177: Mercy!

Packing up in the morning sun

Roger and I were at the Midway Cafe at 8:32 am, figuring to have a nice breakfast before heading out on what we figured would be a long day into the wind again. Alas, the cafe kitchen closed a couple of weeks ago - all they had to offer were their baked goods. Okay, then - pie for breakfast! We knew that we would not have another shot at a meal until we hit Russell's Truck Stop across the border in New Mexico, so we each had two pieces!

Breakfast of champions?

And then we headed out into the wind again. As we approached the New Mexico border, the landscape began to change. The very flat pasture land was less frequent; there were arroyos and some hills and off to the south we saw mesas, topped with wind turbines. After some 250 miles of climbing, we even had our first significant descent in days!

The first good descent we've had in a long time!

It was a relief to make it to truck stop, where we were able to get something more substantial to eat, and then we headed off again. By this time, the winds had strengthened. It was crazy. We pulled off the road to rest in the shade of the freeway underpass after six miles or so - it had taken an hour to get there.

Swallow nests

Another hour and we were at the Valero convenience store, and Roger asked if there was anyone who could give us a lift to Tucumcari. So we accepted a ride with one of the employees, and were happy to do it. It probably would have taken us 3 plus hours to get here on the bike; as it was, this is the second-slowest pace we've had on the trip, at 7.9 mph - and it was going down all the time as the wind increased. We are thinking that we will hunker down here tomorrow, as the wind is supposed to be even stronger.

Thanks, Diane!

The tandem can go 75 mph like this!

The day's report: Adrian to Tucumcari, 40 miles ridden/8331 to date

Our day on the bike - at least the part we rode