It was a cold 53 degrees when we gathered for oatmeal and scrambled eggs out of the trailer before 8:00 a.m.
The riders got away for the 111 mile ride as soon as they could safely see and be seen. Safety flashers were flashing on the rear of most of the bikes. As the sun rose, it painted the canyon walls shades of pink, turquoise, gray and lavender. Marge said she saw multiple sunrises as she would crest one hill and then descend and come up the next.
I drove the SAG Wagon for the first 60 miles. We had all been admonished to eat, hydrate and stretch every 10 miles on this longest ride of the trip. For four of the women, this would be their first "century," or 100-mile ride. This would actually be a century plus 11!
Marge and I knew we were not capable of such a feat, so we were each happy to ride half. At the first SAG stop, a young cyclist we had met the day before, who is going across the country with her fiancé to raise money for MS, stopped to ask for some wound care. She had gouged her leg on her gears, and had a nasty gash. We have a well-stocked first-aid kit in the SAG Wagon, so I was tickled to be able to clean and dress her leg, and send the two on their way. She said, "Some of the women back there said you were just the person I needed, and my fiancé can't stand the sight of blood." I did notice that he stood a good 20 feet down the shoulder from us!
At the 60 mile stop, where our picnic lunch of salmon salad and tabouli was served, I took off to ride the remaining 51 miles into Del Rio. It was 78 degrees when I began.
The most impressive and unforgettable site of this day was the very green Pecos River. I thought "our river," the Guadalupe, in the Texas Hill Country was the greenest I had ever seen, but the Pecos is the color of jade.
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| The gorgeous, green Pecos River and canyon wall.. |
After riding about 35 miles, the temperature had reached 93 degrees. It felt much hotter than that! On the road I had squirted water from my water bottle all over my shoulders and back. At my 35 mile stop, I joined the rest of the cyclists who invited Marge to pour a half gallon of water over us.
We had a little reprieve from the chip seal highway on about eight of the miles. Here, the road was concrete and smooth as butter. About four miles out from the SAG stop, I was finishing one hill and preparing to ascend the next when I discovered I couldn't shift down from the big chain ring, the hardest gear, the one that is reserved for descents or flat rides. I had to ride in this gear for 12 miles. It was hard work and slow going up and down the rolling highway into Del Rio. I had to work so hard in that heat, I almost felt like I had done all 111 miles!
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| This is the size of the gravel used to create the dreaded chip seal roads. |
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| Tar is spread on the road bed, and then this large gravel is spread over it and rolled down to stick to the tar. Riding a bicycle on it is most tiring and unpleasant, and we have to endure this across the entire state of Texas. |
Carol, our guide, was not able to fix the shifter, so she will take it to the bike shop in Del Rio in the morning and I will drive the SAG Wagon. The next good bike shop isn't until Kerrville on Thursday.
My frustration was soothed by a wonderful care package from the Anti Monkey Butt Powder company, including a great ball cap with their logo on it and a fun card from our children with a detour sign on the front. So perfectly appropriate for this day.
We had pizza in the motel's lobby area since we were the only registered guests. I could hardly swallow mine. I tried to console myself by repeating that no one had died, it wasn't cancer and this was just a broken machine. I tried to focus on the amazing accomplishment of the 11 women who
did ride the entire distance, but I still went to bed on the verge of tears.
1,373 miles behind us. 1,727 to pedal. 34 days to go.
