Day 45 (Sunday) was a much better than yesterday and I badly needed a good day.  I rode across the Pecos river and on through some more rolling hills on a close starboard tack with a light breeze.  The road was a bit rough chip and tar at first, but the shoulders were smoother than the road.

Pecos River Crossing

Pecos River Bridge

My back was a bit tight from yesterday but the going got easier as I went along.  After riding about 32 miles I saw an Exxon station and decided to treat myself to a refreshment. Just as I was about to cross over 5 lanes a couple of cyclists coming the other way crossed over to meet me.  They asked If I was cycling across the country and when I said yes they followed me into the Exxon station.

It turns out I had heard of one of the cyclists from a young cycling couple I met the day before who told me they met Dex Tooke a 60+ year old who had completed the Race Across America (RAAM) he completed the bicycled the crossing in 12 days.  he became only the 6th person in history over the age of 60 to complete solo RAAM.  I guess need to stop being such a wimp and pick up the pace.  He hosts cyclists passing through.  We exchanged cards and went our separate ways.

I treated myself to a 14 oz cup of chocolate peanut butter chunk Haagen Dazs ice cream.  I noted the 14 oz cup claimed to be 3.5 servings.  I easily ate it as one serving and replaced 770 calories of the 1097 I burned today.

Feeling wonderfully recharged I blitzed the next 8 miles to Del Rio.  My crew showed up as I stopped at the first traffic signal in 5 days of riding.  We continued on in town to the end of Map 3 of 7 maps for the trip.

Stats for day 45: rode 43.87 miles at 11.2 mph, Max=14.6 mph, Ascent=1004′, Descent=1345′, Max elevation=1644, Min elevation=1010′, Ave heart rate-105, Max heart rate=131, Ave temp=77 degrees, Calories burned=1097.