Well as I mentioned the last two days of 96 miles and 109 miles took alot out of the tour riders. As strange as it might seem, I was looking forward to today's relatively 'short' 73 mile ride. The only unknown was again the headwinds. Winds for Dalhart and Guymon were forecast to be NE thru ENE 8 to 15 knots which again meant basically a headwind all day.
We woke to a comfortable 55 degrees but with an ominous overcast sky. 50% chance of thunderstorms were on the menu for Guymon after 3:00 pm local time so we all wanted to get rolling. Mike K and I decided to again work together and we rode our 2-man pace line basically the entire route. Thankfully the headwinds were not too bad and we completed the ride in 4 Hr 38 min averaging 15.6 mph. This road was straight as an arrow for 70 miles and very flat; just a gentle decline from start to finish. Contrast to the previous 4 days of total climbs of 4597, 3668, 3307, and 1680 vertical feet, today we only climbed 243 feet!! All in all a pretty easy day.
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| Signs of the agribusiness that supports the area are abundant. |
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| Mike K and I stop to pose with one of the locals |
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These are rolling irrigation contraptions; fixed on one end that supplies water and the rest of it motors around in a large circle. Look at the satellite map included below and you can see the green circular fields.
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| Michele was waiting as we crossed into Oklahoma!! Our 5th state!!!! |
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| Departing the OK border for 25 more miles to hotel in OK |
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We also began to see large fields of wheat. I'm sure more to come.
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Click here to see details on today's ride.
Day 19: Dalhart TX to Guymon OK by xctom2012 at Garmin Connect - Details
5 comments:
Tom,
If they ever tear down the Big Cowboy, there won't be much to see on the way to Guymon.
I have an assignment for you. How far is it from the first sight of a grain elevator on the horizon until you arrive there?
RSRO,
Jim
Tom, Really enjoying your writing. Congrats on the 1000 miles.
Tom, sounds like you are having fun. The Mysterious Staircase at the Loretto Chapel sounds real interesting (now I have to Wikipedia it). Keep on trekking. pauls
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him,and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6
We are following along on your trip and thinking about you. Know that you are not alone out there as times get tough. Looks like Michelle is having a really nice vacation ;-) Diane G.
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