Route: Canadian, Texas to Liberal, Kansas (Central Christian Church)
Distance: 93.2 miles
Riding Time: 5 hours: 5 minutes
Average Speed: 18.2 mph!!! (yeah, that is a definite new record for me)
Max: 35.3 mph
Weather: Amazing, fabulous, breathtakingly wonderful, yodel-inducing, yipeee-ti-yi-yay tailwind of up to 20mph (at least)! Wow! Temp. got up to 95 degrees by the time we rolled (or rather, flew) into town. High of 100 today. I didn't mind at all.
Extra-Special Bonus Stats
Current Elevation: 2835 feet
Total Elevation gained since this morning: 388 feet
Population of Canadian, TX: 21,000
Today we biked through 3 states: corner of Texas, across the panhandle of Oklahoma and on into Kansas. But, this morning, before we were even 2 miles out from our home-for-the-night in Canadian, TX, we saw the first sign for Liberal, KS: 95 miles. I decided at that point that either there was nothing between that point and Liberal, or else some wayward highway crew person just put it there to torture us. And the signs just kept appearing after that: 84 miles, 73 miles, 63 miles... but somewhere in the middle of that, something truly amazing happened. The wind picked up.
As it happens sometimes, we were headed due north for most of the day. As it also happens sometimes, the weather forecast from yesterday was even better than predicted and we had at least a 15-20mph tailwind for almost the entire way! It was glorious!! I really can't express in words how much fun I had today! It was just one of those days when I want to bring all of my friends and family and even frenemies out with whatever they have to ride and show y'all exactly why I might not be quite as crazy as I appear. Furthermore, what isn't to love? Everyone might just end up in a laughing fit (as happened today) upon turning into a crosswind for a mile and slowing down from 28mph to a grinding 10 as we quickly realized our completely unfair advantage. It is hard to keep biking when you are doubled over laughing while wavering on the road like drunken bikers in a gale storm of epic proportions. Good. Times.
Also, today was wonderful because I got to ride with Kurt today! Usually all I see of him is his helmet disappearing into the distance after hearing him say calmly, "On your left." while he flies past a line of bikers. But Kurt also has a really big heart... or else I'm just getting faster. But, at some point this morning, it became clear that because of a whole lot of different factors (downhill, nice wind, delicious oatmeal cereal breakfast, well-iced knees, 2 of the leaders giving us a 30 minute head start, who knows...), I was keeping up with some of the pack leaders for a little while. And so I got to ride with Kurt today and Midas joined us at the end and it was so great! I know Kurt probably could have gone faster, but it meant so much to me to have him hang out, bike with me, and not make me feel small at all for going a speed that worked for me (and kept me movin' too). Ok, so at one point I did tell him I needed to slow up a little because I couldn't sustain our 25mph pace. So we slowed to 23.5 and off we went... until about 5 minutes later when he pointed out that we were now going 28mph. Ooops! Oh well.
In any case I can't believe I get to spend an entire summer doing this, meeting great people along the way and, in the middle of all that wonderfulness, helping to raise funds for a great cause. Life is beautiful! I am in love with the world! And now I am also very sleepy and need to go to bed before I have a chance to raid the kitchen for like the 10th time tonight. So, goodnight! Sweet dreams! And favorable winds to you all!
 |
| Texas morning on a big, big hill. |
 |
| Texas Black Angus cattle on a big, big hill. |
 |
| And our home for the next 2 nights! (Sorry, no pictures from between Texas and this... just too busy biking!) |
No comments:
Post a Comment