YMCA!!!

Decatur to Wichita Falls 80.3 miles

Today we finally got back on our bikes after a 3 day absence.  I missed my bike when I didn't ride it.  We got up early ( compared to the last few days) at 5:30 and gathered our stuff. I packed up my cot (rather awkwardly) and put my bin out by the trailer.  Thanks again to the church for providing me with a nice break from my thermarest.  I was in a very forgetful mood this morning and didn't talk my socks out of my bin, so I had to rummage through my perfectly stuffed bin to find them at the very bottom.  I also forgot to grab a thank you card and a shirt for our wonderful host!   Luckily, the stuff was near the side door of the trailer, so I was able to grab one with our causing problems for trailer crew.  It was also an interesting morning to be on overnight crew, since our main job is host clean up and this host refused to show us where the cleaning supplies were.  They didn't want us to clean anything, so I was pretty much our of a job.  We wiped down counters and tables and picked up trash, but were pretty limited by the lack of vacuums, mops and sponges.  It was a strange feeling, leaving the host with out a big clean up.  We hit the road around 7:20 after another rousing speech by Coleman.  I took off with Alyssa, Eddie and Kelsey and stayed with them for most of the day.  We began with a 3 mile reroute, since the road we were supposed to be on didn't exist.  We saw some pretty farms and stuff.  Texas is becoming more like how I originally pictured, with wide open spaces, giant cattle ranches, oil wells, and a rockier texture to the land.  Along the way, my bike computer decided to go metric, then die a very dramatic death.  It died, revived itself for a mile or two and faded slowly out again, only to return for a few final breaths.  Oh bike computer!  What would I do with out your entertaining antics!  It does make me a little sad though because I ALWAYS check my computer every 1/10th of a mile or so.  Its my motivation.  I know exactly when we are half-way, 2/3rds of the way, 10 miles out, ect. We stopped with everyone at a gas station for a few minutes, then continued on to 1st lunch.  Our little group, which we have named Pinky and the Brain, made it there first, which was kind of nice.

1st lunch was in a Walmart parking lot,  so those who needed to get more supplies like toothbrushes and electrical tape were able to resupply.  We feasted on leftovers from Sally including some delicious quiches and a bag of king sized candy bars.  Once again, best host ever!   We set off again along a minor highway, but it wasn't too busy.  The wind was really crazy, as we have come to expect from Texas.  2nd lunch was at an abandoned gas station in a small town.  We were lucky enough to be able to use the restrooms at a neighboring church.  It was air conditioned inside :)  It's always a challenge to leave A/C behind, but the longer that I stay inside, the worse it is to go out into the heat.  Texas feels like a giant oven.  Not a sauna, 'cause that's not hot enough!  An oven!  We made a small detour to the local post office so Eddie and Alyssa could send off some things that wouldn't fit in their bags, then hit the road again.

Facing some really strong headwinds, we decided to pace line the last 20 miles into Wichita Falls.  Pace lining is basically following closely behind the person in front of you so that they block the wind.  We switched up leaders every two miles and it worked really great except Eddie and I didn't have odometers, so Alyssa and Kelsey were responsible for watching our mileage.  They did a great job :)  Closing in on WF, things started to get a little depressing.  Everything was shuttered up, closed down or boarded shut.  Restaurants, motels, and small businesses were all abandoned and falling apart.  I got a little distracted by all the sadness and didn't realize that Alyssa had fallen a block behind us.  Eddie yelled up for me to slow down, and slow down I did!  I looked back to see who was talking, crashing into a curb.  Ouch!  I walked away with just a few scrapes and another crazy crash story.  Finally, we made it to our host, the Wichita Falls YMCA.  We stayed at the downtown branch, one of the oldest YMCA's in the country.  I think we surprised their customers a little bit when we started our bin and bag fireline through the middle of the workout room! It was the closest door to the van and we are inherently lazy people after an 80 mile ride.  We ferried the stuff up the elevator to the fitness room.  After exploring the Y (its really old and has lots of secret stairways and hidden rooms!), taking a swim and relaxing, we started working on the most important thing.  Dinner!  The Y was providing enough food for 34 normal people, not 34 crazy B&B'ers.  Rider's went around to the local businesses asking for donations (made more difficult than normal because of the lack of operational businesses in the area).  I went with Sonia to drop off a 501c3 form at local restaurant that donated a tub of beans and chili.  As we ate our wonderful dinner we had our weekly route meeting.  Many people went off to watch a movie, but I ended up talking on the phone to family and friends.  I snuggled up in my sleeping bag in a corner of the hallway under some beautiful stained glass windows and went to sleep.