72 miles, 896 feet climbed
Another day with significant crosswinds. My average speed increased from 10.9 mph to 12.3 mph and there was less climbing. The trucks got over into the fast lane whenever they could, which helped with the wind effects they can generate. I had a decent baby back ribs dinner at the pub next to our hotel, with one oddity–the coleslaw was swimming in thousand island dressing or something very similar. I’ve never had it that way before and don’t recommend it.
We’re spending one day in Texas and one day in Oklahoma. Tomorrow its Kansas for a few days. There are two towns named Texahoma straddling the Texas-Oklahoma border. To further confuse things, Texahoma,, OK is in Oklahoma’s Texas County. It doesn’t take much time to travel through this metropolis, even on a bicycle.
Memo to Texas road designers–don’t place the rumble strip in the middle of the shoulder where you want cyclists to ride. Portions of the highway out of Dalhart left us with a strip less wide than our hips to ride on. Couple that with crosswinds and a 2 inch drop onto soft soils on the outside of the “lane” and it is a recipe for an accident. Move the rumble strip closer to the white line or make the shoulder wider, if you care at all about cyclists (the general opinion is that Texas does not care).
