6/17/00
Aspermont, TX
Mileage 78.7 miles
Max. 25.5 mph
Avg. 13.86 mpg

Rain, Rain Go Away, repeated over and over, did not work today. Wind, Wind Go Away, also repeated over and over, did finally succeed at turning off 10-20 mph gusts the last hour of the ride.

The plan was to ride to Haskell where the phone operator said two hotels were listed. One number was disconnected and no one answered the other. As a guy said in a cafe in Jayton whom I asked about motels, "No answer is not a good sign." So the ride ended early in Aspermont significantly short of my planned mileage for the day.

Trouble is I've arranged to meet with the Dallas-Fort Worth UK Alum Club on Monday evening. I'm not sure I can make up the loss. Depending on motels does restrict where I stop for the day. Camping out in Farmer Brown's pasture is not an option, but maybe I need to be more inventive at finding lodging. Several bikers have written about staying in the local jailhouse when they get desperate.

Sun up is late here in mid-Texas (6:30 am) so its difficult to get a truly early start as was the case in California where I tried to get going no later than 5:30 am to avoid the heat. It was cold this morning and never warmed above 70 all day.

Rain started while I was eating cakes in the restaurant where I ate dinner last night. The night crew was an all Latino cast with a Mexican menu. In contrast, the morning crew was all Anglo with traditional breakfast fare. The wind was kicking up too, and when it started slogging down I pulled off under a store canopy and considered whether the smarter choice would be to go back to my hotel room and crawl back into bed. Sheer inertia won out and when the downpour slowed to a drizzle, I slipped back out on to the street for a mile or so. Another pour forced me onto someone's porch where I waited a few minutes until slow rain resumed. I figured that I would only get wet, besides I didn't want to disappoint the Dallas alums.

The route from Post to Haskell is comprised of long rolling hills. They flattened out to some extent after about four hours. Despite the rain I wasn't cold, but I wasn't exactly warm either, not with 20 mph head winds plus my own 10+.

Before starting out from Post I did the usual asking around about the next water and food. Claremont was the next town, 32 miles away. I expected a gas station but found only an abandoned one. Jayton was the next town 14 miles further on. Some how that name did not inspire confidence that I would find it better off.

A customer in one of the two restaurants in Jayton asked if I was the guy he had seen on TV the night before who was cycling across the country. All the media work has made for a number of such recognizings. The same thing happened in a rest stop bathroom in New Mexico. A guy had seen one of the three TV interviews I did in Roswell. People wave just to wave but some let down their windows as say they saw me on TV. It's all part of my 15 minutes of fame.

Shortly after Swensen, another town in name only, my rear tire picked up a wire strand that caused a slow leak. I was hoping to limp into Aspermont but it became worse and I stopped at a picnic shelter. All of the flats so far were from the same source: wire strands from radial tires. There is no good way to avoid them without adding weight to the tires using a liner.

This evening as I came into Aspermont, a group of 20 or so horses and riders were gathered in the middle of the road. They were the tail end (intended) of the annual rodeo parade. A man who was speaking loudly and directing things said I would need to take a side route away from the horses--he thought my bike was so strange it might frighten them. I think horses are smart enough to place me riding a recumbent into the category of human on a machine and nothing to get riled about. The side route wasn't too far out of my way so I obeyed his directions.

Later I attended the rodeo and got lessons in that sport from one Earle Corbin, an Oklahoman with one too many Budwisers. Mr. Corbin was a friend of the announcer and farmed in OK. He asked that I inform my audience (you) about the plight of rural America. Based on what I have read he is correct in saying rural life and farming are in critical straights. What I'm seeing bears that out.

Tomorrow may be much like today with head winds and rain. If so, I'll just need to make the best of it.