Spoking Up

Monday February 9th. Good morning from Austin, Texas.
A long time has passed since my last entry here because I have been riding
across the wide open plains and hill country of western Texas.
My route consists of mostly back roads which are lightly traveled by
vehicles and sparsely populated, with towns being a rarity. Keeping my
water containers filled has been a priority.
This last leg of my journey has been hard and a lot has happened since the
last time I was on a computer.
I have climbed the highest mountains on my trip: Emory Pass in New Mexico
was 8,828 feet but fortunately the weather was clear and the road was free
of snow. However, the wind was howling at the top of the pass and the
descent down the other side was possibly the coldest I’ve ever felt in my
life. I have had days that I’ve traveled over 90 miles and felt strong and
one day that I rode 21 miles and seriously thought that I couldn’t make
the last couple of miles. I had my first flat tire, I lost my camelback,
which is an important component for my water supply and I had a minor
accident which resulted in sore muscles for a few days and some damage to
my bike which has since been fixed at a bike shop in Austin after the RV
that bumped me off the road fortunately stopped and gave me a ride. Ending
my trip was a possibility at this point because my surgically repaired
back and artifical hips felt sore and out of whack but I seem to be
recovering nicely. The ride through El Paso was particularly difficult:
the urban sprawl goes on for what seems like forever with Juarez, Mexico
on the right and the busy freeways of El Paso on the left. The air over
Juarez was the dirtiest and foulest that I have ever seen. I covered a lot
of miles on that day in an attempt to get as far away from this area as
fast as I possibly could.
Riding through West Texas consisted of a series of very trying and
exhausting days. Taking a day off, which is important to rest and regain
my strength, wasn’t an option because I was camping off the side of the
road and not wanting to linger in any one spot.
I have to thank Shannon who sent me to her friend Maria’s home in Austin
which is where I am now, recovering my sore body and waiting out the
windy, rainy weather before pushing through the rest of Texas and entering
Louisiana. Maria has been very patient and she is letting me stay until
the weather clears and my sore body is recovered from my accident. I have
made a good friend here in Austin. I badly needed this time to recover and
regain my focus for what I’m considering to be the final push to Florida.
After Austin I should be in Louisiana in a week or less and then I believe
that the road is mostly flat for the rest of the way. The distance that I
have left is roughly equivilant to what I rode from Port Hardy to
Mendocino on the first spoking up ride six and a half years ago: a piece
of cake!
My body is rested, my desire to continue riding is back and I can see a
light at the end of the tunnel.
Thanks to everybody for their nice comments and words of encouragement:
they mean a lot to me and help give me the desire to go on.
Happy trails….