Part 1 28/12
Today i didn't make the distance.
I rode for 6½ long hours into a strong, cold headwind but still only covered 45 miles. My target was 60.
This part of West Texas is flat,open and wild. It is ranch country, all scrub cover and yucca plants. It's the perfect terrain for wild animals to hide out. It reminds me of South Africa, sometime I imagine an impala or a kudu emerging from the bushes.
There do seem to be plenty of animals around. Yesterday I saw a pair of buffalo lumbering along browsing as they went. They weren't bothered about me, even though they knew I was there. I could have shot them with a pea shooter if I was so inclined.
I have also seen some collared peccaries, small forest pigs about the size of a dog. Last week I saw a herd of light brown antelope, I'm yet to find out what they were.
Mostly I see individual deer or small groups of angora goats.
One of the advantages of being on a bicycle is animals don't expect to see one. In fact I'm not sure if they know what I am when they do see me. Of course I am also nearly silent, just like in a canoe. It is possible to sneak up on animals quite easily on a bike.
It's like a cycle safari.
The ranches are enormous around here, it can take an hour or more to ride through one. I don't even see the ranch houses, just signs at the gates and the dirt tracks going off into the bush.
They don't seem heavily stocked, I get the impression the land is left to go fairly wild. I think they stock the ranches with some game too and then sell the hunting rights to wealthy hunters.
The tiny towns are often practically ghost towns, about 60 miles apart. There is nowhere else to get water. I can't rely on the establishments in these towns not to have closed down so I am carrying enough food and water for about 2 ½ days.I re stock to that level whenever possible.
There is always a good fence at the edge of the ranches. The roadside verges are wide, trimmed and neat. I think it is to stop wild animals leaping into the road and causing accidents. It does makes it impossible to slip behind a bush to bivouac in secret without trespassing.
Today I have gone for the blatant option instead. I have put up my tent using my bike as an anchor in a picnic area lay-by, stringing my food bag up under the most distant shelter.
I had to camp here because I physically can't ride anymore today. On a normal day this much effort would have won me 70 miles or more.
I am hoping my camp set up will act as a self explanatory note to the border patrols and state troopers. Tent and bike in plain view equals camping cyclist not illegal alien. Hopefully they won't want to leave their vehicular cocoons and will let me sleep on, not bothering me with ID checks and 20 questions.
Today was a struggle again, what with low gears, no changes in scenery, cold headwinds and I didn't even get the satisfaction of arriving anywhere.
One good thing did happen though: a man called Gonzalo and his friends stopped me and gave me a bottle of gatorade, 4 tangerines, 2 yogurts and a carrot. How amazingly thoughtful it that? The fresh food was such an unexpected treat, you can't buy food like that in this part of Texas.
I ate it all immediately to save weight and to get all those nutrients on board.
If there is one thing I will always remember from this trip it is the the kindness and generosity of everyday Americans. It is something I have experienced all along my journey.
...........................
Part 2. 29/12
Today made yesterday seem like a walk in the park.
Today I rode as hard as I could for six hours and covered only 35 miles!
I woke to the wind whistling around the shelter and the sides of the tent flapping violently. The wind was still coming from the east which is where I am going.
"Well, I can't ride in this." was my initial reaction. I turned over and went back to sleep.
An hour or so later I woke up to check the situation: no change. I was going to have to stay put for the day. I didn't know if it was actually possible to make forward progress in such a strong wind.
It wouldn't be the first time I'd spent the day trapped in my tiny tent. In New Zealand I spent more than 24 hours in it whilst a lightening storm raged outside. Trees fell, thunder clapped and torrential rain hammered down. There was no point in trying to go anywhere. I was a day's walk from everywhere I could get shelter, except for a back country hut which was on the far side of a flooded river.
You can only sleep for so long even when you are really tired, so once again I prepared myself for some serious boredom. However fate had other plans.
It had rained in the night and I soon noticed that I was lying in a growing pool. The ground was flooded and soon the tent would be too. I couldn't lie in near freezing water all day. I'd have to brave the wind.
Wind is my least favourite of all the elements. It blows my stuff away; makes me cold especially when I'm wet; makes it very hard to control my canoe and can turn a nice bike ride into a pleasureless slog.
After abandoning some futile attempts to dry the tent and sleeping bag in the strong but freezing gusts. I finally got ready. Time to find out whether I could make headway in this horrible tempest.
Much to my surprise I could, just about. Thus the pace for the day was set: head down; extremities numb; lowest gears; legs spinning; bike creeping forwards slightly faster than walking pace.
The sky was grey all day long, it never warmed up above 5 degrees C, strong cold gusts buffeted me endlessly.
Hunched over, I edged forwards snail like across the expansive landscape. I stopped often and slumped over the handlebars before picking myself up and carrying on.
Sometimes the road passed through a cutting. These features funnelled the winds to create unridable conditions. I got off and pushed.
I carried out some experiments and was impressed to discover that even on quite steep down hill stretches, if I didn't pedal the head wind would bring me to a halt. However I couldn't get it to make me roll backwards on the flat.
With nothing to think about my mind turned to far away troubles, to lost friends and loved ones and to present day worries of my own. I alternated between introspection and frustration at the weather.
It was miserable, boring and miserable.
I have started to question the value of what I am doing. So far it has been a good mixture of challenge and adventure. It has maintained my interest and stimulated my mind. It has been something I will always be glad I did.
However I did not come out here to be bored and cold. I didn't come here to prove I could ride stubbornly into the wintry winds. I'm past proving myself.
This journey is one of personal discovery and exploration, not one of dogged suffering to reach an ultimate goal. Take away the quality of the experience and the whole thing is invalidated.
I'm not going to get further into debt and miss more of my niece growing up just for the sake of it. I want to get something worthwhile out of continuing.
Tomorrow I should reach Del Rio, Texas. It is only 40 miles away. I will do some research on what may lie ahead, have a rest day and a rethink.
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