Day 7
   
   5/4/01
   Mile 687
   Lubbock, TX
   
   It rained in the night, and from watching the weather channel at the
   hotel the previous night I knew that any progress further northward
   was going to be questionable.  Strong thunderstorms were in Lubbock at the
   moment, dumping 10 inches of rain.  There was little point in an early
   start; I was pretty far behind on sleep, only getting about 5 hours
   per night so far this trip.  I got up at 6:30, looked around, and went
   back to sleep for a couple of hours.  I eventually decided that maybe I'd
   travel slowly behind the front, to give it time to blow out.  So I
   started cycling again about 9:30....and it started raining within one minute.
   I pulled into a McDonald's to hang out and eat breakfast.  I could not
   have made any better progress, even if I had not spent that time
   working in Midland - the storms ahead were too strong, and one tornado
   was spotted.
   
   I'm beginning to notice the first signs of wear on bike and body.  The
   rear tire (which carries the most weight) has some tread worn down
   now, but I must say this is far more than I have been able to go without a
   flat.  And I started the trip with 1000 miles already on them!  I use
   Specialized brand "Armadillo" tires - previously I had considered them
   to be marginally better than others, with Continentals being a close
   second.  Then, about a year or so ago, Specialized changed the design
   on their tires and included an extra kevlar layer.  I don't know yet how
   far these are good for, because I've never had a flat - 1700 miles and
   counting.  Amazing, since on a trip like this I usually would average
   300-400 miles between flats.
   
   At noon the rain lets up, and I decide to go for it even though it
   looks obviously unsettled.  Five miles later it starts raining again,
   and I resign myself to a sloppy day.  It rained off and on most of the rest
   of the day.  I wore booties over my shoes to keep my feet dry; seemed
   to work ok.
   
   In Tahoka I stopped at the post office to ship off some rolls of film
   to Mike Wood.  As I was leaving, a woman named Sherry Paschal
   approached me, asked the usual questions, then asked if I had any sponsors.  She
   was a distributor for a company that makes athletic performance drinks
   and supplements called Advocare, which I had not heard of but she
   compared it to Gatorade, which I frequent.  She gave me over a dozen
   packets as samples, along with some vitamins and energy bars!  I thanked her
   for her generosity, and she said I could perhaps get the home office to
   sponsor me (in the form of free supplements) on my trek;  I didn't
   quite know what to say about that and was afraid I'd feel like a mooch if I
   did that.  The electrolyte drink powder and energy bars will absolutely be
   useful.  As for the supplements, I'll see what the products are like,
   but I'm usually a skeptic about this type of thing.  You can throw all
   kinds of pills down your throat, but my guess is that what you really
   need is a BALANCED DIET.
   
   It was only 8pm when I stopped for the night.  I had the energy to
   keep going, but was told there was no place to pitch a tent until the town
   of Plainfield, over 40 miles away, and I didn't want to ride that far
   in the dark.  Also I needed to do some maintenance on the bike.  I
   decided to swap the front and back tires tonight, since the back always wears
   at about twice the rate as the front.  A disappointing amount of
   progress today, but the forecast is better tomorrow so perhaps I can
   make up the lost time.

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