Sunday, September 30, 2007

Day 33: Sulphur Springs, TX to Greenville, TX

Sun 9/30/07
37.58 mi
822 mi total
1,003 ft cum
4:16 hrs ride time
8.7 mph avg
90's F with sun and lots of clouds

Hwy 67 the whole way which was pretty much parallel to I-30 the whole way and the road conditions were the same too. See yesterday's picture of the road.

The wind was blowing pretty strong and steady out of the south and slightly against me. It made the ride feel like I road 50 miles. For most of the ride I was right next to I-30 which was rather noisy. The higher humidity, temps in the mid to upper 90's and the bag of cookies I ate along the way all wore on me too. I'm about 50 miles from Dallas and I'm thinking of getting a rental car in the morning. That way I'll be rested for my visit with family over the next couple of days. I'm thinking about keeping the rental for the entire visit and using it to get me to the next town outside of Dallas going west.

I took my first and only spill of the trip today. At the time, I didn't realize how bruised my hand was until I started to ride again in Kerrville several days later. That bruising was still noticeable even after the trip ended and I was back home. My front tire dropped off the pavement from riding too close to the edge of the road. I turned left and the tire just rubbed against the pavement without actually riding up onto it. Meanwhile my center of gravity drifted left. Because of the weight of the bike, there was no way I could jerk the wheel back up onto the pavement, so I put my left foot down and tried to lay the bike down as gentle as possible. I then went down on my left hand and stepped away from the bike trying to keep from falling down. I was successful in keeping myself upright but my palm took a pretty good impact. I probably didn't feel it because I was already loaded up with pain pills for prior aches and pains. I never was in any danger from vehicles because there weren't any around.



Just an interesting looking building in a town square

First bunch of longhorn cattle I've seen on this ride


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