The travels of the Rambling Roses: Truxton to Kingman---Finishing yesterday's ride. April 29

April 29. 38.5 in 3:30. Pam took me back to where I left off yesterday. Truxton is a little place where we haven't seen a person, but we think one of the two old motels may be open. The bar and the service station were pretty quiet, and you can't tell if they are boarded up or not. Conditions had changed, from the perfect weather conditions I was riding in yesterday. The temps were in the high 80's before I even started, and the WNW winds were blowing, with the forecast for stronger winds as the day went on. We had decided early that tomorrow was going to be an off day because of temps in the high 90's, and wind warnings for severe crosswinds and dust on the road we are planning on taking to Vegas. I was surprised when I heard some locals complaining about the heat, in a store where I stopped for a snack. I figured they knew 95 just came with the territory, and didn't complain, but they weren't looking forward to the heat.
I had a stretch of about five miles of plateau with headwind at the beginning of my ride, before I got close to some mountains, which blocked a great deal of the wind. Just as I was beginning to descend through the mountains, I saw two fully loaded bikers coming up the hill. They were moving pretty good, the result, I believe, of being strong riders, and the tailwind they had. I turned and rode back up the hill I was coming down, to talk, and to feel the strength of a tailwind. They were Frenchmen, riding from San Francisco to New York, but communication was difficult. I tried to pass on a little info about their impending ride to Seligman, and then it was back down the hill for me. I descended about 850 ft out of the mountains, and into the valley which holds Kingman. The shoulder was bumpy in places, and the entire stretch reminded me of Texas chip seal, not my favorite. I spent quite a bit of time in the middle of the road, because traffic wasn't bad.
About 16 miles into the ride, I stopped at the Hackberry General Store, because one water bottle was already empty. A tour bus full of foreigners had pulled in, so I took a few pictures while I waited to buy water. I rode another 16 miles, out of the mountains and onto a flat windy plateau that went all the way into Kingman. At that point, I went into the store where the people were complaining about the heat, and I got a piece of pizza and some potato salad, and ate indoors to cool off, and fuel up. The last stretch was the toughest, with the wind now rocking, and the heat beating down. I actually had to dodge a few tumbleweeds which blew straight down the road towards me. Pam had spent some time in town, and was waiting to take me east on I-40, to the location of our campground. The rest of he day was spent hydrating, and lounging around.