Day 18: Tucumcari to Dalhart

May 23, 2023

After working so hard yesterday everybody was in the mood for a steadier ride today. The morning also marked the beginning of a three-day, 210-mile, dead-straight ride cutting across the north-west corner of Texas the Oklahoma panhandle into Kansas. As was the case for the last five days the weather forecast predicted a cool morning running into a warm day with a possibility of thunder showers later. A headwind was also likely.

We set off in a distinct mist that persisted for a couple of hours. At times visibility was only half a mile or so and as the sun couldn’t break through, we were feeling cool.

We'd been advised that Highway 54 would be mostly used by cattle trucks and that we should stay on the hard shoulder where at all possible. We settled into a single file that demanded careful attention as there was only a couple of feet between the rumble strip and the drop off. The file lasted ten miles or so until Doug and Simon went off the front. I soon found myself on my own, which was fine as it meant I could keep my own pace and had a full view of the road. The countryside was the scrubby desert we'd grown used to, with a railroad track running parallel about a hundred yards to one side.

This is sparsely populated land. Tucumcari and Dalhart have populations of only 5500 and 8500 people and there are only two (largely abandoned) settlements in between. Accordingly, none of the SAGs would have rest rooms. I therefore stopped off at the Lake View Cafe in Logan (23 miles in) and WhatsApped everyone to say where I was. Stephanie joined me for waffles and we agreed to stay together for the rest of the day and to be disciplined about the pace we kept.

By now we were last on the road. Paula was worried about us at the first SAG (27 miles). As we were full of food and drink we asked her to sign us in and out and continued steadily, taking turns on the front in the appreciable headwind. The straight road and absence of any cover gave us no other respite. We soon began to pass the others, catching sight of them from far back when the gentle dips and peaks in the road allowed. Several, riding on their own were struggling in the wind. As Greg had said earlier on the tour, a headwind is a head job.

Second SAG was at the older stone Texas sign, where most people gathered for peanut butter sandwiches and Doritos. Again, people set off in dribs and drabs when they were ready. There were some delays as there were only a few bushes. We were in no rush but moved out after half an hour.

The shoulder in Texas was wider and had an excellent surface. Even in the wind we could make 15-16 mph by riding efficiently but not hard. We picked up Chad, who was hampered by being so upright on his hybrid. He could cruise comfortably tucked in behind us, but moved to the front when we passed his dad. We ticked over nicely to the third SAG, leaving us only 22 miles to the hotel.

By now the brush had turned into huge fields with wire fences. Most were dried grass, but one or two were irrigated and green.

Our group formed again and picked up Todd, continuing to work really well together. Chad is strong (and young!), so with the rests afforded by the group he could put in his turns, despite being so vertical. We then also picked up Spencer and Mark S, but after a while, with so many of us, the forces of entropy split the group. I waited for Stephanie, only to learn that Chad and Spencer had clipped wheels and Chad had crashed.

We passed two cattle ranches, the first large and the second huge. Rather than having the cows dispersed across the fields they were concentrated into dense rectangular black groups. As there were no discrete cow shapes it was difficult to tell what they were from a distance. Just short of Dalhart there was a man on a horse trying to lasso a bull on some open land at the roadside, maybe only 30 yards from us. We passed keeping a careful eye on the bull, ready to sprint if need be. The bull watched us too. We later learned that the other riders had had to stop for this and that the bull had tried to get onto the (busy) road.

By now we were almost home. A quick stop for chocolate milk saw us get back just in time for a shower before dinner (catered Texan barbecue). The clocks had gone forward as we moved into our second new time zone.

I must put a disclaimer here. As you'll realise from the text, I was not present when some of these events took place, so not all the photos are mine. We're sharing them across the group even if they end up on blogs and Strava.

British corner of Texas. Mark, Stephanie and I

Today's ride: 95 miles (153 km)
Total: 1,243 miles (2,000 km)

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