This isn’t the story that the other bike tour post was. We left when it was breaking from a night long rain. Rode dripping in sweat and condensation through Timber Creek; which was spectacular by the way. Out to the canyon and back then around Canyon.
It was exciting riding with or rather getting passed by people. The recombinant bikes and tandem were interesting to see. I didn’t see much of anyone for an hour before the last rest stop. Thought I was the only one left. The route into the wind was hard. Then back into town riding through Canyon.
The last stop was at the WT stadium. They had cold water. Thank God. It had been almost two hr since the last stop. The back out through the country side. Not the I27 access road.
Heading to Amarillo you could see the dark storm clouds covering Amarillo and obviously raining. One last incredibly cruel trick was a Northeast wind instead of the perpetual South wind. A 20mph easy return trip turned into a 10mph painful slog. The road headed, finally, toward the access road and the home stretch.
I exchanged places a few times with another rider. And a big black pickup followed us in. I don’t know if this indicates we were the last ones on the 80 or not. The 25 and 50 mile riders must have finished an hour or two earlier.
Without any ceremony I rolled in at 12:17. 5 hours and 4 minutes. That beats my MS bike tour speed by .5mph.