On February 20, 2011 former motocross champion Jimmy Button and his former trainer Cory Worf will be riding bicycles 2428 miles from San Diego CA to Daytona Beach FL. The objective is to raise money for spinal cord research.
Day 17 started at Exit 78 off the I10 where we had an early finish the day before because of the bad weather. On the ride back to the exit there was a lot of uncertainty about what the day would bring. The forecast called for more wind but we had no idea which direction it would be coming from. As we started out it became very apparent that today the wind was our friend. It only took a hour and forty minutes to make up the thirty miles we had lost the day before. At that point we decided to try and make it to the city of Van Horn which would have put us at 63 miles for the day. The roads were smooth and the wind stayed at our backs to Van Horn. We stopped there for our lunch break and were still feeling pretty fresh so we decided to ride another hour. At the end of the hour we realized that it would be possible to accomplish the century (100 miles) we weren't able to finish last week. We knew the century was possible but it was going to be hard because we had already climbed 1600 ft and ridden 63 miles but we charged on. Things fell in our favor unlike last Thursday and we finished the century on Highway 118 in Kent, TX. This was a first ever for Jimmy and it was a goal we set when planning the ride. We both felt redeemed after missing the century last week and the having to stop short yesterday because of weather. This was a very emotional moment for Jimmy because a year ago he could only ride a stationary bike for a total of 15 minutes and today he rode 100 miles and climbed over 2400 feet in 5 hours and 17 seconds!!!
El Paso to Sierra Blanca
Today was the first day back after a much needed rest. Jimmy went home for 24 hours to be checked out after his crash by Kenny Sheppard. This was to be our first full day in Texas and we knew the wind was going to be bad. We headed out of El Paso on the frontage road for the first 15 miles, at this point the wind wasn’t so bad. When we reached the I10 the wind really started to pick up and with that came the dust and sand. We tried putting on masks but they didn’t give up much relief. Our right ears and eyes filled up quickly with sand. At points it felt like we were being pelted by thousands of little needles and sometimes it seemed like we were sideways because of the cross winds. The wind was so bad we couldn’t take either hand off while riding and had to stop several times just to drink. Jimmy’s hands got sore because he was unable to move them around, this also contributed to stopping multiple times. Initially we had intended on riding 73 miles and were only able to ride 53 miles in 4 hours, at that point we decided to call it a day. So now we know why they say “Don’t Mess with Texas”. We are going to leave early tomorrow to make up the 20 miles we missed today and hopefully miss the wind. Don’t miss the picture of the tumble weed almost taking us out.
JB & Cory
East Bound & Down
and all we could see was the road in front of us. This was a much need change from the cars and trucks on I-10. We also passed three other guys doing the cross country trek in the other direction. Today was also a much needed mellow pace day. Big E came along for the ride with us today too. He's always good for a laugh and a smile. Thanks bro. We made it to the border of Texas, but I'm not so sure we weren't in Mexico for part of the day. We actually stopped in a gas station to ask how far the Texas border was and the old guy asked me if I wanted to know from Mexico or New Mexico. At that point we were only two miles from the sign. So we headed out and got our picture in front of it. Although we did have to finish the day once again on I-10. We are taking a much needed rest for the next two days so Jimmy can heal up. Have a good weekend and get ready for more adventures next week. I've got a feeling it will have cowboy boots and country music in part of it.
