Day 10 (9th day riding).  After such a good day yesterday I was looking forward to logging some more miles on the flat smooth road ahead.  What creates large waves on the water?  Strong wind.  What creates large sand dunes?  Strong winds.  Immediately after setting out the winds hit me.  I was on a beat to a beam reach all day.  The strong headwinds had me nearly stopped at times and the cross winds had me slaloming back and forth.

As I passed through the sand dunes I was literally sandblasted by the winds blowing off the dunes.  I the bright side I shouldn’t have to take a shower or brush me teeth today, now that my skin and teeth have been blasted clean.

Uni taking a break from getting sandblasted

I pushing hard against the wind and felt like I was climbing a steep grade, then a spoke broke.  I replaced the spoke and was on my way again.

I saw a couple of long haul cyclists today going the other way, then Stephen from London came along going my way while I was changing pedal positions in my cranks to get a little more speed.  He rode along with me for a few miles until I needed a break and he went on.  It was nice to have some riding company for a bit.  I expect that will be a rare occurrence given my paltry pace.

Stephen and Dave riding away from the Dunes

Then the berm of the road became nonexistence and rolling hills and dips peppered the route adding to the challenging winds.  I wimped out after slogging 18 miles.

Riding the Dips in around the Chocolate Mountains

Stats for Day 10:  18 hard earned miles averaging 8.1 mph, Max=12.1 mph, ave heart rate 135, Ascent=1690′ Descent=890, Ave temp 73 degrees.  Strong winds from the NE all day.