Nancy,
It seems riding on highway shoulders comes with the truck tire tread wire hazard. It's all part of the trip.
I'm glad you're enjoying the journal. Thanks for your comments.
Jeff

Bill,
That's interesting. Something I certainly didn't know.
Thanks!
Jeff

Kathleen,
Thanks. I didn't know that Texas had a heat dome at the moment. Being a little farther north now, I think I may be out of the worst of it.
Jeff

Jeff,
Thanks!
You beat me by 4/100 of a mile!
I'd been checking your journal from time to time. Sorry to hear your trip's over already.
Looking forward to seeing where you go next when your work schedule allows.
Jeff

Kathleen,
I thought you'd be pleased ;-)
Jeff

Mike,
There is actually a barbed wire fence there, it just didn't show up in the photo. I didn't need to get across anyway. It was just a spot where I was taking a break.
Jeff

Looks freshly resurface - bet that helped.

👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 What a day! Didn’t turn out to be as bad as feared and you knocked down that mileage. How wonderful you had a tailwind going downhill - cyclist nirvana. Well done.

Bill,
They do have that "I'm going to stick to you" look to them.
Jeff

If you can find something thick to wrap your one gallon water jugs, like maybe a couple of child t-shirts on the outside of each container, you could start out each morning by soaking the "wrappings" with tap water. Every time you stop, re-soak the wrappings to keep the cloth damp (it does not take that much). When I tour, I have ankle length socks on my water bottles and my two half gallon containers. Even on the hot days, by keeping the bottle covers damp, I still have cool water to drink, and on a hot day, cool water refreshes much better than hot. Evaporative cooling works. Just my 2 cents.

Who’s counting, but I think this may be flat #4? Good or you to keep hydrated, and hopefully you will find a way to beat some of that heat!

I sure am enjoying your journey along with you. Great job with the journal. Thanks Jeff.

BNSF trains pass through Dayton, OH too!

By the way, I see buffalo gourd plants sprawling along the lower part of the picture. When I was a kid in Mojave, CA we used to like to find them and throw the gourds like baseballs since they were about the same size. They shatter if thrown to a good batter!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cucurbita_foetidissima

I was looking at where that heat dome is over Texas and how it’s spilling into New Mexico. Hope you find some alternate way to keep going without frying yourself. Take care.

Jeff! Your trip is awesome.

You'll get a kick out of this coincidence: I did a little seven day tour that ended on this day of your tour (June 19th).

Inspired by you, I decided to track my Noon mileage on this day. It was 65.34 miles!

Now that I'm home behind a desk, I will have to live vicariously by following your trip.

See here: https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/random/day-seven-paragould-arkansas-to-melbourne-arkansas/

Your noon mileages are championship caliber these last couple of days.