Day 2 – 54.2 miles – Sulphur Springs, TX

We had talked about getting an earlier start to avoid some of the heat, and managed to get off a little after 8:30. Turns out rushing to do anything in a motorhome packed with four people and a dog is difficult.

We plan to visit family and friends along the way and many have asked when we expect to reach them. Using this morning's start time as an example the answer is...it depends. Right now my guess is we will average 50-60 miles a day, assuming our legs hold up, the heat doesn't get worse, the motorhome keeps running, etc. etc.

Unlike yesterday I managed to get today's route loaded into my bike GPS/computer. Just like yesterday we ignored it much of the day. We did use its earlier routing that took us along smaller back roads south of highway 380 which were very scenic, but also much slower than riding the shoulder of the highway.

For those of you not crazy enough to try an adventure such as this, there are many factors that determine how fast you go on a bike. Your physical strength and condition are certainly important, but the bike you are riding, the amount of climbing (hills), wind (in your face or at your back), and road surface (hard and smooth or rough) all play a significant roles.

Yesterday the ride was mostly flat or downhill with a slight wind at our backs on hard smooth roads...translation, the riding was “easy” so at the end of the day we were feeling pretty good about ourselves!

On today's the ride there was much more climbing, the road surfaces were often rough or even dirt during one stretch, and the wind sometimes felt like we had a hairdryer pointed at our faces...translation, we took a lot more breaks and didn't feel like Lance Armstrong by the end of the day.

Most importantly we did make it. We are still talking about getting up and riding again tomorrow morning. And each day we get a little better at dealing with the 100+ degree days and never ending sun that seems determined to convince us global warming is real.

One of the highlights I should mention is lunch today was at the Texas Beach Club near Greenville. We had planned to stop in Greenville for lunch but couldn't find anyplace that served food along the main road through town. About the time we started to wonder if we would find someplace for lunch we spotted a golf course and found the “Beach Club”. As the only guests we received outstanding service including two pitchers of ice that quickly vanished into our Camelbaks.

Unfortunately the campsite we are at doesn't have internet so I'm writing this offline and will post the next time we have access to the internet.

Tomorrow's destination is Mt Pleasant which is “only” a little over 40 miles so hopefully we will get in early and be well rested for the longer days to come.