Day 34 Alanreed to Amarillo,Tx

September 25, 2018

I'll be in Amarillo by morning

I woke with the alarm, and turned it off, slugged in bed. I made the mistake of not zipping the tent flap shut, basically left the window open with the wind blowing on me all night. This morning the wind had abated somewhat but still was out of the Southwest.

I was worried when I realized I was going to be riding on I-40 this morning. It turned out to be great .A smooth Road very little debris. I discovered that the box trucks Don't create a lot of turbulence, it's the trucks carrying irregular shaped cargo that create the most wind blast.

The day is going slowly, it took me 3 hours of pretty steady work to get to Groom,Tx. Which is 22 Mi away from where I started. The wind died down for a while, and like clockwork at 11 a.m. the wind changed. Instead of coming out of the Southwest. It's coming out of the northwest and now it's much stronger before it was a 15-20mph now it's 25-30mph

I'm having lunch at a little place called The Grill, waiting to see if the wind dies down a bit, because I can't ride in this. Jackie and Lanita took care of me they were so nice.

Groom Texas has a giant white cross that can be seen for a couple of miles. I went to see the cross.As impressive as it is, the depiction of Jesus's trial and his carrying the cross and finally his crucifixion was well worth the trip. If you're in Groom Texas go see it. It's right off I-40 and after, run up in town grab a bite at The Grill.

Back to the rest of the day's ride. By the time I left The Grill the wind had become North by Northeast and had settled down a little, but the key is it was out of the Northeast still a strong crosswind, but some Tailwind. So 11 or 12 or 14 miles an hour on the bike was fairly easy. The wind blew me around a little but with the Tailwind I can make some good time. I don't even remember seeing Conway Texas it was on the map. Never saw a sign. Stopped for a PBJ sandwich at a picnic rest stop. And then it was the last push to Amarillo. The ACA maps have me going on I-40 business to US 60. I-40 business was a slowish 9 or 10 miles an hour. But when I got to US 60 I had a full-on Tailwind. You didn't have to pedal and still do 12 miles an hour, well I did pedal in the big ring so I was rolling along at 19 -22 mph on the shoulder all the way basically to my hotel. What started off as a pretty bleak day turned into a great day.

Jackie and Lanita they took good care of me at The Grill

We go from touching to full on silly at the Big Texan Steak House.

A visit to Amarillo wouldn't be complete without going to the Big Texan. No I didn't try to eat the 72 ounce steak dinner.

Today's ride: 71 miles (114 km)
Total: 1,916 miles (3,084 km)

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