Life On A B-I7

Day 5

Jacumba Hot Sprints to Brawley California

The day started with a nice climb out of Jacumba Hot Springs, it will be the only climb of my 70 mile day. At the top, the route merges with I-8 for 14 miles, all down hill! Sounds like fun, and it was, with just a touch of cautious terror. The side-winds were very strong in places. To tell where you needed to slowdown you had to keep a close eye on canyon openings and the movement of surrounding bushes. I reached 50 mph, but most of the distance covered was at a speed around 35 mph. Good heavens this Davidson rolls like a dream.

It’s hot, about 90 plus degrees. I’m now officially in the South West California desert. The first thing I noticed is that the water in the water bottles heats up. Warm (almost hot) water is certainly better than no water, but not very satisfying in the heat. The border wall is just to the South of me and I see Border Patrol vehicles every few miles. The 19 mile stretch between Ocotillo and Seeley is horrid. The road is in such bad shape you can’t go faster than about 8 mph. Even that is pushing it. Shortly after turning onto this stretch I came up to a sign that said “Road Closed Bridge Out Ahead.” I didn’t feel like adding miles by detouring around, so I simply went around the sign. Three miles later, sure enough, the bridge was closed and barricaded. The only natural thing to do was to go around the bridge, which was easy to do, it seems that’s what all the locals do also. Bridges in the desert are conveniences to get you over a dry wash. Usually, as was the case here, there is an easy detour around the bridge, into the wash and back out again. In Seeley I got some chocolate milk. I do love that stuff when I am cycling. I don’t drink it normally, but on the road it is like Mana from Nestle.

The route doesn’t go through El Centro, but I wanted to see what the town was like so I peddled in. A homeless guy on a bike crossed in front of me at an intersection and he said “nice ride man” to me. I went into a bike shop to look for a Pletscher Double kickstand and the guy noticed my S & S couplers. It was the first time he had seen them. Small town bike shop for sure (they didn’t have the kickstand either).

I rolled down to a Starbucks to grab an iced Americano (it’s my nap time) and post to the blog. Shortly after arriving I got a call from our tour boss (Sarah) the route we were supposed to take from El Centro to Brawley was bad, no shoulder. I went back to the bike shop to warn the two riders I left there but one had already struck out, not much I can do to help her, she doesn’t own a cell phone (that’s just a little hard to believe, but true) a cell phone could easily be considered an essential tool on a cross country tour. To each her own I guess. I gave the other fellow Sarah’s warning, then decided to hang around with him. His bike gave up the ghost and he was buying a new one. It will take the shop 2 hours to get him ready to roll. I could bail-out but I decided to wait for him and ride the last 15 miles to Brawley with him. Safety in numbers and all that.

The last 15 miles to Brawley was hot, windy, and basically brutal.

Tomorrow I get into the Arizona desert.

Miles: 77

Day 6

Brawley to somewhere near Arizona

It’s Saturday morning, I was too tired to write about the day, possibly because I did not drink any lemonade all day. What I DID drink was 5 liters of water as I rode thru the Imperial Valley, the desert and mountains beyond, including some spectacular dunes. The center of the dunes recreation area is Glamis, CA. Our Trail Boss made sure the nice lady running the store stayed open for us. This is not the dunes high season. That comes a bit later in the year when the weather cools off a bit. On the subject of weather, we encountered temps well below the seasonal average, but it was still very hot. Thankfully not 110. It can reach that temp this time of year I was told. The lady at the store was very sweet. I purchased a bottle of water for $2 and after I handed her the cash. She told me, “darling, take that bottle back to the case and get the big size.” What a sweetheart.

One of my riding companions gave me a frozen bottle of Gatorade as we were leaving in the morning (or Gatorade, not sure which it is). I drank it in one go on the summit outside Glamis. I’ve never drank that much in one go before. It was marvelous. It had melted completely but it was still cold, and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Last night I rolled into our camp site, a church in Brawley, and noticed that both screws were gone from the rack stays that attach the rack to the seat post. I’m not sure why the rack was not dragging on the ground at that point. I was a bit discouraged, because I didn’t have time to pack an extra set of screws before leaving on the tour. I need to hit a bike shop and “pick up” some spare screws and some Loktite. I fixed the rack by removing one of my three bottle cages and using the screws from that to re-attach the rack stays.

I got a bit of a scare late in the day. Most of the day’s riding was on roads with less than a foot of shoulder to the right of the white line. In one of those tight places I noticed a car passing a truck ahead of me. It was clear the driver was not going to make it around the truck before passing me. I came to a complete stop just before the car and truck, side-by-side, passed by me at full speed. People in this part of the country don’t fiddle around on 2-lane state roads, they are moving. There was no time to pull off the road, but coming to a stop is the next best thing. You don’t want to swerve and get in the way of that shit.

Miles: 70

Day 7

California to Quartzite Arizona

The day started with a flat 20 mile cruise through beautiful farm country. I was the last out of camp and I was swept by the Trail Boss for most of the first 20 miles. We had a fun conversation. She is not only a Trail Boss, but also a talented writer and author. Our conversation was engaging and interesting. At one point we stopped to take a closer look at the crops we were seeing along side the road. I was amazed to discover they grow cotton in the Palo Verde valley. The next leg was a 10 mile climb on I-10 at a constant 5/6% grade. We exited the freeway at the summit and took a pleasant less traveled county road into our destination for the day, Quartzite, AZ. Yes, I have left California behind and I am now in Arizona, land of guns and burritos.

Yesterday when I arrived in camp I had no feeling in my right foot and my right knee was sore. This is very concerning to say the least. I took Advil and went to bed worried about the next day. Well, I’m not the sharpest stick in the wood pile, but about half way thru the day it dawned on me what was going on. I’ve been mashing the right pedal more than the left. Once I realized what I was doing I was able to start putting more pressure on the left. I am confident this is going make a huge difference. My knee and foot felt better when I arrived in camp tonight.

I haven’t been getting enough carbs and protein in the camp meals, so I have been supplementing with stops during the day where I can pull them off. Today I pulled into a Love’s Truck Stop about 2 miles from our camp and some nice folks had set up a hot dog and hamburger stand to benefit the Phoenix Children’s Hospital. I had a Dr. Pepper and a hot dog with the works, and the two together were damn good. I also picked up some IPAs on the way in to camp. Before I got to camp, only a quarter mile away, I had the mother of all flats. A twisted hunk of 10 gauge wire got caught in my wheel and punctured the side wall of the tire and exited through the top of the tire, puncturing the tube in two places. It almost took off my fenders! Fortunately the PDW Fenders have break-away struts and I was able to attach them easily. I put in a new tube, but while I was fixing the flat the last four riders passed me. It’s not a race. I will probably be the last one in to camp more often than not.

This kind of cycling can be excruciatingly hard, but at the same time, there is a sense of reward and empowerment that is difficult to describe. I’m confident that everyone on this tour feels the same way I do. It’s why we ride.

Miles: 43

Day 8

Quartzite Arizona to Salome

Today seemed particularly hot. I had another flat tire, but this time it was right in front of a grocery store, the only one on our route, so I was able to repair the flat in the shade. I was grateful for that, to be sure. About 15 miles down the road from the grocery store I noticed I had a slow leak, same tire. I decided to just keep pumping it up and deal with it in the morning. I had to inflate it three times in the last 5 miles to allow the tire to limp into the campground. Yes, I inflated it three times, if I had “blown it up” I would never have made it to the camp ground.

It was a 37 mile day, but by the time I reached the KOA where we are staying I was looking for something cold to drink. I bought a Dr. Pepper immediately, then went back a short time later to have another, then a short time later I went back for a bottle of water. The Dr. Pepper tasted heavenly.

I was one of two cooks tonight. I came up with the dinner plan and executed it, but my partner was a huge help. Good guy. He ran the stoves and did all the stuff that I don’t know how to do. We had a stew of sorts, two types, one with meat and good stuff, and one vegetarian style. The food restrictions and preferences on this trip make preparing tasty means difficult. The meal was a huge success. Everyone was very complementary. Under normal circumstances you would not be impressed with this meal, but after cycling 37 miles in the desert heat, it took on a completely different personality. The ingredients were water, bullion, spices (the combination is secret of course) corn, peas, carrots, black eye peas, poblanos, jalapeños, onion, and hamburger. I used jasmine rice, not the instant kind, and cooked it all until it’s was a thick stew consistency. Yum, it was good. Adding a little Chuhula Sauce after serving took it over the top.

Linda who runs the KOA where we are staying took me and my cooking partner to the grocery store 2-1/2 miles down the road, waited for us to shop, and then took us back to the campground. To thank her we bought her a 6-pack of Coors Light, her favorite. She was a darling to do that for us.

The evenings in the high desert are beautiful. It was mid nineties today, but right now outside it feels like 70. I’m sitting outside as I write and I’m absolutely just as comfortable as you can be, and happy to be here.

Miles: 37

Day 9

Salome to Wickenburg Arizona

Today was without a doubt, the most eventful day of the journey so far. The first ten miles were overcast and cool. Delightful really. One of my traveling companions that keeps an eye on the wether told me that a hurricane in the Gulf of Baja was headed our way with wind and rain. Sure enough, about mile fifteen we entered a squall. I don’t exactly know what a squall is, I know it’s something that sailors don’t like to have to deal with, so based on that, I’m calling what hit us a squall. Actually, there have only been two times in my life when it has rained harder, once in Seattle in the winter of 2018, and once in Hawaii on the Island of Maui. In the latter case, it only rained for 20 minutes, and I was dry in ten minutes following the down pour. Today was a different matter entirely. It rained for fifteen miles, and it rained hard. Really hard. There was lightening, thunder, driving rain, and the dry washes along the road filled up to near capacity in about an hour. At one point I had to get off the bike and just stand, back to the wind and rain and wait until I could see a safe distance ahead again. Needless to say I was drenched, The purpose of rain gear in this situation is not to keep you dry, nothing will, the purpose of rain gear in this situation is to simply keep you warm so you don’t go hypothermic. I now know that hypothermia in the desert is a thing. By the way, this is one of the reasons I’m on this journey, to experience everything nature and the landscape has to off. I put on my rain coat and laughed telling Mother Nature to bring it on. She did not disappoint.

A strangely delightful aspect of traveling through the Sonoran desert in a rain storm is that you can smell the creosote bushes. The fragrance in the air is not at all disagreeable. It reminded me of walking along a railroad track in summer as a kid. On hot days you cold smell the creosote in the ties. This smell was more natural and pervasive. I’m told you don’t smell these bushes when it’s dry.

Five of us ducked into a grocery at the half-way point. We hung out there for a bit and even grabbed some sun, although the sun breaks were weak and didn’t last very long. The Trail Boss found a tiny frog. She is quite the frog and Monarch butterfly expert. This particular frog (name escapes me) was the first one of it’s type she had ever seen. Watching her was fun. She was truly excited about her find. She held the little guy for us to examine, and pointed out the features that made it unique. Her love for nature is infectious, I got a big kick out of watching her. This particular kind of frog only comes out in the desert when there is a big rain. We were extremely lucky to be a part of the sighting.

After the rain parted, the last 25 miles was dry, but it seemed to be up-hill most of the way. I arrived at the RV park in Wickenburg where we were staying to discover the best showers we have had so far on the trip. A delightful surprise.

I did not have a flat today. Thank goodness. It was a long day and a flat would have made me late to camp. After I got cleaned up my dear friends Terry, his wife Cindy, and their daughter Ellie, came out to Wickenburg from Phoenix to take me out to dinner. Terry brought a kick-stand for me and installed it, then we went to dinner. The food was excellent, the Margaritas were excellent, and the company was even better. My friends are the greatest.

Day 10

Wickenburg to Tempe

I thought today’s ride would be uneventful, in fact I was worried that I might not have anything to write about. The reality turned out to be anything but that. The first 25 miles were fast and uneventful. I felt strong and was making really good time, then pulled up with a flat, again. This was the 6 flat in 10 days. I’m starting to get good at fixing these, but it still takes time that should be spent in the saddle instead of on the ground. It was the same as always, a few inches of fine gauge wire probably off a radial tire blow-out. This has been the source of almost all my flats. While I was fixing it, three riders passed me. From that point on I just cruised in to Phoenix.

I rode from Surprise to downtown Phoenix and was either on a bike trail or in a designated bike lane. That’s pretty astounding, considering the riding covered a distance of about 24 miles. It was a slog on the canal trail due to a stiff head wind. I did not make good time on that leg of a the route.

At the end of 15th Avenue I turned onto Roosevelt Street. At this point I was about 2 miles from the Hostel. I almost fell off my bike, I realized at the turn that I was just 2 blocks from my favorite places in Phoenix! There is a little square of pop-ups that has the best ice cream in Phoenix, the best billboard (it’s hilariously political by Phoenix standards) my favorite bar in Phoenix (they book the worst music acts) and 2 blocks from there, the home of David and Becky. Naturally I stopped for an ice cream, then a drink, then I went to see David and Becky! They are so sweet, they are hosting me for dinner tomorrow evening. It’s going to be great catching up with them.

I finally did make it to the Hostel. Surprisingly, not the last one in. I should have had two ice cream stuffed donuts! Ah! I forgot to mention above that they actually serve the two together, a most delectable sandwich. I quickly got organized and cleaned up so I could have dinner with Audrey.

Audrey picked me up at 7pm and took me to a very nice Italian place for dinner. It turns out I would not hesitate to eat there again. We had a great time catching up, and she brought me some treats too! She gave me some of her favorite protein bars, along with a new notebook, mine was filling up already, and also a white long-sleeve SPF 50 shirt to wear in the desert. That is something I should have thought about before I left Seattle, but you can’t think of everything, fortunately Audrey to the rescue!

Tomorrow is a rest day.

Miles: 56

Day 11

Rest day

Today we are on our own to rest up and enjoy some of the local flavor of Phoenix. We are in a Hostel in the Arts District. It’s going to be a relaxing day. At our morning map meeting I suggested to my companions that they go to the Barrio Cafe for duck tacos (2 miles from here) and to Novel Ice Cream (1 mile from here) for the best ice cream and best donut in Phoenix. Actually, they combine them to make the best ice cream filled donut, it’s a marvel. Novel makes the ice cream by hand, and they get the donuts from the donut maker voted “Best in Phoenix.”

I plan to run some errands. Audrey has loaned me her car for the day so I should be able to get a lot done! Tonight I’m having dinner with my friends David and Becky. They are wonderful people that I met last Christmas when I stayed in their ABnB. It’s going to be a good lay-over, but I will be ready to hit the road again tomorrow morning to continue the journey!

Day 12

Get out of Phoenix day

Today we left Phoenix behind and are now putting New Mexico in our sights. Today was a low mileage day, only 37 miles. We definitely are easing back into the tour after our day of rest. The ride today was uneventful. There was some confusion getting out of Phoenix in Tempe, because a bridge that is on the route was closed for repairs and we had to figure out an alternate route. Once that was accomplished, the rest of the route was uneventful.

We bought groceries four miles from our campground. Trail Boss asked is someone would pick up a cooler bag for hauling cold items, which I did yesterday. That made me the person most likely to be selected to haul the cold items, since I was carrying the bag. That’s kind of how it works. When the cook team finished shopping they came out of the store with 4 lb. of potato salad. 2 - 1 lb. containers of coleslaw, a large yogurt, and a quart of milk. All-in-all, close to 10 lb. of items to go into the cooler bag. I loaded the items, tied the bag to my bike, and started for the campground. The campground was 4 miles away, uphill all the way. I was a little disgruntled at first, but I eventually got over it. At lest I can carry the weight, which makes me happy, once I realized that being able to carry that load is a privilege (it means I have gas in the tank where others may not).

I got to the campground and asked the Ranger if they had ice, he said “no.” I dumped my stuff, pitched my tent, and headed back down the hill to get ice. I don’t like warm milk in the morning. As long as I was at the store, I picked up a 6-pack of beer. That was a big hit. I got 8 “bonus miles” and lots of thanks for going back down the hill and up again,

Tomorrow we will cover almost 70 miles with close to 7,000 ft of climbing. I thought the real climbing test was over, but it looks like we are going to get hit with a test that might be the biggest challenge yet.

Miles: 45

Day 13

Today’s destination Tonto Basin Arizona

I’m excited about today. The map shows us climbing 7,000 ft in just under 70 miles. The last time I did a 7,000 ft day it was over 100 miles. Of course terrain varies, so the compressed distance of today’s ride by comparison does not mean more difficulty, but I have a feeling this day is going to be a real challenge and could very well be my toughest one yet on this tour.

Coffee this morning was a little weak, but it’s surprising how good it tastes when you are hungry and you are in the outdoors. This crew needs a Barista. If we had someone dedicated to making a good cup of coffee in the morning, I would be willing to let them out of cooking duties! Perhaps I should think about carrying an espresso machine that can be used over a camp stove. I’ll have to think about proposing that to the group.

Yesterday at the grocery store I bought a bottle of Frank’s Red Hot, that was genius if I do say so. It took store-bought potato salad to a whole new level, and made it taste almost good. Actually it tasted very good.

The plant life in the desert is amazingly beautiful, it is also very angry. As I was pulling my gear out of my tent this morning, I put my knee down on some prickly thing. I could have sworn it wasn’t there when I walked up to the tent. I think it purposely positioned itself so that my knee would find it. In order to pull it out of my knee, I had to grab more prickly parts. It’s the plant that keeps on giving. Be vigilant in the desert!

End of the day

There were two good hills in the first 10 miles, but these were just a warm-up. At mile 10, I stopped for a hot dog. I forgot to make myself a lunch before I broke camp. Who does that? Today there are only two stops with food or water in 70 miles. Realizing that, I decided I had better eat at the first stop. After my snack, I went in to the rest room and while I was inside I managed to drop my phone. It has a case, the phone seemed fine, but when I stopped later to take a picture, the camera was broken, as in not working at all. No pictures. I’m really bummed and I’m going to have to do something about that in the next few days. I can’t be doing the remainder of this epic trip with no photos!

We went over 4 mountain passes, all of which were anywhere from 7% to 10% grades. They just seemed to go on forever. It took almost 2 hours to get over one pass, The Mother Of All Passes (MOAP) was 3 miles to the top and a consistent 9% to 10% grade. One of the passes was 4 miles to the top, that’s 4 miles of climbing with no relief.

About halfway up the MOAP I stopped to take a drink. A Ram 350 Pickup pulling a heavy load pulled off the road and rolled up behind me. The driver got out and asked me for directions to the nearest town with services. I’m not sure what trouble he was having, but I helped him as best I could. I showed him the maps we were following and we identified the best bet for him. We had a really nice conversation, He was, like most people, surprised to learn that I was headed for Florida. We chatted about that at some length. The really odd thing is it doesn’t seem that crazy to me. I guess when you put your mind to something and then start doing it, it takes on a different perspective than it does in the minds of people that have never contemplated such a thing.

I continued the climb and about 45 minutes later another truck pulled off the road in front of me. The driver got out and opened his tail-gate and inside the back of his truck was an ice chest and bottles of water. He motioned for me to pull over and he filled my water bottles with ice and gave me an extra one for the road. His name was Bill Coleman. He was from Tonto Basin, our destination town. I asked Bill where to go for a beer in Tonto Basin, and told him if he were there tonight I would buy him a drink. We chatted for a bit and I found out he has crossed the country on a bike, which is why he was so obliging with the ice and water.

The next opportunity for food was 12 miles from our destination. For almost 50 miles I had been drinking water and eating crackers that I found in my panniers. At mile 55 I pulled into Jacob’s Corner. They have a grocery and a bar, so of course at this point there was no choice to be made. I went into the bar and had a cheeseburger, fries, and two cold Budweiser’s. That’s right, Budweiser’s. They taste really good after you have climbed 7,000 ft in 55 miles. The twelve miles from Jacob’s Corner to Tonto Basin were mostly down hill with only a few very mild hills here and there. The cheeseburger and the Buds go my to our destination in good order. I did have to pedal slowly to avoid loosing that tasty Budweiser.

After dinner at our destination, I walked over to the bar that Bill had recommended, He wasn’t there, but it was Karaoke night. There were 8 people in the bar (not counting me and the bartender). Two men were playing pool, and a group of 4 women were singing, along with 2 men. They were not together. The women were definitely having a night out. One of the women sounded very good. She could have passed for a professional in another life or another town, but this is Tonto Basin. I finished my beer and left the bar. It’s late, and I’m probably going to pay a price for writing this post tonight, but one of my goals is to post every day, that will cost me some sleep every now and then.

Thanks to everyone out there that is following along on this journey by reading these stories. You know who you are, and I do appreciate all the encouragement it gives me to know that you are enjoying these words.

Miles: 67

Vertical: 7,000

Day 14

No photos today. I haven’t found a solution for my broken cell phone. When I dropped the phone yesterday, the camera quit working. Everything else is fine, apps, mail, voice, text, but I can’t get a photo to save my life. Today I called a Walmart to see what Nikon cameras they had available, They didn’t have any with WiFi. If I buy a camera I will need WiFi to get the photos to my iPhone and iPad. I realize there are other ways, but I’m on the road and I don’t have time each day to mess around with SD cards and other types of nonsense. I also went in to a cell phone store that I thought could help T-Mobile customers, but they couldn’t. They didn’t think there were any T-Mobile stores between here and El Paso. I’ll have to keep my eyes open! I hope that by the time I get to Silver City next week, or El Paso after that, I will once again be able to take pictures.

Today was another tough day. We covered 52 miles and there was 5,000 feet of climbing, About half or slightly more of the 5,000 came on one hill that was almost 6 miles long and a constant 7% grade. There was no relief, meaning there were not flat spots between the bottom and the top. It was another challenging day. I got to the grocery stop at the end of the day well ahead of most of my fellow riders. Sadly though, I made a wrong turn leaving town and wasted about 45 minutes trying to get back on route. Google seems to make odd choices when you put it in “bicycle” mode. I never have these sort of issues when it is navigating in “car” mode.

Tomorrow I’m cooking again. I plan to make exactly what I made last time. I’m going to stick with a good thing until the inmates complain! It will be tricky though, because tomorrow is a 76 mile day. That means I will have to put my head down and boogie in order to shop and be cooking at 5pm! To help make that happen, I’m going to close this post and get myself into my tent and to sleep. Tomorrow’s post is likely to be a short one, we’ll see.

I’m having fun. (If you have to tell yourself you’re having fun, are you? I’ll have to think about that.) Yes, I’m having fun.

Miles: 52

Vertical: 5,000

Day 15

Globe Arizona to Safford Arizona (The Salsa Trail)

The new tires are working great. Last night when I pulled into the spot where I planned to pitch my tent, I noticed I was picking up “goat heads” on my tires. Goat Heads are small, but very destructive little balls of thorns. I quickly altered course and found a different spot. You will recall that I had the tires mounted to the wheels without using tubes, I’m now running “tubeless.” The trick with tubeless is the sealant they put inside the tires. As I was pulling the Goat Heads out of my tires, I noticed some very small bubbles after a Goat Head was removed, that is the sealant at work filling the puncture left behind. Very impressive. My tires are still inflated this morning and ready to go on their 76 mile ride from Globe to Safford.

Today was the third day in a row of either high mileage or lots of climbing. It’s one thing to do this level of effort occasionally, but day-in, day-out becomes a challenge in itself. I finished today really in fine shape. I was the first one to the grocery stop at the end of the day, that was my goal because I was the cook tonight and responsible for shopping. When I finished shopping, five other riders were waiting outside the store to help me carry the groceries to the campground.

I knocked dinner out of the park tonight. I cooked the same meal I did last time, only with a slight variation. Instead of onion in the sauté, I used yellow and orange peppers, and I added a pound of Italian Sausage to the pot this time along with the pound of hamburger. So far, I’m the only person that has cooked a meal “from scratch” with the exception of Trail Boss. Last night she fixed “Thanksgiving Dinner.” We had mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, and sliced ham.

Tomorrow we will cross the Arizona, New Mexico state line and we will officially be in our third state. I am looking forward to a photo of myself standing on the continental divide. (That should be the day after tomorrow) I did get two photos today. The selfie camera on the phone is not broken, so I held it backwards to snap a landscape shot, and I also took my first official selfie of the trip

I’m very tired, having logged a long day, cooked dinner, and also done laundry. Tomorrow will be another 76 mile day crossing into New Mexico

Miles: 76

Vertical: 2,000

Day 16

Get out of Arizona day

Today turned out to be the toughest day yet. The route took us into New Mexico and covered another 76 miles. There was significant climbing which was unexpected. I don’t spend a lot of time studying the maps the day before each ride, so it was a bit of a surprise to me that we actually had the same amount of climbing as yesterday. Stringing these days together one after the other is a challenge. To make things easier we decided to eat at a restaurant instead of cooking in camp. We all met at a restaurant in Lordsburg at 6:30pm (7:30 Mountain) so it was a long day.

I started the day late because I cooked dinner and breakfast, which always makes the cook the last one out of camp. After breakfast was finished and I was all packed, I rode back four miles to a Walmart to buy a camera. The shopping trip in the wrong direction and the breakfast made me almost two hours late getting getting started on the route this morning. I managed to pass two people along the way, arriving at the restaurant 15 minutes before our reservation. I had to put the hammer down for the last 19 miles.

One of our crew dropped out last night. He made his announcement at dinner. He picked up the dinner check for everyone and then announced he was leaving the tour. These are hard days, there isn’t a lot of time for sight-seeing. You need to keep your head down and pedal to make it each day to the day’s end-destination and still have time to set up camp and cook. It’s not for everyone. As we were leaving the restaurant, I told the Trail Boss I was going across the street to the Econo Lodge for the night. She asked me if I was leaving the tour! She was partly serious. I think the announcement caught her off-guard. I told her that wild horses couldn’t drag me off the tour! I knew I was making the right call to get a bed for the night because during dinner there was mention of mesquites at the KOA.

Today will be tough again, but it’s worth it, Every time a lizard scurries out of the brush at the side the road and runs along side my bike for 10 feet of so before ducking back into the brush, it makes me smile. I had a butterfly chase me for about 30 feet darting about in front of me. (I was going up hill.) Near sunset, I heard a coyote, and the sound of birds was amazing. I have never heard anything like it.

I did stop and read one historical marker yesterday, I was a convenient place to stop and grab some water. I was shocked at how disturbing it was. It is true that history is written by the victors, not the vanquished. But the inscription in front of me read like such a good white man, bad Indian story that it had to be taken with a huge grain of salt. Human history is complicated. Attempts to summarize it on a road marker are fraught with all sorts of danger. It’s probably better to leave the road side markers to explanations of geology. Most people (but not all) find geology less controversial.

Today we cross the Continental Divide and will be climbing 4,000 feet in just over 50 miles. Lordsburg is a 4,250 feet elevation, which means we will be climbing to an elevation over 8,000 feet. I really hope I can figure out the camera so I can get a shot of me with my bike at the Continental Divide.

Miles: 76

Vertical: 2,000

Day 17

Lordsburg New Mexica to Silver City New Mexico

Another grueling day. Climbing 4,000 feet was tougher than it sounds. I dragged my heels all day. I was not the last one into camp, but almost! Tomorrow is a day of rest and it is sorely needed, at least for me. Today I crossed the Continental Divide and I’m now hanging out in a bar in Silver City. Very tired, but not too tired to have a beer. The beer I’m having is a “Smart Blonde”, brewed by the Little Toad Creek Brewery. (Drinking a beer named “Smart Blonde” doesn’t necessarily mean any attribute implied by the name will be granted to the drinker…)

Speaking of smart blondes, I picked up a very pretty (and smart) blonde on the road today. She wanted a ride all the way to Florida, but I said I would take her to Silver City. Your probably wondering how you can pick-up someone when you are on a bike tour, you have to be very observant. She didn’t mind riding in front of the handle bars, which I appreciated because that meant she could keep an eye out for road debris and warn me when we were approaching something that should be avoided. She was very quiet. I ignored the fact that her beautiful blonde locks were in reality “plugs.” When I dropped her in Silver City, I asked her for her name. All she said was “Barbie’s Little Sister.” That made sense, she was only 4 inches tall and she had a perfect figure, I should have guessed her name right from the git-go.

I did finally arrive in Silver City at 4:30. I spent 8 hours on the road and traveled a whopping 44 miles. The hills were killer.

Miles: 44

Vertical: 4,000

Day 18

This is our rest day. It came at a perfect time. I was exhausted from the last four days of climbing and mileage. We have three more days in the mountains then we will have put the climbing behind us and we will be into a completely different experience.

I took my bike in to a shop here in Silver City for a tune-up. I took it to “Hike and Bike” and they are a very helpful bunch. Today is dedicated to relaxing, catching up on my posts, and figuring out how to get photos off my new camera so I can get them into my iPad and my iPhone. I’m also looking forward to a little thrift shopping, just for fun, and a good dinner tonight with of course a few beers to accompany it. Tomorrow we have a 50 mile day with another 3,500 to 4,000 feet of climbing. The day after that we will be going over Emery Pass. The pass tops out at 8,300 elevation and change. Coming down from Emery Pass is a 5,000 foot descent, that will be a lot of fun. The Davidson loves to roll down hill.

The last fews days I have been pondering the lines of a poem about birds. You have a lot of time to think while you are cycling. It started when I pulled over and saw three birds circling overhead about 200 feet in the air. It was a hot afternoon and they were using the air currents to keep themselves aloft with the bare minimum of effort on their part. It was truly elegant to behold. I’m going to close this post by sharing the poem with you, I finished it last night while sitting at the “Little Toad Creek” brewery.

Day 19

Silver City New Mexico to Membres New Mexico

Today I had to make a difficult choice. Take the high road, or take the low road. There were two different routes to the town of Membres available to us. One, the high route, included a lot of climbing and crossing the Continental Divide two more times. The other route was only half as long with less than half the climbing. I chose the low route. I feel a bit like a cheater. There are eight of us now. Four went high and four went low. I’m just going to have to come back and do the high route some time. It would be fun to incorporate, the Gila Cliff Dwellings into that too. That would be a nice two or three day tour.

By taking the low route, I did pass through the area where one of the largest open pit mines in the world is currently in operation. I stopped for a good bit of time at the observation turn-out and read all the signs on display there. The signs explained the history of the mine, ownership, and innovations in mining that have taken place in the last 100 years. The pit was bigger than you can possibly imagine, bigger than I had imagined anyway. The giant electric shovel that loads 2-1/2 tons of rock in a single scoop looked like a tiny speck on the side of the pit where they were excavating. I didn’t take any photos. Open pit mining creates a huge scar on the land. Even after reclamation, you can still see that mining operations have clearly taken place.

At the end of the ride, I stopped in to a small grocery store/restaurant. I wanted to buy a six pack of beer to have and share with the beer drinkers in the group. There was a man in front of me buying some simple groceries using food stamps, nothing too healthy. He also had an item that didn’t qualify for food stamps. The lady in the store rang it all up. He tried to hand her money for the non-covered item, she said, “that’s ok, I got it.” It made me think about charity. We all need to take care of those we know or those we meet that are less fortunate than we are, but we also need to take care of those who have no one looking out for them. As I rode away from the store I saw a political sticker about the greatness of America. It was difficult for me to relate that sentiment to real caring in Washington D. C. Caring about the people living in this remote valley, and other valleys like it.

I stopped along the way today to write a few lines of a poem. I got in to camp so early today I might have an opportunity to work on it some more before I retire for the night. Tomorrow we ride over Emery Pass. We will reach the highest point of the tour, approximately 8,500 feet elevation.

Miles: 24

Vertical: 1,000

Day 20

Membres to somewhere else in New Mexico

6:00am. Last night it rained and it was difficult to sleep. The lightening and thunder were epic. I don’t know if that is common for this part of the country, but it was extremely uncommon for me. Even inside the tent, I could see the display that Mother Nature was putting on was spectacular in its ferocity and its beauty. I stayed in the tent and appreciated it vicariously, mostly dry.

Fortunately, it stopped raining by 7:00am so I was able to pack all my gear without getting myself or my gear any wetter. We stayed at the Mountain Mist RV Park in Membres. Our camp host Mickey was a dear. She fixed us breakfast and was just the sweetest person you could want to meet. I would like to go back to the Membres valley. There is a lot of beauty there, and a lot to see and do, particularly the Gila Cliff Dwellings. You could easily spend three days cycling the valley and surrounding areas. The RV park is the cleanest I’ve seen yet, very warm and inviting. Mickey even put new bottles of body wash and shampoo in the showers for us. That is a first on the trip. Those items haven’t been provided, until last night.

We started out the day with an 18 mile climb up to Emory Pass. The route was simply climbing with no relief. I had to stop once to let my heart rate come down. It was an average 6% grade with stretches of 10% thrown in for good measure. At the top, the view of the surrounding valley to the South was spectacular. The decent from the top was thrilling, the second most exciting descent I have ever done. The first being the Maui Downhill, which starts at the top of Mt. Haleakala and goes all the way to the ocean, 26 miles if I recall correctly. This descent was on the order of 17 miles with the first 7 being the most thrilling.

This area of New Mexico was the ancestral home of the Chiricahua Apache. They believed that everything on the land was their’s for the taking. That included all things natural and all things man-made. They fought a protracted struggle during the “Indian Wars” and were finally made “Prisoners Of War” and moved to Florida. The climate there was unhealthy for them and many died. They were then moved to Oklahoma. Eventually they were allowed to move back to their ancestral homes and live with other Apache Indians already established on reservations there. Some stayed in Oklahoma and homesteaded, some returned to New Mexico.

I reached the town of Hillsboro, about 18 miles below the summit of Emory Pass at just after 2pm. There was a cafe there that stayed open until 2, the owner was just closing. I asked if I and my riding companion could get some food and she let us in. We both ordered the “Hillsboro Hot Dog,” which turned out to be a Southwest style hot dog. Green chili peppers, bacon, tomatoes, and lots of other good stuff. It really was sort of a take on a Chicago style hot dog. It was wonderful. It was also perfectly timed because for dinner our group was planning a light meal due to a lack of groceries available in this rather more remote section of New Mexico.

Miles: 60

Vertical: Too much

We topped out at 8,229 feet, the highest elevation on the tour.

Day 21

Somewhere in New Mexico to Las Cruces New Mexico

Today we reached Las Cruces. Our route took us more or less straight South. The head wind that we expected was minimal. It was another 60 mile day. I scooted out of camp ahead of everyone else for the first time. It was a pleasant morning and I made good time. About 10 miles in I encountered my first dog chase. I was followed by a little white guy, he did not appear to serious so I just pedaled faster and put him in my rear view mirror. About 10 miles later I encountered my second dog chase of the trip. One of my companions warned me in this part of New Mexico I would see dogs off leash in small towns, and he was right. This fellow, a bigger black dog, looked serious. I stopped pedaling and talked to him and he lost interest in twenty yards or so. Neither of these dogs were truly vicious, and I hope I don’t encounter one that is.

Head wind was not a factor today, but the morning’s ride took us through fog for about ten miles. It was really unexpected. It was a dense fog and it reminded me of Seattle. We finally came out of it just a couple of miles outside of Hatch, our designated lunch stop. Hatch is noted for being the chili capital of the world, and indeed, it probably is. I spent the morning cycling through chili fields. There were many little shops selling Southwest art and fresh roasted chilis. They roast them on the spot for you. The smell was delightful. I ate lunch at Sparky’s. Sparky’s claims to server the best green chili burger in the world. So I had to try one to see of the claim had merit. It did. The burger was very good, one of the best I have every had. Of course, everything you don’t cook when you are on tour tastes good, so I might be a bit jaded in that respect. But suffice it to say, if I end up at some point within 100 miles of Hatch, I will go back to Sparky’s.

Most of the afternoon was spent following the Rio Grande River. It is a majestic, slow moving, muddy red beast. At one point near Las Cruces, I saw a couple and their dog in the middle of the river running along splashing in the muddy water. At that point at least it was not very deep, because it was a small dog and it did not seem to have any trouble running in the water. I think when it rains the river can fill up quickly. The afternoon was spent crossing many dry washes that flowed into the river.

Since today was our first day with no real mountain climbing, I decided to celebrate by buying beer for the crew. We are now eight, seven plus our leader. I bought two 6-packs of Bud and a bag of ice. I’ll get back to that in a second. (Yes, I bought Bud. There are some people in our crew that have not yet had their taste spoiled by IPAs.) Try carrying 4 panniers, a handle bar bag, two large stuff bags on the rear rack AND two 6-packs and a bag of ice. I had to carry all of this 5 miles to camp, the last mile was up hill. I made it, and the beer tasted good, I would say very good in fact.

I noticed when camp was set up tonight that a lot of people are now placing rocks and other items around their tent stakes. My practice of doing that is catching on. That is of course to make the stakes visible so people don’t trip over them - which I did all the time before I started that practice.

Miles: 60

Vertical: A few rollers.

Day 22

Get out of New Mexico day

6:06am Today marks the 1/3 completion point of the tour. At the end of the day we will be in El Paso, Texas. Getting through Texas is going to take some time, it’s a big state. The ride today will be a bit shorter distance, but negotiating the big city will slow things down just a bit. I’m on deck to cook tonight, so tonight’s post will likely be a bit shorter than normal.

So far I have enjoyed New Mexico the most. Perhaps because I’m now more accustomed to riding. There is a certain charm to New Mexico that I just didn’t feel in California or Arizona. I can’t be too critical of California or Arizona, they were beautiful, but I showed up not completely ready for mountain riding. That fact made the days longer and more heads-down than they should have been. There are some challenging climbs in both states. If you want to do the Southern Tier (and I recommend it) it pays to train for hills before arriving at the start of the ride. In all fairness to ACA, they made that perfectly clear. My life this past summer didn’t make it easy to focus on serious hill training. It should be noted however, that I am not a climber to begin with. Some people have a knack for climbing, I’m not one of them. All of that considered, I would not have traded my summer experience for extra training.

One of the cultural experiences that has come out of this journey so far is a fascination with the Apache Indians and their history. Of course there isn’t time to do a lot of reading, especially with the writing that I am trying to accomplish, but I think that once this journey comes to a conclusion I will take the opportunity to learn more about the Apaches. I do believe that I will come back to New Mexico at some point to experience that cultural history in more depth.

Just outside Las Cruces is the small town of Mesilla. It’s a bit of a tourist trap, but I still enjoined passing through. Church was just letting out. The church faces the town square, a real town square. The buildings are very old and the architecture Mexican. This town belonged to Mexico before it became part of America, and it shows. You could spend a fun day here just experience the food and shops selling local art and crafts. The old court house on the square is where Billy The Kid was convicted and sentenced to hang. Bicycle touring does not give you time to stop in a town and really soak up the atmosphere, but it does give you a very good preview of places worth returning to.

I’m staying in an old hotel in downtown El Paso that has been converted to a Hostel. Besides our group, there is a man that has just finished the Continental Divide Trail, an overland motorcyclist, a nice woman from Germany, and a young woman that has just accepted a position with the Park Service. Thirty feet down the street is a walk-down bar call “Dillinger’s.” I’m sitting there now having a Manhattan, possibly chased by a Bud, who knows. My taste in beer seems to be changing of late. Lighter brews seem to hit the spot a little better. They have photos of John Dillinger on the wall. I’m not sure what the connection between Dillinger and El Paso is, I thought he was an Indiana boy, be that as it may, the photos of John Dillinger look a lot like John Travolta.

God almighty these bar stools are hard. Could it be the 55 miles today? After many miles of travel by bicycle across three states, I finally have acquired a cyclist’s worst nightmare, a bit of chafing. This too shall pass, but you would think this would have occurred 100 miles out, not 800.

Tonight was my turn to cook. Cooks have to shop as well as cook. Tonight’s grocery stop was 4 miles before the Hostel. Everyone was waiting at the grocery store for me but I was no where in sight… I got a text from Trail Boss, “where are you?” I had over-shot the grocery store by more than 4 miles. Please don’t ask me how a semi-intelligent person can make such a bone-headed mistake, but I am here as living proof that it’s not that hard, if your bone-headed. I confessed my error and everyone at the grocery store came up with a “Plan B.” I’ll be the cook tomorrow night. When I realized my mistake I put in the address of the Hostel and to my surprise, I discovered that I was just two blocks away. This particular mistake had a happy ending. The dinner that I didn’t fix was very good too.

I have a new best friend at “Dillinger’s.” He wanted a dollar and i bought him a Budweiser instead. I guess I’m an “enabler.”

Miles: 55

Vertical: We are out of the mountains.

A third of the tour is complete. Entered Texas.

Day 23

West Texas

Today we faced a steady head wind, it turned out we were only doing 55 miles, not the 70 that I had expected. (I don’t always pay close attention in map meetings. I’m good at some details, poor at others. I call it selective cognitive dissonance.) I ate lunch in a small town at a Mexican restaurant called “Lucy’s. I had two tacos, chips and salsa, and an orange soda for $5. The food was excellent, and the salsa was hot! I ate every last bit of it! My tongue was burning. The last 15 miles I got into a pace line with one other rider. We are heading thru mostly flat country now. Being in a pace line didn’t seem to help very much, The wind was hitting us between head on and 45 degrees right. There was no shoulder on the road, so the person behind couldn’t really sit on the left side of the leader’s wheel.

I knocked dinner out of the park (again). The little Mexican grocery where I stopped to shop had everything I needed and the owner was a joy to talk to. It turns out he has vacationed in Washington so we had a lot to talk about and many laughs. He had everything we needed in his store except Starbucks coffee. I’m kidding there, actually I didn’t expect Starbucks. For coffee I had to go with instant NesCafe. The best part was the home made tortillas he sold, and the excellent chorizo. I picked out some tomatoes from his produce and he told me I couldn’t have them. He took them from me and went into the back. A minute later he came out with nicer ones!

We stayed at a community church with a kitchen. That always makes food prep much easier, rather than having to cook over small camp stoves (we carry three). I made Spanish rice, white rice, chorizo, hot pinto beans, hot refried beans, a sauté of poblano, onion, and jalapeño, fresh tomatoes, fresh cilantro, and of course the excellent tortillas. I got a couple of votes for best meal so far!

It’s not late at all, but I’m tired, so I’m going to bed. I have a great story from the bar in El Paso, but I’m too tired to write about it now. Hopefully tomorrow night I’ll be able to get to that story.

The next two days will be 74 and 75 mile days, respectively. Wind optional.

Miles: 55

Steady head wind all day.

Day 24

West Texas

Today we covered 75 miles. The first 40 were generally up hill. It was railroad grade stuff or slightly more, but for what seemed like more than half the 40 miles we dealt with the grade, the wind, or both. I stopped to eat a chili dog at mile 40, the only stop with food on the route. It’s a good thing I stopped, because the next 25 miles was more of the same. The last 10 miles of the route was on I-10 and I was pushing dusk hard when I got off I-10 and arrived in Van Horn, our destination for the day. I’m now in the Central Time Zone and have traveled over 1,000 miles.

I plan to write about why I’m doing this trip before I reach St. Augustine. Perhaps I’ll take up that bit of house keeping on my next day of rest, which mercifully is tomorrow. Today will be another 75 miles with 2/3 of it general climbing. I started about an hour behind everyone else because I was the cook. I also wanted to do some writing, and I was just generally poking around. I was fortunate to catch the leaders of the pack at the grocery store in Van Horn. If I had waited any longer to start in the morning, I would have been riding after sunset which is not a really sharp idea.

I’d like to say a few words about equipment. You can find photos on Instagram (@badkins65). Up front, I have a classic randonneur bag. It’s a great idea, but the fit is a bit off. It’s too close to the handle bars, so it prevents me from placing my hands on the top of the bar comfortably. That’s actually a big deal when you are on tour. The bag has a short future in my life once this tour is over. I love it and I hate it. It does a fair job of holding my maps, but they still get wet in a down-pour. Inside the map case on the top, I carry the tapestry book mark that Emma gave me last summer when she returned from her trip to Turkey. I love looking down at that. The first 1,000 miles of this tour I found myself looking at it quite a bit.

In the back I have two panniers, and all the “sleeping” gear, tent and accessories. It feels like too much in the back, but it all seems to work. When one of our company dropped off the tour a week ago, I inherited the large cook pot he was carrying. The only way I could manage that little gem was to strap it onto the back of the bike, it’s too big to fit in my panniers. I don’t have the gigantic oversized panniers that some are hauling. At first I was a little annoyed about carrying the thing, it’s not exactly aesthetically pleasing to the eye. It makes me look like Jed Clampett heading out to California after finding oil on his land in Texas. All that aside, I have grown quite fond of it. It turns out to be very useful. Today I carried a loaf of bread and my lunch in it. Probably the best feature though is it’s ability to hold 12 cans of beer, with ice!

Since yesterday was such a hard day, I had to stay focused on the work and didn’t spend as much time looking for photo opportunities as I usually do. I did have a pleasing experience with a train. As I was rolling along with tracks on my left, I heard a short whistle from an oncoming train. There was no intersection so I assumed the whistle was a simple greeting intended for me. As the train went by I raised my arm and gave the Engineer a big wave. I got another whistle in return. That was pretty cool. The Engineer was sending me a personalized greeting. Simple things on the road can make your day. That one certainly did.

Miles: 74

Vertical: I wasn’t expecting vertical today, the rollers kicked my ass.

One of my favorite photos so far.

Day 25

West Texas

Today we covered 75 miles. For me, it was the toughest day yet. I lost the odometer off my bike hauling beer ice on the handle bars a few towns back. We were “off the map” meaning for today’s ride we were not following the published ACA route. An improv of sorts. I believe we will be back on the map tomorrow. The distance and the terrain and my lack of spatial orientation (miles covered, miles to go) were messing with my head. The terrain was beautiful, but wicked. We were traveling through “High Texas Desert.” We climbed up to an elevation of 4,500 feet, over basically a distance of 65 miles. It was a gradual climb, probably only 1 or 2% grade, but the miles at grade took a toll. The last 10 miles were a gradual downhill with rollers. The town fathers of Marfa sadistically put a big “Welcome to Marfa” billboard, 5 miles out of town. It made you think the town was just over the next roller, which of course it was not, another head game to deal with. I did not deal with all the head games well today. I’d like to just say that covering 75 miles on a bike is not normally a big deal. I’ve done 150 in one day, the trick is these bikes are loaded, and each day they seem to get a little bit heavier. Yesterday all me tent gear was wet, adding literally a couple of pounds to the load, and I was carrying extra water since there were no services for the entire 75 miles. Extra water adds several pounds of weight. I don’t know exactly how much the bike weighs, but I’m guessing it is north of 80 pounds total.

The day started out with the discovery of the largest caterpillar I have ever seen. It was green, about 3 inches long, and it was happily sitting on one of my panniers. I took a photo which is of course posted to Instagram (@badkins65). The Van Horn RV park has one of the most useful weather stations I have ever seen. The accuracy is uncanny, in fact I would say the accuracy is near perfect. It consisted of a large sign with a rock hanging on a rope, the rock was about 2 feet in diameter. The sign read:

If the rock is wet… it’s raining

If the rock is swaying… it’s windy

If the rock is hot… it’s sunny

If the rock is cool… it’s overcast

If the rock is white… it’s snowing

If the rock is blue… it’s cold!

If the rock is gone… TORNADO

Along the route today, I saw a Prada store. I’m not exactly sure why there is a Prada store in the middle of the High Texas Desert. There was a plaque next to it that probably would have explained the purpose. I took it as high irony and humor combined, and of course took a photo. One of our company was standing along-side the building. I should note there were actual shoes and purses inside the building, the whole thing was built to look like a glass showcase. If you look carefully at the photo, you will see my reflection. Entertainment comes cheap when you’re on the road.

Miles: 75

Vertical: Guessing 1,500 to 2,000

Marfa is a very cool town.

Day 26

A well deserved day of rest. I’ll be in Austin Texas in 10 days!

Today we are at the El Cosmico Campground. This is the coolest place ever. I don’t see a lot of big RV’s here. It’s like the “Anti-RV Park” of all time. They specialize in renting space for tent campers, they also have available an assortment of ready made camping experiences. They have bell tents, rectangular tents, yurts, and classic/antique travel trailers (permanently installed). There are a lot of people here speaking languages other then English and Mexican. This place has got to be world famous. They have a nice outdoor kitchen and the “wash house” is outdoors. Pure charm. The pathways are lighted at night and the wash house has a huge red neon “TEXAS” sign so you can find it easily in the dark. The whole thing is just cool kitsch from start to finish.

Here’s what I plan to do on my day of rest:

• Clean my water bottles
• Clean my bike
• Tighten all the screws on the bike
• Adjust the right hood
• Dry out all my gear
• Do laundry
• Write a bit, read a bit
• Have a big steak dinner at the Saint George Hotel
• Get a door stop at the local hardware

Sadly, sometime in the last couple of days I lost Barbie’s Little Sister (BLS). I guess she got tired of of being my scout and bailed. Too bad too, because just after she decided to bail on me, Trail Boss found a “Ken” doll for her along side the road. I think they would have hit it off, he was extremely buff. I was going to introduce the two and let them both ride with me to Austin, but BLS decided to bail on me a bit too soon. Her loss.

For the record, I spend most of my free time setting up my camp, taking my camp down, eating and sleeping, and of course writing this blog. But when I’m not doing one of those things, which is pretty rare, I’m reading a book that I picked up in Silver City. The book is “A Coney Island Of The Mind,” poems by Lawrence Ferlinghetti. It’s pretty weird stuff. This is one of his earlier collections of poetry. A lot of people described him at the time as a “beat poet,” he denied that definition, but I would say, looking back, that he most likely was. His poetry is good for me. As a hack poet, novice non-poet, I find his verse inspiring both in its obtuseness, as well as its visceral reality. Lawrence was the owner of the famous City Lights bookstore in San Francisco.

Yesterday’s long ride had its challenges, I wrote about that in the previous post, but there was an added element of frustration. My extra water was contaminated and I couldn’t drink it. I carry three water bottles in cages plus three extra water bladders each holding about 60 ounces of water. Yesterday I was running with one extra bladder. When it came time to refill the water bottles from the bladder. I discovered the water in the bladder was bad. My fault for not cleaning the bladder in the morning and filling it with fresh water. I drank some of it and started to feel uncomfortable so I did the remainder of the ride dry, about 30 miles. Fortunately it wasn’t too hot yesterday.

The kick-stand on my bike is a bit too short, so I need to pick up a door stop at the hardware store so I can use it to adjust the height of the leg. This becomes a issue particularly when trying to use the kick stand on uneven ground. I really need a two-legged kick stand. This is an example of a small thing that can get into your head when you are on the road. Inconsequential, but seriously important.

Tonight I’m going to have a big steak dinner at the Saint George Hotel along with a Manhattan and an IPA.

A look back

This incident goes back to my overnight in El Paso. I was having a couple of drinks in Dillinger’s Bar. I was sitting with no one around me and writing in my journal. A young fellow sat down next to me and asked me what I was writing. He was a good looking fellow, strong, probably late 20’s. I told him I was writing a bit of this and that, some poetry, some notes about my day. I mentioned I was on a cross-country cycling tour. He became very interested at that point. He wanted to see what I was writing, so I showed him my poem about birds. He read it intently and then remarked that his generation was not doing enough to save the planet. He called himself a “Millennial” That struck me as a remarkably open statement. We kept on chatting, he wanted to know all about the cycling tour. He asked me how old I was (he had a reason for asking, which I shall reveal shortly). I told him I was 65. I thought he was going to fall off his stool. He could not get over that.

After a bit more conversation ensued about the tour, I found out the real reason he was so impressed with my age and the endurance aspect of this tour. He told me the story about how his Uncle, an El Paso police officer was killed in the line of duty. On a routine traffic stop, the motorist pulled out a semi-automatic weapon and shot his Uncle 15 times as he was approaching the car. Damien, that was my new friend’s name, was devastated telling me the story. I could tell he loved his Uncle very much. He told me his Uncle’s badge number was 4928. Damien wanted to run 49.28 miles in honor of his Uncle. I thought that was amazing. We spent a bit more time talking about his Uncle and endurance events. He suddenly got up and fetched his posse, four women that he was in the bar with. He brought them over to were I was sitting and introduced my to all of them. At that point he insisted that I go through all the details of the tour so they could hear all about it. Damien was very cool, and after I answered all their questions, he took a photo of us. It was a remarkable evening, that came literally out of nowhere.

Day 27

Texas is big

The hot tub last night at El Cosmico was divine. It was wood fired and the perfect temperature. It was so nice I stayed up much later than I probably should have…

That was last night…

While I was sleeping, the temperature dropped 50 degrees. By 3am a wind came up that was slapping the rain fly on the tent so loudly it was difficult to sleep. When I finally crawled out of the tent at 7am, it was 36 degrees and a very cold wind was blowing out of the North. I was told later in the day that up in the Pan Handle the temperature had dropped to 28 degrees and the winds were 60mph. I estimated in Marfa a more or less steady 20mph with gusts up to 35mph. I started the day cold before even getting on the bike. I was experiencing what Texans call a “Blue Norther.”

I made the first 20 miles of the day’s 60, but it was a struggle. I was barely making headway and had been blown off the shoulder of the road four times. I had just been blown off again, and was calculating the odds of getting back on the bike and making it 100 yards before another gust blew me off the road, when a pickup truck pulled over. Out jumped one of my tour companions. I knew instantly I was getting a ride. The thought of turning down the offer didn’t even enter my head. Rick threw the bike in the back of his new Ford F-150 and we covered the next 10 miles to the town of Alpine in comfort.

Things seemed a bit calmer in Alpine. We still had 30 miles to go before reaching our destination for the day. Fortunately the wind was less harsh here. We were actually on the other side of a small range of mountains that separates Marfa from Alpine. I was able to make the next 30 miles at something like a normal pace, but I was cold as hell. Once you get chilled on the bike, it’s game over until you get off the bike.

The RV park where we are staying has an outdoor plaza with a covered patio and large stone fireplace. We’ve eaten and had our map meeting and I’m sitting in front of a nice fire, feeling almost human again.

We get to do it all over again tomorrow…

Miles: 60

Possibly the coldest day I have experienced on a bike.

Day 28

Still in Texas

Clouds came in last night! It’s going to be much more civilized today. I’m in a coffee shop in Marathon. Great place. I’m warming up with an egg sandwich, fruit cup, and coffee before the day’s ride. Tonight we are staying in a Budget Inn. Shower and a hot meal that we don’t cook on mini-camp stoves. The goal today is 56 miles. Trail Boss mentioned last night in map meeting that it was mostly down hill. I’m finding that a bit hard to believe. We shall see.

Time to get to it…

Much to my surprise, it was a near perfect day. I was able to do the “big-little dance” most of the day. That is where you leave the rear cassette on one of the smaller rings, and just shift the front chain ring from high to low. (I have two chain rings up front.) It’s efficient and simple, and makes the ride more enjoyable. My kit today was just what I needed as well. I wore long pants, a long sleeved base layer, a shirt, a puffy vest and a light rain jacket. It sounds like a lot, but in windy conditions you need extra layers. The rain jacket came in handy because it did actually rain lightly for about thirty minutes mid-afternoon. I covered the 56 miles in 5-1/2 hours, including stops to rest occasionally and to eat lunch. I felt good about that timing. That’s an overall average of 10mph, with a fully loaded touring bike, that’s pretty good, at least for me. I left an hour behind everyone else because I had “second breakfast” in a coffee shop. About twenty miles out I passed two people, at mile 25 I passed another.

Trail Boss was right, we did descend about a thousand feet in the course of the 56 miles that we covered. With only modest climbing involved, that means you are covering a lot of flat ground.

We all agreed to meet for dinner at 7pm at a nearby restaurant. I got to town at 4:15pm so I had lots of time before dinner. I got cleaned up and went across the street to a little bar with one of my companions. There were two people in the bar, the owner and one of his regulars. We sat down and watched the ALCS Game 1 preview show before going to dinner. I told the owner I’d be back after dinner. I did drop in after dinner for one more beer and watched three innings of the game. The population of the bar had grown to four by this time. Everyone in the bar was rooting for the Astros. I guess that’s not surprising. The owner was very nice. When I did finally leave, he walked me to the door, we were like old friends. Of course if I ever got back to Sanderson, I’ll go see him, but the town does not have a lot to offer. It’s a living ghost town really.The economy here does not offer a lot of opportunities for people.

We have a couple of 60 miles days the next two days.

Miles: 56

Day 29

Just assume from here on out that I’m in Texas

Today was a rolling 60 mile day to Langtry. That is the town where the famous Judge Roy Bean held court. I’m very tired tonight, we have another 60 mile day tomorrow, then a 75 mile day after that. I’m cooking on the 75 mile day. I’m going to crawl into the tent and try and get some good sleep.