Often when I begin in the morning, before the pain sets in, everything is perfect: houses, gates on the houses, sky and air, pine trees, the vast desert, both plowed and growing fields all shine. I'm delighted to start my day and as happy as an apple on a tree in Vermont on a perfect fall day.
In CA many people thought I was homeless, two guys asked if I was. In NM & AZ many questioned my sanity. I have also met several people who where thrilled by the idea and one guy who was driving cars from CA to FL and had seen me a couple of days before on I-10 stop to tell me how amazing he thought it was to bike so far. When I told him I was headed to FL we had a good laugh about him getting there long before me.
Today, Monday I did 32 miles into Van Horn with some climbs, but it was a short day and I'm feeling good with less pain than in the two previous days. I think I might have worked through some of my pain issues. By the way I ordered a new seat today and had it sent to Alpine. Tomorrow, Tuesday, I have to do 75 miles to Alpine. It is going to be a long day.
Highway I-10 is on the right in the first photo below, the highway on the left is the old road which has paralleled I-10, with a few interruptions, for two days now. That is, I-10 sans the thousands of trucks and cars and the endless noise. Yesterday (Sunday), as I started out on I-10 the trucks were screaming past at 80+ miles an hour and they were so loud they hurt my ears. A couple of times they would hit the rumble strips close by and it temporarily deafened me. And then I noticed the parallel road and got on it immediately. It did not soften the hills but the noise was greatly lessened and in two days I have shared my road with five trucks and other than that I have had a private two lane highway.
If the water gets up to the top of the gauge, water on the road is no longer the issue, you now have a lake with a road running under it.
Sunday I made 40 miles with 80% of it up hill. Not steep but persistent. I'm sure I looked and I know I felt like an old guy struggling very slowly up a mountain. By the time I got to the top every muscle in my body hurt. As I rode down into Sierra Blanca, another dusty little TX town, I was determined not to stay in yet another awful hotel like the one in Fort Hancock. So as I rode into Sierra Blanca I was concerned there would be no good options. Despite how tired I was I would have ridden 30 more miles if necessary. I was was traumatized by that crappy hotel. As it turns out there was a nice clean little place by the I-10 ramp. I went in early, around 1 or 2, and soaked in a tub for an hour and laid around until 11 am on Monday when rode 32 miles into Van Horn, where I am not and there are many nice hotels.
 |
| This was on a rest area table. |
 |
| The landscape has remained about the same except that the mountains on creeping up on me. |
No comments:
Post a Comment