Dalhart, TX to Guyton, OK 73 miles and 389 feet of climbing
If you read yesterday's blog entry about the world's most boring ride from Tucumcan, New Mexico, to Dalhart, Texas, then you won't be surprised that today's ride into the Oklahoma panhandle town of Guyton was only slightly more memorable. It was just as flat as yesterday's ride, but the vast pasture lands were greener, and the landscape was dotted with a few more farms. As was the case yesterday, the road runs parallel to the railroad tracks, and frequently, we would be treated to a loud train whistle as we watched an incredibly long freight train lumber past us. I think one rider counted over 260 cars on one train. And most of those cars are double-stacked with two large containers per car. I can't imagine the amount of horsepower the train engines must have to generate to pull such long trains.
It was overcast and a little foggy when we set out today. For the first 35 miles of today's ride, about 6 of us formed a pace line, and that worked nicely. After the first SAG stop, everyone left at different times and rode at their own pace. With the day's ride being only 73 miles, most riders were anxious to get to Guyton and have a rare afternoon to relax.
When I arrived in town, I looked in vain for a McDonald's. I don't think I ate enough at the first SAG stop at 30 miles. So after doing the additional 43 miles to Guyton, I felt spent and hungry. I went to a pizza and burger place directly across the street from our hotel. My cheeseburger was excellent. Then I came back to my room and started writing this blog entry, but I started falling asleep at the computer, so I laid down for a while until dinner. Tonight we were treated to fine dining at, you guessed it, the pizza and burger joint across the street where I had my cheeseburger in the afternoon. I suspect there are not a lot of dinner options in Guyton, and this tour company was certainly not going to spring for anything nicer.
One more bike detail to report. If you have read my earlier blog entries, you know that I feel blessed to have secured the bike I am riding at the eleventh hour in Palm Desert. I kiss its top tube every night before going to bed; I'm completely serious. I am convinced that someone must be watching over me.
The bike has performed admirably over many grueling miles. But because the bike has stock aluminum handlebars, the potholes, bumps, and road vibrations are very pronounced. At the end of these 6 and 7-hour riding days, I can really feel it in my hands, wrists, and shoulders. You'll recall that back in Flagstaff, I had Paul at the bike shop there, double wrap my handlebars to help dampen the road vibrations. The Bontrager carbon fiber handlebars he found in the back of his shop were $350. That is over $100 more than the Easton Carbon Aero Handlebars I have on my other bikes. Sorry to get into the weeds on this, but this morning, as I lye in bed thinking of another day of riding, I decided to order the handlebars that I prefer and have them shipped to the hotel we are staying at in Emporia, KS. We have a rest day there, and the tour mechanic said he would change the handlebars out for me. I was originally going to have a bike shop in town do the switch, but he overheard me talking to a fellow rider about it and chimed in. Due to my well documented past disappointments in dealing with this tour's staff, I generally just try to smile a lot, keep my head down, and not make waves. I've found that they don't deal well with waves.
Even the guy I ordered the handlebars from over the phone could not believe this tour had no mechanic on site who could fix Di2 (Shimano Electronic Shifting). Over half the riders on this tour have electronic shifting on their bikes. I'm not a particularly religious man, but I pray for them every night. No one should pay the kind of money we've paid for this tour and go through what I had to go through. There I go again, ranting about Crossroads Adventure Cycling! I believe the staff is well-intentioned but ill-prepared for the numerous things that can go wrong on a tour like this. I am also the only person on this tour that has done a cross-county bike tour before. I have something to compare this experience to. Going forward, I think I will go with Trek Travel for my cycling holidays. They provide the bikes ( the one I ride), and if it has problems, they give you a new one. What a concept.
One other note. I got into the hotel at about 1:00 PM, and I knew I had to eat right away. So I got out of my cycling shoes and put on my sneakers, and headed over to the Pizza and burger place across the street. I was still in my Spandex cycling shorts and gayly-colored California cycling jersey, not something you see very much in Guyton, Oklahoma. As I devoured my cheeseburger and fries, a group of 10 guys walked in, all in cowboy hats and boots. Not showy, perfectly formed cowboy hats, real, functional cowboy hats, the kind that keep the blazing sun off your face and noggin when you are repairing fences all day. It looked to me like the foreman with his ranch hands, and he was buying lunch for everyone. Some of the men were older, and some looked like fresh-faced newbies. It looked as though they just got finished with a day's work. To me, it was a reminder of where I was, the panhandle of Oklahoma. They weren't wearing those hats and boots to make a fashion statement. For them, it's the uniform of the trade. You would never see anything remotely like that where I come from in Northern California. In fact, I would say, regrettably, that a good number of people I know might secretly look down on those guys in cowboy hats.
Whatever happened to, united we stand, divided we fall? Oh wait, I forgot, in the California Bay Area, they are renaming schools named after Abraham Lincoln because they say he was a racist.
Try doing that in Oklahoma.
Tomorrow, on our way to Liberal, KS, of all places, we have a chance to see Dorothy's house from The Wizard of Oz. Although I think The Wizard Of Oz is a movie masterpiece, I may opt out of that excursion and look for the nearest sports bar or McDonald's. Who knows, I may even buy a cowboy hat. Wait, can't do that. I might risk getting a tag on my little duffle bag that says I'm 1/2 pound overweight. Crossroads Cycling Adventures strikes again.
Comments
Post a Comment