DAILY BLOG

In the Superman-based TV show Smallville, Clark Kent and Lex Luther start out in the early seasons as best friends. However, if you know anything about Superman, you know that they’ll inevitably wind up as arch-enemies. That’s a good analogy for the Wagners and the wind. We started out a couple days ago as best friends, but it was only a matter of time until we would become bitter rivals. Today would be that day.

Packing up in the morning

Rich and Jared ride along side the vehicle

Riding in the Great Plains

This morning, we woke up in Guymon and were greeted to 30-35mph winds blowing north to south. We were heading due east for much of the day, meaning direct cross winds. It was miserable trying to stay upright on the bike and to get into any kind of rhythm. According to the weather report I looked at in the morning, the winds around Woodward were supposed to be much milder and in a slightly different direction. Given that, we decided to head south into northern Texas for a bit to see if we could get into that more favorable wind pattern. We made it into Texas, but the wind was exactly the same. But the good thing is that we got to ride in Texas for a couple hours! For whatever reason, we wanted to do that.

Riding into Texas

Typical roadside scene today

Mooooo!

To help forget about the wind, Jared and I decided to liven things up a little today, so we began to race each other up hills we began to encounter as we entered Texas. He got the better of me on several, though I learned later that my wheel was rubbing against my frame. So, he may claim victory on those, but you make the the call. I did win the last sprint finish of the day, which I think is what’s most important!

Jared “winning” a sprint (though his dad’s wheel was not properly mounted)

Rich decisively winning the last (and most important) sprint of the day

Yet another flat tire today! We’ve had four so far now and are quickly making up for the lack of flat tires during the first 10 days of this tour.

When we arrived in Woodward, we got a chance to spend several hours with some very close friends of ours, Nate and Tarina Reed and their kids and dog. They are on route to Denver from their home in Houston, and met up with us for the evening. What a great time we had together.

Seeing good friends along the way

Tomorrow, we are heading to Oklahoma City. On route, we plan to meet up with some bicycle riders from Journey Church in Norman, OK. We look forward to riding with these guys as we head from northwest OK to the capital city region.