Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Day 11, May 4, 2011, Tucumcari, NM to Dalhart, TX

95 miles and 700 feet of climbing.  When you have a 25 mph tail wind it has to be a good day.  Left Tucumcari at 8:00 a.m. and was in Dalhart at 1:30 p.m.  I was on the bike for 4 ½ hours and averaged close to 21 mph.  With the wind straight on our back we just cruised!  The day started out about 45 degrees and quickly warmed to 70.  Traveled all day on Route 54E, a wide 2 lane road, that is straight and slightly rolling.  The terrain was rolling pasture land for as far as you could see.  Everything was a dried out brown.  Not a very picturesque area.  As you enter Dalhart you pass by several miles of cattle feed lots.  There were literally 10’s of thousands of cows being fattened up for slaughter.  It was a dusty, stanky operation!  At dinner I opted for cat fish over the beef brisket.

I have mentioned it once before and I think it warrants a second reminder:  Our ride leader, Mike, keeps a blog.  I find it to be well written, and comprehensive.  Certainly much more informative than I could ever do and it includes lots of pics.  You can find a link to it on the right had side of this blog under “Check out My Links” .

Tomorrow the forecast is calling for a 20 mph head wind as we travel thru Oklahoma and into Kansas.  I believe that “life is all about balance” and it looks as if mother nature may balance the scales tomorrow.  The Clydesdale will trudge on!
Here is a pic of my roomie, Darryl.  He is a good guy and puts up with me.  Somehow he knows Leisa as he keeps referring to her as a saint, as in "That wife of yours is a saint."  I have not yet bothered to ask him how he knows her.

Early in the morning we got held up by some traffic.  I had left early so the Gazelles caught up with me.  This is the last time I saw most of them.

Welcome to Texas!

A poor pic of the feed lot.  Actually any pic would not do it justice unless it was a scratch and sniff pic, if you know what I mean.

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3 comments:

  1. UnknownMay 4, 2011 at 10:06 PM

    I can't imagine what Darryl is referring to when he comments that I am a saint. Arn't you always telling me that you are easy to live with? Since you got your breathing machine you are easy to sleep with too!
    The Texas sun must be getting to him. I hope he hasn't been picking up clothes left on the floor, wipeing off peanut shells before he sits in a chair, scraping off dishes that don't get rinsed, locating lost phones, or heaven forbid saying good morning before the first cup of expresso? I should have given him the rule book and he would know when to hold um, when to fold um, when to walk away & when to run! (or in his case ride)
    Leisa

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  2. jaredMay 4, 2011 at 10:53 PM

    good to hear you had a easy day! keep on truckin

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  3. Jerry CraneMay 5, 2011 at 8:27 AM

    Hey Clydesdale - whatever you do, do not yell Geronimo when you are flying down one of those mountains taking advantage of your gravity advantage! Also do not take out any of those Gazelles with a Tomahawk cruise missle. The Politically Correct will have issues with you.

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