Day Sixteen                      Wed 6 August                                 Clayton to Dumas, TX

Distance: 89.2 miles            Total Distance: 1335.3 miles

Ride time: 5hrs 03 mins       Including stops: 6hrs 35 mins

Ave speed: 17.6mph            Max speed: 24.8mph

94°F

This morning was a little cloudy and more humid then it has been so far.  We headed out on the US87 and ran parallel to the Sante Fe railroad for several miles. 

8 miles into the day we hit the Texas border, our sixth state of the trip, and stopped to take a few piccies.  We also lost another hour at this point, when we moved from Mountain Time to Central Time, making us just 6 hours behind now. 

Since arriving in Texas, there has been a lot of debris on the hard shoulder, which is giving Keith a rather hard time, and yet another puncture, where had a close encounter with a rather large truck.  We hit Dalhart, an extremely industrious city showing us just a glimpse of the noisy, busy side of Texas.  Throughout the countryside there have been nodding donkeys and silos, leaving a rather distinctive smell in the air.

The bonus of Texas so far has been that gas (sorry petrol!) is certainly cheaper at $3.68 per US gallon, instead of $4.60 as it has been in some places.

We battled through the smells and noises, onto Dumas (the land of the Ding Dong Dandy!!), our overnight stop, and headed for the local RV park, although upon discovering that they did not have any showers, we headed to the first hotel instead!

We went across to the Thai & Chinese restaurant for dinner, checked out the brand new Ford Mustang GT on the forecourt for just $40,000, had “damn fine” cherry pie for dessert in the RV in the hotel car park and then hit the rather comfortable sack!! 

Day Fifteen                       Tues 5 August                                 Cimarron to Clayton, TX

Distance: 118.1 miles          Total Distance: 1246.2 miles

Ride time: 6hrs 53 mins       Including stops: 8hrs 19 mins

Ave speed: 17.1mph            Max speed: 33.3mph

92°F

Keith started cycling at 6.45am today, heading down the old mountain road.  The first noticeable difference of scenery was the road being lined with sunflowers and the hills beyond being densely wooded.

So far throughout the journey Brian and I have been up front, however this morning, Brian found Sudoku and therefore decided to sit up back for a while, which lasted all of about 15 minutes before he decided that he liked the front much better and relegated Pam to the back once again. 

Today brought the longest, straightest road in the world, with not even a bend for about 70 miles, and only vast plains for scenery.  There was a strong crosswind throughout the day, making it difficult for both the RV and the cycling. 

We didn’t really see many people today, however Keith did mention that the cattle were making him rather self-conscious when passing as they watched every pedal stroke that he made. 

We landed at Clayton this afternoon, and checked into the KOA site, where we all chilled out, had dinner and again went to bed for 9pm!

Day Fourteen                          Mon 4 August                            Cimarron

Rest Day

85°F

We had planned to get up at 4am today but once we awakened we decided to make it later, as cycling in the dark in bear country didn’t seem a good idea.  Pam was up at 6am, showered, hair washed and ready to go, although while she was out Keith decided to stay in bed another hour due to having a migraine-like headache!  In the end, Brian and I got up at 7am and left Keith sleeping and today eventually turned out to be another rest day.

We mouched around Cimarron, an old Wild West town, and among other purchases Pam bought a book which tells of a girl who emigrates from Yeovil, Somerset to set up New Yeovil, Minnesota in 1873 and would you believe her father preached in Stalbridge, Dorset.  Spooky!!!!

After doing some chores for the day, like filling up on propane and doing the shopping, we decided to do some local sightseeing.  We headed to Philmont National Scout Camp and the Old Aztec Mill Museum, full of cowboy era history.

As we were out, the heavens opened, although thankfully by the evening it had passed so that we could walk up to St James Hotel for dinner.  We were back to the RV for bed by 10, with no signs of any bears!