Dry’d, Fry’d, and Sky’d by Headwinds and Heat
My Trans-Texas Bicycle Odyssey
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The wake-up squawk of a rooster sounded through the neighborhood. I slowly opened my eyes to a pre-dawn morning, grateful for a few hours of uninterrupted rest. However, I knew I had to vamoose—I don’t think anybody much cared that I had squatted here overnight, but I sure didn’t want to overstay my welcome! Besides, I’ve got a long way to go—only forty-three days left.
I began my morning ritual of rising and stretching, a deliberate act for over four decades. I can remember attending Rolla Junior High School in the late sixties, often starting my day in a similar manner. Instead of bicycling, I would jog a ‘Green Acre Mile,’ which was actually much longer. My current routine is based upon the Royal Canadian Air Force workout from a paperback I had purchased in Naples, Italy, 1975, and was then my sole source of physical fitness aboard ship. Over the decades, I’d adapted it to accommodate my aging body; I’d long ago ceased using a stopwatch for each of the targeted exercises, as well as those which antagonize my left knee (repaired several years ago) such as rope jumping, running, and even excessive walking.
Bicycling is all I can do—good thing I love it so.
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About the Book
When author John Eyberg announced his plan to bicycle two thousand miles across Texas and back, most people thought he was crazy. But for Eyberg, it was a goal he’d dreamed about for years—a feat only the supremely confident or utterly foolhardy would attempt. In Dry’d, Fry’d, and Sky’d by Headwinds and Heat, he provides a day-by-day journal of his travels beginning June 11, 2011, when he climbed on his tandem recumbent Doublevision and pushed off from El Paso, Texas, in 101-degree heat for a planned forty-three-day ride.
In this travel memoir, Eyberg narrates his odyssey—his battles with the intense sun and the often strong headwinds, the route and topography he covered from El Paso to Houston, the gracious and generous people he met throughout his journey, the effects he felt on his middle-age body, and the mechanical breakdowns he experienced.
A detailed account of one man’s personal biking adventure, Dry’d, Fry’d, and Sky’d by Headwinds and Heat shows Eyberg’s commitment to his adage: you don’t know until you go.
About the Author
John Eyberg, a veteran of the US Navy, has taught for over twenty years in the Ysleta Independent School District, El Paso, Texas. Known in the biking world as Juanito Hayburg and BIKERJOHN, he has pedaled over 100,000 miles. He and his wife, Ellen, have two adult children and reside in El Paso.