The hotel was a little old, but the staff were great. We had water, fruit, snacks, rags (for cleaning our bikes) and even wine waiting for us upon arrival. The bad thing about the hotel is that it is right next to the railway tracks. And the tracks cross over a major road right by the hotel. And the trains are required to blow their whistle when approaching the crossing. Our rooms would actually shake with each passing train and the whistle blow would wake the dead. The trains ran all through the night. Funny thing is... I didn't hear any riders complain about it. We all talked about it waking us up throughout the night, but we're so exhausted that we're all right back to sleep.
Luggage load was a 6:15am. Considering the time change, we were loading a full two hours earlier than yesterday. When I opened my door at 6:10am, I immediately noticed four things: 1) it was pitch black, 2) it was cold, 3) the wind was howling, and 4) nobody had changed that baby. We loaded our luggage and walked our bikes a quarter mile down the road to a restaurant - no riding in the dark.
By the time we finished breakfast, it was light and everyone was ready to go. That's when I realized that I had two left gloves. You just don't ride without gloves - mainly because your palms will blister by the time the day is finished. Mike let me use a pair of his, and I was able to leave with the group. We almost immediately separated into two groups, and I was with the faster group. Jay led us out, but set a pace that no one was able to match. Finally, Russ took off after him - not sure if he ever caught him though.
The rest of us (there were nine) formed a double-line circular paceline. We had an incredible crosswind, and this type of paceline reduced its impact. There are two lines of cyclists riding in parallel. The line on the left is slightly faster that the line on the right. Once the first rider on the left passes the first rider on the right, that rider peels off and joins the line on the right. About that same time, the last rider on the right moves to the left line and accelerates. When the paceline is working right, it is a constant circular motion of cyclists and looks like a dance. We were able to travel much faster than anyone of us could on our own. We could only have this double line of cyclists because Texas has a very wide shoulder. Unlike smaller pacelines, the spacing between cyclists increases - we're not two inches apart; more like a foot or more.
We rode in this pattern for nearly two hours. It is a great way to travel, but requires tremendous teamwork and concentration. We were making great time, and I was able to hang with these fast riders. I don't know if it is the new wheels or if I've just rode myself into shape, but I'm riding much faster. We were traveling at about 25mph - a great speed considering the 20-30mph crosswinds. When we pulled into the first SAG, Jay was there (see below) and said "Way to go dude! If you come in first again today, we're going to make you pee in a cup." (a drug testing reference)
After the first SAG, we started back on pacelining. Unfortunately, we had lost Wolfgang and Nico. Both have their bikes set up for time trialing (i.e., solo riding) and wanted to ride on their own. We were down to a group of seven, and the work was a bit harder. I was able to hang, but the speed was picking up. Once we hit about 31mph, my left thigh was starting to give out on me. I had to drop back. However, I had ridden with these guys for over 50 miles and was very pleased.
Right about this point, tragedy struck in that my Garmin Cycle Computer's display mysteriously cracked. The computer was a gift from work (thanks Crystal and Sheila), and is a slick piece of machinery. It shows my speed, my cadence, my heartrate, rate of climb, altitude and a lot of other cool statistics. Furthermore, after the ride you download to your computer and the GPS element lets you see where you rode. It does so much more than I just described, and it is my favorite toy. I believe I can get it fixed, but I will probably need to ship it back to Garmin. Bottom line: I will not know how much climbing we've done each day. I have a simplier back-up computer (the one in yesterday's pic) that will get me through the ride.
Scenery today was just vast open pasture land. We're starting to see oil rigs and modern windmills. Wind today was a real problem. If it wasn't a crosswind, it was a headwind. Like I said, it was blowing at 20-30mph ... and we had gusts of 50mph. The toughest section was the last ten miles into the lunch SAG (at mile 82). I caught up with the fast group (they had stopped for something or another). The paceline was gone; the wind was just too tough and pushing everyone around. Plus, we had hit the big climbs of the day. So we were spread out over about a two mile stretch.
After lunch, it was just a 30 mile ride to the motel. I started out with Jay and Karen, but just couldn't keep up the pace when we hit the first hill. I just don't have a climber's physique. I need to be 30 pounds lighter. While we're at it, can I be a bit taller as well? Don't think either is going to happen. Mike joined up with Jay and Karen, and while I couldn't keep up with them, I could keep them in my sights. They paused for some photos, and the four of us rode into Pampa together. It is another pretty clean agricultural town. I peeled off a couple of miles before the motel when I saw an ice cream parlor.
I didn't come in first, but I was very pleased with today's ride. It was great riding in the group. I know I keep saying it, but... they're all a great group of people. I was with a great group last year, and I lucked out again this year.
Tonight, we're at another Best Western and again they had drinks and rags waiting for us. A bunch of us had dinner next door at a steak place where we learned that this horrible wind is a constant. The staff there said that they get used to it. Tomorrow, it is another "short" day.
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