Junction, Texas: January 3, 2010

I am on a southern route…where is the sun…where is the warmth…I know it is winter, but the Weather Person, no TWO weather persons, said PARTLY cloudy and warming to 50+ degrees. Not so, it was very overcast, dark as though it could rain (but didn’t), and about 45°-47°, but I wasn’t too cold. I planned a 45 mile loop and opted to get the very steep hills out of the way first—the first 15 miles. Nice wide shoulders that were so rough it was like riding on fine gravel glued together. I had to ride close to the lane where cars were whizzing by at 70+ mph. A few bozos thought it might be a good idea to honk their horns to let me know I should be riding on rough part!

The steepest was 10.2% most of the grades were 3.5% to 6% with some 7’s thrown in…get the idea that I want to give some detail here? You are right. These were some serious climbs…for me, that is! My total ascent was about 1,500 feet. I didn’t make the 45 miles, but I felt up to it and was really looking forward to finishing BEFORE dark! Unfortunately, about a mile after I turned off U.S. 83 onto SH370, I ran into hard packed washboard roads. This was mountain bike territory. I had to turn around at about 13.5 miles. My speed to that point was a whopping 12.2 mph! By the time I got back to the motel, I had raised it to 14.2 mph overall. It was fun coming back.