84 total trip miles
9.9 mph avg
3,645’ climbing
FF - 10
MP - The Tichenor Family - they have adopted WDYLT more completely than anyone other than me & that alone inspired me to include them as an MP. They are also just great people.
Today was without a doubt the most difficult day of biking that I have ever had. For those of you paying attention you may say “How can that be. He went faster today than yesterday”. The reason is the length & steepness of the hills. There were some that I just couldn’t pedal up. I wasn’t the only one that walked sometimes, but there were also a number of riders who didn’t walk at all. Kudos to them.
The interesting thing I learned about myself through this experience is that after I had to walk for the 1st time it would have been very easy to just keep doing so any time a hill looked imposing. Instead I dug deep & tried to pedal up everything. Toward the end of the day there was a 3 mile climb with about a 6% grade. I made it about 75% of the way before my body just wouldn’t do it. There were a number of other hills where my persistence paid off & I made it riding. I’m satisfied with my effort. My avg mph was helped tremendously by some long downhills mixed in during the day.
A couple of interesting facts:
It is legal to ride a bicycle on the interstate highway if no other roads are available. We did that some today & will again tomorrow. It actually felt safer than I expected.
Bicycle riders are some of the friendliest people I have ever encountered. Here I am with a couple of new friends.
I have not experienced any flat tires yet, but other some riders have had 3 or 4.
Weather started out rainy again & it never really got warm all day. That is supposed to change tomorrow.
Had our 1st view of the border wall with Mexico today.
WDYLT - ILT when climbing a hill it is better to do so in fog. That way you can’t see how long it is & you have a better chance of making it up. It’s very psychological.
If you’re having trouble understanding some of my acronyms like FF, MP, WDYLT, ILT go to the blog site & read the page “Understanding this Blog”