News Flash: You can get through Texas faster if you only go through the Panhandle

This is my first post about why I'm riding and here's where to donate to Water Life Hope.  It'll make your day and ours.
Your friend and mine in Amarillo,
Ellie the Wonder Dog


We've ridden a couple of more days but we came out this morning (April 17) into pea-soup fog and weather warnings about tornados.  There aren't many people here, but they drive really fast.  We would be little greasy spots on the road by the time they said, "Hey, what was that?"  We have a non-refundable hotel room in the next town so we'll drive the bus there and then try to find shelter for our friend Edward Bus.

Here's the trip diary.

April 15: Amarillo  to Alanreed, 70 miles.

We had the best rest ever in Amarillo.  Expectations for the place were exceeded left and right.  We went to dinner at Yellow City Street Food on our first night, and it was just like being home in Decatur.  It has the Rock Island Rail Trail.  We stayed with wonderful AirBNB hosts, including their exceptional dog Ellie.

Peace monument east of Amarillo
A bit reluctantly, we set out on Monday morning, stopped at the post office to send off tax stuff.  We got held up for quite a while due to my putting my wallet away "carefully".  I thought it would never surface again but after some amount of semi-controlled frenzy it did just that.   It made us late on a long day but the famous Panhandle wind was with us.  Hills were minimal and it was easily 15 degrees warmer than it had been even the day before.

The route took us around the back side of the airport, probably saving us from truck traffic.  We were treated to a small herd of deer passing through the trees buffering the airport from the road.   A few miles later we passed by a rather elaborate and completely unheralded peace monument.  Who did it?  What is its significance?  No idea.

As the day progressed the wind picked up and swung around to the south: crosswinds at 20 MPH and better again.  Steve found a spot in the RV park in Alanreed and Carol and I rolled in a bit wild-eyed and beaten.  Alanreed appears to consist of two RV parks and a church ("Truckers Welcome").  So we ate out of our ice chest and bedded down in the bus.  The wind picked up during the night, howling and rocking the chassis.
Mural in McClean, Texas

April 16: Alanreed to Sayre, OK, 66 miles.

Steve and I set out earlier than usual, hoping to beat bad winds predicted in the afternoon.   We met Carol in McClean and she talked about taking pictures there.  Pictures?  We didn't see the point until later.  Turns out the town has wonderful murals.  They just don't put them on any of the signs at the edge of town.

Beautiful old Conoco station in Shamrock, Texas
The landscape was really striking as we rode.  Coming into Adrian, just a couple of days ago we were in real live desert -- sand, cactus, you get the idea.  We rolled on to pale yellow grasses, and the ride to Sayre had real trees, green green grass, the works.  Looks like it rains in the Texas Panhandle and Oklahoma.  It rains far less than in Decatur, but it's really striking when you get here.  It was over a month of riding to get to real water.


Inevitably, the wind swung in the afternoon.  The last few miles of the ride were uphill, into the wind on shake-and-bake roads.  I'm hoping it improved my character.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

We Biked Across LA and Lived to Tell About it.

Image
Here is my first post about why I'm riding and why donating to Water Life Hope will make Godot arrive promptly. Steve in the old neighborhood March 13: 25 miles We started a bit late on Wednesday, I'll allow.  Steve and I went down to Venice and hunted down a couple of places I used to live.  They were there, but the Marathon Meatless Mess Hall has vanished along with it's famous signs painted by my buddy Arnie, once the only fruitarian in the Texas penal system.   The whole place is more prosperous, or more precisely now demands prosperity.  The Arnies of the world have been banished. The bikes were all prepared the night before.   Cameras went on courtesy of friends  Paula  (donated a front light) and Charles (made a custom mount for the rear light).    We stocked food, and got more spare tubes Near the start of the ride .  So Carol and I headed to the Santa Monica Pier with some confidence....
Read more

Ride FAQ -- Probably a Work in Progress

Image
Carol & Sara on their first ride Here are some questions that people usually ask about the ride, with the best answers I have at the moment.  If your question isn't here, ask away.  Don't be shy.  Some of these answers need a longer explanation, and you can expect these to get their own blog entries. And don't forget to donate to Water Life Hope. The Fundraiser Does the money we give fund the trip? No.  0%.  Definitely not.  We don't touch the money.  You give it directly to Water Life Hope, and 100% goes to water projects.  No part of it goes to administration or fund raising. How did the fundraiser happen? I was at an Outreach meeting at Holy Trinity Parish  (HTP), telling folks I was going to be gone for a while.  We started talking about using the trip as a fundraiser.  The parish has given to Water Life Hope over the years and its founder, Ed Buckley , goes to HTP and lives just a few blocks away from...
Read more

We're Home

Image
This is my first post  about why I'm riding, and here's where to  donate to Water Life Hope .  The ride is complete, but it's still possible (and wonderful) to donate.  I'll do a couple of more entries, one with equipment reviews for those who might be contemplating something similar and another about  Warm Showers .  Then I'll close the blog.  Might open another one if we do something else interesting, but this one will be done.  Thanks so very much for reading this one.  It was really fun to have you with me on the ride. Most of the group.  Let to right: Matt Yurman, Paula Grad, me, Steve, Jude Lomas, Al Greenberg, Mike Martinez. Missing Gardner Neely,  Henry Slack, John Cargile, Andy Blakemore, Charles Shapiro May 17: Dallas to Decatur, 44 miles. Steve and I woke up in Carol's guest room.  It was time to get home.  I prepared to ride one last time: make peanut butter sandwiches, put hydration tabs in one...
Read more