Daily Diary 19: Sanderson TX to Comstock TX - 90 miles 3000 ft climbing

So today was definitely a long grinder. 90 miles and 3000 climbing was already going to be difficult, then factor in the steady breeze in my face to slow me down further, and the freezing temperatures for the most of the morning and it was a tough ride! I started out the morning riding with the guy I met yesterday. He was older but in good shape and had no packs or weight on his bike, as his wife was carrying it all for him so we were moving. The ride started really cold and I had a difficult time warming up. The guy I was riding with felt like he needed to go fast, so the pace was higher than normal and by 20 miles in I wasn’t having it anymore! 30 extra pounds of gear plus the wind resistance of panniers means I go slower. A lot of people have asked me why I don’t ride with friends or with a group but today was a good example of that. Everybody rides a different pace and with different objectives, and it’s very difficult to get those things to line up over thousands of miles of riding. I much prefer to ride by myself or short rides with other people but then get back into my own groove and mindset. Plus this guy was a talker, and I’m not when I’m riding. Anyway it was nice to have some company for a while and we parted a little more than halfway through. The rest of the ride was as challenging as the first part, zero or very little services, basically one small open shop and a lot of empty desert or deserted towns. Lots of up and down hills which made for slow going. Not much to see other than crossing the Pecos river, which was pretty cool and meeting two people going coast to coast the other direction, first time I’ve seen people going west. Final 10 miles were challenging, uphill and into the wind. Finally I arrived in the very tiny town of Comstock. But it has a nice motel and a nice bar and restaurant which really is all that matters! The pattern for riding today is something I’ve been noticing more and more, it starts out with excitement about the ride maybe a little trepidation about the distance, or the wind, or the climbing, but excited nonetheless. Then, usually within the first 20 miles the difficulty of the task at hand and in particular any challenges like hills or wind create some negativity and questioning whether I can actually do this entire ride. Once I get halfway though I realize I’ve got this, and by the end I’m just powering through to the finish where I know I’ll have the elation of completion. My wife pointed out that this similar to something we used to call the Fazal  curve in reference to our friend Fazal who came up with the concept for work. You start a new job excited with all of the enthusiasm and confidence you will succeed, then once you get into it you become buried, kind of like you’re drowning with all the things you need to learn and get done. And then after a while you start to master it and realize that you got this. Definitely something that is applicable across a lot of different things!