the day started great. i woke up early,was greeted ball of the great farmers at cloud view eco farm, filled up water and was on my way. the new route couldn’t be sent to my gps for some reason, so i just relied on google maps. terrible ideal. theres a reason they still say biking is still in beta, its because they lead you down terrible gravel roads and say it’s the best route.

i saw many different farms today, and it was the boredom that i feared. not a change of scenery. it looked like all roads would never end and they all had the same farms. but i did get to see the largest organic mint farm in the united states. it smelled amazing. hill after hill after hill, i pushed on.

i reached my halfway point and saw sprinklers spraying in the public park. i couldn’t contain my excitement. i ran over, set my bike on a tree and got wet. it was amazing and i don’t expect anyone to understand. a small bit of water after miles in the hot sun can do you wonders.

after 72 miles or so of climbing hills, descending hills, riding on pavement and on gravel, and the sun beating down on me at a steady 91 degrees, a farmer stopped me. he said it looked like i was dying. he offered to take me the remaining few miles to the stop i was heading to and his wife made him stop at home so she could get me ice water. as it turns out, odessa has a free campground for tourists and visitors. three picnic tables under a shelter with a fire place. there’s even a free pool! sadly i was arriving when they closed the pools.

still working on mastering my 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th winds. i really need to step it up. after only 250+ miles over three days, i feel out of shape and exhausted. day 03 done.