Leg Two: 55.8 Miles (104.2 total)
Not even 10 minutes into this leg, just after leaving the checkpoint and changing into fresh kit, I cross the deepest water to that point, and totally soak my brand new dry socks. Son of a bitch. My brand new, completely DRY and comfortable socks and my Wig’s Wheels kit. Unfortunately I had rolled out and passed the couple of people that were nearby, so I didn’t see anyone ahead of me cross, and it turned out to be a lot deeper than it looked. Also, as luck would have it, I didn’t carry much speed into it, and therefore had to pedal through it, completely submerging not one but both feet underwater as I plowed through. Damn. Luckily it dried out fairly quickly, and wasn’t too much of a mental distraction, which was my main concern. 206 miles is a lot of time to think, and the slightest thing can become an issue if there isn’t anything else to concentrate on. However it dried, and crisis was avoided. For the time being…
Close to 60 miles in, looms is Texaco Hill. I use “looming” loosely as Texaco Hill is 5.6 miles in length, but it only gains 434 feet of elevation. I honestly didn’t realize I was on the climb until it dawned on me that I’d been going uphill for a good ways, and at that point, I was three fourths of the way to the top. That is one thing to be said for living in the Talladega National Forest. I’ll get 400 feet of gain on the first dirt climb, probably more. There was a pretty cool concrete bunker/shelter that was level with the ground with a metal stovepipe sticking out of it. I’m not sure that if it was an emergency shelter during storms for people working on the oil rigs there, but that is my guess.
