Dalhart, TX to Guymon, OK 73 miles

Crop duster near the Texas border. We did see it in action.

Having our pics made under "Big Tex" at Stratford, Tx
This here is oil country.

Windmills, here the wind always blows.


Oklahoma is OK!

Yes, he ate every bite!

The days are starting to run together. I can remember my room number from yesterday, but had to try my key in 4 doors already. Thank goodness that the key only fits one door. As Greg says, today was a "recovery" ride even though we rode 73 miles into a headwind. Our definition of a difficult ride has changed over the past 3 weeks. We are all a bunch of crazies. It is fun being crazy!

Most of the riders inhibitions have gone and so we talk a lot about food, tires, our bikes and our bottoms. And blog of course. We think of sleep, eat, recovery, bike. sleep, eat, recovery, bike. repeat process again. You can judge a rides difficulty by the average response to a question after the ride. If its a hard ride you will usually get a 1 to 3 word response. Yes, No, I don't know, uh huh, or just a head nod. We now share laundry which makes life a little easier. I am posting a pic of Harold's lunch which is a 5 or 6 egg omelet and 2 biscuits the size of a small pie. Anytime you stop at a truckstop in Oklahoma, you are going to get plenty to eat. Plenty of stares too if you happen to still be wearing your bike outfit. Not a lot of guys wear Spandex in these parts.....at least not and get away with it.

We did see our first pumpjack on the tour today. Thats for pumping oil for those of you not familiar. Yesterday we saw our first grain elevator on tour and our first flat land. Irrigation systems, cattle, grain......what else is there. Oh yeah and a crop duster in action. The country is pretty and it feels great to be riding across the open land. We got a lot of honks from trunks on the other side of the road as well as the trains. They know we are cross country riders and are offering encouragement. That feels really good.

Another Super 8 but this one is really nice. My definition of a "nice" hotel room has changed dramatically. My room last nite was unexceptional, so I am excited that I have a nice room tonight. Last night was the first night I have slept all night since the tour began, so maybe I should be sleeping in more dumps. Ha.... Overall the hotels have been excellent. Seriously. I think that helped today as my legs were pretty strong and I was able to stay with the big dogs today....Harold the Hammer, Roy the Rabbit and Greg-he who shall not be named. I think I am more like Scrappy Doo (Sccoby's little nephew, I think). Harold is the "hammer" because he can crank out the wattage and hammer most anyone into the ground. Roy the Rabbit can just dart away from me pretty much anytime. And Greg is just Mr. Consistent. He is the one that climbed 15,000 and did 135 miles on a ride once. I am just lucky to be the fat white guy that can sometimes hang with them, if only for a while. That is if they let me. It is actually a very good feeling to be part of a paceline that works. Today we had a strong headwind particularly after about the first 50 miles. The 4 of us worked together like a machine. They would be embarrased by my description of them, but they are all very strong riders.

Today I had on my primal "skeleton" jersey. One of my friends called me Darth Vader this a.m. All black and gray as I also had on black leg warmers and black arm warmers. Unfortunately, I don't have a great close up shot. Also, I have been having a few back problems so encouragement from the other riders can be very helpful. One thing is for certain-everyone will have a bad day over the course of the tour. The Darth Vader outfit and some tunes such as "stranglehold" helped and were appropriate for today.

I am also posting another video of the paceline earlier in the day before the wind became real strong. There is a prize for the first caller to correctly identify what Roy is actually saying. My answer to him was less than 3 words. Hope all is well. All in all a good day. If you are above the daisies instead of below them it is a good day. Maybe today was an exceptional day. Tomorrow an easy 38 mile ride and YES!!!! we get to sleep in until 7 for the 9:15 start.

http://tytalk.com/guymonvideo.wmv

This is the video clip.

Well.....til later ya'll.

Ty