Day 15
Day 15: Shamrock, TX to Carson, TX - 69 miles, 2,520 feet elevation
There are nearly 10 miles of this ride which is on Interstate 40’s shoulder, not the frontage road or the Business highway, but the full on interstate. Its the portion west of Alanreed from exit #132 to exit #124. I have been anxious about this section, which depending on the terrain, could take me an hour to ride. The roads were wet and slick, there was quite a bit of debris, and there was semi after semi spraying water onto the shoulder. There was also a considerable disturbance in the air when the semis sped by - they create a kind of vacuum while they are next to you but a giant whoosh of wind when they pass. When the time finally came for me to ride my bike onto the interstate, I did so with trepidation.
As I started out, the terrain was forgiving, gentle hills, relatively flat so I knew it wouldn’t take me an hour. And then the most miraculous thing occurred: A semi approached my position, but within a 100ft of me, it change lanes to the far left lane and slowed down slightly as it passed me. Then, every subsequent car, truck, and semi followed suit. The display of courtesy was astounding. I mean, we were in the middle of no where, I was on a bike and unlikely to remember who did this - but here all these people were, literally going out of their way to make space for me. The 10 miles sped by and in no time, I was back on the frontage road.
Have I mentioned how much I love Texas? I just love the hospitality, the courtesy, the “love thy neighbor” attitude.
The rest of the day was a blur. The winds were SSW blowing at 30-33mph. My bike got shoved about by the Westerlies and my legs burned with fatigue. But when you start at 7:30am, you just keep going until it gets dark and you’ll probably make it somewhere you can sleep.
