Day 29 - Roswell to Portales

Peggy (and her husband Rick) were fantastic Warmshowers.org hosts.

As I bicycled out of Roswell, there were some super wide/tall loads. When the lead car has a measuring pole to verify vertical clearance, you know the load is particularly big.

Also passed some (pecan?) orchards.

It was very wide open and flat. My ride today would be close to 100 miles -- my longest of this trip. Luckily the ride started with side/tailwinds that later turned into very strong tailwinds by the end of the day.

Robert, a local bicyclist, rode with me for a spell. He had also biked across the country from Oregon to Maine.

The clouds were a bit ominous as some thunderstorms were possible that day. I took the sunlight shining through as a good sign.

Alas I encountered many dead owls on the road that had been killed by motor vehicles :-(

Some interesting artwork on an abandoned house.

A lonely sign reminding motorists of bicyclists.

It was a very long ride to Elida with no food or water sources.

I was very happy to run into a convenience store there that had chicken fingers and simple burritos.

The country side was barren but pretty.

In the west, it is easy to see thunderstorms from a long way away. Luckily these were downwind of me and moving away. I ended up avoiding all the storms and having mostly sunny weather.

There were many cattle on my right.

And more thunderstorms to my left.

At last I was nearing Portales...

...when I screw punctured by rear tire as I was admiring the sights. It ripped 2 big holes in my tire and shredded the inner tube. Luckily I had picked up a spare tire a few days earlier in Las Cruces as my rear had gotten 3 flats earlier (all from wires from destroyed truck tires).

Finally entered Portales proper with 17,000 friendly people and 3 or 4 old grouches.

There was a jet in the middle of the road right in front of the hotel I was staying in that night.