We stayed at the Odessa High School field last night. The fireworks didn't last too far into the night, and the local boys tired of driving by after a bit. This morning it looked like it might rain, but the day proved to be very nice. We had just enough cloud cover to keep us a bit cool, and no rain or headwinds that lasted longer than a few miles.
The biggest challenge early was the 13 miles of Chip Seal road from Harrington to Davenport. Chip Seal for those of you who don't know, is what the oil and gravel road surface is called. The paving technique is to pour oil on the road, then a layer of gravel, then maybe again if there's money. The result is heavy gravel covered with oil that gums up bike, and gravel that hits us a lot. This particular brand new chip seal had very heavy gravel that had been packed in, and was waiting for it's last coating of oil. It was challenging to ride on, and some trucks threw up a lot of gravel.
We got through it in one piece, and had snacks/lunch in Davenport where many of the cyclists had stopped at a new park in the middle of town. It had restrooms, benches, grass, and some shade to offer us after a 35-mile jaunt over farms and desert.
Scott and I scooted out of town after talking with a grocery store clerk who was secretly wearing a University of Washington sweatshirt. We had on our UW Jerseys, right there in the heart of Cougar country. One of the other riders wore her Cougar jersey and there was one University of Michigan shirt.
We rolled into the hill country west of Spokane with a group of five or six other cyclists, and ended up riding all the way to camp with them.
It was a hot day, but not overly long as we were in camp around 2:30, which seems to be about when we get in most days.
Now, a day of rest and hopefully a massage. Dad came down and picked us up tonight, and loaned us a car, so we even have wheels. He and Ronita are moving into a new place a bit further out on the horse country.
Thanks for all of the email support, which I did get a chance to read today. With luck, I'll even answer some of the emails tomorrow.