In fact, my Dad believes that when a project starts off too well, it's a bad sign. And the project that prompted him to say that went completely to shit before it was all over. So, since then I've believed in that bit of fatherly wisdom.
I got lucky with rain the first two days, avoiding it altogether, or suiting up just in the nick of time. I had no wrong turns, no traffic jams, and was cranking out big miles with ease. I had myself convinced at one point that I was getting COVID, but here I am (updated 11 days and one negative test result after leaving Texas) Rona-free. However...
In the parking lot in Plainview, the evening before I was to leave on my Iron Butt ride, I'd gone outside to go over the bike. I ended up doing a half-assed garbage pail wash, which almost always guarantees rain the next day. While I was doing this, there was a minivan parked 2-3 spaces over from me, and the lady was going through it. Whatever she was doing, it took some time. I heard tape coming off a roll. Eyeballing her over the gas tank from my crouch on the other side of the bike, I could see she was making a plastic film wall behind the front seats. She was "sealing off" the rest of the van, and being very meticulous about it. So, it dawns on me exactly what is happening here, and I'm thinking to myself, "are *you* the one with COVID, or are you picking up that person in the morning? And also, if you put the A/C on in that thing - and it's Texas in July - then that plastic probably ain't gonna do what you need it to do.
I confirmed that I was not downwind, and wrapped up quickly. When the alarm went off at 4:15, I saw the emergency lights of an ambulance flashing silently outside my window and eventually moving away. So I guess I got my answer: "picking up." I thanked my stars that wasn't me, with my bike at some dealership, and was glad I'd be in Missouri by afternoon.
I'm not an ATGATT (All The Gear All The Time) kind of guy, but I do wear full length jeans 100% of the time and a helmet 95% of the time. The other 5% is when I'm out west, it's stupid hot, and I'm the only vehicle on a road that I can see 5 miles of at a time. Like now. But what I didn't do was add the extra sunscreen above my eyebrows, because I normally never need it there, and I at some point realized my forehead was burning after it was, well, burning. Any longer and it would have been excruciating to put the helmet back on from there on out, but as it was it was only mildly painful and then annoying / funny when it started to peel.
As noted, when you're on the clock, stops need to be very efficient for obvious reasons. There are volumes written in Iron Butt forums on this, but I just use my common sense, knowing that every minute wasted is another minute of rest or sleep I could have had. So the ideal gas stop is right at the exit, stop signs and not traffic lights, fuel, pee, and flee. Maybe grab a protein bar. In my case, refill the water bottle from the cooler.
I made a stop outside Tulsa; you can count on gas stations at almost every exit near a big city, and I passed 3 good ones to pick the wrong one. I ended up going a mile down a backed up busy street, narrowed to one lane by construction, and almost turned around before a gas station did appear. Then I had to do the same thing in the other direction. 15 minutes gone.
I made 1,050 miles that day and still felt great going on midnight, as reported earlier. I exited somewhere in Indiana where there was a Holiday Inn along with the others on the blue traveler's info sign, but I found only a gas station, behind which was a Super 8 and a Quality Inn. I gathered that downtown was a few miles down the road, and certainly wasn't going to go searching for the Holiday Inn when I was only looking for a quick nap anyway. I would find another Holiday tomorrow night, stay again on points, and this would be the only hotel room I would pay for the entire trip. Also as reported earlier, this Low Quality Inn was the most disgusting place I ever stayed in. And when I woke up in the morning and rode 100 feet to the gas station, what did I find a few hundred yards behind the Low Quality Inn? Yep. The Holiday. Derf.
All in all, I'll take this success rate every time. And on that note, I can't wait until the next one! Hope you enjoyed.
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| God bless it |
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