No unwelcome call or knock at the door this morning thankfully! The morning routine was just that, up at 1030, leisurely packing job. I have refined my load in the week on the road. I was overlooking the space inside my shoes! They now hold my mouse, 2 pairs of socks and 2 pairs of gaunchies. Doesn't sound like much of a difference but when limited to 30 litres per side, every little bit helps!

I had a healthy breakfast of watermelon and yogurt and drank 2 litres of water I had refrigerated overnight. I cannot stress enough the importance of staying hydrated. In 100+ degree heat I stop every 30 minutes to guzzle water. My T-Shirt is literally soaking wet by the end of the day so I know I am losing fluid as fast as I put it in.

I found that most gas stations have these massive soda pop machines, but chilled water is available on one of the spigots. I always ask permission before I fill my water bottle though, Canadian politeness of course, never been turned down. If I drank pop or bottled drinks all day I'd put myself into a sugar coma!

So, up and packed and on the road by 1100 I follow a diagonal hwy who's number escapes me until I hit Interstate 20. As much as I hate the Interstate (any of them) some times they are a necessary evil. The posted speed limit is 75 MPH but you need to do 90 just so you don't become a rolling roadblock. Not that I mind going fast, but I-20 has been constructed by assembling pre-cast sections of roadway the full 2 lanes + shoulder width that are 50' long which creates the equivalent of a bridge expansion joint at every union. At 90 MPH you hit about 3 per second and every one is a jarring bone rattler, it is very tiring riding.

Luckily my time allotted to I-20 is brief, about 100 miles and just as it curves northward towards the Dallas - Ft Worth area I exit to my new favorite class of road, US Goat Trail, in this case USGT-6. I will be passing under the D-FW mega-urban-metro-glomix, within about 50 miles of it, yet I am on a smooth continuously paved and virtually deserted agricultural road. Granted occasionally you have to allow for a combine or other farm machinery taking up most of the road, and USGT's are not immune to road construction, but these roads are amazing.

As much as I love my new map book I think I will look for an equivalent that just lists this level of road. I think it would be a cool challenge to try to cross the country completely on USGT's. I am looking for a challenge for upcoming trips, although I still have the Arctic Ocean to achieve. You may have seen on this blog site that I have a trip from 2004 that is under construction. Not to be a spoiler but while I did make it above the Arctic Circle, I did not get to stand in the Arctic Ocean and that is something I want to do. Also I have been thinking a trip to Panama City would be a great trip. Tierra del Fuego any one.....................

So I am cruising hwy 6 and it is time to stop for a drink. My 2 litre bottle of fridge water usually stays cool for about an hour, by the 3 water stop of the day it is warm, sometimes hot. But it is wet and refreshing in any form.



Today I stopped by some shady trees which apparently contained an enormous bio mass of Cicadas. Although my arrival initially silenced them, they eventually grew accustomed enough to my presence to resume their song!

Here is what WikiPedia has to say about Cicada songs: Male cicadas have a noisemaker called a tymbal below each side of the anteriorabdominal region. The tymbals are structures of
the exoskeleton formed with thin, membranous portions and thickened ribs. Contraction of internal muscles buckles the tymbals inwards, producing a click; on relaxation of the muscles the tymbals return to their original position, producing another click. The male abdomen is largely hollow, and acts as a sound box. By rapidly vibrating these membranes a cicada combines the clicks into apparently continuous notes, and enlarged chambers serve as resonance chambers, with which it amplifies the sound. The cicada also modulates the song by positioning its abdomen toward or away from the substrate. Partly by the pattern in which it combines the clicks, each species produces its own distinctive mating songs and acoustic signals, ensuring that the song attracts only appropriate mates.

Essentially it beats a drum on its chest saying to mates, 'Hey, check me out!'



USGT-6 pickled its way through Texas farm country, with me stopping every 30 minutes for water. I haven't written much lately about my helmet. It didn't hurt at all for the 2 days I was in Colorado and New Mexico, in cooler weather. I could wear it for hours at end. Bill taught me that when paying by Canadian credit card at the pump at a United States gas station, when it asks for your zip code you put in the 3 numbers of our postal code followed by 2 zeros. This means that often at gas stops I don't even take off my hat unless it is hurting me. I don't even remove it to drink water! If a little spills inside I am OK with that!

I think it is me changing in size, perhaps my head swells in hot weather, I would have thought dehydration would have resulted in shrinkage, not the opposite. I will test my theory on the northern leg home. Until then I can stand maybe an hour at a time, so every second water break is also a helmet break.

The day ends at a ABVI on the hwy outside of Marlin, TX. The room rate is $39.95 so I ask for an upgrade to a 'suite' which raises the cost to $50! It is a pretty big room with a massive AC unit. As is my routine I unload the bike, takes 3 minutes, then still sweating in my leathers I go to get medicinal refreshments. Upon my return I strip down and sit in front of the AC on full with a beverage and cool down. After an hour or so I will shower and then head off on foot (no drinking and driving, not even one, not even a little!) in search of edibles.

Today's hunting and gathering is about 500 yards to an H.E.B.s were we find fresh fruit and a spinach salad. The rest of the evening is spent frantically trying to catch up on my blog which is consistently running 4 days behind.

Day 8
Post, TX to Marlin, TX
527 km