It's a Go!

It looks like it’s a go for my tour. If the weather cooperates I’ll get started Wednesday afternoon (04-25-15). I initially wanted to leave from my house but I wasn't real happy with the route I'd have to take to get out of Fort Worth. Instead I'll be dropped off at the Lake Mineral Wells State Trailway in Weatherford, Texas. It's about fifteen miles from the trailhead in Weatherford to the entrance of Lake Mineral Wells State Park in Mineral Wells, Texas. I'll spend the night at the park and start my tour in earnest the following morning.

I’ll be headed west on U.S. 180 passing through the towns of Breckenridge, Anson, Snyder, Lamesa, then into New Mexico passing through Hobbs and Carlsbad before crossing back into Texas with a stop at Guadalupe Mountains National Park. I’ll then head to El Paso where I’ll connect to the Adventure Cycling Association’s Southern Tier Route (it heads to San Diego).

I'm a little apprehensive in that I haven't put in as many miles on the bike as I would have liked. Some people say that you can ride into fitness on tour. I'll be putting that theory to the test. I've also had lots of trouble getting comfortable on my saddle. I started with my Brooks B-17 special, the one with nice large rivets, but it hasn't been broken in and was causing me lots of pain, mostly my sit bones. I replaced it with a Selle Anatomico X after reading great reviews. My sit bones were fine but the edges of the new saddle splayed out when I sat on it. The edges were grinding against my thighs causing problems. I just switched back to the B-17 and mounted it with the nose slightly elevated . Hopefully I've got it worked out. If not this is going to be a very short tour.

****DISCLAIMER****

I usually set goals and practically kill myself trying to reach them-not this time. I’m retired, this is not a voyage of discovery, I’m not trying to “raise awareness”, I’m not riding in memory of anybody or any event, I’m definitely not trying to impress anybody, I’m simply riding for my own amusement. If I get to the point where I’m not enjoying myself, it’s over. I’ll head home and do some serious bass fishing, no sense of loss or failure. Well, we’ll see what happens. Wish me Luck!