A long struggle of a day. Wind and lots of it in my face all day long made what could have been an easy ride into a frustrating, draining push. At the outset, winds were stiff at 30 mph and gusting to 35 out of the north according to NOAA. I could barely squeak out 10 mph and more often than not dropped below that level before noon.

The plan was to ride from Roswell to Plains, TX, over 100 miles. The first 72 had no services at all--no towns, no water. That meant a heavy load of liquid (one gal) and food (2 Power bars, dried fruit, a can of Pringles, a quart of Gatorade and a quart of OJ both included in the gal of liquid stated above.

After the first hour, I stuffed paper in my ears to cut the wind noise. Later I tried to fashion a sail with a stick and my jacket but I was too close to the wind to get it to work.

In the end, I gave up on trying to avoid the struggle and just slogged on. By noon, I had covered only 46 miles so I knew I would not end until after six (actually came in at 6:30, 12 hours after starting out in Roswell.

For the first 20 miles, the road was made up of long rollers but then settled out to table top flatness. The land is used for animal agriculture and for oil. According to one person I spoke to, most of it is leased by the New Mexico and the US governments to local farmers for ridiculously low prices.

Cattle are the dominant animal, although, I did see some sheep. Two herds of antelope grazed in the fenced area along with the cattle.

The land is so flat, so lacking in features, I wondered whether the people here see it as merely an object. The oil pumping rigs are scattered over the fields as if they are cattle. Some turned this way or that. Their tanks are painted stark silver and no attempt has been made to integrate either the pumps or the storage into the landscape.

At around 3:00 I arrived in Tatum and ate lunch at the Steakhouse Cafe. Judy, the owner and only waitress, was curious about the trek. When I spoke about Internet courses, she remarked that she was taking one from Lasalle, a law course. She was finishing up her law degree and planned on becoming a Supreme Court Justice. I asked how long she had been working in the cafe. She had been there for 18 years.

Dinner was on my mind, so I ordered the chicken steak. First course was macaroni and tomato soup. I can't recall when I last had that soup.

The entree was a chicken steak the size of my fully stretched hand, milk gravy, canned carrots and canned peas. It was a true cafe meal right out of the 1950s. A heart stopper for sure but I needed the calories. Judy kept my glass of ice tea full--I seem to drink at least three full glasses when I can get it or even more if it is hot.

Thankfully, the high for the day was only 85. In the morning I was actually cold at times.

I knew my luck with the wind would not last so today's struggle was expected. I did learn though that I could still do over 100 miles despite the large expenditure of energy needed to overcome strong headwinds. So today was a confidence builder. And, I'm ready to get some sleep.