10 hours of sleep sure does wonders to the body. Because I am so used to 8 hours of sleep a night for the last two hours I was left tossing and turning. Since the first few weeks of the tour my dreams have settled down, but for the last few nights they have been acting up again. I think it might be because my mind is starting to race again with thoughts of hitting the Pacific Ocean. Last nights dream was one that I want to go back to. Now I have never ridden a motorcycle before but this dream gave me the most vivid experience of ripping a triumph thruxton through the mountains I had climbed the day before. The feeling of having such a vivid dream is a strange one. You can feel you body lean into the corners, you can feel your fingers wrapped around the clutch.
When my alarm went off I raced to get ready and out the door. I went to fill my pot with 3cm’s or water to cook my oatmeal. When I turned the tap on it came out slowly, but no worries I got my water and was set. While the water was boiling I went to take my morning poo. When I went to flush nothing happened. Great no water. It’s no problem for me but I feel sorry for the maid… if there is one for this seedy motel.
Now because I had no water, and no water in my water bottles so I was forced to buy water for the first time of the trip. When I went to the gas station I found out from a drunk man (at 6am) that the water main broke and the entire town had no water. I took that as my cue to get the heck out of dodge.
Now I was made aware by a local that I was going to encounter one small climb before I hit the plains to make my way to my first big city in New Mexico. Well that small hill turned out to be 2 extended 7-mile climbs. Luckily I was feeling good and had no wind, which meant good things for my moral. After 35 miles I hit the flats. It was amazing I had a tailwind and never once got below 30km/h. I watched the miles tick by. I passed the white sands missile range at roughly the speed of a missile. I would have to say the speed was caused by the smell of radiation in the morning.
Now I had planned to stop at this homestead to pick up some water but this town of 50 people only had one shop and oddly enough it sold rocks. Now in the land of rocks and sand a rock shop seems an odd thing to have.
I hit Socorro (120km down the road) by 11am. I was over the moon, but needed some food and water to top up the tanks. I was lucky because I ran into the first grocery store I have seen in New Mexico so it was a good time to top up the stocks. I missed one crucial thing… water. I was making my way out of town and the last building in eyesight was the goodwill centre. I walked in the doors expecting a receptionist of some sort; instead I was greeted by a group of women in wheelchairs. It was an old folks home. Now I wanted to ask permission to get some water but no one was around to ask so I just had to stroll in and use the resident’s washroom. The washroom was something else fully decked out with rails, lifts and everything else you could imagine. When I left I almost felt bad to walk out the doors on two legs. It gave me one of those profound moments. I felt lucky to have my health and to have lasted 100 days of hard riding on the road.
When I left the adult community I had a gradual climb ahead for roughly the next 20km. That would not be a problem if I did not have a 15-mile an hour wind in my face the entire time. That 20km took 2 hours of hard pedaling.
Luckily I made it to Magdalene in one piece. But tomorrow is going to be rough. I have 140mile gap with 2 small homesteads in between that apparently have nothing. So I have to go into the day knowing that I am going to run out of water, and know that I am going to get stranded in the middle of nowhere. If all goes well I will be staying in Springerville Arizona tomorrow.
I must say the best thing about touring is the people you meet. Today I got the privilege to meet mike the owner of the motel here in Magdalena. When I walk in I have a sensor overload. I am not sure to be in aww of this mans awesome beard or start a conversation about the campy hat he had on. Mike is one of the most welcoming men I have met on this trip. We saw that I was bagged and immediately offered me a cool glass of ice tea, then proceeded to ask if I needed anything else. This is really the last thing I expected from a local motel because usually the people are just happy to take your money and could care less about the adventure.
Trip Distance: 142km
Ride Time: 6:35hr
Avg. Speed: 21.67km/h
Total Distance: 15050km
Total Ride Time: 697hr
Destination: Magdalena, New Mexico
I achieved a major goal today 15000km in 100 days.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Tour Day 99 Look Maaa No Flats Oct 2 2010
I am going to be honest I woke up this morning and was expecting things to go bad. I mean they have been for the past couple weeks. Every mile has been a struggle, and every mile as made me more and more upset. To those people who say that they wish they were me during these couple weeks I do not think you would want to.
When I started riding I was looking for excuses to get upset, and I got them. Within seconds my rear fender starting acting up. It started with a high pitch whining noise, then that developed into a full-fledged rub. I stopped and yanked on it a few times which helped for 10 miles then the rubbing started again. Now this is all happening while im getting pumbled with hills getting out of Roswell. Thinking on my toes I pulled out the tape again and put together a sling to keep the fender ridged. I have to say it was my best jimmy job to date.
After getting my fender sort of fixed I was rolling with a little less resistance. On my map the day’s ride seemed simple. The first 47 miles was flat’ish then I got into the dotted bit of my map that was set to be 40 miles. That sounded good in theory but in practice that was not the case. The first 47 miles were hilly as heck, and the last 40 miles were rolling.
I was still a little rattled by the fender thing when I stopped for a snack. I don’t know what happened but all of a sudden a switched turned on and my misery was whipped away. I think it must have been the scenery because once you are in the mountains it is magnificent, that behind said pretty much any mountain range is beautiful.
The kilometres ticked by faster then I thought, and I watched my average speed pick up. My mood was improving. I forgot that I actually don’t mind hills. They give you short-term goals that are going to be achieved. Even better usually the winds die down when you are climbing.
I was summating a hill on this side road that had no traffic and I see this figure coming up the other side. Another cyclist. I panic and start yelling at this other guy and even drop the odd curse word just to spice things up. We both stopped in the middle of the road and have a nice short conversation. This solidified the mood change. I was at that point enjoying the day’s ride. I even had a smile for the first time in a while.
Lunch came at exactly 12 noon. I had 20 miles left in the day and was ready for a quick gas station sandwich. The fact that I managed to pace myself properly for a town that actually had something in it was amazing.
Now the last 20 miles I anticipated to take an hour and a half if I was lucky. After climbing for a little bit and getting my legs warmed up I hit an extended downhill. I watched 40km/h pass, then hit 60km/h for the first time in a long time. This downhill did not stop. For close to 30 minutes I did not drop below 40km/h. I watched the mile markers count down. I saw the town and kicked up the speed. I was crushing grasshoppers like it was my job taking no prisoners. As a side note the grasshoppers here are pretty big. One was so large that when it jumped into my leg it left a bright red mark.
When I hit the town I was elated and let out a large yell of joy. I needed this. I needed a day without a flat. Now don’t get me wrong the day had its faults but it was the first day that I can remember that I had more positives then negatives.
Tomorrow has me a little nervous though because it have a 65 mile gap, and I hit a flat section about halfway through which is going to mean I will get beat up by the wind from the mountains.
Trip Distance: 147km
Ride Time: 6:58hr
Avg. Speed: 21.12km/h
Total Distance: 14907km
Total Ride Time: 690hr
Destination: Carrizozo, New Mexico
P.S. The weather is a little messed here went from 90 degree heat to thunder showers in the space of 5 minutes. As well today is interesting because 40 miles away from here is the trinity site (the site of the first atomic bomb explosion). Today is one of only two days a year they open it to the public. Now I would not recommend going because the area has 10 times the radioactivity.
When I started riding I was looking for excuses to get upset, and I got them. Within seconds my rear fender starting acting up. It started with a high pitch whining noise, then that developed into a full-fledged rub. I stopped and yanked on it a few times which helped for 10 miles then the rubbing started again. Now this is all happening while im getting pumbled with hills getting out of Roswell. Thinking on my toes I pulled out the tape again and put together a sling to keep the fender ridged. I have to say it was my best jimmy job to date.
After getting my fender sort of fixed I was rolling with a little less resistance. On my map the day’s ride seemed simple. The first 47 miles was flat’ish then I got into the dotted bit of my map that was set to be 40 miles. That sounded good in theory but in practice that was not the case. The first 47 miles were hilly as heck, and the last 40 miles were rolling.
I was still a little rattled by the fender thing when I stopped for a snack. I don’t know what happened but all of a sudden a switched turned on and my misery was whipped away. I think it must have been the scenery because once you are in the mountains it is magnificent, that behind said pretty much any mountain range is beautiful.
The kilometres ticked by faster then I thought, and I watched my average speed pick up. My mood was improving. I forgot that I actually don’t mind hills. They give you short-term goals that are going to be achieved. Even better usually the winds die down when you are climbing.
I was summating a hill on this side road that had no traffic and I see this figure coming up the other side. Another cyclist. I panic and start yelling at this other guy and even drop the odd curse word just to spice things up. We both stopped in the middle of the road and have a nice short conversation. This solidified the mood change. I was at that point enjoying the day’s ride. I even had a smile for the first time in a while.
Lunch came at exactly 12 noon. I had 20 miles left in the day and was ready for a quick gas station sandwich. The fact that I managed to pace myself properly for a town that actually had something in it was amazing.
Now the last 20 miles I anticipated to take an hour and a half if I was lucky. After climbing for a little bit and getting my legs warmed up I hit an extended downhill. I watched 40km/h pass, then hit 60km/h for the first time in a long time. This downhill did not stop. For close to 30 minutes I did not drop below 40km/h. I watched the mile markers count down. I saw the town and kicked up the speed. I was crushing grasshoppers like it was my job taking no prisoners. As a side note the grasshoppers here are pretty big. One was so large that when it jumped into my leg it left a bright red mark.
When I hit the town I was elated and let out a large yell of joy. I needed this. I needed a day without a flat. Now don’t get me wrong the day had its faults but it was the first day that I can remember that I had more positives then negatives.
Tomorrow has me a little nervous though because it have a 65 mile gap, and I hit a flat section about halfway through which is going to mean I will get beat up by the wind from the mountains.
Trip Distance: 147km
Ride Time: 6:58hr
Avg. Speed: 21.12km/h
Total Distance: 14907km
Total Ride Time: 690hr
Destination: Carrizozo, New Mexico
P.S. The weather is a little messed here went from 90 degree heat to thunder showers in the space of 5 minutes. As well today is interesting because 40 miles away from here is the trinity site (the site of the first atomic bomb explosion). Today is one of only two days a year they open it to the public. Now I would not recommend going because the area has 10 times the radioactivity.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Tour Day 98 Puching My Luck To New Limits Oct 1 2010
My first day without a flat, and an all around solid day left me with a good feeling in my stomach last night. As much as Texas and west Texas has been a pain in the butt it has been worth it. The winds of change are blowing and I hope they are in my direction.
When I got on the road today I was smiling for a change. I was actually happy to be out riding. The road was not chip seal and there was no wind to speak of. Really I had no complaints. For the first time in a long time my legs felt above 70% and my eyes were not tempted to shut until about halfway through the ride which is odd.
Things kept getting better because the wind was behind me. I had to stop because I thought I was loosing my mind. This was the first tailwind I have had since Mississippi about 1000 miles away. The miles were ticking by and I paced my rest stop with easy so I pushed back where I was going to snack to the next town.
When I got to said town I decided to take a few back roads because a stranger gave me a tip it would be faster. I took the tips and was spat out on the road I wanted to be on, but I got on the road past all the shops so I could not top up water or food. I had a tailwind though nothing could stop me I was simply going to push it off to the homestead 15 miles away.
Well you guessed it no water or food in this place. Oddly though it had a school. This school was new and fairly big but was surrounded by nothing. Within eyesight there was not a building. This did not bode well for me because I was out of water and the next town which was supposed to be my rest stop for the day (now my lunch stop) was 20 miles away.
I had a tailwind nothing could stop me I was making it to my lunch stop no questions asked. I made it in good time because I kicked up my pace and was stoked when I completed 132km before noon. Now in Brownfield I was on the hunt for food. This was a more difficult then anticipated challenge because the only place around was in an unmarked building. They offered a special of catfish or fried chicken. I figured that if they could not afford letters for the exterior of the building they probably could not afford good catfish, so chicken was the choice.
After a quick bite I was on the road and now traveling west. This meant one thing a wicked crosswind. My sleep point was 20 miles away and it was slow going. Then it happened. My front tire, which is one day old started to act up. 1 flat, checked the running surface nothing. 2nd flat, again nothing upon detailed inspection and checking of the rim. 3rd flat, threw my bike on the ground and used my last tube. When that went flat I was stranded again. Texas was not letting me leave without getting one last kick at the can. Luckily my eyes didn’t start to act up because this all happened in the middle of cotton fields.
Within 15 mins a nice man by the of Charles Rhodes who is a law enforcement officer for the u.s.d.a. stopped. I asked to get taken to the next town and he gladly obliged and we were off down the road. We get to the town and it is a ghost town. 90% of the building were boarded up and abandoned. He asked if I wanted to go to the next town and I said “sure”. The next town was more of the same. This meant that my rest stop for the day was going to be in Roswell, which is actually good because it meant that I could get a few new tubes.
It was very pleasant getting to know Charles. I find it amazing how open people are to strangers. I find it amazing that someone you have known for 2 minutes you feel comfortable telling you life story to. It is actually an honour to hear these stories because it takes your mind off of whatever is bothering you.
That distraction cant last forever. I was brought back to reality when I had to spend another 30 mins checkin my tire and still nothing. Feeling confident I am not going tog et a flat for at least another 70 miles I looked at my map. This is when my frustration turned to depression. Looking at the map the next rides are just going to be ruthless. I have a 100 mile mountain range tomorrow, then 200 miles of flat, then another 200 mile mountain range that has a solid 100 mile gap with nothing. I thought Texas was going to be the hump state but the whole rest of the trip is going to be brutal. 1000 miles to go till I hit the ocean.
Roswell is a mess; all of New Mexico has been this way. There is 0 reason to ever come here for any reason whatsoever. It’s hot, bad looking, and has vast spaces of nothing.
Trip Distance: 151km
Ride Time: 6:38hr
Avg. Speed: 22:75km/h
Total Distance: 14760km
Total Ride Time: 683hr
Destination: Roswell, New Mexico
This has to be one of the lowest points of the trip I am struggling.
When I got on the road today I was smiling for a change. I was actually happy to be out riding. The road was not chip seal and there was no wind to speak of. Really I had no complaints. For the first time in a long time my legs felt above 70% and my eyes were not tempted to shut until about halfway through the ride which is odd.
Things kept getting better because the wind was behind me. I had to stop because I thought I was loosing my mind. This was the first tailwind I have had since Mississippi about 1000 miles away. The miles were ticking by and I paced my rest stop with easy so I pushed back where I was going to snack to the next town.
When I got to said town I decided to take a few back roads because a stranger gave me a tip it would be faster. I took the tips and was spat out on the road I wanted to be on, but I got on the road past all the shops so I could not top up water or food. I had a tailwind though nothing could stop me I was simply going to push it off to the homestead 15 miles away.
Well you guessed it no water or food in this place. Oddly though it had a school. This school was new and fairly big but was surrounded by nothing. Within eyesight there was not a building. This did not bode well for me because I was out of water and the next town which was supposed to be my rest stop for the day (now my lunch stop) was 20 miles away.
I had a tailwind nothing could stop me I was making it to my lunch stop no questions asked. I made it in good time because I kicked up my pace and was stoked when I completed 132km before noon. Now in Brownfield I was on the hunt for food. This was a more difficult then anticipated challenge because the only place around was in an unmarked building. They offered a special of catfish or fried chicken. I figured that if they could not afford letters for the exterior of the building they probably could not afford good catfish, so chicken was the choice.
After a quick bite I was on the road and now traveling west. This meant one thing a wicked crosswind. My sleep point was 20 miles away and it was slow going. Then it happened. My front tire, which is one day old started to act up. 1 flat, checked the running surface nothing. 2nd flat, again nothing upon detailed inspection and checking of the rim. 3rd flat, threw my bike on the ground and used my last tube. When that went flat I was stranded again. Texas was not letting me leave without getting one last kick at the can. Luckily my eyes didn’t start to act up because this all happened in the middle of cotton fields.
Within 15 mins a nice man by the of Charles Rhodes who is a law enforcement officer for the u.s.d.a. stopped. I asked to get taken to the next town and he gladly obliged and we were off down the road. We get to the town and it is a ghost town. 90% of the building were boarded up and abandoned. He asked if I wanted to go to the next town and I said “sure”. The next town was more of the same. This meant that my rest stop for the day was going to be in Roswell, which is actually good because it meant that I could get a few new tubes.
It was very pleasant getting to know Charles. I find it amazing how open people are to strangers. I find it amazing that someone you have known for 2 minutes you feel comfortable telling you life story to. It is actually an honour to hear these stories because it takes your mind off of whatever is bothering you.
That distraction cant last forever. I was brought back to reality when I had to spend another 30 mins checkin my tire and still nothing. Feeling confident I am not going tog et a flat for at least another 70 miles I looked at my map. This is when my frustration turned to depression. Looking at the map the next rides are just going to be ruthless. I have a 100 mile mountain range tomorrow, then 200 miles of flat, then another 200 mile mountain range that has a solid 100 mile gap with nothing. I thought Texas was going to be the hump state but the whole rest of the trip is going to be brutal. 1000 miles to go till I hit the ocean.
Roswell is a mess; all of New Mexico has been this way. There is 0 reason to ever come here for any reason whatsoever. It’s hot, bad looking, and has vast spaces of nothing.
Trip Distance: 151km
Ride Time: 6:38hr
Avg. Speed: 22:75km/h
Total Distance: 14760km
Total Ride Time: 683hr
Destination: Roswell, New Mexico
This has to be one of the lowest points of the trip I am struggling.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Tour Day 97 Oil, Wind, and Cinnamon. Its All Power Sept 30 2010
Last night before stopping I noticed my butt was starting to hurt. Thinking nothing of it I just went about things normally. Then I sat on the saddle today and it hurt even more… great another butt zit like in Newfoundland. They are just the worst I guess it’s from having a constantly sweaty butt, all I know is they blow rocks. And the fact you have to pop them is even worse.
Wow I managed to talk about butts, and zits within the first paragraph really no segway into that one sorry about that.
Today’s ride was tough from the get go. Mentally I have been having a tough time getting pumped up for the rides the past few days because I know they are going to be tough on a new level. When you only have one small town (if your lucky) and you know your going to spend 8 hours riding alone its hard. Adding to that you know that more then 70% of you day is going to be spent riding on chip seal pavement. Chip seal if you haven’t ridden on it is just the worst. It not only shakes the pee out of you, but it adds extra resistance so the ride even if you have a good wind feels like you have a head wind.
Now a favourable wind here is next to impossible to impossible to come by when your traveling west, and today was no exception. Luckily I was heading north as well so I was paralleling the wind, which was a nice change.
Things were going smooth and I have confidence back in my bike. The previous days I kept stopping to check tire pressure whenever I felt something weird but now I feel like I am set to roll for a while at least.
The road levels out today which makes long distance riding a lot more difficult because as much as hills are a pain to ride they give you short-term goals. When it’s flat your goals very quickly become long-distance goals.
About 40 miles into the ride after toping up with a truck stop sandwich and a cinnamon bun I saw something on the horizon. I could not figure it out at first but within minutes I saw that it was a wind turbine. Then I turned the corner and saw 100’s of wind turbines lined up. It was really a mesmerizing thing to watch because the whole structure is just designed so elegantly. Depending on the angle you look the machine looks as if it is functioning differently. Like the stars in the morning I just had to take a break in the middle of nowhere and watch for a minute.
The short break also had another purpose because I was broken. I was at the glasscock county line and wanted to give up. The days just are not getting easier and my body is aching. I know it will be with it, and I know my body will adapt but it is unspeakably hard when you are in the middle of nowhere. To put it in prospective 2 days ago in a 90-minute span 10 vehicles passed me. Even if you want to give up there is no one around to care so you just have to keep trucking.
After my short break I was back rolling and was hauling. I kept pacing myself to the next section of wind farm and before I knew it I saw a water tower on the horizon, which meant my rest stop, was literally in sight. But not before riding through an oil field. This was the strangest and the most unpleasant part of the day. It was the strangest because on one side of the road I had a wind farm, and on the other rested these industrial oilrigs. It was just a strange thing to think about. It was the most unpleasant part of the day because of the smell. It was a smell I have never experienced before but it almost instantly gave me a pounding headache. When I say I travel at the speed of smell I am not joking.
Trip Distance: 146km
Ride Time: 6:56hr
Avg. Speed: 21.16km/h
Total Distance: 14608km
Total Ride Time: 676hr
Destination: Big Spring, Texas
Wow I managed to talk about butts, and zits within the first paragraph really no segway into that one sorry about that.
Today’s ride was tough from the get go. Mentally I have been having a tough time getting pumped up for the rides the past few days because I know they are going to be tough on a new level. When you only have one small town (if your lucky) and you know your going to spend 8 hours riding alone its hard. Adding to that you know that more then 70% of you day is going to be spent riding on chip seal pavement. Chip seal if you haven’t ridden on it is just the worst. It not only shakes the pee out of you, but it adds extra resistance so the ride even if you have a good wind feels like you have a head wind.
Now a favourable wind here is next to impossible to impossible to come by when your traveling west, and today was no exception. Luckily I was heading north as well so I was paralleling the wind, which was a nice change.
Things were going smooth and I have confidence back in my bike. The previous days I kept stopping to check tire pressure whenever I felt something weird but now I feel like I am set to roll for a while at least.
The road levels out today which makes long distance riding a lot more difficult because as much as hills are a pain to ride they give you short-term goals. When it’s flat your goals very quickly become long-distance goals.
About 40 miles into the ride after toping up with a truck stop sandwich and a cinnamon bun I saw something on the horizon. I could not figure it out at first but within minutes I saw that it was a wind turbine. Then I turned the corner and saw 100’s of wind turbines lined up. It was really a mesmerizing thing to watch because the whole structure is just designed so elegantly. Depending on the angle you look the machine looks as if it is functioning differently. Like the stars in the morning I just had to take a break in the middle of nowhere and watch for a minute.
The short break also had another purpose because I was broken. I was at the glasscock county line and wanted to give up. The days just are not getting easier and my body is aching. I know it will be with it, and I know my body will adapt but it is unspeakably hard when you are in the middle of nowhere. To put it in prospective 2 days ago in a 90-minute span 10 vehicles passed me. Even if you want to give up there is no one around to care so you just have to keep trucking.
After my short break I was back rolling and was hauling. I kept pacing myself to the next section of wind farm and before I knew it I saw a water tower on the horizon, which meant my rest stop, was literally in sight. But not before riding through an oil field. This was the strangest and the most unpleasant part of the day. It was the strangest because on one side of the road I had a wind farm, and on the other rested these industrial oilrigs. It was just a strange thing to think about. It was the most unpleasant part of the day because of the smell. It was a smell I have never experienced before but it almost instantly gave me a pounding headache. When I say I travel at the speed of smell I am not joking.
Trip Distance: 146km
Ride Time: 6:56hr
Avg. Speed: 21.16km/h
Total Distance: 14608km
Total Ride Time: 676hr
Destination: Big Spring, Texas
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Tour Day 96 Luck Is Getting More Flats Sept 29 2010
Ice cream never tasted so good last night. Buying said ice cream was funny. As I went to grab the jar I over hear this guy say, “you have to drink your vitamins”. So I hear this and look over; I then see in his hand a V8. Seeing that I put two and two together, then this guy grabbed a case of beer. I laughed and he said “I know im contradicting myself with the beer”. I did not respond to the statement because I didn’t want to antagonize this guy that was roughly 2.76 times as big as me.
With a bursting stomach of dairy (after drinking 2 litres of milk as well) I went to sleep. When I woke up I felt refreshed. I have made a conscious choice to eat healthier then I have been because I have found myself drinking more and more crap. Even in the two days that I have implemented the changes I can feel the difference. Now granted I burn everything off anyways so I still do treat myself at snack time.
Ready to ride this morning I started tarring up the rolling hills. I thought my legs would feel slow from being beaten up in the hills yesterday for the first time in a while but my body surprised me yet again. Now don’t get me wrong I was still slow because the bike is heavy as heck, but I can notice the 16-pound difference particularly in the back end where 14 of the pounds came from. It also meant that I could get the weight lower so the bike handles better. Really things were going smooth.
I was 40 miles into the ride and planned to stop for water in a little homestead town. Things looked promising because I saw 3 businesses like buildings. Well two of them were boarded up so I went to the door of the one that was in business still. On the door was a note “due to lack of business we will only be open from 3pm till 6pm”. Great im screwed again. Thankfully I anticipated my luck and conserved my water properly. But that business really bothered me. If I have a struggling business I am going to do whatever I can to make it money. Promote it more, be open more, and get more people in. It does not make sense to close the doors for such long periods of time.
I got to my first town at mile 65 and had my snack. I knew that the next stop was going to be my rest stop 47 miles away so I topped up on water and took a muffin for the road. I knew I could make it to San Angelo with no lunch because I was ahead of my timeline for the day.
Well I did not make it that far. I had three tubes on me and thought I could limp my wounded front tire to the shop in San Angelo. I was wrong. The tire almost literally blew up. The thread just shattered and punctured every tube even after taping the tire to the gills.
I was really miffed because I want to just have a few days of solid riding. My body is feeling good it’s just everything else that’s going wrong. So I had to flag someone down and catch a life to the shop. In the car I masked my frustration and told stories of the road for the 30-mile journey into San Angelo. That’s right 3 flats in 10 miles, just brutal.
Over the Gps navigator in the car I heard the name of the bike shop and burst out laughing. The shops name was Concho bikes. The reason I laugh at this is because of a story my friend Corey who toured in Japan told me. In Japan they play this game called concho. In this game they sneak up behind someone, put their hands in a gun shape, yell concho, and then poke them up the bum. This is no joke you can youtube it. I told the guy at the shop the story and he said “no you don’t understand we aren’t perverts, concho are pearls here”. Again I just left the conversation at that and went on my way with my new tire rolling smooth.
This is when I realized I had another bike issue. I have a stripped bolt in my front rack. Even better it’s stripped while it’s halfway loose so it makes this awful clunk when you go over a bump.
Another great day of touring. The next 5 are going to be pretty similar because the way the roads are laid out they are spaced in 40 mile gaps so its either do 80miles or 120miles and destroy myself in the hills. With my luck im going to choose the 80 mile days for a while.
Trip Distance: 122km
Ride Time: 5:53hr
Avg. Speed: 20.86km/h
Total Distance: 14461km
Total Ride Time: 669hr
Destination: San Angelo, Texas
With a bursting stomach of dairy (after drinking 2 litres of milk as well) I went to sleep. When I woke up I felt refreshed. I have made a conscious choice to eat healthier then I have been because I have found myself drinking more and more crap. Even in the two days that I have implemented the changes I can feel the difference. Now granted I burn everything off anyways so I still do treat myself at snack time.
Ready to ride this morning I started tarring up the rolling hills. I thought my legs would feel slow from being beaten up in the hills yesterday for the first time in a while but my body surprised me yet again. Now don’t get me wrong I was still slow because the bike is heavy as heck, but I can notice the 16-pound difference particularly in the back end where 14 of the pounds came from. It also meant that I could get the weight lower so the bike handles better. Really things were going smooth.
I was 40 miles into the ride and planned to stop for water in a little homestead town. Things looked promising because I saw 3 businesses like buildings. Well two of them were boarded up so I went to the door of the one that was in business still. On the door was a note “due to lack of business we will only be open from 3pm till 6pm”. Great im screwed again. Thankfully I anticipated my luck and conserved my water properly. But that business really bothered me. If I have a struggling business I am going to do whatever I can to make it money. Promote it more, be open more, and get more people in. It does not make sense to close the doors for such long periods of time.
I got to my first town at mile 65 and had my snack. I knew that the next stop was going to be my rest stop 47 miles away so I topped up on water and took a muffin for the road. I knew I could make it to San Angelo with no lunch because I was ahead of my timeline for the day.
Well I did not make it that far. I had three tubes on me and thought I could limp my wounded front tire to the shop in San Angelo. I was wrong. The tire almost literally blew up. The thread just shattered and punctured every tube even after taping the tire to the gills.
I was really miffed because I want to just have a few days of solid riding. My body is feeling good it’s just everything else that’s going wrong. So I had to flag someone down and catch a life to the shop. In the car I masked my frustration and told stories of the road for the 30-mile journey into San Angelo. That’s right 3 flats in 10 miles, just brutal.
Over the Gps navigator in the car I heard the name of the bike shop and burst out laughing. The shops name was Concho bikes. The reason I laugh at this is because of a story my friend Corey who toured in Japan told me. In Japan they play this game called concho. In this game they sneak up behind someone, put their hands in a gun shape, yell concho, and then poke them up the bum. This is no joke you can youtube it. I told the guy at the shop the story and he said “no you don’t understand we aren’t perverts, concho are pearls here”. Again I just left the conversation at that and went on my way with my new tire rolling smooth.
This is when I realized I had another bike issue. I have a stripped bolt in my front rack. Even better it’s stripped while it’s halfway loose so it makes this awful clunk when you go over a bump.
Another great day of touring. The next 5 are going to be pretty similar because the way the roads are laid out they are spaced in 40 mile gaps so its either do 80miles or 120miles and destroy myself in the hills. With my luck im going to choose the 80 mile days for a while.
Trip Distance: 122km
Ride Time: 5:53hr
Avg. Speed: 20.86km/h
Total Distance: 14461km
Total Ride Time: 669hr
Destination: San Angelo, Texas
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Tour Day 95 Mellow John Sept 28 2010
Here is how my mind works. I had a great day yesterday that I am pretty sure I could not top so I voluntarily pushed on into terrain that I knew was going to be rough and make sure that today did not live up to yesterday.
After a days rest it was tough forcing myself to get up at 5am and push off into the night but I knew that it was something that had to be done. Today was a little different because it was cold. I went out in just my jersey and shorts, which I thought would be enough because I usually start sweating right at 6am. Today however I had to bust my jacket out for the first time since Newfoundland. Infact I was tempted to pull out my winter gloves but I refused to give into this season called fall. The whole situation was kind of funny because the guy at the front desk thought I was completely bonkers for my clothing selection, then he ask where I was from and lost hit. He automatically hoped over the counter with his phone and started snapping pictures of me and everything I touched.
After getting nice and toasty in my jacket I was back riding down the road. The road itself was rough. Not only was it constant up and down but it was built with this different kind of asphalt that was not broken but it just shook the pee out of me for 100kms. When you getting shaken like paint can for that long it just zaps your body. Your going on average 3km/h slower, and your muscles are having to put out so much more effort to go that speed. Adding to the misery was the fact half way through this paris-roubaix style ride was the fact that 80km in I got a front flat. It just figures. I change the rear tire and now the front is acting up. After changing this flat I was feeling pretty negative about the day because I started it with such high motivation, and such high goals for the day.
After the flat it started to get warm so I started to down my water like a camel. Which if I was thinking I would have topped up in the large city I passed at kilometre 100, but I thought I would be able stop at my lunch stop 20km down the road. I even had a back up town that was only 6 miles past my selected lunch stop. Well a plan is awesome if it works. In this case it didn’t and boy did it suck. The heat had now hit at around 90degrees, the terrain was still rolling (a little less mind you), but thankfully the road had smoothed out a bit. I passed the first town I had planned to stop and because the only building it had was a post office. I then passed the second town because it literally had nothing.
So it is now 2pm I have completed 130km on nothing but breakfast and 2 cinnamon buns with very little water because I had to conserve it. I was not having a great time and my body was letting me know because it started to shut down. My legs started to slow down, and my head started to pound with a wicked headache.
I kept riding and hit over 150km with no water on the bike and broke down. My mind was cooked; body, and bike were cooked for the day. I pulled over 10 miles from my rest stop in Mason and was struggling. Seeing I was in trouble John L. Hinnant pulled over on his way to a muzzle loaded shooting competition up north and offered to help me out with a ride to Mason. I could not deny the offer because I was beyond blown up. I actually like talking with strangers like this because you learn that everyone has a story. In this case John decided to tell me about his motorcycle ride up to Alaska that never made it to Alaska because he stopped in BC. Curious I enquired why he stopped. Then john opened up. He was on his motorcycle and saw a native man on the side of the road standing next to his steaming multi coloured pickup truck. John asked if he needed any help. To which the native man named Robert said, “Thank you pale face but it looks like I am going to have to shoot old paint”. John then offered the man a ride to the reserve on the back of the motorcycle. Once at the reserve john was offered a nights stay that turned into a 2-month stay full of dancing and a possible marriage to Roberts’s sister. The only thing john could not remember was where exactly in BC this took place. Just being a cheeky bastard I said, “that sounds an awful lot like the Okanogan”. To which he responded “the more I think about it the more I think it was infact in the Okanogan”. I had a good chuckle at that.
Once dropping me at the rest stop we exchanged cards, which is normal for me. I was just excited to get some food in my stomach finally because by now it was close to 3:30pm a full 9 and a half hours after my last meal. By the time I started to eat I had that blackout feeling again which is the most unpleasant feeling in the world.
When I got a few minutes to myself I took a look at johns card and I was left with a few questions. On the top it says, “dedicated to the art of the spiral tube” and on the bottom hand written it says “God and Texas”. Both of those statement I don’t exactly understand but that does not matter because john was sure a character to remember.
If the rest of the ride is going to be like this it is going to be a mentally exhausting push.
Trip Distance: 155km
Ride Time: 7:43hr
Avg. Speed: 20.16km/h
Total Distance Time: 14339km
Total Ride Time: 664hr
Destination: Mason, Texas
After a days rest it was tough forcing myself to get up at 5am and push off into the night but I knew that it was something that had to be done. Today was a little different because it was cold. I went out in just my jersey and shorts, which I thought would be enough because I usually start sweating right at 6am. Today however I had to bust my jacket out for the first time since Newfoundland. Infact I was tempted to pull out my winter gloves but I refused to give into this season called fall. The whole situation was kind of funny because the guy at the front desk thought I was completely bonkers for my clothing selection, then he ask where I was from and lost hit. He automatically hoped over the counter with his phone and started snapping pictures of me and everything I touched.
After getting nice and toasty in my jacket I was back riding down the road. The road itself was rough. Not only was it constant up and down but it was built with this different kind of asphalt that was not broken but it just shook the pee out of me for 100kms. When you getting shaken like paint can for that long it just zaps your body. Your going on average 3km/h slower, and your muscles are having to put out so much more effort to go that speed. Adding to the misery was the fact half way through this paris-roubaix style ride was the fact that 80km in I got a front flat. It just figures. I change the rear tire and now the front is acting up. After changing this flat I was feeling pretty negative about the day because I started it with such high motivation, and such high goals for the day.
After the flat it started to get warm so I started to down my water like a camel. Which if I was thinking I would have topped up in the large city I passed at kilometre 100, but I thought I would be able stop at my lunch stop 20km down the road. I even had a back up town that was only 6 miles past my selected lunch stop. Well a plan is awesome if it works. In this case it didn’t and boy did it suck. The heat had now hit at around 90degrees, the terrain was still rolling (a little less mind you), but thankfully the road had smoothed out a bit. I passed the first town I had planned to stop and because the only building it had was a post office. I then passed the second town because it literally had nothing.
So it is now 2pm I have completed 130km on nothing but breakfast and 2 cinnamon buns with very little water because I had to conserve it. I was not having a great time and my body was letting me know because it started to shut down. My legs started to slow down, and my head started to pound with a wicked headache.
I kept riding and hit over 150km with no water on the bike and broke down. My mind was cooked; body, and bike were cooked for the day. I pulled over 10 miles from my rest stop in Mason and was struggling. Seeing I was in trouble John L. Hinnant pulled over on his way to a muzzle loaded shooting competition up north and offered to help me out with a ride to Mason. I could not deny the offer because I was beyond blown up. I actually like talking with strangers like this because you learn that everyone has a story. In this case John decided to tell me about his motorcycle ride up to Alaska that never made it to Alaska because he stopped in BC. Curious I enquired why he stopped. Then john opened up. He was on his motorcycle and saw a native man on the side of the road standing next to his steaming multi coloured pickup truck. John asked if he needed any help. To which the native man named Robert said, “Thank you pale face but it looks like I am going to have to shoot old paint”. John then offered the man a ride to the reserve on the back of the motorcycle. Once at the reserve john was offered a nights stay that turned into a 2-month stay full of dancing and a possible marriage to Roberts’s sister. The only thing john could not remember was where exactly in BC this took place. Just being a cheeky bastard I said, “that sounds an awful lot like the Okanogan”. To which he responded “the more I think about it the more I think it was infact in the Okanogan”. I had a good chuckle at that.
Once dropping me at the rest stop we exchanged cards, which is normal for me. I was just excited to get some food in my stomach finally because by now it was close to 3:30pm a full 9 and a half hours after my last meal. By the time I started to eat I had that blackout feeling again which is the most unpleasant feeling in the world.
When I got a few minutes to myself I took a look at johns card and I was left with a few questions. On the top it says, “dedicated to the art of the spiral tube” and on the bottom hand written it says “God and Texas”. Both of those statement I don’t exactly understand but that does not matter because john was sure a character to remember.
If the rest of the ride is going to be like this it is going to be a mentally exhausting push.
Trip Distance: 155km
Ride Time: 7:43hr
Avg. Speed: 20.16km/h
Total Distance Time: 14339km
Total Ride Time: 664hr
Destination: Mason, Texas
Monday, September 27, 2010
Tour Day 94 Bikegasm Definition Mellow Johnnies Sept 27 2010
It was nice to sleep in this morning and not be rudely awoken by a cell phone alarm clock. This is a pet peeve of mine, why can cell phone companies not have a standard ring tone or a standard alarm sound? Because now when I wake up I am forced to feel like I am in the starting gates of a horse race.
Anyways after getting some breakfast in me I was off to the races. I decided that I was going to make the trek into town and visit Mellow Johnnies. Because of New Orleans I was nervous about it because I had built up such an expectation. Almost immediately Austin superseded everything I had thought. Everywhere I turned I had a bike path that took me to where I wanted to go. Even better most of the routes are tree lined and have these really cool businesses lining them. You would ride past a botanical garden and then 10 feet later you would see a Rasta styled grill in this super cool old building. The whole city had a great vibe because it had the perfect mix of new and old.
About the only place where that mix of new and old did not carry over to were the people. Everyone here seems to be very fit and young. After passing through Alabama and Louisiana where you would be hard pressed to find someone under 40 it is a pleasant change.
That brings us to the bike shop. My heart was beating almost as fast as the day I separated from Gregg on day one. I was nervous about what laid behind these doors. I walked in and was greeted by a radio shack TT bike. That automatically put my nerves at ease. Then my tunnel vision opened up and I had one of my few bikegasams. I did not know which bike to look at first because the shop had everything. I mean a hand built Naked bike (from Vancouver Island), a old colnago steel frame with record 11, or the multiple tour de France wining bike hanging around the shop. I saw the stair leading down but I wanted to save that for last. So I walked around the shop and around every corner was something amazing. I mean what other place would you see 12 team radio shack race bikes just hanging from a wall. I got the chance to actually pick up popvitches bike. I fully anticipated in buying a few jerseys because I knew they would have a mellow johnnies one, a Texas one, and a radio shack one. But then I encountered choices because they had about 5 different options for each. It was hard for me to not go completely crazy and end the tour right here by making myself go bankrupt.
When I started to ride out I decided to turn around for no reason, and then I saw it. I had the perfect view of the city line. I could see everything from the old congressional building to the new sky scrapers it was just amazing. Austin would defiantly be a place I would come back to visit and spend some more time.
That being said I still an mot looking forward to west Texas because it is going to be 5 days of just ruthless riding with huge gaps between everything. Hopefully wearing the lone star on my back will give me star power like in rock band and make me rocket up the hills.
To summarize the day I can just say it was amazing. Everywhere I turned and got off the road by 20-50 feet I was left awe struck because this city is just amazing.
Trip Distance: 33.18km
Ride Time: 1:41hr
Avg. Speed: 19.61km/h
Total Distance: 14183km
Total Ride Time: 656hr
Destination: Austin, Texas
Anyways after getting some breakfast in me I was off to the races. I decided that I was going to make the trek into town and visit Mellow Johnnies. Because of New Orleans I was nervous about it because I had built up such an expectation. Almost immediately Austin superseded everything I had thought. Everywhere I turned I had a bike path that took me to where I wanted to go. Even better most of the routes are tree lined and have these really cool businesses lining them. You would ride past a botanical garden and then 10 feet later you would see a Rasta styled grill in this super cool old building. The whole city had a great vibe because it had the perfect mix of new and old.
About the only place where that mix of new and old did not carry over to were the people. Everyone here seems to be very fit and young. After passing through Alabama and Louisiana where you would be hard pressed to find someone under 40 it is a pleasant change.
That brings us to the bike shop. My heart was beating almost as fast as the day I separated from Gregg on day one. I was nervous about what laid behind these doors. I walked in and was greeted by a radio shack TT bike. That automatically put my nerves at ease. Then my tunnel vision opened up and I had one of my few bikegasams. I did not know which bike to look at first because the shop had everything. I mean a hand built Naked bike (from Vancouver Island), a old colnago steel frame with record 11, or the multiple tour de France wining bike hanging around the shop. I saw the stair leading down but I wanted to save that for last. So I walked around the shop and around every corner was something amazing. I mean what other place would you see 12 team radio shack race bikes just hanging from a wall. I got the chance to actually pick up popvitches bike. I fully anticipated in buying a few jerseys because I knew they would have a mellow johnnies one, a Texas one, and a radio shack one. But then I encountered choices because they had about 5 different options for each. It was hard for me to not go completely crazy and end the tour right here by making myself go bankrupt.
When I started to ride out I decided to turn around for no reason, and then I saw it. I had the perfect view of the city line. I could see everything from the old congressional building to the new sky scrapers it was just amazing. Austin would defiantly be a place I would come back to visit and spend some more time.
That being said I still an mot looking forward to west Texas because it is going to be 5 days of just ruthless riding with huge gaps between everything. Hopefully wearing the lone star on my back will give me star power like in rock band and make me rocket up the hills.
To summarize the day I can just say it was amazing. Everywhere I turned and got off the road by 20-50 feet I was left awe struck because this city is just amazing.
Trip Distance: 33.18km
Ride Time: 1:41hr
Avg. Speed: 19.61km/h
Total Distance: 14183km
Total Ride Time: 656hr
Destination: Austin, Texas
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