Archive for April 11th, 2011

Leo appeared seemingly out of nowhere on his 100-day Walk Across America.

11 April 2011. No sooner did I have my panniers removed from my bike and the rear wheel off—with everything strewn along the unused terminus of the I-10 frontage road—than this chipper voice came out of nowhere. “Hi, I’m Leo Schreven, and I’m walking across America in 100 days” (or something like that). I had been so focused on my first flat—and nervous about fixing it, as it had been many years since I’ve fixed a flat myself—that I didn’t notice him approaching.

Getting ready to head out at the not-so-bright-and-early time of 9:50. I'm in front of Lee Herman's house in Las Cruces--what a great host! Click on any image to enlarge.

10 April 2011. I was undecided last night as to whether I would take a “recovery” day in Las Cruces, or press on. I figured that either way, I’d take it easy in the morning. If I decided to leave, I only wanted to get to around El Paso.

In the morning, though, I considered the situation a little more closely. The weather forecast was for a west wind of about 20 mph—ideal for biking, as long as you’re going eastward. I realized that it was Sunday; El Paso is a pretty big city with significant rush-hour traffic—so better to get past there as much as possible on a non-work-day. And finally, my experience with the wind in Hatch took quite a toll on my confidence. If I could have a good day, that might do a lot for me emotionally.