Birthday, Views and More Wind

It's a windy windy place is Texas

Last night at dinner we had Linda's chicken tetrazzini and a chocolate cake to celebrate Dolly's birthday - one of the most accomplished riders in the group. She told us she's 65 and that she spent yesterday riding around the El Paso area where her parents lived and where her mother, who lived to be 100, is buried and she visited the cemetery - all on her bicycle, a round trip of about 68 miles. We sang "Happy Birthday" and celebrated as it got colder and colder - and then ran to bed.

This is an unusual cold spell - with winds from the east, not the westerlies that are supposed to blow us along the road. In the morning I put on all the warmth I had - four layers - and warm gloves and long riding pants and my headband under my helmet - and set off at 8 a.m. to do a really long 78 mile ride to Van Horn in Texas. A group of us set off happily down the road and took a right and then a left - and the wind began slowly, steadily, and cold-ly if there was such a word. Generally everyone passes me early on and I pedal on steadily. So this happened, and then there were four others ahead struggling as I was up the hills and down the dales while the wind blew hard, fierce and cold. After about 10 miles at a pace of about 6 miles an hour I worked out that to cover 78 miles I would need to keep pedaling for 78 divided by 6 which made it 13 hours and Really Late AND we had to put our clocks forward an hour because we're in a different time zone.

At 20 miles and panting we found the Sag Wagon and because there were so many ready to stop, they called the van and picked us up and we joined those who had decided not to ride at all. The rest of the bicyclist we saw as we drove along and there were some more pickups. BUT the Ride with the Wolves group were splendid and though they didn't get in until the afternoon, they did the Whole Thing with the wind, cold and distance. Now we're sitting outside, waiting for dinner, and wondering what tomorrow will bring.

In case you're wondering about Texas, it is cold, windy, and though there are blue skies, I'm in jeans, a turtleneck and a fleece. Not quite ready for boots but who knows......