Save 22 A Day Trans-America Cycling

The link to today's route and statistics is found here . Before the start of the ride today, Roberto was interviewed by staff from the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) Association of Graduates office.  That interview is part of preparation for an article in the June issue of the USAFA alumni magazine Checkpoints . Roberto's interview Jeff and Ryan of the  Association of Graduates office did a very thorough job gathering information, photos and videos for the article.  Ryan even operated a drone overhead along the route today to take bird's eye view videos of cyclists riding.  The previous day pictures and videos were taken of Jim, a 1969 USAFA graduate, proudly cycling in an Air Force Falcons bicycle jersey.  A GoPro digital action camera was bicycle and rider mounted to take videos of pedaling feet, the road over the handlebars, the cyclists face, etc.  Very cool!  Later that day Jim was interviewed.  The Checkpoints article ...

The link to today's route and statistics is found here . To day was a partial rest day after the tough ride yesterday.  The ride was only 32 miles, but it was into a 10 to 15 mph headwind. Most of us had dinner at the Sirloin Stockade.  After dinner our two riders from Malta checked out a serape and sombrero.  John tried them on for size.  The captions for the photos are by Ray, John's friend from Malta. We have a Mexican riding with us. Can you tell me where I can get a good taco around here? Riders wore Veteran Energy jerseys today in anticipation of an interview raising awareness of veterans' suicide with a Del Rio newspaper set up by Veteran Energy.  The ensuing newspaper article featured Kip's photograph. Veteran Energy team Climbing hills can be challenging. I think I can.  I think I can. SAG food nourishes cyclists during the ride.  A major dilemma occurred when we ran out of crunchy peanut butter.  To ...

The link to today's route and statistics is found here . Today was probably the hardest day of riding of the tour so far.  Most of the 89 miles was into a headwind, peaking at about 15 mph.  There also were plenty of extra long dips to negotiate, some a mile or two in length.  To compound matters, because the wind slowed us down, we were riding in the late afternoon sun and heat.   At the first SAG stop there were happy faces, before the riding conditions deteriorated Climbing up the far side of a long dip, one of very many on our route today Another difficulty was the rough surface of Texas chip and seal, which will often be referred to as chipseal in the blog.  Instead of rolling smoothly, the bicycle wheels go bumpety bump down the road and loose good road contact.   Some Texan cyclists have described it to us as chunkseal, which in the rough areas is a better description than chipseal.  All in all the chipseal that we ...

The link to today's route and statistics is found here . Gun control in west Texas differs from that of the rest of the country. West Texas gun control What do the Europeans on the tour think of Texas gun control? We thought that we had seen our last antelope of the tour, nope. Buck antelope trotting to three does that he protected from us in a face off As usual, the scenery was outstanding. Mesa along ride Today we began seeing dense fields of wildflowers beside the road.  Texas spreads wildflower seed beside many roadways, and we are cycling through in what could be the peak of the wildflower season.  The Texas wildflower display is the premier display on our Southern Tier tour, beating Florida hands down.  If you take pictures for the blog of wildflowers, please try to identify them.  You can do so by asking locals, or our local Texan Kip.  If that fails, there is a wonderful wildflower identification guide at : http://...

The link to today's route and statistics is found here . Scenery in west Texas is brilliant.  Out of Fort Davis we rode past Mitre Peak that rises to an elevation of 6190 ft.  The Peak bears a resemblance to a bishop’s hat, thus the name.  Very appropriate to ride by on Good Friday. Mitre Peak and the lone bush Several cyclists went to Mass today, because on Easter we will not be in a good location to attend Mass.  Cyclists met a group of teenagers from El Paso doing missionary work in Marathon during Holy Week.  Kristine, Ray, John, and Roberto interacted during the Good Friday service at  Regnum Christi Missionary Family Apostolate at St. Mary Catholic Church in Marathon. Cyclists meet teenagers from El Paso doing missionary work in Marathon Today's ride was invigorating.  There was more descent than ascent, which always helps.  The temperature at the start was 45 F, and the wind was generally a crosswind during the...