Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire On the road again.

71 miles to Lamesa from where I’m at, light winds south to southwest. Certainly looks doable, but every day on these trips is a day unto itself. I mean, I could take a couple of them 2hr naps. Prob’ly wont sleep real well here, too obvious a place.

The good news is nobody has yet screwed with Scorpio, Jupiter or Sagittarius, and I just saw a flaming meteor break up, bright as a firework.

Breeze threatens to blow my straw hat away which is with my stuff n a concrete bench. I turn on a flashlight to go hang it on my bicycle and.......

.....in the short time I’ve been here an actual black widow spider, red violin and all, had built a web attached to some of my stuff. Ya don’t see that every day.

I checked for spiders under the table I’m sleeping on. Yep, but a kind of zebra striped orb weavers. Here’s hoping they are mutually exclusive👍🏻

See many broken beer bottles?

Straw hat? Appreciate sun protection but do you wear a helmet? Also I am surprised you don't wear biking shorts ( or maybe you do).

Hardly ever, and I ride most days.



Wouldn't be caught dead in 'em. Besides making everyone who wears them look stupid, can you imagine what that padded crotch pad is gonna smell like after three days on the road?O

This was me up from Texas in NY State in 2014, I still look the same now. Single layer of loose fitting nylon top and bottom. Doesn't accumulate stink or sweat, UPF50, gloves that cover the back of your hands, pants cuffs tucked into ordinary cotton blend dress socks. I rode the whole 2,000 miles avg. 65 miles/day, in $12 slip-on sandals. A whole month in full sun, no sunblock, never even began to burn.

The saddle is a Brooks B17, Brooks are the only way to go IMHO...

.

Thanks. I was going to suggest you post a photo in your riding gear.

Is there a good blog site (like 24HCF) devoted to biketouring?

Last night's camp....






My campsite buddy...



The cockpit, note the mirrors, and the watch. If you measure your progress in miles it'll drive you nuts, 7-10 mph takes FOREVER to get anywhere, specially when you're weary and beat.



OTOH 2 1/2 hours to Big Spring is doable,watch the watch, not the mileage signs.

For better or worse, these things are what West Texas looks like now....



Looking down on Big Spring, from just over the top of the North Concho River Drainage. In the 1840's that spring was the rallying point and the N.Concho Valley the route for the big Comanche raids into Mexico. Forty-niners headed to California used that same spring and brought cholera with 'em, resulting in an estimated 10,000 Comanche deaths that winter. That and a major drought in the '50's hammered the Comanches in this part of Texas.



Made good time, 25 miles to Big Spring in two hours but arrived tired and cranky. Found the WalMart, bought a phone case. Found the McDonald's so I'm able to post images here. Ordered a meal, put my head down and slept for an hour. 1pm now.

46 miles to Lamesa, six hours or less. 8 1/2 hours of light remaining. 2,000 ft elevation here, 2,900 in Lamesa. Doesn't sound like much but I can see and feel the sunlight getting more intense as I gain in elevation.

Gonna rest a bit and then mosey on over to HEB for water, a half gallon of milk for that evening and prob'ly a half gallon of chocolate milk to power my way en-route.

Enjoying your updates.

Thank you.

I should add ya don't need those semi-functional clip shoes either. I ride on broad platform pedals and regular shoes or sandals. Actually I prefer Crocs because I have crooked broken toes on one foot, any sort of confined shoe pedalling and after a while they begin to hurt. Likewise I can move my feet around on the pedals to alleviate fatigue and knee pain.



The original blog site, 14,000 tour blogs now, but archaic and hard to blog on...

www.crazygyonabike.com

A pity one Mohawk Indian guy took his blog off. He wanted to be the first guy to ride a bike from Michigan to Nunavit, the Innuit state up in Canada. All dirt roads, he had to carry SEVENTY POUNDS of dried food to cache on the way up so he would have something to eat on his way home. The black bears en route had never seen people. One time he stopped to take a leak and a big boar steps out of the woods, picks his bike up by a pannier and walks off with it. He had no weapon (Canada), what saved him was the bear tore into a pannier and bit into a pressurized can of mosquito repellent, the burst scared the bear, which ran off. I think some other Indians got PO'd at his unflinching candid take on the Cree he met, and he pulled the blog.

...and the best bike forum I've found, I learned a great deal starting out from the folks on the "touring" page. Over there I'm "Sharpshin".

https://www.bikeforums.net/

A timely article. Riding across rural Texas, in the last five days I have seen exactly five turkey vultures and NO raptors of any sort this side of Fredericksburg.

Prob'ly get shot.

https://www.courier-journal.com/sto...nto-kentucky-farmers-profits/1505632001/

Sounds like my kinda trip.

Enjoy your time...

Hope you made it safely to Lamesa !

Looks like you're having fun.

But us true westerners smile at your statement of "Looking down on Big Springs".

Where's the hill? Looks awfully flat (like all the parts of W TX I've ever seen except that down by El Paso) to someone who has over 900' elevation change out that back, within a mile of their house.

Just jokin' with ya'. Thanks for the pics and updates.

Geno

Planning to roll out of Big Spring by 2, seven and half hours of daylight to cover 45 miles. It’s hot, roads are bad lots of traffic, grocery store is packed. I replace my water, buy a half gallon of chocolate milk to drink en route, half gallon of milk for the evening. Roll out at three, glad to get clear of that place.

Twelve miles later I get a flat, in the front which is unusual. No biggie, a 20 minute job tops. The usual suspect; a bit of wire from a retread. I got five spare tubes, in fact it’s a nice change of place despite the heat. Two Harley guys pull up, we get to talking. A twenty minute job becomes a hour of conversation. They roll so do I, four spare tubes left.

WTF, 200 yards later a blowout, up front, OK, maybe I got distracted and pinched a tube, replace it and on my way, three spare tubes left.

A mile along and.... it happens again. Nothing wrong with the tire just cheap thin tubes from Academy, maybe I got a bad run.

OK, I’m down to two spare tubes, clearly the rim/tire/tube combination ain’t working. I’m carrying a folded up spare tire of a diffent make. Bingo! This one works. But just as I get it up to pressure WTF? The pump head breaks. This is a premium pump, they don’t break, but this one just did.

Questionable tube, no way to fix a flat. In these parts Walmart is the bike shop. I can get tubes and a pump there. Closest one was back to Big Spring, 12 miles. Next closest was the direction I want to go. Seminole TX, 75 miles.

Hey, if it’ll roll 12 it’ll roll 75. I cover 37 miles to Lamesa TX in three hours, pulling off a 70 mile day (345 miles total) 😎

Checked into a motel. Gonna use the WiFi and my compact laptop to plan the next week.

Wish me luck on the 40 to Seminole tomorrow, I could be across the State line before dark.

Dang. Sounds like a frustrating day! Hope you have better luck on your next leg of the trip.
Haven’t been to Seminole in YEARS. Don’t remember what the heck is there. 🤠.

Birdwatcher,

When convenient, could you post a closer picture of your saddle? Perhaps it is just a reflection, but your saddle looks more "sway backed" than the B17 Saddles I see online which are pretty flat when viewed in side profile. Like this:



Is that a result of breaking it in? I see suggestions (by Brooks and others) that one should treat a new leather saddle with some kind of treatment, and that a lot of breaking in can be required.

I hesitate to buy such an expensive saddle if instead it is my ass that gets broken rather than the saddle broken in!


If you don't mind another question... I see Brooks has quite a number of saddles on their WEBPAGE

Which model would you recommend? I suspect the B17 you mention must be a good choice for many folks since the company has been selling that model for about 120 years...

Much enjoying this thread!

John

You calling my bicycle a liar?

You see flat, I see a free ride.

Unfortunately the rule on a bicycle trip is what does down, goes back up. Ain't no free ride.

John, just took a look, mine looks about like the one in the photo. Never have treated it with anything, I do use a seat cover in the rain.

There's a reason folks like Brooks so much. The B17 is a good place to start.

Quit being a weenie.

I don't have the patience to cover that country at 90mph. Much less 7.

Be safe.

You are gonna have to hurry your ass off to make the Hi Line by snowfall....