Days 20 & 21 - Looking At Texas Through Rain Spotted Glasses.

Texas is great if you like rain, fog and wind. Wednesday morning a ferocious rain storm disrupted our sleep and some riders had to flee their tents. No one slept very well and we left Van Horn, Tx in a steady rain with a 20 mph wind directly in our faces. The first 20 miles were brutal. 

The next 17 miles were on Interstate 10 and again into the wind. Dr. Nick and I took turns blocking the wind for each other. At mile 24 my friend Pat fell and possibly broke a rib. He made it to the next rest stop in a lot of pain. I really don't know how he was able to make the 16 miles to the rest stop. It's incredible how tough the riders are. The next 50 miles were the toughest I've encountered. We climbed almost 3,500 ft mainly on what I called 'high rollers.' These were long up hills with small downhills. The ascent was incredibly hard. 

(We saw this little guy crossing the road in front of us)

(The McDonald Observatory was at 6,300 ft.)

Once we reached the top to our final rest stop I had my first flat. I would have to stop 4 times during the last 20 miles to put air into the leaking tube. My 9 hour day quickly became a 10 hour day.. I limped into Fort Davis where we stayed in a Baptist Church. Finally we were out of the rain and drizzle. A few of us mustered up enough strength to walk to the only restaurant that was still open at 8:00 PM. As usual it was a Mexican restaurant. We celebrated Shanon's birthday and then called it a night. By 9:00 I was able to get my long needed sleep. This was my toughest day, 90 exhausting miles. 

Day 21 started with a slight drizzle that eventually turned into a steady rain. The road was relatively flat but the visibility was poor. My glasses were so spotted with rain drops that all I saw we the white line markings along the side of the road. I saw very little on Texas today.  

(I thought everything was bigger in Texas.)

We hit a new section of chipped Texas road and four or five riders had flats. My flat came with 10 miles left in our 60 mile day. Again, for the second time in the last two days I had to limp into camp. After we pitched our tents I went right to work on my tire. Through careful examination I discover a piece of road wire imbedded in the tire. Hopefully, by removing the wire I can have a break from the annoying flats.

After fixing the tire and showering we walked to town where we had a few beers at the 12 Gage Hotel and Resort. It's an exclusive hotel in Marathon, TX. The people there we very impressed and bought us a round of drinks. President Bush's wife Laura had stayed there. Feeling good from the accolades we received from the patrons at the hotel we walked back to our tents through a light drizzle.