Day 23: Ups and Downs

Our day was literally filled with ups and downs. It started with a rear tire that was down. This was our first flat tire of the trip. A piece of steel belt from a radial tire pierced the tire during the ride yeste4day, but it didn’t flat until this morning.

Then our eighty mile ride was through the rolling hills of Texas. The entire day was a series of uphill followed by a downhill; repeat 50 times. And it got warm, almost 90 degrees. Although our elevation did not vary much throughout the day we climbed almost 3000 feet and descended 4000 feet. It was a veritable roller coaster.

We would have missed the hottest part of the day as we had planned, but our front tire developed a small bulge due to a small cut. We are very lucky that it didn’t blow out on one of the speedy descents. That would have been a big problem. Our mechanic, Chandler, swapped out the old for a brand new tire and we were off. Although an hour behind schedule.

The scariest part of the day for me was crossing the Pecos River Bridge. Not a fan of bridges and we were going 20 mph with a small shoulder and crosswinds. I was praying for no semis to pass. A few had brushed us during the day and I didn’t want to wrestle the tandem in their wake, so close to the edge.

Back at camp we enjoyed our Easter Dinner of ham, au gratin potatoes, spinach salad,and coconut cake.