Danny’s Ride

Trip Statistics

Bike Time: 5 Hours, 36 Minutes, 08 Seconds
Miles: 89.08 Total
Average Speed: 15.9 mph
Max Speed: 28.5

Total Trip Miles to Date: 970.78
Flat Tires: 10
Drew: 6
Danny: 4

We got into Van Horn around 12:30 a.m. and got to sleep around 1:00.  We were exhausted but excited for Danny to be out of the hospital.  The weather predictions from wunderground.com were 20-30 mph winds with wind gusts up to 60 mph.  Not a promising sign for an 89 mile day.

Since doctors have ordered Danny to take a couple days to recover from his procedure, Danny rode in the motor home.  I left at sunrise to get a good start on the day, especially with the expected wind.  At first there was little to no headwind but as the day grew on, the wind grew in strength.

I had one flat tire about two hours into the bike trip.  It was the back tire and I pulled out a small piece of metal out of the tire that had caused the tube to go flat.  Although my tire changing skills have improved, it still took a little while to change the tire.  It was a much needed break.  Ken and Danny did a great job with support.  We stopped, talked and ate several times through the trip.

About forty miles into the trip, I had to change from I10 to I20.  Just before the exit, there was construction work that forced traffic down to one lane.  As I rode by the construction workers, all of them stopped and stared.  It might be safe to say that I was the first biker they had seen since working there.  I looked at the nearest construction worker.  He stared at me in complete disbelief with his mouth open.  I smiled to try to break his stone face but it didn’t work.  Before I could even get passed him, I burst into laughter.  I’m sure they had two questions. 1. Where did he come from? 2. Where was he going?  We were miles upon miles from anything.

With less than 10 miles from Pecos, the sky turned black with low hanging clouds and began lighting.  I immediately got off my bike and before I even had time to call Ken, him and Danny were there.  They absolutely saved me!  Had it been just a couple minutes later, I would have been drenched.  We waited for a half hour as the heavy rain slowed.  When it was almost to a stop, I got back on my bike and road the rest of the way to Pecos.  Ken and Danny went ahead and after telling Danny’s story, were able to get a suite at a 12-day-old hotel that offers a hot breakfast.

It has been a terrific but exhausting day.  Tomorrow, we will try to go 97 miles to Midland, Texas.  It might be a little slower after today’s tiring ride but hopefully we will get there safely.