Thursday 21 September
Day 12
New state, new time zone. Everything is bigger in Texas. Restaurant next store, called the Big Texan, offers a free 72 oz. steak to anyone who can eat the whole thing, along with the fixin’s in one hour. That’s nearly five pounds of meat. The contestant sits on a stage and the crowd gathers round as the clock ticks down. Sometimes they win, sometimes they barf.
Three large guys attempted the Big Tex challenge and failed while we were eating dinner there. Wild Wes walked up and chatted with one of the contestants. He had just arrived in Amarillo after attending a diabetes health conference.
Twenty mph tailwinds today. Riders cruised east at 40 mph while soft pedaling. Smooth shoulder meant no flats. More sub 5 hour century PR’s on Strava today.
Amarillo was established in the 1800’s because it had water and a railroad. It flourished as a marketing center for cattle. We passed long BNSF trains traveling east and west on this rail line today. Grain elevators and enormous feed lots lined the south side of the road. My friend Debbie couldn’t bear to look at them and had to turn the other direction.
Bike Tech
Check out Daniel’s space age helmet and visor. I asked him about it during lunch today. The visor is photo gray, meaning it gets dark when it’s sunny, clear when there’s no light. He said the visor keeps the wind and dust out of his eyes, prevents tearing, and stops projectiles. The brand name is Casko – a bit hard to read on my picture with bad lighting. It’s made in Germany, is rather pricy, but he was able to purchase it at a discount from a firm in England.
