Periodic Progress Report Southern Tier Cross-Country Bicycle Tour

Date(s): Oct. 17, 1999
Day: Sunday
From: Marathon, TX
To: Dryden, TX
Lodging: Behind the Dryen Mercantile
Segment Mileage: 76.0
Cumulative Mileage: 1484.0
Actual Riding Time: 6:25
Average Speed: 11.8
Weather: Windy, cold
Temp: high 50

The wind howled all night, and it rained as we awoke and began to pack up for the day. Jim wanted us to wait a couple of hours to see if the wind would die down, so several of us lingered in the high school weight room packing our bikes. As I bent over to open a pannier, I hit my head solidly against the end of a weight bar (see photo), and it was like something out of a cartoon. First there was the ringing sound of my head against metal, then I sort of crumbled to the ground seeing stars. Lynne suggested ice on the rising bump, and Bob the physician looked me over and didn't seem too concerned, so I guess I'm OK.

Oliver and I left at 9:45 and headed into the wind, a very strong wind from the NE. As we rode we had to lean to the left to keep from falling over, then bracing ourselves when large trucks would pass in either direction. I was wearing most of my warm clothes; a riding jersey, nylon vest, long-sleeved underwear, and rain jacket on top, and shorts and rainpants below. Panniers were covered with my day-glo orange pannier covers, no match for Suzanne's bright green covers. She said she and Cyndi, who also had the orange covers, stampeded several cows who saw them coming.

We made very slow progress, wondering how we would be able to ride 75 miles in those conditions. We stopped at a rest area, kidding that we should ask the RV owners parked there to let us warm up inside, and moments later a man came out and asked us inside. It felt great to finally warm up and Bruno and I sat and chatted for a while, later joined by Cyndi and Suzanne. The couple had been married for 3 years, were retired, and spent most of the year travelling in their motor home, stopping for a few days when their pension checks ran low.

Sanderson was still several miles away, but at least we were now defrosted for a few minutes. The wind continued to howl as we made our way to Sanderson. Bruno and I rode together most of the time, making a little better progress as the wind slowed and the temperature rose slightly, to about 50 degrees.

We were very glad to finally get to Sanderson, and a gas station convenience store/restaurant never looked so good. I feasted on mashed potatoes, french fries, and a huge dill pickle. Todd and Bruno bought groceries that we had to pack to camp 20 miles away, and Lynne had to get dinner food for the next night (it will be our first ramen noodle night, with donuts for dessert). The area where we were headed was so desolate that we didn't know when we'd find another store.

Dryden, our destination, consisted of one house and two stores across from each other, one of which was closed. We had been given permission to camp behind the store on some rocky ground but at least out of the wind. We just happened to flag down the man who owned the store across the street who let us use his restrooms, finally opening them up around 8pm. Water came out of a rusty faucet, and the first water was brown in color. We were reluctant to use it but had no choice. Todd and Bruno fixed a very good dinner of instant brown rice and vegetables, with chocolate chip cookies for dessert. Our map meeting was held in the adjoining post office lobby, a warm, well-lighted refuge from the cold windy outdoors. Nearly everyone retired early after the long day. We were warned of rabid skunks, but none of us saw any during the night.