Day 17 - 56.4 miles - Fort Stockton,TX

First of all, A Happy Mother's Day to my Mom and to all Mom's. I may be away, but I didn't forget. I hope everyone had a wonderful day. This morning was relaxing. I have just 55 miles planned for today. Mostly because after that, it's another 120 miles to my next town. Yes, it's very barren here in West Texas. I waited just before sunrise to hit the road. Temperature were only in the mid 40's but it warms up quickly. Just as the sun was rising, I notice my back tire going flat. More than just my tire that got deflated. A flat tire can play games in your head. It's a mental thing. It only took me 15 minutes to change the flat but this is the best time of day to make miles. It's cool, and the winds are not as strong as the afternoon. As I was pumping up my newly repaired tire, I heard air leaking out of the tire. I couldn't believe this. I just fixed it. Well, maybe the patch didn't hold. So, off with all the gear again. I had a yard sale on the shoulder of I-10, or so it looked. Upon inspection I had another thorn in the same tire. The problem is Goat Heads. They are growing near the shoulder of the road and they are blowing onto the road. To hard to see them as I am biking by. I run them over and there's your flat. So much for the thorn resistant tubes I am using. I haven't had a flat in over a 1,000 miles and then I get 2 at once. I fixed them and away I went. Only to realize 15 miles later it went flat again. Ok, enough is enough. I pulled off I-10 to a frontage road with zero traffic and I went to work. This time I unloaded everything and rotated my tires because the rear takes on more wear then the front. I installed new tubes and pumped both back up. I loaded back up and hit the road nervously. Now with all the flat tire delays, the winds picked up. Headwind, of course. These winds can make a grown man cry. Really, it's that hard to cycle through a straight on 20 mph constant blasting. The winds are supposed to switch in a day or two. That's music to my ears, never mind my legs. What's funny is that my cycling friend Kevin, is also on the road just 150 miles north of me. We are constantly texting each other, making sure the other is ok and giving updates from from our location. We text about winds, road conditions, traffic and lodging just to name a few. More important, we support each other and give motivation to each other. Kevin has become a great friend on this trip and we really only rode together for a few hours in California. We are hoping to meet up and ride again together farther east. I am looking forward to that, but until then, I'll take a cyber friend any day. I did make it to Fort Stockton but not as early as I should have and definitely not as happy as I should have been. I walked to the nearby Walmart to look for more bike tubes but no luck. They didn't have the size I need. Now I mull over the 125 miles to my next town, with no services. Not to mention headwinds. So my plan is to start out and camp rough when I had enough. We will see how that goes tomorrow.

Photos: Sunrise flat on I-10 - Flat number 2 - Riding off the beaten path - Roadside mountain - Rest area - Flat number 3 and the frontage road yard sale - Me, not pleased