Day 19 – Cross Country Bike Tour – Dalhart, TX to Guymon, OK
72 miles, +389/-1255 feet
Average speed with the tailwind today: 21 mph
After the past few long cross country days, we slept in this morning and didn’t mount-up until 8:30.
The wind is still blowing from the right direction and pushing the pace. The air is warmer today, but we are cool now in nice hotel rooms and looking forward to a great dinner together with more good conversation this evening. The pool, sauna, and even the weight room look inviting. Oh, and we’re now in Oklahoma!
Ride long – ride strong (er). It just happens.
Stronger is a good word to describe what happens to a cross country rider. When you get back home to ride with your “home boys” (or girls) you are now the fast one in the group. The cross country experience is a sort of “training camp” that cannot be duplicated.
Silos become common as they rise in the distance and then dwarf everything around them. For those who have spent most of their lives in cities their size is surprising. And, the noise from trucks being loaded by huge augers is strange and loud.