Day 11 – Tucumcari to Dalhart TX

If yesterday’s story was a tail wind today’s was about even more wind. Today’s ride was 96 miles on US Route 54E. Our road was strait as an arrow and went to the northeast. Today’s wind was from the west-southwest at 25 mph. This resulted in a very fast ride. We started at 8 AM, fully 90 min later than our usual starting time, and we lost an hour when we crossed the NM-TX boarder. However, the lead riders still got to Dalhart shortly after 1 PM and I arrived at 1:30. My average speed while on the bike was nearly 24 mph for 96 miles. Even with 30 min off the bike at two rest stops; I rode 96 miles in four and half hours. I suspect that if the ride had been in the other direction I would have been lucky to maintain 10 mph.

There was very little to see on the ride today. We passed through only one town of any size and had a rest stop at an out of business gas station. I averted my eyes from the Welcome to Texas, Home of George W. Bush sign at the Texas boarder. I also held my breath when I rode past the Texas sized feed lots just west of Dalhart. To the south there was a vast open space that was sparsely filled by Texas brush. I wonder if this is what W is so fond of cutting on his ranch? If there were any animals out there they were not seen by me.

On the north side of the road there was a rail line that paralleled our route but there must have been a problem with the tracks because I saw only one train all day. I also saw several vehicles that I would call rail-trucks. Rail-trucks appear to be standard pickup trucks; they even have tires, that have been modified to run along the tracks. I guess they have train wheels. They carry workers to and from places were repairs need to be made. It appeared that repair work was being done today. I wonder how much disruption this caused to the system and if they can route trains onto other lines. The work must be complete, because as I write this in the evening I can hear train whistles. However, I don’t think they will keep me awake tonight. My daily rides have been very good for inducing sleep by 9 PM.

From what I can see Dalhart exists because of the railroad and to a lesser extent the feed lots. If you lived here, Dalhart would seem like a great place to be from and a rather poor place to be. Tomorrow we are off the Pampa. This the first part of the ride that I didn’t do last year, so for the first time I can’t visualize the next day’s ride as I drift off to sleep.