JQsBigAdventure

May 24, 2016. Yeah that was the first question I asked way back in October- where is gods good America is Dalhart, Tx? Well,  It occupies a piece of the very west side of Texas in the panhandle! It’s our 3rd state line crossing today. Dalhart’s claim to fame is that it has one of the nations largest cattle feedlots with over 250,000 head of steer all in controlled feeding pens designed to generate cows of maximum weight and uniformity– hello McDonalds! The history of this area and some of the recents small towns we’ve been through  i.e. Las  Vegas NM  is  like the history of the cowboy West with gamblers, lawmen and gunfights all happening here. Check the web if interested. It is also the epicenter of the 1930’s dust bowl events.Dalhart is also the home of a legendary late 1880-1912 cattle ranching consortium that is still in operation today–known as the XIT ranch. That stands for Ten in Texas – ten ranches consolidated to run cows over almost 300,000 acres of land and this was their branding symbol. Today’s ride was another wind aided flying along . 4 of us rode together in a pace line and averaged 19.5 mph for 97 miles- look out Tour de France, right!! All was well, Until Kevin had the single most unusual flat by anyone on the trip. Look at the photo- that’s some kind of screw that pierced his tire , tube and imbedded in his rim. What a bang with that- luckily no fall. He needed to borrow one of the staff cyclist rear wheel to finish the day. Looks like the repair isn’t too difficult – some extra rim tape inside sealed the hole.Sabine also had a hit by possible a rock on her tires side wall that caused a flat- but the day otherwise  was very cool. Paul reminded us it was Bob Dylan’s birthday  and that brought all the old songs, hippie stories,  where were you when talk,and some off note singing and laughing! Mac our British CR staff and lifesaver was right with us recalling what  the 60’s were like in England  as well. There are more trucks and certainly more cows and their odors here than anywhere I’ve ever been- it makes the ride past Lemoore, Ca smell pleasant in comparison!!

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