Day 11 – Wednesday 04th May 2011 – Tucumcari NM – Dalhart TX

It was another short day due to us crossing the border into Texas and the clocks moving forward another hour. With fine, warm and windy conditions, it was also a “big” day with the big boys hammering and only the need for the big chain ring all day.

With luggage load scheduled at 8am, we again had a leisurely breakfast just after 7am at the hotel. This consisted of cereal, pastries, eggs, sausages, orange juice along with waffles, gravy & biscuits, bagels, toast and coffee if desired. We left the hotel just after 8am under a clear blue sky, a mild temperature of 16°C and a light tail wind.

The first couple of miles retraced yesterday’s route into town and were slightly downhill. With a number of intersections, we kept our speed to around 18-19mph. After 3 miles, we were on Route 54E for the day which was initially smooth blacktop bitumen with the wind at our back. We were joined by a rider training for next month’s USA cycling National Champs but we did not want to race hard. After a few miles, we were hauled up and had to ride back into the wind to be told to take care on the road given its narrowness and our speed. Despite this, we still cut out the 24.9 miles to the first sag in very little over an hour. A number of riders decided to try and crack the 4 hour / 100 mile (century) mark but with 113 miles and 35mph head winds forecast for tomorrow, we just continued to soft pedal.

Patrick checked his frame at the sag and found some marks which looked like scratches or possible cracks. Given we were in no hurry, we waited for the cycle mechanic to arrive to review the marks. He said they looked o.k. so we carried on.

The wind waxed and waned and at times we were rolling up false flats at over 35mph (56km/h) with very little effort. The mile marker posts sure flashed past quickly. 

After around 54 miles, we reached the New Mexico / Texas state border and stopped for photos against both signs. 

Lunch was a short further 11 miles down the road and after that, the only scenery was of cattle feed lots where cattle are grain fed for fattening before being processed.

Slowing down as traffic increased as we approached town, taking into account the hour time change, we reached the hotel at 1:42pm after just 3hrs 54m on the bike for the 154.1km journey at an average speed of 39.5km/h. This was a good average considering we soft pedaled most of the day and the course rolled up and down with a net altitude loss of less than 200ft for the day! Some guys supposedly hammered out their 100 miles (161km) in around 3hrs 45m with other riders falling short.

At the hotel, we were happy that our key worked as we have had two previous ones not work. However, Patrick was then treated to some true Texas hospitality. Deciding to do his laundry, he went to the office and bought some quarters to operate the washing machine and some laundry powder. Proceeding to the laundry, he put everything in the machine to then discover it was only a dryer and they had no washing machine! When he returned to the office, the staff member said that is right, they don’t currently have a washing machine. Patrick asked why she had just sold him quarters and laundry powder if they did not have a washing machine. That question remains unanswered! She then offered to do the laundry in her machine but wanted Patrick’s laundry powder. Patrick told her he would like to give her the laundry powder but it was in the dryer! Anyway, after some effort, the laundry was washed and dried. At least one other cyclist was also sold some quarters to operate the non-existent washing machine and some laundry powder. We are not in New Mexico anymore!

We then went to the Dairy Queen next to the hotel for a milkshake but this was another Texas debacle. Despite having at least four or five visible staff on the floor, only one initially seemed interested in working while the others tried to hide and avoid work. As such, service was very slow. Eventually we received our milkshakes which we felt we had earnt for the fast ride today.

With the 2pm slide show timeslot having proved too optimistic, it eventually started about 3:30pm. The ABB staff has taken hundreds of photos which they plan to sell to the riders at the end of the ride. Most photos are ones the riders cannot take themselves and show a good cross section of the scenery ridden through. This was followed by a drive train maintenance and cleaning session before rap at 5pm.

Tomorrow’s route is also straight forward but the winds are still forecast to be strong headwinds all the way. As such, breakfast is at 6am and luggage load just after dawn at 6:45am to maximise the available daylight for riding. It sounds like another long day and fresh legs will be a bonus.  

For dinner, we joined a group of other riders at Hodie’s Bar-B-Q about 1km from the hotel for bbq meat and Texas toast followed by peach cobbler.

Numbers for the day:

Departure time: 8:08am
Distance:  95.8 miles (154.1km)
Riding time: 3hrs 54m
Average speed: 24.4mph (39.5km/h)
Maximum speed: 42.1mph (67.7km/h)
Vertical climbing: 2,044ft (623m)
Temperature range: 16-31°C
Arrival time: 1:42pm (clocks moved forward one hour)
Weekly (Monday – Sunday mileage) to date: 341.2 miles (549.0km)
Total kilometres ridden to date / approximate kilometres to go: 1,903km / 3,659km
Rolling last seven days total kilometres ridden including today: 1,160km