Today’s 60 mile ride from
Sanderson to Langtry was maybe our toughest yet as a result of the 20+mph
headwind. But, we muddled through and are hoping to have retained some energy
for what will be essentially the same ride tomorrow.
We left this morning before
sunrise, planning to get a head start on the wind. That plan was
semi-successful. The wind was waiting for us as soon as we pulled out onto the
road, but we still managed to power through the first 20 miles relatively
painlessly. Last night’s gas station dinner of frozen burritos, mac &
cheese, canned fruit, and chocolate milk must have agreed with us.
When the sun finally did rise,
about 30 minutes into the ride, everything was a hazy, eerie gray through the
dense cloud cover. It was like that for hours. I commented a couple of times
that, aside from the occasional passing truck, it felt like we were riding on
the moon.
The wind was intense and it did
not let up the entire day. I had trouble drafting because the wind seemed to be
everywhere all at once and the random gusts were bouncing my bike all over the road.
If we weren’t pushing forward, we were moving backwards. Even on steep,
downhill stretches, we couldn’t shift gears or stop pedaling because we were
still fighting the wind.
The terrain was rolling hills the
entire ride and there was much more climbing than (at least I’d) anticipated. While
that didn’t help from an effort standpoint, it did make for a beautiful ride
when we had the energy to look around.
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| Dark start out of Sanderson |
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| Rolling hills after exiting Sanderson Canyon |
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