the day actually started quite well, and quite early. up at 6, which in amarillo meant before sunup. i got all packed up and, as was the plan, went down to breakfast with no prep left to do. on the road (and i mean actually going) by 7am, i got to see a texas sunrise, which helped redeem the state a little.
i was trucking this morning, and by the time i made my first gas stop at 9:30 or so i already had 140 miles under my belt. i was making awesome time, in high spirits and about to get out of texas. as it turns out, oklahoma is very similar to texas in landscape though, for some reason, i didn’t mind it as much (i think because it was a different state). more long roads (though with more curves) through farm country and rolling hills. kind of lovely if you aren’t wet and depressed.
the one problem i noticed was that my knee was starting to bug me. for those that don’t know, i hurt my knee playing hurling about 3 years ago and had to have surgery. it acts up every now and then, depending on what i’m doing, and apparently riding bent at a 60 degree angle for 4 days straight isn’t good for it. who knew? it’s been bugging me the past few days on and off, but today it started much earlier and was consistently aching by the end of the day. i think it’s the constant angle combined with the pressure i put on it while adjusting my position. this is a slightly worrisome problem, because if it continues to get worse, i don’t really know what i can do about it. i can’t adjust my leg angle significantly in either direction, and my schedule doesn’t really allow me to take too many days off. my mind of course shot to worst-case scenarios like having to sell my bike and fly home if i couldn’t continue, but that just seems stupid. i’ll just have to keep in monitored and see how it goes.
when i pulled into ardmore for lunch, it turns out i was only about 90 miles away from lake hugo, where i am currently residing in my tent. i pulled in to lake hugo nice and easy around 3:30 to set up camp.
this is where i ran into some troubles.
now, it’s not that i don’t like camping. i am a big fan of the outdoors, even though i usually do more day-trip type stuff. i don’t mind all the things that go with camping on a short term basis. however, i’m beginning to find that i don’t like camping alone. there is something a little more desolate about being out here by myself, with no one to talk to and nothing to do. i’ve covered my road book for tomorrow, set up camp, walked around taking pictures, and it’s only 6pm. not even dinner time yet. i figure i’ll go to sleep when it’s dark and wake up for another early start, but even so i’m rather bored. those that know me can probably guess that in this situation my mind tends to drift to the negative and so i’m working hard to entertain myself, but the best i can do is play “crush the mosquitoes that got into my tent” and “try and find a place to sit without being devoured by red ants.” not terribly fun games. it’s very pretty out here and if i was with someone i’m sure it would be fine, but i don’t do well without sensory interaction of some kind.
especially because i’m only 3 hours in to my first night alone.
so i did some looking at the map and, if i can find people, i may try to crash with folks in place of camping. if anyone knows places to stay between omaha NE and walla walla WA, i’m all ears. i can usually do around 450 miles a day before i start getting antsy.
ok. there’s my plea. otherwise it’s playing the loneliness game or scraping the coffers for cheap hotels. and i don’t like the loneliness game.
who knows? it could turn out to be a great night of introspection and i could wake up feeling more refreshed than ever. it’s possible.
i guess we’ll just have to see.
rftc,
scott
camping update: i had a little more of both the pros and cons of camping the rest of the time. i had a very nice dinner. after the sun went down and the bugs went away, i pulled out the camp radio (music fixes everything) and cranked up the country (literally, it’s a crank radio) while enjoying my freeze-dried chicken teriyaki. unfortunately, the crank lantern failed miserably when i was trying to read in my tent, and i could barely get through a page without having to stop and crank the damn thing some more, even at the lowest setting. that thing sucks. and i slept horribly. my shoulder cramped up, I couldn’t get comfortable and my knees were sore the next morning. my little tent held up wonderfully, though, when it decided to shower on and off all night.
so, the final verdict on camping is probably not. too many negative factors (cramping shoulders are not good for riding) and besides, it took far too long to break camp this morning (up at 6:30, not on the road until 8:15). it’s tempting to still try the badlands, but something tells me that would be the worst of the best. or the best of the worst. either way, i’ll probably be moteling it. my sanity wins out over my pride. sorry.
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