Thursday, 06 April, 2006
Ride Update, Day 3
Earl Gander and SSgt Jaramillo, both on the staff of MMA, joined us in Kingsville this morning for the ride. Frank had recovered, so the five of us rolled out and headed south. We got lucky for the first couple of hours, with winds under 15 MPH. We knew that the wind would be getting worse because Earl and J. had just come up from the Valley.
We completed the 27 miles to the rest area south of Sarita in a little under 2 hours. We took a break, loaded the bikes and riders into the trucks, and drove to Raymondville where caded Chris Boyd joined us. We left Raymondville at 10:30, straight into a 25+ MPH wind. This was brutal. It took us about three and a half hours total time (maybe 2.5 hours riding) to complete the 25 miles from Raymondville to MMA. It was the hardest bit of flatland bicycling I've ever done.
Two of Gunny Ski's grandkids met us at the gate on their bikes for the last half mile, and a large crowd of cadets, staff, and local media were at the school to greet us. We're all in and safe, and ready to start the Alumni Weekend festivities.