We left Balmorhea, Texas at 6:45 AM after a hearty breakfast of oatmeal cooked in the microwave. It was still dark, but I was able to follow the white line on the side of the road until I got to the I-10 freeway and by that time the sun was starting to peak over the horizon. Even though it was 55 degrees, it was too warm to be riding with my jacket on. My destination for the morning hours was to reach Fort Stockton where I would meet up for lunch with Libby. The morning hours went very well as all conditions were as perfect as one could ask, and 4 hours after leaving I had ridden 52 miles.
We had lunch and I took off to add 25-30 more miles to make it so that by Saturday we could make it to Ozona; where we will take Sunday off. At 67 miles the good old wind started to blow and drove my progress down to the good old 10 mph. I didn’t have to suffer too long since at 77 miles I ended up with flat number four. I had picked up a “Texas thistle” thorn in the front tire. I had just got off the bike to walk it to an area that I could get behind a guardrail to repair the tire when my great rescue angel, Libby, showed up. I decided to call it a day and we drove back to Fort Stockton where we will spend the night. In the process of turning around, I discovered we were entering one of the windiest areas in Texas. Much to our surprise, we were able to view well over 1,000 wind generators on the ridges of both sides of the road.
Today’s traffic consisted of many bucket trucks that I suspect were headed to Houston to help restore the loss of electricity in the area. The trucks loaded with generators continue to be headed that way also.
Trivia = On the flat I pedal at 80 rpm, in one mile it takes 380 revolutions. In a typical 7-hour day I make about 34,000 pedal strokes. The bike moves just about 14 feet per stroke. As you might guess all of that depends on hill and other terrain covered each day
Total Miles Pedaled = 1142
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