Frogs in boiling water

Sandy and I love movies. One of our favorite movies is Dante's Peak. There is a scene in that movie where Pierce Brosnan's character explains it when you put a frog in boiling water it jumps out but if you put it in room temperature water and heat it to boiling the Frog will just sit there and boil.

At this point in our tour we have all done so much riding in conditions we would not normally we have simply come to accept whatever the day has in store for us.

In most fast America crossings this days ride is among the easiest with up to 30 miles per hour tailwinds . Today however we were not so lucky. We started the day with head winds of 10 to 15 miles per hour and gusts to 25. Starting temperature was about 60 degrees but the winds made it feel more like 50. As the day dragged on the headwinds increased to 20 to 25 miles per hour with gusts up to 40. There is no protection from it. Over the entire ride our elevation changes by no more than 600 feet. It is flat as far as you can see in every direction. There is nothing to slow or abate the winds.

I worked with another rider, Greg, for six and a half hours to make it to the lunch stop at 65 miles. We took turns pulling each for 1 mile. At times we were barely able to average 7 miles per hour. With all the head winds I had to apply a lot of pedal pressure to keep the bike moving forward. This added stress to my already hurting left leg. Greg and I were the last riders to arrive at the lunch SAG stop. Unfortunately I had to leave Greg to fend for himself the remaining 30balance miles. I decided to catch the SAG van into Dalhart to try to save what was left of my already hurting left leg. Imagine Mike Munk loading the van like this but in 40 mph gusts. He almost got knocked off the van twice!

We traveled on highway 54 east from Toucomcari New Mexico to Dalhart Texas. As trucks roll by at 65 miles per hour the disruption of wind movement really threw our bikes around on the shoulder. The amount of concentration and gripping power necessary to hold the bike steady in the winds was draining. My hands and arms were so tense for so long. I could not use my aero bars because the are too unstable under such conditions. Just getting your water bottle to take a drink or, for me at least with downtube shifters having to take my hands off the handle bars to shift required a lot of forethought.

Honestly the first two to three hours were pretty exciting and inspiring. When the winds increased to 25 with gusts pounding you in the face and so they became oppressive.

There is really no situation in my life in which I would choose to ride under such conditions. While several of the strong riders were able to make the entire segment and I truly commend them for the skill and strength necessary to do it I myself decided 65 miles of this s*** was enough.

On a high note we did enter our 4th state today, Texas