Today was our longest day of the ride, 122 miles. It was mostly flat with a couple of small climbs. The wind could have been better, it was pretty much a cross wind although we got a bit of a tail wind now and then. I was a total of 9 hours in the saddle and 11.5 hours total. A very long day!
The day started out a little cool but it was sunny. I didn't wear a jacket because it was supposed to warm up quickly, it did! It eventually got to 95 degrees. We were in the desert for about 10 miles then it changed to farmland for the next 112 miles. I started out with Bruce but eventually he moved on and I started riding with Meiri. We were riding along through the town of Manzanola and passed a market with a sign outside that said cold cherries. We immediately turned in and bought about a pound which we ate on the spot. Delicious!! We passed our first of three cattle feed lot at about mile 51. I did not take a picture because it is pretty sad to see all the cows just standing around waiting to get fat enough to be turned into hamburger. This is truly flat land out here. After three weeks of scenery with mountains all around, it takes a little getting used to seeing nothing on the horizon. I guess I better get used to it.
We passed some interesting abandoned houses along the way and an old school house which was built in 1899. They are trying to raise funds to restore it.
At about mile 85 Meiri and I stopped at a Dairy Queen for ice cream. We figured we had earned it by then. Marilyn, Bob and Carole soon joined us. It was a great treat!
We soldiered on towards the town of Hasty and our last sag stop of the day. It was outside a little grocery store. I went inside to use the facilities and there was the strangest collection of local characters you would want to see sitting around a table doing nothing on a sunday afternoon.
We left the sag and rode the final 20 miles into Lamar. We are staying at the Best Western - Cow Palace. Not sure why it is named Cow Palace, no cows!
Tomorrow is another long day, 107 miles!
1 comment:
Leo, Sounds like a great adventure... I wish I had half the stamina to make such a journey.. I just don't think that my back side could sit on a bike seat for 2500 miles!! Wow.. Good luck, I'm sure the trip will have many wonderful stories for you to tell.
Be safe!!
Tim
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