Day 69 - Toyah, Texas
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I guess all adventures have that one day where everything seems to fall apart…
That was day 69 for me! I’m ok, but talk about challenging! 44 miles, only 400 foot elevation gain.
Check out the far left on the road in this painting... do you see something rolling away? yep, that's a skateboard wheel!
So I started freaking out the night before, when I realized the next week was putting me on the interstate, or adjacent to it, on service roads that sometimes turned to dirt, sometimes disappeared…
Started out stressing knowing there were going to be 35+ mile gaps between ANYTHING- so I’d have to pack a heavy bag, and push knowing I was on a mission… On roads that sometimes didn’t exist!?
I kinda knew I was screwed but had no option but to move forward, so I got pumped up, and started cruising! Then out of nowhere, my board stopped dead and I somersaulted onto the pavement… Only to find out that the roads I was skating were so rough, they made one of my bearings explode and I had a wheel fall off and roll away! I got a little scraped up, and only had 3 wheels! While looking for the missing wheel, I stepped on a giant thorn of biblical proportions (one of dozens to come) and got a bunch of tiny wooden spikes stuck in my shoe to stab me later, when triggered by rocks in the right spot with each step…
This was the start of a three day 92 mile trek with nowhere to get a hotel, no tent and almost no sleep! Crashing outside in the elements, and only having gas stations to look forward to at the end of the days.
Without proper roads to skate, I was tip toeing around rattle snakes hiking the hills until 7:00 am, when I finally gave up for the night. I passed out on a table at a picnic stop on the interstate, and got a couple in and out hours of sleep before it was too hot to keep sleeping… and I had to get back on the road for another day weaving through unmaintained dirt roads, on high alert for rattle snakes at all times… but that’s day 70, and we will get there soon enough.
That was day 69 for me! I’m ok, but talk about challenging! 44 miles, only 400 foot elevation gain.
Check out the far left on the road in this painting... do you see something rolling away? yep, that's a skateboard wheel!
So I started freaking out the night before, when I realized the next week was putting me on the interstate, or adjacent to it, on service roads that sometimes turned to dirt, sometimes disappeared…
Started out stressing knowing there were going to be 35+ mile gaps between ANYTHING- so I’d have to pack a heavy bag, and push knowing I was on a mission… On roads that sometimes didn’t exist!?
I kinda knew I was screwed but had no option but to move forward, so I got pumped up, and started cruising! Then out of nowhere, my board stopped dead and I somersaulted onto the pavement… Only to find out that the roads I was skating were so rough, they made one of my bearings explode and I had a wheel fall off and roll away! I got a little scraped up, and only had 3 wheels! While looking for the missing wheel, I stepped on a giant thorn of biblical proportions (one of dozens to come) and got a bunch of tiny wooden spikes stuck in my shoe to stab me later, when triggered by rocks in the right spot with each step…
This was the start of a three day 92 mile trek with nowhere to get a hotel, no tent and almost no sleep! Crashing outside in the elements, and only having gas stations to look forward to at the end of the days.
Without proper roads to skate, I was tip toeing around rattle snakes hiking the hills until 7:00 am, when I finally gave up for the night. I passed out on a table at a picnic stop on the interstate, and got a couple in and out hours of sleep before it was too hot to keep sleeping… and I had to get back on the road for another day weaving through unmaintained dirt roads, on high alert for rattle snakes at all times… but that’s day 70, and we will get there soon enough.
