The days passed, as did the towns….  Knox City, Guthrie, Paducah, Childress, Clarendon, Pampa, Borger, Dumas, Dalhart, and Perico, until we finally arrived at the New Mexico border, in a town called Texline. 

Texline is one square mile, measuring 6 blocks by 7 blocks. Even though there are only about 480 people who live within that area, it has a Baptist AND a Methodist Church. The Texline Public School building  houses grades K-12. This is where W. A. Criswell, pastor of the megachurch First Baptist Church of Dallas, was raised.  

For years, there was a huge debate about whether Texline was in Texas or New Mexico. This, we learned from 1/480 of the residents.

Scott was able to get a new rim this morning, this one “trued,” (meaning it’s straight and doesn’t wobble) just before heading out today from Dumas. It’s his birthday (5/27/82) and at the end of the day we celebrated it by having a corn dog party, corn dogs being a staple food in all Southern convenience stores. We put a candle in each of the six dogs and Scott made a wish and blew them out. 

The party was highlighted when Jerry walked out of the restroom with his pants unzipped, and wearing no underwear (which is appropriate for biking shorts - you don’t want chafing). I gesticulated with my eyes and eyebrows, casting furtive glances at his open fly, and after initially thinking I'd lost all voluntary control of my facial muscles, or perhaps that I was constipated, he finally understood my meaning. 

Scott expressed what I’d been feeling: “It’s nice stopping, but it feels really good to get back on the bike.” After you’ve been on a bike for an extended period of time, it feels awkward to walk. Your legs feel clunky, like a robot. Maybe that feeling doesn't extend to Jerry, though, since his knee has been getting worse each day and is now swollen. By the end of the first week, we’ve been averaging 75-85 miles a day, and the miles are adding up in more ways than one.

Heart

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