Wednesday, March 18, 2015

It was a good riding day today.  It was also a good day to remind myself that the best riding happens when I feel the rhythm of the bike and what the road and bike will allow.  I usually start the day with a goal of some kind, which isn't a bad thing.  But the wind, rain, hills, energy available and the like are what allows me to obtain whatever goal I set.  It is a good idea to have somewhat of a goal, but I get into trouble when I try and stick too rigidly to that goal.  It threatened rain for most of the morning, but only a little bit came down.  It was cold, but without much wind.  The shoulder of the road was in great shape, so I ended up doing about 14 miles in the first hour.  Then the shoulder changed into something a lot rougher with lots of rolling resistance.  So I went from thinking I was going to breeze through the day, to thinking I was going to be on the road forever.  That changed several times throughout the day.  Eventually I got myself to calm down and just take what the road gave. Once the interstate split into the road that went to Dallas and the road that went to San Antonio (the one that I am taking) it got a LOT quieter. Most of the traffic went to Dallas.  There were stretches with no traffic and no noise.  It was great to be able to look around and relax a lot more.  It was 71 miles all together and  I find myself in a small town called Balmorhea.  They tout themselves as being the "oasis" of West Texas.  Tomorrow on to Ft. Stockton ( about 50 miles).  Revised forecast is for it to rain Friday afternoon and all day Saturday.  Maybe we will get lucky and it will pass us by.  Still hanging out with Art from Cinncinnati. Doing well, but very tired.  Til later.