March 25

OK, Guys. Picture this. I-10 with a speed limit of 80 mph. Uphill. 20-37 mph headwinds. I'm toodling along at 7 mph and the semis are going past at 10 times that speed. It was absolutely miserable going because of the headwinds. But then we organized and international paceline. Sheila, Joyce, Janine, Helen, Gail, Lynn and I (a Scot, a Brit, two Canadians and three Americans) got in line, one behind the other. The leader would set the pace while counting to 80, then fall back to the back of the line. We switched like this for about 10 miles. The drafting really makes it easier for the riders behind. And the funny thing was, we starting singing every Texas song and national anthem we could thing of. It was great riding with the group. We looked like the Tour de France. I finally had to drop back to put my feet on the ground. I caught up again and then we stopped at Michael's in Sierra Blanca for lunch. Lynn, Helen and I decided to tap out there. (That means we took a ride in the van.) After we got picked up, we picked up four more people along the way. One more person got picked up after 65 miles, but the rest made it in. Some made it just as we were finishing supper. Since we have to do 90 miles tomorrow (Please, pray to the gods of tailwinds for us.) I knew I would never make it if I finished today on the bike. As it is, the people who finished are totally exhausted. AND it has started to rain. (Put in an extra prayer for the rain gods to take a break.) The great thing at Michael's was that, besides my BLT and fries, I had a piece of chocolate cake and tea. IT was just nice to rest out of the wind until the van came and talk to the others. We saw a lot of Bubba's group again along the way and some of our people even made pacelines with them. Sarah made a good supper of burritos and potato/cabbage soup. It was great. We also entered the Central Time Zone so we lost an hour. I slept poorly last night, so I know I will be zonked out as soon as I hit the pillow.________________War ein brutaler Tag. Autobahr, Bergauf, Gegenwinde wie verrueckt. Ich und einige anderen liessen uns abholen entlang die Strecke. 3 von uns warteten in Michael's Restaurant in Sierra Blanca, weg von dem Wind in einem warmen Platz. Habe Schokokuchen da gegessen. Lecker. Morgen sollen wir 90 Meilen fahren. Aber wir erwarten Rueckenwinde, was gut ist, da wir wieder bergauf fahren muessen. Uebermorgen ist Ruhetag. Einige von uns haben schon einen Ausflug zum Observatorium geplant. Freue mich schon drauf. Wir sind jetzt in der Central Time Zone. Wir haben eine Stunde verloren.