Daily Miles: 75.5
Total Miles: 2140
Avg: 10.5
Max: 16.9
Time on the bike: 7:08:48
Today was another frustrating and unrewarding day of riding. For starters, it was about 35 degrees when I set out and the wind, which of course was a headwind, was blowing pretty fiercely. Not a good mental start.
I pedaled consistently forward trying to make miles. The road was mostly flat out of Marfa and that was the only thing going for me. There were no services for 75 miles to the next town of Van Horn, where highway 90 eventually ended, so I had to carry extra water, which I put in my 2.5 L bladder and attached to the top of one of my panniers. As I was riding along 20 miles from town I heard a big thwack behind me. My water bladder had fallen off and lay on the side of the road. I circled back and to my dissapointment water was spilling out of it. It landed on a thorn bush which made a 3 inch gash in the front. I picked it up and tried to hold it in a way to stop water from leaking, but it was an empty excersize. More holes had formed on the bottom and no matter which way I held it water kept pouring on the pavement.
“Damnit!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. I looked around to see if anyone heard me and felt foolish for doing so. There was nothing out there. I was in the middle of nowhere.
The leaking stopped and there was about a liter left. The only option was just to drink what was left. There was no salvaging the water bladder. It was torn to pieces. I guzzled down the water until my stomach felt upset. It was 55 miles to Van Horn and I only had about 1.76 liters of water. Oh well. At least it was cold out.
I road another 10 miles and noticed that my rear tire was going flat. Just great. I pulled over and took a look. It wasn’t flat but it was apparent air was slowly leaking somewhere. I tried to locate a puncture but couldn’t find anything. I filled the tire back up and it still held air fine so I rode away to see what would happen.
I reached the small town of Valentine at mile 36 a half hour later. It was Valentine’s Day and I was in the town of Valentine. It was strange. I would have much rather been with Carolyn and I sat outside the smallest Post Office I’ve ever seen and thought about her while eating a granola bar and some cheese crackers. I missed her a lot and would have given anything to get a private helicopter out of this foresaken desert town to be with her. But of course there were no helicopters because there wasnt anything at all out here.
I walked inside the Post Office to see if I could find some water. I asked the clerk if there was anywhere to fill up and she said she would fill up my water for me in the back bathroom.
Fully loaded with two water bottles again I set out for the second part of the day. It was long and windy and after a lot of effort I finally made it to Van Horn. I stopped at the RV Park to ask about camping and they wanted to charge me 25 dollars to pitch a tent. No thanks.
There were several motels in town so I checked them out. I’m at the Village Inn right now. They only charged me 35 dollars for a room so it was pretty much a no brainer. How can people get away with charging 25 dollars to camp in a shitty RV park? I just don’t get it.
Not the greatest of days but at least I’m inside and warm tonight. The low is going down to about 25. A pretty lonely Valentine’s Day without Carolyn, but I consider myself the luckiest husband in the world to have the support of such an amazing, smart and beautiful woman.
I miss you and love you and can’t wait to see you soon.
Happy Valentines Day my one and only love. You are the best!
I love you!! xoxo