opelousas, LA the Confederate capital of Louisiana during the Civil War, it was also the boyhood home of the legendary Jim Bowie and a key town of Cajun country.

Forests, Alligators, Armadillos

First though, hills.  For many days I have understood but not written that the hills which trouble me are the ones that are like rollers coaster rides, they go immediately down and then as swiftly up repeatedly, over and over again. They are not soft, smooth and undulating.

In Louisiana we have been in forests which for those of us who are desert rats find uncomfortable for they cause a claustrophobic response.  For miles one is incarcerated on both sides of the road and can not see where in the world one is or what is ahead.  I have heard people complain that the road between Farmington and Albuquerque is monotonous, no, no that is beautiful landscape forever changing in colour and contour.

Last night we drove into Ville Platte, where I had ridden earlier, to eat at "The Jungle" a Cajun restaurant.  The parking lot was full.  We noticed a car parking next door in the Veterans Hall lot so we followed suit. We asked a van full of high school girls with little crowns upon their heads if this would be alright.  Yas sir, yas sir they responded enthusiastically.  They had even waved to us as we drove in and parked. That should have been a sign. They were so happy with the evening they thought anything would go down well.  While eating happily a fellow came to our table to ask if we were from New Mexico.  I naturally believed he was interested in our Coast to Coast; Wheeling for Women story.  Instead he wished to warn us that our truck was about to be towed away.  Where are the beauty queens when you need them?

David enjoyed a pontoon ride on the lake where he caught sight of an eight foot alligator. There are reportedly 12,000 alligators in this lake and if one was ridding in a boat at night an was also shinning a torch about thousands of little red lights of alligator eyes would appear.

Louisana and 97% humidity

Another truth has come, Louisana is not flat or else the land would be under water.  Today, Saturday 28, we are in yet another State Park,Chicot.  We have had rain the past four nights the last three of which have been with lightening stirkes throughout the heavens and rolling thunder to rock the trailer. David paces the trailer during the night to check if we are bringing on water. His work since the Texas rain storms has left us rather dry and toasty.  On my bed water has been absorbed onto the sheet during two of these rainstorms, but not too much and it dries quickly. We do not yet know where this leak has its source.

The day of 97% humidity was not overly hot, the roads had good shoulders but I was on yet another set of rolling hills which drains energy from me.  Today we have chilly temperatures around 60 degrees, so I am waiting until afternoon to get on the bike.  We have been out of internet and cell phone connection for the previous two days, because of the forests and rolling hills.  One becomes quickly dependant upon on such a service.  These forested rolling hill leave us desert rats a sense of being lsot for one can not see where one is.

There have been days and yesterday was one in which I wondered yet again why I will go on with the trip knowing full well that I will. It is part of the transformation of self.  A dying of the old self is required in order for the new to be allowed in. David and I have continually expereiced a "refreshing" of our relationship.  Heidi used that word "refreshing" and it is apt. We have had little to no anger towards each other and laugh often when we find ourselves doing some mechanical project backwards. In fact we seem to laugh at ourselfs often. Does that mean we are doing even more things backwards than we realize?

As we visit with folks along the route they are always amazed at this venture and wish us a safe trip.  We had one fellow drive in front of us to the Fullerton State Park the night before last for there was no sure way of explaining the route for the roads are not well signed and seem to wander about aimlessly.  The same was the case in this state park yesterday afternoon as a park ranger guided us to the north camipng area which was four miles up. Yesterday we also made a stop to check a slow leak in one of the trailer tires which in the end had a screw embedded within. The fellows at the tire shop were most amased at our story.

A Hint and two requests

1) double click to enlarge the photographs

2) sign up to be a "Follower" if you have not yet done so

3) check out the interview by Bill Moyers with Marta Pelaez, CEO of the Family Violence Prevention Services of San Antonio, on PBS March 20, 2009.  I have the transcript copied if you need me to email it to you.

Thanks to all you Marvelous Supporters!!!

The land becomes flat at sea level

Actually it has been since last week that I have begun to relish riding on flat land.  There still remains some ups for the bridges often use elevations to cross the bayous or rivers, it is a delight. Monday, March 24 I rode on the Sea Wall of Galveston built in 1902. Then I rode down town riding past the piers for the cruise ships and then the parking lots for the passengers embarking the cruise ships. Very little elevation in this town! What a history. Our little Venice of the southwest which keeps getting washed away and needing to be shored up form the ever encroaching sea.

Today we will drive out of Houston's cancer alley with the refineries and electric alleys to more cyclist friendly air and rodes.  We will camp in Village Creek State Park in the Texas' Big Thicket.  A black water creek with a clean sand on the bottom which does not carry diseases as it is tannic acid from the oak leaves deposited by the nearby oak trees.  Most important if one is looking for clean water.  This was a task for the early Europeans on the east coast and many died because they took water which was not clean.

The Conestoga Wagon

David and I have remarked that we admire the folks who traveled across this land in Conestoga or plain covered wagons or less. These were not water proof, travel on a good day was 15 miles, the food could not have been grand.  If a person was ill would there be the energy to care for them as well as manage one's own chores and feed one's self?  Setting up camp, caring for the animals, preparing some food for the evening meal and likely the next day's food would take several hours. We know there were no showers, no facilities at all.  Each day the land would show itself with new flora and fauna, terrain, water or no water, animals and indigenous peoples. The healthy young men and women would be the most likely to survive the trip for it was arduous. The two of us understand more fully such a trip for we find this has called on us to show tenacity, grit, bluster, and courage, even resorting to humor.. 

This tale brings up the stories of the Bataan Death March and the story "A Town Like Alice", was built upon.  Yes it is the young who are most likely to survive such expeditions.  We are fortunate that we have at hand many tools of the modern age to smooth out our trip.

Pelicans and Bonapart Sea Gulls on Bolivar Island, TX

Light house and debris on Bolivar Island, TX

Destruction from Ike on Bolivar Island, TX

On the ferry from Galveston to Bolivar Islands, TX

Sea Gulls nearly flying in place to catch food being thrown to them

By the Sea Wall in Galveston, TX

The damage of Hurricane Ike

On Sunday March 22, we drove into Galveston which did not at first glance appear to have overwhelming damage.  One would see a business with a sign torn but that is not too much and then one noticed that buildings were closed because the roof had been damaged, or a wall was torn. At the same time hotel after hotel were closed and we realized that signs to indicate "Now Open" were critical pieces of information.  Later we rode the ferry to the Bolivar Peninsula where the damage was severe.  Some homes are being rebuilt now but there remains debris along the road side yet to be taken away.  One wonders at the sense of rebuilding on the beaches.  The delight for those living there is surly worth it but what is the cost to the country and the land and the sea?

In Galveston in the poor area for African Americans the damage to their homes has beentaking place over years of neglect through lack of repair money.  These people one can imagine do not carry insurance for the rebuilding of their homes.  The desparity is too evident and does not seem to be part of a free, jobs for all democratic America.

We stopped for lunch at a road side trailer kitchen on B olivar Island, as most businesses were not yet repaired or rebuilt.  Two Harley-Davidson motorcyclists were also having lunch, a man with white hair and a young woman.  As they rose to leave we both assumed that the fuchsia coloured bike belonged to the woman but to our surprise the woman climbed on the larger bike as the fellow climbed on the smaller fuchsia bike which did not immediately start.  Lesson: do not make assumptions.

Our last portion of this scouting trip was to look at the historic district.  There were two cruise ships at dock so a number of pedestrians and hence shoppers.  The high water mark for Hurricane Ike in this district was fifteen feet which would ruin the inventory of shops and close businesses.  Each side of the street had several historical markers describing the architecture of the buildings and the damage of previous hurricanes and fires.  A number of businesses have reopened and new ones begun.  What tenacity!

Breaking camp for Galveston

Friday, March 20th, we left Buescher State Park to drive to Galveston.  I was physically down again which had begun the previous afternoon.  By mid day I was having the chills and fever again and we stopped of the night in Richmond Wal-Mart parking lot so that I could lay down and be miserable.  Saturday we drove on towards Galveston stopping at a RV camp just fifteen miles form the city.  I was in need of a non-moving bed again. Sea Gulls appeared to be fishing in the Bayou on the edge of the RV camp.  The sea gull cry is often endearing.

David and I had a grand time struggling as we both worked to unscrew a chain clip.  David had asked for my help and he showed me which direction to turn to unscrew the stuck chain clip using as example the one which he had taken off of the truck already.  These clips are part of the safety chains connecting the truck and trailer. Do you have any idea of the strength it takes to unscrew in the wrong direction?  It takes Herculean strength and power. Thank goodness Diana has been adding to her strength. It took a full days ride of strength. Now for those of you who understand that a chain clip has a design which could help any fool decide which way to unscrew it will understand our dismay a day later when we realized just how clear the evidence had been to unscrew in the right direction.

The Ohlson side of my family has history in Galveston.  My great grandmother Matilda Johanson's sister lived in Galveston.  Matilda was visiting Galveston in the 1915 flood.  They took refuge climbing bales of cotton in a warehouse to wait out the rising waters.  With regret I realized I do not know that sister's name.  The old cemetery seems to be in good order but will not help me now. David's aunt Eleanor MacDonald visited Galveston in her girlhood with fond memories of its delights.  At the turn of the century the city was the pride of the west and a most important port, bringing in not only goods but strong German immigrants, a few Swedes too and exporting cotton.  David and I wished to visit the ocean again so we are on the Gulf of Mexico.  It would seem that one should be able to bike along the coast for some of the coast to coast trip.

Another stop at a bike shop in Bastrop, TX

On Thursday, March 19th I took my bike in because the front gears were not operating.  The mechanic was managing adventure kayak rides so the bike was looked at and then I had to wait and then it was looked at then I had to wait and had to go for a ride and wouldn't you know there was Bastrop State Park again.  I gave it a hesitating attempt though with little joy for advanced knowledge of the hills inside this park.  Yes the first one was an 11 per center.  Back to the bike shop, the front gears were fixed, the tires filled and off down to major Bastrop across the Colorado River one more time.  When I rode across the Colorado River the first time from California into Arizona I felt elated.  Though this Colorado River is not the same river as it is on the east side of the continental divide. None the less we keep crossing the eastern Colorado River. There is also the Brazoz River and the Pecos River.

Santa Claus incognito as a SAG driver, March 19

While at Buescher State Park, TX, a mother approached David at our camp ing spot to relater that when her son first saw this white bearded man he became mesmerized staring to determine if indeed this was Santa Claus. The boy stared for some time as Santa Claus slowly moved about the camp site and then asked his mother if she thought this was indeed Santa Claus.  His mother replied that they should check the license plates and to the boy's great despair the license plates read not the North Pole but New Mexico.

We both enjoyed watching families and their children or grandchildren enjoy being together.  The children would ride their bikes around the circle. Small ones would watch an adult working on the hitch and as soon as the adult would turn their back the child would touch the hitch to find the greasy feel and then would be found out and wisked away for hand cleaning.  Two girls played the song from Mama Mia " Take a chance on me", I think when their grandparents were not close by.  It was delightful to me to experience these young girls taking joy in the music of ABBA. One of these girls was impressed by my story of cycling across the country.

Shaded road in Buescher State Park

A field of Bluebonnets in Texas March 2009

CCC Cabin built over a creek

Yet another CCC cabin in Bastrop State Park

Diana hiding behind tree, another CCC building water tower

CCC Building looks like The MacDonald house

Blue Bells and Indian Paint brush

On many hillsides along the roads are bluebells and some Indian Paintbrush thanks to Lady Bird Johnson.  The landscape has now again become rolling hills and pasture land.

GPS does not always give the RIGHT information

On March 17th, a couple in their SUV on the teeny back road stopped and apologized but they wished to be assured that they were truly driving in the direction of Bastrop for their GPS was indicating that they must turn around.  Not yet having been to Bastrop my self on this road I could only reply that it was my hope that we were both heading to Bastrop State Park.

The Couple from Holland-We are Great Explorers

March 18th just east of Winchester, I gave a hello as I noticed a couple riding west on the Southern Tier Route.  We ended up visiting for a few minutes.  They are young, in their thirties, and will be taking altogether 5 or 6 months for this trip. We shared a few pieces of information about what to expect from the route we would be experiencing ahead.  The young woman remarked that we are of a special breed for there are not too many who are doing this sort of trekking.  And she did not even mention especially for one of my advanced age.  Amy also said that they too were still in training for this trip as there are not many mountains or hills in Holland with which to practice.

Hills described with scientific instruments

Yesterday, Wednesday March 18th, I managed to put together the puzzle pieces of what has been causing me so much anguish around hills. The weather was fine and altogether the route was delightful with gentle rolling hills of less than 5% grade.  You see our modern age of semi trucks necessitates a highway of no more than a 6% grade because the trucks otherwise can not make it up the hill, even with all ghere mega horse power.  Well the same goes for Diana.  I can not easily make it up hills that are 8%, 9%, 10% or the really over the top of 12% day after day.

Monday's ride and Tuesday's ride took me on a route that had some over the top hills.  They were short and curved and after awhile I could not even make the attempt.  I began to feel inept and that I was losing power rather than becoming stronger.  On Tuesday my bike computer decided to change pages and I discovered that this tool reads the level of the grade.  Wow!  I had been climbing steep hills.  Yesterday, early on as I was riding to La Grange, TX,  I approached a hill that looked too much and it curved around and became a blind curve on a two lane road.  I gave up and began walking up the hill but turned the computer on and  what do you know it was a 9% grade.  Well there you go.  I kept track of the other hills I rode yesterday and I can easily climb up a 1%, or 2% or 4%. Yea, I have not lost strength.

The Old Oak Tree

Restored Gage Hotel, Marathon, TX

Hunt, Texas rock work

Toad Hall I, Hunt, TX

More animals, the land looks healthy too

Game animals not in Africa but in Texas

Marathon, TX

Foggy morning and bluebells

This morning, Tuesday March 17, 2009 St. Patrick's Day in Beuscher State Park, TX.  Yesterday I rode both in Austin and then the park here on the hills again.  Changing the way I manage the gears has made the hill climbs easier.  Bluebells were seen from the rode side yesterday and would like to see them a little closer.

Beuscher and Bastrop State Parks are the area of the lost Pines.  The concept is the same as the lost Maples.  That is, the species became separated by the landscape and climate and became rather an island.  These two state parks had a disastrous fire last week so they are ever so pleased to have had the rain.

We are finding that we like to be hooked up to electricity while stopped, it means we can run our tiny electric heater in the mornings and not fear to use the light at night as well as our ever gong electric tea kettle.  We have a tire valve on the trailer which needs to be replaced.

Both David and I feel much better after the massages.

Diana and a tall Yucca

Gage Hotel in Marathon, Texas

Amanda and Poppa

Grand daughter Amanda in New Mexico

Making connections in Austin

This rainy morning we will connect with friends we met in Farmington through the Unitarian Fellowship, Sandy and Morris Carter. Sandy was board president from Navajo United Methodist Center for two years.  We will be attending the UU here and sharing the message about the Coast to Coast trip.  Sandy and Morris took us out for breakfast at the Magnolia cafe where we had real coffee, the first for this trip, delightful Mexican food and a bustling Austin scene, and it was wonderful to visit with them.  In the afternoon we stopped at the the LBJ Museum reliving some history we lived through. Wow!

Later in the afternoon we will meet with two of Judith's friends, one of whom stayed with Judith during the early weeks of her recovery from her hip replacement surgery.  

Also I will be taking a massage and chiropractic appointments to realign this cycling body. Melaine will investigate where we may sit in a hot tub too as healing before this next leg of the journey.  The SAG fellow, David, will be taking a hot tub and massage too.  We need David to be in top form just as much as we need the cyclist to be in top form.  Thank you Judith for paving the way for this needed recovery.

53 hills bring fever and chills

After one day of not riding due to the need to plan and then secure reservation s for the Spring Break attack on the state parks in Texas this time in March, I was looking forward to my day in the saddle again.  It was only a short gentle ride of half a mile before the steep strenuous mile long climb.  You know by now that I understand the world is full of hills.  The weather was wet with little rain or mist.  My jacket was wet through after five minutes form the trailer.  Back to the the wardrobe closet toe find another  piece of riding gear covering.  I choose the one that seems to be truly water proof though I have ben warned that that often causes more problems than it solves due to over heating and hence sweating inside the jacket. But when I had returned to the trailer I was chilled.  I choose the water proof jacket.  

On the road and beginning the climb.  Hot, overly hot in the first few seconds of hard pedaling. I am breathing so hard that my glasses are fogged to point of being virtually useless. Effectively I can no longer see. Without my glasses working in their predictable manner most of my other senses seem to no longer work either. I hear a car approaching form the opposite direction. I am not happy and feel out of control but I must add that I was hanging on to the handle bars like glue. This is not good for keeping the muscles relaxed.  The car passes. I am over heated which is not a good thing.  I have made it half way up the hill and decide to stop knowing I will not be able to resume biking until the I have walked to the even terrain at the top.  I take off my jacket.  Heavenly cool now.  I wipe my glasses but they fog up immediately. I must one more time quit breathing through my mouth after I have managed a sufficient amount of oxygen into my lungs.

At the top of the hill I am back on my bike.  Now when I ride down the next hill and  there will be 53 of them this particular ride, I freeze going down.  The next hill to climb is only a short distance so there is no point in putting my jacket on again.   And so it goes too hot up and freezing on the way down.  Sometimes the ride down was fun when the drizzle had let up and my jersey had dried.  The ride seemed to be free, the prize of making it up the hill.  It was around twenty three miles that the up and down had lost its charm.  This unrelenting up, down was affecting my normal cheery and bubbly mood and view of life.  Some of the uphills had a twist in the middle with a swift increase of the incline and I was not prepared to shift down enough plus these were at the same time blind curves for the traffic on this two lane road with no shoulders.

David had stopped to check on my progress at fourteen miles and I reported I was keen to proceed for the next twenty.  Luckily for me David stopped at twenty six miles on a curve with a turn out for him to park the truck.  The road crossed the Guadalupe River with bird song to rival heaven, flowering trees, fish in the river, a delightful haven.  I shared with David that I was not thinking kindly of the Texas hill country.  David suggested I quit for the day.  I hated to give in, it is always a gamble to make a choice to not go the full distance or to over do the ride.  after arriving back at camp I took my shower went to bed and began a fever with chills and aches in every joint. 

After a perfectly miserable night I felt worse with the aching and headache. Not really the worst on a scale of one to ten maybe a five of misery.  We needed to break camp and head out for Pedernales Falls.  David did more than his share but I did try to help a bit.  The ride was miserable.  When I fee poorly I want to lay flat which one can not do in a truck. Finally at 4:30 pm we arrived. With the truck and trailer we do not travel on these roads at a break neck speed.  No energy to be hungry nor to eat, just not a possibility.  Finally the next day on the 12th at around 2 pm I fixed a little food and like magic I finally seemed to be coming around.

The night of the 11th we had a hard rain all night and the trailer is not used to this climate.  David was up and down the night working to keep the trailer afloat fixing leaks or putting out towels or bowls to catch water.  The locals tell us that they have been in a long draught with no rain since September so they are pleased with the change.  Peach orchardist will be pleased. every plant and animal and bird will thrive a bit better.

Gentle moist air and Egrets, mocking birds at San Pedro Island

This morning we awoke to fogged windows just because there is moisture in the air.  Yea! How do we in the desert manage to live with our dry air?  This is like a spa. We have had our breakfast outside. I did my stretching while watching the Egrets hunt and fly, listen to the mocking birds and spotted a Pyrrhuloxia.  Yes, I found the name in one of David's books.  I also have been outside at the picnic table working on the computer.

Next weekend there is to be 5,000 fishermen who will descend upon this reservoir for a fishing competition with large cash prizes.  It is good luck that brought us here this weekend undoubtedly.

Last evening our neighbors at this camp site on San Pedro Island, who are from Manitoba, Canada gave a donation to NUMC. Thank you!  This morning these same neighbors were kind enough to alert us to the change in time to Daylight savings time so it is in this one week that we have lost two hours.  An adjustment to be sure!

Head Wind

March 6th, the ride went well but I had head winds from the east and south.  We experienced strong winds all night long as well.  I met on the road a fellow Southern Tier Cyclist but he was traveling west.  Today I met another fellow traveling west.  Both days have had the eastern winds and the up and down and up and down of terrain. Yesterday I rode past the Glass Mountains and over the Pecos River.  We spent the night at Seminole Canyon State Park. 

The Acacia shrub or tree are in bloom and smell so delightfully sweet one can believe one is in paradise.  We continue to hear birds that are new to us or that we do not have in Farmington.

We were out of Internet service for sometime including this morning. David and I nearly missed each other this morning on the route.  David stayed at the museum of the Seminole Canyon while I began my morning cycling journey.  We were without the use of cell phones.  We were to meet at the grocery store in Comstock but I believed I was in Comstock with no sign for the town that was not a town and the grocery store was not open. There were three daschunds who were trying their best to gather the courage to beat me up, but I looked far to intimidating.  David drove right past me because where I had stopped did not look like the town of Comstock.  I had noticed that the Hwy sign read "Del Rio 32 miles", so surely I must be Comstock and it was not just ahead over the hill a mile or so beyond.  You see we have experienced several towns which aren't.  David did see me after he passed and turned around. We did pass the "town of Comstock" up the hill and around the bend put we might still not call it a town.  We drove right on past, no ice, no bananas, no apples.   Since we still had no cell phone service we drove ahead closer to Del Rio where I will make up the miles with my trusty cell phone working.  So I am not the intrepid explorer yet.

As I began to ride over a bridge this morning a train was approaching with double decker viewing cars. How fun!  I did not need to stop to enjoy the experience because the wind was so strong that I was traveling at the speed of a tortoise.

A pilgrimage is not a vacation

When on vacation one pays attention to one's desires and whims. That is the goal. But for a pilgrimage, which is more like our venture just now, one has a goal to be met and one must approach each day with one's shoulder to the wheel.  I find also that emotions are larger, they seem to be mirrored back at a higher resolution.  This may happen because there is little to distract.  But when I react in a not altogether pleasant form the mirror does not reflect a pretty picture which at home I do not seem to see so well. We have just the one obligation of the day plus the haul water and chop wood.  This may be one of the major reasons which have kept humans taking pilgrimages, to reflect upon one's self and one's life.

There are days, again like today, in which I do not relish getting on the bike. I would rather loaf around, become a tourist or many even read and yet that is not true.  I look forward to being outside in the fresh air with the sun all around me, to making the challenge of miles gained on the bike and would not want to have my life today be any different.

I am blessed!

David's Dream

The night we slept at Ft. Davis State Park David woke up from a dream in which he had been in a bicycle race and had come in second.  He found however, that when he went to receive his award he was not wearing biking shoes.  Upon awakening David had the thought that now he would need to purchase a bike so he could enjoy the high I get from cycling.

Broken wheel spoke

First task of the day was to help David replace a circuit breaker in the trailer. I had to ride to the Hardware store that I believe could be used for a current Charles Dickens film.  This circuit breaker operates the refrigerator in the trailer.

At 12:30 pm I left for my ride which I was not physically ready to undertake but the clock was ticking.  I took the frontage road which turned out to be on the south side of the Hwy. instead of the north as it was on the map.  David planned to flow me.  Four miles out and the frontage abruptly ended with no turn around and a short clim over gravel to the Hwy.  I stopped to call David to alert him not to take that frontage road.  Then another six miles up there was a tiny pop from the bike and a squeak.  I stopped as David Hamlow had encouraged me to do when something changes on the bike.  The back tire was rubbing, not good.  I again called David to have him meet me at the Rest Stop a block or so back.  I looked at the bike and worked on it for a bit and that was not helping so I walked the bike to the Rest Stop where there was shade and as it turned out a restroom for washing hands.  Again we both worked on the bike but could  not make progress.  Now I was bummed.   All in all I was lucky and I recognized that but my ride which I was reluctant to begin had been nipped in the bud.

We drove to Ft. Davis for the night with the knowledge that a bike shop was available in Alpine. The terrain was a varied prairie grass land with scrub oak and ever changing short mountains. Ft. David is the highest community in Texas, a little over 5,000 ft.

Thursday morning I knew it was a good day not to ride as my body was not responding well to much of anything.  The bike was fixed with a new spoke and we were ready for the new day on Friday.

While we were waiting we bought groceries and visited the museum of the Big Bend at the Sul Ross state university.  It is a small space but the ceiling curved but used small pieces of wood placed nearly in triangles to support the roof.  This technique was invented in Germany in the 1920's, great way to have a curved roof if you do not have large beams of lumber. 

Riding at the speed of light

March 3rd, I rode from Horizon, TX  just outside of El Paso, TX to McNary, TX where there is not a there there. Flat terrain allowed me to again concentrate on posture, breathing with my mouth closed which is now a necessity as insects are out and about, keeping my back straight and peddling in circles.  After lunch I began to increase my speed to 16 mph, then 18, then 20 mph.  I can not explain how or why really, it just happened to my great joy.

My average speed is hampered by pit stops, telephoning David,  putting a jacket on or taking one off and checking the map for direction at an intersection. Now that I am increasing my speed hopefully I will be able to ride for an hour at 20 mph then do all those other things so that I will see a better mph average.

The traffic was light on the two lane road.  I asked a young woman about the road ahead of me from Horizon traveling east and her reply was that there was no shoulder and the road was not good.  Well, I found a good shoulder and the road was delightful.  I passed many orchards presumably pecan orchards.  There was a ditch most of the route except when I was in cotton field territory.  Like Europe I rode beside a canal but the sickly sweet smell of fertilizer destroyed the pastoral scene.

Texas is another country and this rural area seems so different. Visitors to our area of the Four Corners probably feel the same way about the differences they experience.  We passed yet another prison.

Getting better on the road

Yesterday I experienced both fine weather, fine road conditions and rather level terrain.  With that I was able to spend more riding time correcting my posture and rode with my hands on the lower level bars increasing my rate of speed.  This was on the road from Alamagordo, NM to El Paso, TX.  We have witnessed that around the military bases the roads are especially good.  

Do you all know how many prisons there are in the southern part of the country? Okay, so I have not counted them but I will tell you they seem to be every where.

Pacific Ocean, Palm trees on my way, day one!

A 63 year old learns about the planet

On Friday, February 27th I had a ride that was a precipitous down, around, up, down and then a long straight up, then a turn, then up and then a long down. I was riding from Aquirre Springs BLM park high in the mountains to and through Las Cruces, NM.  Finally it came to me that this is the deal with cycling. The terrain of planet earth changes frequently from one moment to the next, one foot to the next. The weather seems to be the same, too hot, too cold, too windy, too much sun, not enough sun, rain, snow etc.  Now you have evidence that I have not before spent so much time out of doors in a sport activity.  It is also the case that I believe now that up is not much harder than down, different muscles are used but concentration is always needed.

On this ride I was sure I could make 40 or 50 miles, I felt great and strong and had had a good ride so far.  At mile 20 my body began to lose vitality and it became evident at mile 30 that I would be lucky to make 34 miles. I was not willing to go home with less. I made the 34 miles and was done in.  Riding through Las Cruces required many stops and goes which requires another layer of energy. The literature suggests repeatedly that one is not going to successfully push ahead more than 10% each week.  Repeatedly they seem to be correct.  I started out with five to six days a week of biking and four weeks later I have managed to increase a day's ride to 34 miles but my average is not above 150 to 180 per week. Boo Hoo!

The Guide book for becoming a Matadoress

On Thursday, February 26th, while leaving Rockhound State Park I was riding well, the air was a a bit chilly so I stopped to add a fleece jacket and went on down the the road.  Then I spied two bulls with horns that is four horns altogether.  They noticed me, I noticed them.  I noticed however, that they were larger than I and they were outside the fences.  Was it going to be a standoff? I, as you are well aware, know that I can not produce great speed and most animals would out run me in the first 500 yards. What to do?  Keep pedaling seemed to be the best approach.  I felt that the larger one was interested in my not becoming part of getting him back inside the fence.  I did not care where he was so long as he did not come closer to me.  Luckily the younger one, a tad smaller made a dash towards the older one, likely to seek protection, thank God!  That movement distracted the older from concentrating his thoughts on me.  Later the next day I realized what I might have kept in mind was that I could stop and use the bike as a shield.  It would seem I need to work on quicker reactions.

Cycling in Kansas

We were out of internet service for two days and so it goes. Now I will work at catching up.

Did I write about the spring winds of Deming, NM?  That ride was on Thursday, February 26th.

Yes, this is the same ride day as the bulls with horns.  After five miles of  fair riding weather I encountered wind like nothing I have ridden through before.  This wind was like a tide pushing me to the right then sucking me to the left. Each mili second I was being pushed or pulled and seldom with the same force.  This lasted for nine long miles.  Now imagine the game of tug of war. One side pulls and the other side also pulls, but they are not attempting to move forward at the same time!  Nor are they attempting to keep from being pulled into the road or pushed into the ditch alongside the road. 

While managing to keep myself upright, my eyes were watering and my nose was losing liquid at the same time.  Once at a particularly tense moment I had a tear drop on my face that tickled and tickled and I could not address it.  There were also no bathroom stops but a house every too often, for out in the wilds relief.

Has anyone measured the strength used in this sort of wind.  It seemed that I used up many calories in that long 14 miles.